Worried about Coronavirus? Focus on God’s Protection Covenant!

Covenant: a formal binding agreement, a promise

In Psalms chapter 91, we find one of the binding agreements that God has made with man. This covenant is just as reliable in a time of trouble as it is in a time of peace. Of course, we must have faith in that covenant and believe that our God is going to perform all of His promises just as He said He would.

In the midst of a world panicking about the novel coronavirus, I would like to break this Psalm and covenant down for you so that you clearly understand what God has promised us.

1. He that dwelleth (lives) in the secret (hidden) place of the most High shall abide (stay) under the shadow (protection) of the Almighty. Under this protection plan we shall be treated as God's guest. You know whenever we are visiting family or friends, we are their guest. And when we come under the roof of anyone who truly cares about us, they tend to take our protection seriously - just as they would their own flesh and blood - and they do everything in their power to make sure that no hurt or harm comes to us. The Lord does the exact same. Even if we are walking along the road, we can simply ask for the performance of this promise. Even though God is up there and we are down here, if we speak the word and believe, we will instantly be in the secret place of the most High; covered and resting under the shadow of the Almighty.

2. I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge (Shelton) and my fortress (defense): my God; in Him will I trust (have total confidence). We all know that when you go to a shelter, it's intended to be a place of safety. This piece of the covenant tells us that the Lord will be our defense, regardless of the storm that's going on in our lives. Have you ever seen the old western movies with the army posts? Everyone is usually inside the fort and they have big gates with tall walls and men walking to and fro with weapons. Those men make sure that no one comes in and that no one goes out without some sort of protection; everybody who's inside the fortress feels safe. It’s the same way with God - when we are under His shadow, Angels are continually walking around protecting God's people.

3. Surely (not liable to fail) he shall deliver (rescue) thee from the snare (trap) of the fowler (haters of God's love and light) and from the noisome pestilence (people that try to bring us their darkness). These noisome pests can be just like mosquitoes that buzz constantly in your ear. The good news here is that as long as we are covered under the Almighty's protection, those pests will have to go through God before they can get to us. However, the choice is ours, we can choose to stay under the light of God's protection or we can listen to those noisome pestilence, which might lead us astray. God leaves that choice up to us. 

4. He shall cover (conceal) thee with His feathers (feathers in the spiritual speaks of love) and under His wings shalt thou trust; His truth (trustworthiness) shall be the shield (defensive armor) and buckler (something that surrounds a person). You might be familiar with how a mother hen hovers over her chicks and if anyone comes along trying to mess with or take her babies, she’ll peck them! That mother hen sits right there covering her chicks with her feathers of love and under her wings. God will hover over us just like that mother hen and will peck anyone who tries to harm us!

I'll be back next week with more on this awesome covenant; until then --

With all that said, let the Church say Amen... and AMEN!

The Wonderful Works of the Lord

Wonderful: a feeling of amazement, or admiration

Works: the action or labor required to accomplish something

Praise ye the Lord, I will praise the Lord with my whole heart (not divided, but with all that is in me) in the assembly of the upright (honest), and in the congregation. The works of the Lord are great (remarkable, impressive, and first rate), sought out of all them that have pleasure therein. His work is honourable (worthy of honor) and glorious (magnificent; delightful, full of glory); and His righteouness endureth for ever. He hath made His wonderful works to be remembered (recalled, retain, and memorized): the Lord is gracious (showing kindness and courtesy) and full of compassion (sympathy). He hath given meat unto them that fear Him: he will ever be mindful of His covenant (a formal binding agreement).

He hath showed His people the power of His works, that he may give them the heritage (something handed down from past generations) of the heathen (a person or nation that does not recognize the God of Christianity). The works of His hands are verity (absolute) and judgment (balance); all His commandments are sure (not liable to fail). They stand fast for ever and ever, and are done in truth and uprightness. He sent redemption (Jesus Christ) unto His people: He hath commanded His covenant for ever: Holy (sacred) and reverend (respected) is His name. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom: a good understanding have all they that do His commandments: His praise endureth for ever. Psalms 111:1-10.

What an awesome and great God we serve! He is so worthy of our praise for His amazing works! Deuteronomy 32:4 declares, He is the Rock, his work is perfect: for all His ways are judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is He. The Lord did a wonderful work in the life of my Son, he had a mild heart attack, a blockage going to his heart, a gland on his kidney that caused them not to perform properly and pneumonia - all this at the same time - but all praises to the Lord, he's fine now. Just reflect my friends, on just one of the many wonderful works that the Lord has done in your life and give Him praise for it!

With all that said, let the Church say Amen... and AMEN!

Smile, Smile, and More Smiles!

Smile: a change of facial expression to express pleasure, or affection

A smiling face has the power to take down barriers, dispel fear, and create a happy environment. Think about it - when your children or spouse is upset or angry, what's the easiest way to improve their moods? Get them to smile! A smile can break a bitter attitude in a matter of seconds. Did you know that our brains keep track of our smiles? How fun is that?! Now that we know that a smile will immediately improve our moods, let's make more of an effort to smile.

A smile is that thing that's worth a million bucks but doesn't cost a cent. Most of us don't realize the real value of a smile. You can walk into a crowded room and your smile can instantly elevate someone's mood and help relieved them of their stress. Your smile can be very contagious. And we're not just talking about people we know; a smile can affect people we don't know as well. And more importantly, a simple smile can change your attitude!

A smile is classic - it always has the same good look and it never goes out of style. A smile goes the farthest toward making life worthwhile. Unfortunately, it doesn't always seem like there are a lot of smiles  around us. If you pick up a newspaper (or read the news online), the top headlines will often be bad news. When you turn on the news on TV, there are not a lot of smiles at the top of the show. That means it's up to us! Let's smile awhile and before we know it, there will be miles and miles of smiles, simply because we smiled.

A songwriter once said; "God has smiled on me; He has set me free!" Let's take heed and smile, so we can help set someone else free.

With all that said, let the Church say Amen... and AMEN!

We've Become Too Relaxed!

Relaxed: not strict; easy; informal

We've become too relaxed; we're in a microwave generation where we want thing to show up right now. For example, if we're sick, we want to be healed right now. Out of work? We want a new job right now. Car broke? We want it fixed right now. When praying, we want answers RIGHT NOW. But there are no shortcuts and no bypassing with God - we must learn to slow down and prevail in prayer and learn to conquer this unrestful nature that's on the inside of us.

1) If we don't learn how to slow down and stay on our faces continually before the Lord and allow him to work on us, we might become like Solomon. He became too relaxed; which allowed his wives to turn his head from following the Lord. I Kings 11:4 tells us, "For it came to pass, when Solomon was old, that this wived turned away his heart after other gods: and his heart was not perfect with the Lord his God..."

2) We can't have such an informal spirit that we become lazy like David. II Samuel 11:1 says, "And it came to pass, after the year was expired, at the time when the kings go forth to battle that David sent Joab, and his servants with him, and all Israel; and they destroyed the children of Ammon, and besieged Rabbah. But David tarried still at Jerusalem." He became so relaxed that he did not go off to battle with the other kings. Instead, he stayed home and saw Bathsheba washing herself, he took her and later had her husband killed.

Let's not allow the spirit of relaxation to come upon us. Instead, we must remember to prevail in prayer, to conquer our unrestful nature, and simply trust in God. When in doubt, remember Proverbs 3:5-6 - "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths."

With all that said, let the church say Amen... and AMEN!