Psalm Chapter 91
Here we have the safety and deliverance chapter. He that dwells with God shall abide under His shadow. Who are those that abide in the Lord? Here are the words of Jesus on abiding.
So we see that keeping His commandments will result in abiding in His love as Jesus kept His Father's commandments and abide in the Father's love. This we really have no power to do on our own. That is why we need to receive Jesus into our lives and then we receive the Holy Spirit that abides within us. One of His commandments to us was to receive the one God sent to save us and that is Jesus.
Here we see that those that abide in God's presence are they that:
Most of us above the age of accountability have already have done evil and are guilty of sins. Jesus can cancel out all our sins. When we repent or desire to turn from sin and ask Jesus to save us from the sin that is separating us from God; He then forgives and cleanses us from all our sins. He will then send His Holy Spirit to abide with us. The Holy Spirit will help us do all the above things thus enabling us to abide in God's place of safety. So the Old Testament is still true but with the coming of Christ, we now can have the power within us to help us keep the commandments which before Christ we had no power to keep. So the moral law of the Old Testament is still in place. We now have a savior to both forgive us for breaking God's law and give us the Holy Spirit to keep us from breaking the law until the day we are redeemed from the earth and receive our new bodies that will not have the curse of death upon it. All these promises come through faith in Jesus Christ. No other religion has the power to save the soul and give eternal life. Here is what comes to one who receives Jesus as Lord.
God wants to be our refuge and our fortress. It is us who hold back, not Him.
He shall deliver all who trust in Him.
A person who has his sins under the blood of Jesus and is trusting in God need not fear anything. If he is killed, he or she enters eternity where nothing bad can ever touch us again. When God is our trust, whatever happens in this life should not cause us to fear. There are things we fear. I have not yet overcome all fear myself but the goal in completely trusting God is not to fear anything.
If we walk in genuine God given love, fear will not have dominion over us. Through the power of the Holy Spirit and walking daily in that power, we can overcome many things we can't do in our own strength. I've always been afraid of storms. Recently I sat in church and a tornado watch came on my watch warning of a violent storm coming. This was at the beginning of the service so I didn't want to get up and leave. I prayed that the storm would leave the area and then the fear left. After church we walked outside; the storm clouds were there but we got home safely. Later it began to rain hard but the storm never got any heavier but left the area. I'm thankful that the fear left before the threat of the storm. God is so good.
Perfect love and trust in God will help us not fear disease. One thing I was thanful for is that during covid none of us feared. We didn't get any vaccines, we didn't wear masks to church and God brought us through that. I'm not criticizing those that preferred to wear masks, stay home or be vaccinated but I'm thankful that we didn't get any spirit of fear. Fear is tormenting. Some prefer to exercise caution and do what was suggested but some did not. Over coming fear though is a good thing. I witnessed people yelling at each other in stores, accusing one another on social media and turning against their own friends out of fear. We don't have to live like that.
The biggest fear anyone should have is dying without God in our lives. Our souls live one place or another in eternity. Evil people may be able to kill our bodies but they can't kill our souls. It's our decision whether to believe and receive Jesus or not. They cannot touch our eternal souls.
We shall see the wicked and those that persecute the righteous destroyed. No one will get by with anything in the long run. No one. If we die without repenting of things we did wrong to innocent people, we will face the judgment of God.
Abide in God and enemies shall not overcome us unless it is temporary for a certain purpose but in the end, those that trust God will win and all evil will be done away.
There are some that claim this verse means that if our household abides faithfully in God, no plague shall come close to our dwelling place. I have no doubt that if we really claimed this and believed this, it would be true. In order for it to count we would have to make God our habitation and our whole trust. I don't know why bad happens to people who do trust the Lord but I do know that if we lack wisdom, God says that He will give us wisdom in these matters. The whole thing we need to do is to trust Him.
I believe in angels that watch over God's people. I don't believe it is necessarily the type of angels described in some of our modern movies and art work. We probably don't know what they really look like but they can take on the form of men. We must avoid all worship of angels. A true angel of the Lord will not accept our worship. Any angel that does is not God's angels.
The devil used this verse to try to get Jesus to cast Himself down from a high place. Jesus could have had the angels deliver Him from the cross but He did not come to be delivered but to die for sins.
A person of faith in God should not fear animals. At the same time we do not handle snakes and wild animals for a side show to demonstrate the power of God. God knows how to make Himself known. His Spirit is to lead us, not us lead His Spirit. When a viper came upon the Apostle Paul, he wasn't hurt. Paul did not go out a seek a viper to demonstrate God's power. One just happened to be nearby and tried to bite him. He simply shook off the viper and the people marveled that he wasn't hurt. It wasn't done by Paul's planning but God showed His power through what could have been a tragedy.
When we make up our minds to love God above all others, He will reward us for doing so. Sometimes we have to choose between pleasing God and pleasing men. We may lose favor with our family and friends by choosing God. Some may have to lose their lives by choosing God and living by God's word but in the long run, the faithful will gain and the unfaithful will lose. I personally know someone who came to Jesus and his family thought he was nuts. They were of a different religion.
Never should we be ashamed or afraid to boldly proclaim our faith in Jesus. To be ashamed of Him will cause Him to be ashamed of us.
Long life is granted to those that keep the commandments of God. An exception might be when one gives His life for the cause of Christ. In any case though we know now that through faith in Christ we may lose this life but will gain eternal life that one one can take away from us. The thing is to trust in God and seek things eternal and not the things of this life. God may grant good things in this life as a result of our faith but no matter what state we live in here, eternal life awaits those the fully trust in Him and have received His plan of salvation and forgiveness of sins provided for by the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Jesus brings eternal life. Without Jesus there is no life and no way to be saved. I found a verse in the New Testament that seems to hint that sometimes for those that walk in obedience to God's word and are filled with the Holy Spirit, they might have a choice when facing death for his or her faith. The verse seems to indicate they might have a choice to accept deliverance or not. An interesting study further might be in order but there is the verse in the faith chapter of Hebrews. Chapter 11. Adding to that thought the deliverance may be that their persecutors are asking them to deny Christ and promise deliverance if they do so. So whether it's divine deliverance by God's power or the type of deliverance we would temporarily get by denying Christ, we don't know for sure. Further study is needed here. But somehow we obtain a better resurrection if we die for the cause of Christ and do not accept deliverance. Maybe that better resurrection is a better reward. Perhaps though it is easier just to pray for God's will in the matter. If we die, we enter His presence immediately, if we survive, perhaps we can win more to the Lord by our testimony of deliverance.
My own father is now with the Lord having lived until 95 1/2 years old. His life at times had much heartache and sorrow but he always trusted in God and kept the word of God in his heart. He had nothing as far as this world's goods but eternity awaited him and his true treasure is in Heaven. Dad still held onto the faith in Jesus that he had when he was young. He honored both his father and his mother also and God has granted him a long life. Dad was the one who taught me that the bible was truly the inspired word of God without question. I thank the Lord for the example he set for me to follow. DC
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