He will give His angels charge over you

"For He will give His angels charge concerning you, to guard you in all your ways." Psalm 91:11

The security that God promises is awesome! The promises that God the Father made to His Son are the same promises our Savior shares with you and me ... as we learn to follow His Word, we learn to exercise this authority Christ shares with us! The power of His love can not be defeated by anything! This is not our salvation I'm talking about. This is growing, as mature believers, into useful servants, soldiers and ambassadors of Christ, and trusting our heavenly Father in all situations we deal with, knowing that He is faithful and will not let us down.

"You will only look on with your eyes and see the recompense of the wicked. For you have made the LORD, my refuge, even the Most High, your dwelling place." Psalm 91:8-9

The promises leading up to the security God promised to Jesus are based upon our making the LORD our refuge. Our work at making this a real part of our life is something that is a lifelong effort. It takes work at walking away from the knowledge we grow up with. Maturity demands we grow past the biases we live with ... as the future we are promised becomes a reality for us, they are real instead of just words that we recite or mouth, or are just part of a show!

Satan quoted Psalm verse 91:11 to Jesus when the Adversary was trying to tempt the Messiah to show off God's power. People will always ask us to show off (or prove) the miraculous because we believe God's promises. As Jesus demonstrated on the cross, God's plan for us is to serve all His children and not just ourselves. The world does not understand what true love is; the world focuses on "me" or "I" instead of God and we.

Jesus' final response should sum it up for all of us! "Begone, Satan! For it is written, You shall worship the LORD your God, and worship Him only," Matthew 4:10. Jesus used the Word of God to respond to Satan's temptations. Remember ... He will give His angels charge over you!

Read Psalm 91:1-4 and Matthew 4:1-11 for more illumination.

Fruit of the Spirit

"the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law." Galatians 5:22-23

I attended a company retreat where we were all instructed to right a mission statement. Many people chose to seek fortune, a good life, success in their achievements ... worldly ambition with good intentions. In one of the most fortunate moves in my life, I chose to seek the fruit of the Spirit as my mission statement, my goal. I haven't always achieved this goal ... hamartia in Greek (missing the mark, or sin)... but it is the goal that brings me back to my faith and the truth life has to offer to those that believe Christ is our Savior. The Holy Spirit leads us into bearing this fruit into not only our lives, but the lives of people we touch. We all have the capacity to let the Holy Spirit dwell in us to bear this fruit!

I encourage each of you to write a mission statement and put it on your wall. Every day, look at it. Be inspired by it ... be sure to make it a statement that will help you focus on Christ, the Anointed One, as your advocate and deliverer! As David mentions in the Psalms, we have a loving and faithful God who loves us; He is our Good Sheperd, our Rock and our Provider!

Read Psalms 23 and 2 Corinthians 6:6, Ephesians 4:2, Colossians 3:12-17 for more illumination.

A shield about me

"But You, O LORD, are a shield about me, my glory, and the One who lifts my head." Psalm 3:3

A history lesson from David, a king in whom God delighted, that benefits us all!

It is easy to forget it is our Father that always protects us against the evil one instead of by our own efforts. Our ego and pride can easily get in the way of trusting Him in all we do. It's easy to trust in our own strength when we have victories, as did David; we trust in our own insights into Him. There is temptation to stop being truly humble, pull our heads down and follow our own instincts. Yet, David says we must continue to let our Father lift our heads to Him to see what He would have us do! David demonstrates it in his own life and records it in his writings.

In Psalms 3, 4 and 5 David talks about relying on the LORD. He says his foes believed he would not be saved by his reliance upon God. It becomes easy to rely upon ourselves when we are attacked and God gives us victory over our enemies ... we are children of God who has promised us great strength and abundance and victory over our adversaries! This is a great truth we all should trust. David was a king that Scripture says had a heart for God, one in whom our Father delighted in. David was a very victorious king, having victory after victory because of his trust in God.

Psalm 6 (and 13) describe anguish. David let his society and passions dictate his actions; he had one of his trusted followers killed because he forgot to lift his head to God. He became weak in his victories; he gloried in his success, he "looked" at Bathsheba and had Uriah killed so he could have his own way. He trusted in the successes God had given him and became prideful, feeling he deserved what he wanted, or could get.

Let us humbly keep our heads lifted to our Father; the LORD forgave David when David again listened to God (when Nathan rebuked him, he acknowledged his sin and repented). What a humbling lesson we all can learn from! Let us let God lift our heads today, and praise Him for His everlasting love for us! This is where our shield continues to come into action, our Father protecting us against pride and our adversary/adversaries.

Read Psalms 3,4, 5 and Psalms 6 and 13; also 2 Samuel 11 and 12 for more illumination.

The compassion of the LORD

"Remember, O LORD, Your compassion and Your lovingkindnesses, for they have been from of old." Psalm 25:6

Psalm 25:6 is David speaking about the tender love of a covenantal God being merciful. One powerful message David gives us ... God's promises don't change! The LORD says He loves us; that is why He sent the Messiah. He doesn't change that love, regardless of the "sins of our youth and our rebellious ways."

God will guide us in our ways. That is what His Word is for, and the Holy Spirit is the Comforter that continues to help us understand what God is telling us! He guides the humble in what is right and teaches us His ways. Who is the humble? One who recognizes God's way is the path to love and truth; He knows what is best for us. This is the way for us to have a powerful, abundant life!

Our ways are full of incomplete knowledge. We will make mistakes because we don't have enough information to do what's best for us! The market changes, politics change, science changes; look at all the recalls pharmaceutical companies are issuing because their products turn out to be faulty, or the collapse of our banking institutions that need to be bailed out by our tax dollars, or the change in political policies depending on which party is in control. Humans are doing the best we can ... but mistakes (snares) occur, errors impact us as well as affecting our children and our grandchildren. What is the difference?

God doesn't make mistakes. Hallelujah! Remember, O LORD, your compassion and lovingkindness!!!

Read Psalm 5:7-8, Isaiah 63:7-14, Jeremiah 31:20, 35 and Hosea 11:8-9 for more illumination.

For my hand made all these things ...

"For my hand made all these things, thus all these things came into being," declares the LORD. "But to this one will I look, one who is humble and contrite in spirit, and who trembles at My word."

Isaiah 66:2

Everything that is created comes from God. There is nothing He did not create.

Psalm 24:1 states, "The earth is tho LORD's and all it contains, the world, and those who dwell in it." Isn't it comforting to know that whomever is in control of the world's governments, or leading our societies, they are stewards that have been put in charge by God. No person, no government, no "ism" (capitalism, communism, socialism) has pre-eminence over the sovereignty of God ... and we are all stewards that have a responsibility to take care of God's handiwork, God's workmanship. It's Theocracy that ultimately rules!

What God ask of us is to be humble and contrite (nakeh in Hebrew, literally meaning maimed or figuratively, dejected ... we need a Savior, after all), to be aware of our need for Him and to act accordingly. In doing such, we can enjoy life and have freedom in serving Him, knowing we are doing God's will by being wise and faithful stewards. He will richly bless those who take care of His creation. After all, everything God created is good! We must worship Him in spirit and in truth. That's what will make life so vibrant and exciting!

Read 1 Timothy 4:4-5, Psalm 50 (especially verses 6, 10-12), John 4:24

Isaiah was telling Israel this truth because they were being swayed by the commercialism of their times, and were acting as if they had a right to do what was right in their own eyes ... they were being hypocritical and not serving the LORD faithfully.