Jesus Christ is the foundation of Christianity. Without His life, death and resurrection, where would we be? Exactly, doomed to a life and eternity separated from God. So God has led me to a Bible study through the Gospel of Matthew to allow you and I to learn to be more like Jesus.
The writer of the book of Matthew
A disciple of Jesus, Matthew(Levi) wrote this Gospel. The words of the Gospel seem to agree with this. It is what we would expect a Jew to write. Matthew (Levi) respected authority. He was sure that Jesus Christ was King. So, the tradition is probably right.
The reason that the author wrote the Gospel
He probably wrote the book to Jews. He wanted to convince them that Jesus was the Messiah. A careful study of the Gospel will show this. Some of these facts are:
He shows the family of Jesus. It was the same as the family of the Jews.
He claims that the Old Testament gave facts about Jesus’ birth. They were facts about the Messiah.
He has an interest in the Law.
He tells about other Jewish customs. (One example is in Matthew 15:1–9.)
All of this tells us that the Gospel was written to witness to the Jews. So is it important to the gentiles(non-Jews)? Yes! He insisted that it was for all nations too. (28:16–20.)
I believe that Matthew wrote to Jews, because he wanted them to know that Jesus is the Messiah. Jesus would save them from the results of their sins. He would rescue them from the power of that sin in their lives.
What we can expect to learn from the Gospel of Matthew:
The Old Testament tells us about many hopes. It describes many things that people could expect. And Jesus is the answer to them all.
Jesus is the Messiah. He is God who became man. He shows this by the authority of His teaching. He shows it by the nature of His miracles, His love, His death and resurrection.
The stories about Jesus are facts of history. Matthew was recording the truth.
Jesus teaches about various subjects. There is the Kingdom of God. He tells what Christians should be like too. Also, there are specific matters. There is the matter of divorce. There is the subject of remarriage too.
Jesus is the hope of the world. Matthew shows how the Good News is for everyone.
Start praying today that God would speak to you during this study through the book of Matthew.
In today’s world of social media and selfies, our lives have become more and more about me. How can this benefit me? What do I get out of this? It’s not my problem. Raising a teenager and working with youth, I hear these quite frequently. To live in the spirit you have to realize it is not your life. It is God’s story told through your life. Luke 9:23 says, “Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.” Jesus said put yourself to the side and pick up your cross daily. He didn’t say on Sundays and Wednesday night. He said “DAILY” If you want to live in the spirit, this is the first step.
Ephesians 5:18-33
18 Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit, 19 speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord, 20 always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
21 submitting to one another in the fear of God.
22 Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands as you do to the Lord. 23 For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. 24 Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything.
25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her 26 to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, 27 and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. 28 In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. 29 After all, no one ever hated their own body, but they feed and care for their body, just as Christ does the church— 30 for we are members of his body. 31 “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.”32 This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church. 33 However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.
Verse 19 says ” speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit.” I love this! My son is always getting on to me because I will randomly burst into song at any given moment. I tell him, “How sad it must be not to live in a musical.”
When everything is right in the life of a Christian, the Spirit of God gives love, joy, and peace which in turn give a song in the heart. The Christian is supposed to be one with a singing heart. Have you met a new Christian and seen the joy of the Lord on his face? Freedom from sin, a sense of God’s presence and a bright future ahead are all to be a part of the life of the Christian.
Today there are many who are suggesting all sorts of things as signs of being filled with the Spirit, but here in Ephesians 5 we have one of the three major signs declared to be evidences.
Speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord,
In verse 20 we have the second evidence of a Spirit-filled Christian and that is ” always giving thanks to God the Father for everything.” When Jesus is Lord we can expect God’s blessing and know that Romans 8:28 comes true:
“And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.”
It doesn’t mean that everything will be easy, but the Christian doesn’t look at the present but at the end result.
The story of Paul and Silas in prison is a good illustration of this, as is also the story of Joseph.
Verse 21 gives us the third evidence of one who is Spirit filled. It says, ” Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ .” When we are self-centered instead of Christ-centered, we won’t want to be submitting ourselves to God or to anyone else. This verse says “in the fear of God.” We want to live in the right relationship to God so that we can expect His blessing on our lives. We put others first instead of ourselves. This is why it is a joy to be with truly Spirit-filled Christians, because they are “others-first” minded.
Show me someone with a melody in the heart, giving thanks for all things and submitting one toward another, and I’ll show you a Spirit-filled Christian. If we are not experiencing this, we need to go back and examine our hearts; are they filled with a lack of joy, unthankfulness or lack of submission? God brings His blessings, not so much because of what we know, but rather what we do with what we know.
In Ephesians 5:22 it says,” Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands as you do to the Lord.” In Ephesians 5:25 it says, “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her.”
Today we have many broken homes and divorces. Many reasons are given, but without exception you will find husbands have not done what Ephesians 5:25 says, or wives have not done what Ephesians 5:22 says. If husbands would love as they should, wives would submit as they should, there could be a beautiful relationship instead of the other kind.
Many times husbands will say, “If my wife were more submissive I would be more loving,” and wives will say, “If my husband were more loving I would be more submissive.” Maybe we need to mind our own business. Do what we should do and let the Spirit of God show the other what they should do. What a beautiful thing it is to see a loving husband and a submissive wife.
God can do it if we put our self off the throne and let Jesus Christ have His rightful place.
Next we see another area that will be much better if Jesus Christ is Lord. It is the child-parent relationship. In Ephesians 6:1 it says, “Children obey your parents in the Lord; for this is right.” In verse 4 it says, “And you fathers, provoke not your children to wrath.”
It seems that apart from the Lordship of Christ and the Spirit-filled life, there is a natural tendency for children to be disobedient to their parents. And parents, through their self-will, provoke children to wrath. Wouldn’t it be a wonderful thing if the relationship between parents and children were consistently pleasant? It can be if we consistently practice the Spirit-filled life.
Again, if we are children we should concentrate on being obedient; and if we are parents, we should concentrate on not provoking, but bringing “them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.” (vs. 4)
One other area of improved relationships when we are Spirit filled is that of the employer/ employee. In Ephesians 6:5 we read, “Servants, be obedient to them that are your masters…” And in verses 7-9 it suggests that masters should do good things for the servants.
Without Christ it is everyone for himself. Thus, in this world we have a great deal of employer/employee unrest. The servant would like to get as much pay for as little work as possible, and the master would like to get as much work for as little pay as possible.
The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness faithfulness, gentleness and self- control. The first three things are what God gives the saved. We concentrate on outer love, joy, peace, patience, kindness goodness faithfulness, gentleness and self- control, but the Spirit of God wants to give us a well of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness faithfulness, gentleness and self- control. In other words it is inside, and what you see on the outside is just the overflow.
The world says, “Put on a happy face.” The Spirit-filled Christian will have a happy heart.
Look at the fruit of the Spirit. This has to do with our conduct towards others. It isn’t any wonder that all Christians seem to wish they had the fruit of the Spirit, because they are wonderful things. If we are filled with the Spirit, we will not only have a beautiful spirit within but will also be showing the fruit to others around us.
The fruits of the Spirit also have to do with character. A Spirit-filled Christian will be seen as a person of faith. Others looking at him will put this down as a character description. He is a person of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness faithfulness, gentleness and self- control. .
We all would like to change our world, but are we willing to take the steps necessary in order to accomplish this. God gave you the fruit of the Spirit. All you have to do is use it and grow it.
Have you ever been in a true revival? I had often heard of revival being like a forest fire (burning at will, where the wind drove it.) Some years ago in revival I’ve seen the Holy Spirit moving like a forest fire from Christian to Christian convicting of sin. People repented of sin and their self-will, then the Spirit of God filled them. No one could tell where He was going to work next. In fact He often worked in several Christians at the same time. The Holy Spirit was at work and His power and working were awesome.
During that time there was tremendous honesty and tremendous love. So often we have little honesty and little love. All true Christians say that this is their part of their doctrine, but in everyday situations there often is very little evidence.
Do you see these in yourself; stubbornness, rebellion, arguing, etc.? When we repent of these things and learn to rest in the Lord, the exciting thing is that He forgives and begins a change in you.
The world offers happiness that is a pale imitation of the true joy; that only God can give us. The happiness that unsaved people experience is temporary and comes and goes depending on the situation at the time. If things are going good, they are happy. When things are hard, there is no happiness to be found. In the book of Job, one of Job’s friends utters some insightful words: “You know that the joy of the wicked does not last long. That has been true a long time, ever since Adam was put on earth. Those who don’t know God are happy for only a short time.” (Job 20:5 ERV ). There can be no true joy apart from God.
Wherever people know, love, and worship God, His love instills a joy, that only He can give, into the hearts of His worshipers
In The Old Testament, Joy Was Associated With The True Worship Of God
Joy is a prominent feature of the true worship of God in the Old Testament. Wherever people know, love, and worship God, His love instills a joy, that only He can give, into the hearts of His worshipers (I Chronicles 15:16; Ezra 3:12, 6:16; Psalm 16:11, 32:11, 51:12 and many more).
In the times of King Hezekiah, the Israelites rededicated themselves to God and we read, “So there was great joy in Jerusalem, for since the time of Solomon the son of David king of Israel there had been nothing like this in Jerusalem” (II Chronicles 30:26 ESV). The people’s renewed commitment to God reignited the joy in their hearts that only He can produce. Believers today can experience this same joy when he or she is dedicated to Jesus.
Joy Is A Gift From God
Joy is one of the fruits of the Holy Spirit, who resides in the heart of the believer, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness…” (Galatians 5:22 ESV). God is the author of all these good things. When someone becomes a Christian, the Holy Spirit gives these qualities to the believer. Joy is also an integral part of the Kingdom of God and will exist wherever believers are present, “For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit” (Romans 14:17 ESV).
Doing God’s Will Increases Our Joy
As many Christians can tell you being involved in the spread of the Gospel brings joy to their heart. Personally, when I see someone get saved or I know that someone has been encourage in their walk of faith, I cannot help but feel a sense of joy. Paul also experienced this often in his ministry (II Corinthians 1:24, 2:3; Philippians 1:4, 2:2; I Thessalonians 2:19, 20, 3:9; II Timothy 1:4; Philemon 1:7; and many other passages). John experienced the joy of ministry, “I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth” (3 John 1:4 ESV).
Circumstances Cannot Take Away Our Joy
In Second Corinthians 6:10, Paul says that Christians can even be “sorrowful, yet always rejoicing”. This means that even when we are in the midst of a situation that legitimately brings us sorrow, our inner joy is never taken away. The very core of our being can still rejoice in the fact that we are forgiven children of God who enjoy an intimate relationship with the Creator of the universe. Our joy is strengthened when we remember that, no matter what the circumstances, God is with us and He is above all.
We see this in the writings of several New Testament authors:
James says that we should, “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness” James 1:2-3.
Paul when he faced incredible hardships, “Even if I am to be poured out as a drink offering upon the sacrificial offering of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with you all. Likewise you also should be glad and rejoice with me” Philippians 2:17-18 .
Peter encourages us with, “…rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed” 1 Peter 4: 13.
The Only Thing That Can Steal Our Joy Is Sin
Godly joy is a wonderful thing; it is a gift from God to every believer. However, Sin can steal our joy. It is difficult to experience the joy of our relationship with God when we have done something that damages that relationship. Joy is a gift of the Holy Spirit; when we grieve the Holy Spirit by our sin, we interfere with the flow of joy from God. If we find that we are experiencing joy less and less, we may need to reevaluate our relationship with Jesus Christ to make sure we are living as we should.
Christians Should ‘Rejoice Always’
Rejoice means to feel joy or great delight. Paul writes 5:16-18, “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, and give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you”. This joy, prayer, and thanksgiving should characterize the life of the Christian. It is God’s will for the believer; this is how God wants us to live. “Rejoicing always” does not mean that we are to paste a fake smile on our faces no matter what is going on in our lives or the lives of those we love. It means hat we are to remain steadfast in our knowledge that God is our strength and comfort, no matter what circumstances we find ourselves. If our relationship with Jesus is right, and we confess and repent of any sin, we will experience joy at all times…whether those times be good or bad.
Have you ever wondered why your faith seems to be strong at times and at other times it seems to be weak? Have you wondered how you could increase your faith? Have you ever wondered why your feelings are so changeable? Have you wondered what you could do about your feelings?
These are questions that we all have at one time or another. One of the most important lessons I learned as a Christian was the difference between Facts, Faith, and Feelings and how they can work together.
Facts! Faith! Feelings!
These words stand for three aspects of the Christian life that are vital to us. It is important to understand them. It is even more important that we get them in the right order and keep them there.
God’s order is:
Facts,
Faith, and
Feelings.
Facts form the foundation; faith rests on facts; and feelings come last.
For most people, feelings are the guiding factor in life. If they feel something, they think it is real. If they do not feel anything, they think it is not real. But this is not according to God’s order.
Others try to put faith first. They think that if they have enough “faith,” they can make anything come true. But this is not God’s way either. God wants us to have faith, but our faith must rest on His Word; otherwise it is of no value.
God’s order is always the same: (1) Facts, (2) Faith, and (3) Feelings. We are going to look at each of these three aspects of our lives so we can better understand how they affect our lives.
What is a Fact?
A fact is something that is true. For example, the sky is blue. This is a fact. It has always been true. It will always be true. It is true in this country, and it is true anywhere in the world. Your believing it does not make it true. It is true even if no one in the world believes it.
We need to get this firmly fixed in our minds—facts are always true. You may not believe a fact, but it is still true. You may not feel that a fact is true, but it is still true. For example, we know that Jesus Christ died for our sins and rose again. We know this is true because God’s Word says so. A person may or may not believe this, but it is still true. God’s facts are always true.
What is Faith?
The word “faith” is used in the Bible 239 times! This shows us the importance God places on faith. What is faith? Faith is taking God at His word and acting on it. God said it! I believe it! That settles it!
The Bible makes it clear that all the blessings of God come to us by faith. Without faith we cannot please God. The Bible says,
“Without faith it is impossible to please Him;
for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a
rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.” (Hebrews 11:6)
As important as faith is, it cannot stand alone. It must rest on something, and that “something” must be true. This is why our faith must always rest on God’s Word. Jesus said, “Your word is truth.”
Now let us look into God’s Word and learn more about faith.
*Faith deals with the unseen world
Faith deals with things that are real but unseen. We cannot see God, but by faith we know that God is real. We cannot see Heaven, but by faith we know that there is a real place called Heaven. The Bible says,
“Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” (Hebrews 11:1)
This means that faith is the way we “prove” the reality of things not seen. We cannot see the things of the spiritual world, but we know that they are real by faith in God’s Word.
*Faith makes spiritual truths real in our experience
We must understand this: Our faith does not make God’s facts true. They are true whether we believe them or not.
Then what does our faith do? Our faith in God’s facts makes them real in our experience. The Bible contains many wonderful promises of God. But they do not become ours until we claim them and make them ours by believing God’s Word. As we said before, it is a great fact that Jesus Christ died for our sins. God promises eternal life to all who believe on Him. But Christ does not become your Savior until you exercise faith in Him.
When you believe that Jesus Christ died for your sins and you take Him as your Savior, you experience salvation. Faith in Christ makes God’s salvation real in your experience. You can then say, “I am saved!”
*Faith believes God’s Word
Faith believes God in spite of unfavorable circumstances. Perhaps one of the best examples of this is Abraham. When Abraham and his wife, Sarah, were quite old, God promised them that they would have a son, and Abraham believed God. Fifteen years passed, and God’s promise had not been fulfilled.
Humanly speaking, it was impossible for Abraham and Sarah to have a son. Yet Abraham continued to believe God. In due time God gave Abraham the son He had promised to him. The Bible says of Abraham, “He staggered not at the promise of God through nonbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God; And being fully persuaded that, what He had promised, He was able also to perform.” (Romans 4:20-21)
*Faith obeys God
Faith and obedience go together. True faith always results in obedience. Believers are obeyers! The Bible says,
“By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, OBEYED; and he went out.” (Hebrews 11:8)
To say that you believe something and yet not act on it is not faith. True faith believes God and it obeys God. Faith that does not obey God is not living faith. The Bible says,
“…faith without works is dead.” (James 2:20)
*How to Increase your Faith
You may say, “I would like to have more faith. What can I do to increase my faith?”
Faith grows by constant, careful attention to God’s exact statements of fact in His Word.
“So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” (Romans 10:17)
Faith comes from the Word of God. Study God’s Word. Study it carefully each day to see exactly what God was saying in His Word. Believe it and apply it in your life. The result was that your faith will grow and grow.
What are Feelings?
Feelings are emotions such as joy, sorrow, happiness, and sadness. We should understand that feelings are quite different from facts in that facts never change, while our feelings are almost always changing. The state of our health affects our feelings. Our relationships with other people affect our feelings. Even a change in the weather can affect our feelings.
There is a saying, “You don’t know how the ball will bounce.” That’s the way your feelings are. You don’t know how your feelings will “bounce.”
One day you may be full of joy. The next day, for no apparent reasons, you may be sad and depressed. The important thing to remember about feelings is this: Feelings are very changeable. For this reason we should never try to rest our faith on our feelings.
A Christian lady was using the Bible to explain the way of salvation to a young girl. The girl was confused. She said, “I believe in the Lord Jesus, but I thought I had to wait for a certain kind of feeling or some burst of light or something.”
The lady pointed to some verses in God’s Word and said, “Here’s all the light you need.” The girl put her faith in God’s Word and found the peace and joy she had been seeking.
No matter how much our feelings may change, they do not affect facts. Facts are always true, and they are true regardless of our feelings.
Many sincere people seek for salvation but they do not find it
because they are looking for some kind of feeling. Feelings do have a
place in the Christian life, but they do not come first. Instead, they
follow facts and faith. The Bible says, “He who believes on the Son has the witness in himself.” Note the order: First, we believe; and then we have the witness of the Spirit in our heart.
How to Handle your Feelings
There are times in the life of every Christian when he feels discouraged and depressed. Even the great Apostle Paul went through times like this. In 2 Corinthians 1:8, Paul wrote,
“For we would not, brethren, have you
ignorant of our trouble which came to us in Asia, that we were pressed
out of measure, above strength, insomuch that we despaired even of
life.”
What should you do when you become discouraged? The thing to do is to turn your attention to God’s Word. Read and meditate on it. As you give careful attention to what God says in His Word, you will find new faith and courage springing up in your heart. The Bible says,
“Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and
peace in believing, that you may abound in hope, through the power of
the Holy Ghost.” (Romans 15:13)
In living the Christian life, we are not to be overly concerned with our feelings. We are not saved by our feelings and we do not live the Christian life by our feelings. We live it by faith in God’s Word. If we have enjoyable feelings, we thank God; if not, we go right on believing and obeying God. Faith in God’s facts is the way to a happy and blessed life.
Facts, Faith, Feelings
We have discovered one of the great lessons of the Christian life; facts, faith feelings. Always put your faith in God’s facts and let your feelings come along as they will.
God’s promise: This is my fact.
I believe it: This is my faith.
God fulfills it and I enjoy it: This is my feeling.
God’s order is always: (1) Facts, (2) Faith, and (3) Feelings. Facts form the foundation; faith rests on facts; feelings come last.
When the Lord Jesus was here on earth, He walked and talked with His disciples. How they enjoyed His presence! But one day He told them that He would soon be leaving them. The disciples were saddened at the thought that the Lord Jesus was going to leave them. Jesus said,
“Because I have said these things unto you, sorrow has filled your heart. Nevertheless I tell you the truth; it is expedient (better) for you that I go away…” (John 16:6-7)
The disciples could not understand how it could possibly be better for them if Jesus went away. But Jesus explained to them that He would send them the Holy Spirit. He said, ” But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.” (John 14:26) He would come, not just to be with them, but to live in them. Jesus said,
“At that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you.” John 14:20
On the Day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit came to live in His disciples. They were filled with joy! They went everywhere telling the wonderful news that Jesus Christ was alive and that He was Lord of all.
Best of all, they knew Christ was living in them and they enjoyed living in God’s presence. The Holy Spirit made Christ as real to them as He had been when He was with them in His bodily presence.
Christ Dwells in Every Believer
Just as the Lord Jesus lived in the hearts of those first disciples, so He lives in the hearts of His believers today. Christ lives in us by the Holy Spirit.
What does the Holy Spirit do for us? He makes Christ real to us. He causes us to feel convicted or bad when we sin. He enables us to enjoy a life in His presence. He takes the things of Christ and reveals them to us. The Lord Jesus said this about the Holy Spirit:
“He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you. All things that the Father has are Mine. Therefore I said that He will take from what is Mine and make it known to you.” John 16:14-15
The ministry of the Holy Spirit is to make Christ as real to us as He was to His first disciples. Many Christians feel that God and Jesus are far away. They say, “I believe the Bible, I pray, I go to church, but I don’t feel close to God. Why is this?”
First, we need to point out that there are some people that think they are Christians, but they have never been truly born again. Christ is not real to them because they do not belong to Him, and the Holy Spirit does not live in them. The Bible says,
“If anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His.” (Romans 8:9)
As for those who are truly born again, the reason God feels so distant to them is that they are grieving the Holy Spirit or they have not invested in their relationship with God.
The Holy Spirit is a being. He thinks, wills, enjoys, loves, desires, and suffers as any other beings would. He can be grieved. When we grieve the Holy Spirit, we create spiritual walls between God and ourselves. He can no longer show you Christ(because the wall is blocking it), and we lose our sense of the Lord’s presence. Christ never leaves us, but He does seem closer to us at times? Think about the times you felt close to God. What was happening. Chances are you were striving hard to live the best christian life. And when he felt far away, did were you living for God or yourself?
Many Christians do not know that they are grieving the Holy Spirit. Therefore, we need to understand what grieves Him and how to avoid it.
What Grieves the Holy Spirit?
There are a number of things that grieve the Holy Spirit. Let us consider some of them.
Unconfessed sin.
The Bible says that if we confess our sins and turn from them, God will forgive us. But, if we do not confess our sins and give them up, these sins come between us and God, and the Holy Spirit is grieved. The Bible says,
“If I regard iniquity (sin) in my heart, the Lord will not hear me.” Psalm 66:18
We may have offended someone but we refuse to apologize and make things right with that person. Or someone may have offended us, but we refuse to forgive him. We hold resentment against him. We are disobeying the Lord in some matter. There may be attitude sins such as pride, selfishness, or a rebellious spirit. Whatever sin it may be, if we hold on to it, we are grieving the Holy Spirit, and we cannot sense and enjoy the Lord’s presence.
Being taken up with the cares of this world.
The Holy Spirit wants to take the things of Christ and reveal them to us. We learn about the things of Christ in God’s Word. Therefore, we must spend time in prayer and the study of God’s Word so that the Holy Spirit can teach us the things of Christ. This is also the building blocks of a good relationship with God. The more we talk and listen the stronger the relationship becomes.
It is very easy to become so involved with the problems and cares of
this life that we do not take time for the things of God. Jesus said,
“but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful. ” Mark 4:19
The Holy Spirit is grieved when we allow things to “choke” the Word of God. We can determine the level of our spiritual experience by asking ourselves, “How much do I love God’s Word? How much time do I spend with the Lord each day?”
Worldliness.
Satan uses the world with all of its glitter to draw Christians away from God.
Someone has given this definition of worldliness: Anything that keeps me from enjoying God’s love and wanting to do God’s will.
Each day the Holy Spirit longs to open God’s Word to us, to reveal to us the riches of Christ, and to show us all that we have in Him. But many of God’s children do not take time for Him. Instead they spend hours and hours each week watching television, reading worldly literature, going to wrong places, and doing wrong things. They love the things of the world and devote their time to them. They constantly associate with people who do not know God or care about Him, or with Christians who are disobedient and have no desire to grow spiritually. It is no wonder that God is not real to them. The Bible says,
“Do you not know that friendship with the world
is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world
makes himself an enemy of God.” James 4:4
To enjoy the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ in our heart, we must stop doing those things that grieve the Holy Spirit. And we must start doing those things that please Him. The Bible says,
“Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.” Ephesians 4:30
Getting Right with God
God is holy and He cannot have fellowship with us when we have unconfessed sin in our life. Sin separates us from God. The Bible says,
“Behold, the LORD’S hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither His ear heavy, that it cannot hear. But your iniquities have separated you from your God; and your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He will not hear.” Isaiah 59:1-2
We receive eternal forgiveness when we are saved. When Jesus died on the cross, He bore all our sins—past, present and future. By His death on the cross, He paid for every sin we could possibly commit during our whole lifetime. When we are born again, we become God’s child forever.
But once we come into God’s family, there is the matter of our fellowship with our heavenly Father. Sin breaks our fellowship with Him. If a child of God should sin and continue in that sin without confessing it to God, he still remains God’s child, but his sins have broken his fellowship with the Father. He needs forgiveness to restore fellowship. We must deal with those sins which have come between us and our Father.
We cannot deal with our sins collectively by praying, “Lord, please forgive me of all my sins.” Our sins were committed one by one, and we must deal with them one by one.
Right now, get a sheet of paper. Start listing every sin in your life that you can think of, numbering them as you write them down. Be honest with God. The Bible says,
“If we say that we have no sin, we deceive
ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we say that we have not
sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.” 1 John 1:8, 10
Do not take this lightly. You are doing business with God. Think over your life carefully and write down every sin you can think of. Be honest with yourself. No one need see this list but you and God. You may need to work on this list over a period of time.
When you have written down all the sins you can think of, ask God to show you the sins in your life that you have not thought of. This is what the psalmist was doing when he prayed,
“Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me,
and know my thoughts; And see if there is any wicked way in me, and lead
me in the way everlasting.” Psalm 139:23-24
If you are sincere in this prayer,
God will show you additional sins in your life. Add these to your list
of sins. Give God time to go over your life and bring sins to your mind
After you have spent time on this first list, start a second list. On this list, write down the things you are doing that do not bring joy to God’s heart. There may be a number of things in your life that you do not regard as sins; yet you know that they are not pleasing to God. As God’s children, we have a responsibility to bring joy to His heart.
What to do about your Sins
When you have spent time on the
list of your sins and the list of the things that do not bring joy to
God, you are ready to ask God to forgive you of all these sins. The
Bible says,
“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:9
The only way to get right with God is to come to Him and humbly confess our sins. What does it mean “to confess our sins”? The word “confess” means to “say the same thing.” To confess our sins to God means that we are saying the same thing about them that God says about them. If we lied, we need to say that we lied. If we stole, we need to say that we stole. The blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from sins that we confess as sins, but it does not cleanse us from sins for which we make excuses.
What does it mean when it says that God is “faithful” to forgive our sins? It means that He keeps His Word. God has said that He will forgive us, and He always keeps His word.
What does it mean when it says that God is “just”
in forgiving us our sins? It means that He is righteous in forgiving us
because Christ has paid the penalty of our sins. God sees those sins as
being placed on Christ on the cross. Because Christ died for our sins,
God can righteously forgive us.
Now that we understand this, we are ready to confess our sins to God, one by one. Take the first sin on your list and say,
“Father, I have sinned against You by (name the
sin). Right now I am confessing this sin to You and asking You to
forgive me. I thank You that Jesus Christ shed His precious blood for
this sin.”
It may help you to think of placing that sin on Christ on the cross. That sin has now been transferred from you to Christ. It has been paid for by His death, and it is no longer on you.
Do the same thing with each sin on your list. Go down the entire
list, one by one, confessing each sin to God and asking His forgiveness.
Then go to the list of things that are not pleasing to God. One by one,
confess these to God. When you have completed this, ask, “Lord, is there anything else in my life that needs to be confessed and forsaken?”
We want our hearts cleansed from all sin and all defilement of sin. Therefore, it is good to ask the Lord to cleanse us with the precious blood of Christ from anything that would hinder our fellowship with Him.
Every sin that you have confessed to God is now forgiven. When we confess our sins, “He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
God not only forgives us, but He also forgets these sins. He says,
“Their sins and iniquities will I remember no more.” Hebrews 10:17
Ask the Holy Spirit to fill your Heart
If you are a child of God, the Holy Spirit is in your heart. He has been there since the moment you were born again. But if you have had sin in your life, then He has been unable to fill your life. Instead He has been grieved. Start making changes today.
True Repentance means a Change in your Life
When God’s children have been grieving the Holy Spirit, God calls on them to repent. God says,
“As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten; be zealous therefore, and repent.” Revelation 3:19
To repent of your sins means that you are sorry enough for them that you want to stop doing them.
David said, “I thought about my ways, and turned my feet to Your testimonies.” (Psalm 119:59) David realized that his ways were wrong and that he was hurting God’s heart. He turned from his wrong ways to God’s ways. That was true repentance.
Many times we pray and tell God that we are sorry for our sins and that we truly want to please Him, but the question is: Do we really mean what we say? God is not impressed with pious words and lovely prayers. He looks to see if there is a change in our actions. The Bible says,
“Talk no more so very proudly; let no arrogance come from your mouth. For the LORD is the God of knowledge; and by Him actions are weighed.” 1 Samuel 2:3
If you have truly repented and you truly want Christ to be real in your life, here are some things you will do:
You will put God first in your life.
It is one thing to say that you are putting God first in your life; it is another thing to live it out. But God will not accept any place other than first place. He purchased us with His own blood and we belong to Him. If God is truly first in our life, we will not let business, pleasure, work, or anything else be our main interest. If we put God first, He will take care of our needs. Jesus said,
“Seek first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these things will be added to you.” Matthew 6:33
You will love the Lord.
Trying to serve the Lord without loving Him is like being married to someone you don’t love. The heart of the relationship is missing.
The Lord Jesus loves us with all His heart, and He wants us to love
Him with all our heart. Jesus said that the first and great commandment
is this:
“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.” Matthew 22:37
You will turn from worldliness.
The Lord Jesus loved you enough to die for you, and He hates anything that would steal your heart from Him.
You will spend time with God.
A Christian who is so busy that he doesn’t have time to spend with God is fooling himself. He is like a man on a long car trip and says he is in such a hurry that he doesn’t have time to stop for gas.
Whatever cares and responsibilities we may have, we cannot let them crowd God out of our life. We must spend time with God in prayer and the study of His Word each day. We cannot overemphasize the importance of this. The Bible says of the Lord Jesus,
“Now in the morning, having risen a long while before daylight, He went out and departed to a solitary place, and there He prayed.” Mark 1:35
If the Son of God Himself found it necessary to spend time with His heavenly Father, how much more should we! I feel it is far better to begin with the day with God this is my most important Job.
If we love the Lord, obey His commandments, and spend time with Him, He will be real to us. The Lord Jesus said,
“He who has My commandments, and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and MANIFEST MYSELF TO HIM.” John 14:21
I grew up with an amazing older sister, Tonya, who is great at everything she does. She is talented, smart, beautiful and outgoing. Growing up and being “grown” with her I have always striven to be as good as her. Spoiler Alert! I never was. The only thing I seemed to be a little bit better than her in was memorizing Bible scripture. Living in the shadow of someone truly talented can make you feel inferior and unworthy. It’s not Tonya’s fault. I Love her to death and would fight to the end with her. Satan knew that this was a weakness of mine and played on that to keep my mind off the truth. God made us different for different purposes. We are not competitors, we are teammates playing different positions.
The feeling that you are not as good as other people is awful feeling. Felling like that you are ugly and unattractive and that nobody likes you only keeps you from being you. That is Satan pushing that feeling that you are dumb and that other people are smarter than you. Satan is telling you that you are a failure and a loser.
Why do we feel like we are not good enough?
These thoughts come from accepting the Satan influenced values of the world. Satan knows that wrong thinking leads to wrong actions and wrong feelings. In this case, the wrong feelings are feelings of inferiority.
What does the world value most? The world puts its highest value on three things:
(1) Physical attractiveness,
(2) Intelligence, and
(3) Money.
Most people think that they must have these things in order to feel good about themselves.
Physical attractiveness
So far as the world is concerned, a person’s looks is one of the most important things about him or her. The world says, “If
you are a ‘beautiful person,’ you are worth a lot; if you are not
beautiful, you are not worth much and you probably won’t be happy in
life.”
This is one of Satan’s lies. Even though it is not true, many people believe it and it has a profound effect upon them. Some people dislike themselves and some even hate themselves because they are so dissatisfied with the way they look.
1 Samuel 16:7
“God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart”
They think, “If only I could look like so-and-so, I’d be happy.”
The fact is that physical attractiveness does not make a person happy. God wants us to see that our worth as a person does not depend on our outward appearance.
Intelligence
The world says, “If you are smart, you are worthwhile; if you are not, then you are not worth much.”
This is another of Satan’s lies. Your value is not determined by how smart you are. I had a hard time in school. I do not learn as easily as others. When I would give a wrong answer in class, everyone laughed. That made me feel dumb and worthless.
The more a person fails at something, the more discouraged he gets. Gradually he comes to think that he is a complete failure. He may decide that he can’t do anything right and quit trying. This brings on more failure and fear of trying anything new.
God never values a person by his intelligence. When the Lord Jesus chose His disciples, He did not choose the smartest, most intelligent people of His day. He chose plain, ordinary people. The Bible says,
1 Corinthians 1:26-31 New International Version (NIV)
26 Brothers and sisters, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. 27 But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. 28 God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, 29 so that no one may boast before him. 30 It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. 31 Therefore, as it is written: “Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord.”
Money
A third way that the world values a person is by his wealth. The world says, “If you want to be important and you want to be happy, you must have money.”
This too is one of Satan’s lies. Money does not make a person happy, nor does it determine his value. The Lord Jesus said,
“A man’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things which he possesses.” Luke 12:15
Those who make wealth their goal in life fall into many sins. The Bible says,
“But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition.” 1 Timothy 6:9
God wants us to see that we do not need money to be happy. The Bible says,
“Godliness with contentment is great gain. For we
brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing
out. And having food and clothing let us with these be content.” 1
Timothy 6:6-8
Change Your Thinking!
Wisdom is seeing things as God sees them. God never values a person by his outward appearance, or by his intelligence, or by his wealth or social position. God deals with rich people exactly the same way he deals with poor people. The Bible says,
“For there is no respect of persons with God.” Romans 2:11
Physical attractiveness, intelligence and money are not evil in
themselves. It is the wrong value that the world places on these things
that is wrong. If we accept the wrong beliefs and values of the world,
it will lead to feelings of inferiority.
To change the way we feel about ourselves, we must change our thinking. We must see that our worth as a person does not depend on our outward appearance, our intelligence, our wealth or our social position.
We must see ourselves as God sees us. What are we worth in God’s sight? We are worth what He paid for us. He gave His Son to redeem us. That’s how much we are worth in His sight.
We must see too that God loves us and accepts us as we are. His love does not depend on what we are or what we have or what we do. God says, “Regardless of whether you are a success or failure, regardless of what you may think about yourself, regardless of what other people may think about you, I LOVE YOU!”
Recognize that you are not alone
You are not alone in your feelings. As you go about school or work, you come in contact with many other people—some smiling, talking, and laughing. You might think that they do not have a care in the world. But underneath it all, you will probably find that they, too, have deep self – doubt and fear. Almost all people have these feelings.
When you realize that other people have the same problem that you have, it helps you to understand them.
Make genuine friends
You don’t have to be beautiful or highly intelligent or have a lot of money to make friends. The best way to have a good friend is to be a good friend. One of the best places to find good friends is in a local church. Never make fun of another person. Respect others and accept them as they are. Let them know that they are important to you. Be especially considerate of those who have difficulty making friends. They will love and appreciate you for this. Nothing helps your self confidence more than having genuine friends. When you realize that other people like and appreciate you, it is easier to accept yourself.
Learn to do something well
Everyone needs to have proper self-esteem. One way to build proper self-esteem is to learn to do something well. Everyone has at least on thing that they are really good at.
Find something that you like to do and then work at it! Say to yourself, “I’ll learn as much about the Bible a possible,” or “I’ll succeed in my part-time job,” or “I’ll learn how to play basketball as well as possible,” or “I’ll see how many friends I can make,” or “I’ll learn to be a good tennis player,” or “I’ll learn to be a good cook.”
Don’t waste time feeling sorry for yourself. Make the most out of what you have. Develop a skill that will make you feel good about yourself. One of the best ways to develop a skill is to use it for God. Cook for people, play basketball with younger kids that need friends, or be that joyful, positive christian at work. Do the best you can in that particular thing. As you do, you will begin to like yourself more.
Face your problems honestly
Get alone where you can be quiet and think. Then make a list of all the things which you most dislike about yourself. Be honest. No one need see this except you and God. Pray about these things.
Do people get the wrong impression of you from the way you dress? You can correct this and you should. Are you lazy and careless about your work? Do something about it! We should do all things to the glory of God. Careless, haphazard work does not bring glory to God.
Whatever your problems are, write them down so you can face them honestly. Check the ones that you can do something about. Perhaps you know an older person—someone you can trust—who could help you.
“Unsolvable Problems”
What about the problems you have left on your list—those “unsolvable problems”? Everyone has one or more of these.
The best thing to do with your “unsolvable problems”
is to give them to the Lord Jesus. Tell the Lord that you cannot handle
these problems and that you are giving them to Him. Your prayer should
contain these thoughts, stated in your own words:
When you have prayed destroy your paper as a symbol that you have turned these problems over to the Lord forever. Whenever you start to fret about these problems again, remind yourself of your decision. Tell the Lord that you have turned these problems over to Him and that you are trusting Him to handle them.
The sheer amount of God’s promises overwhelms me. In this last section of psalm 91, God makes eight promises in one paragraph! He pledges to deliver, to protect, to answer, to be with us, to rescue and honor us, to satisfy and show us his salvation. God’s love moves him to joyfully commit to lavish and unbelievable promises!
Psalm 91:14-16 New International Version (NIV)
14 “Because he[a loves me,” says the Lord, “I will rescue him; I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name. 15 He will call on me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him and honor him. 16 With long life I will satisfy him and show him my salvation.”
God offers all these promises to us if we do three little things: I must hold fast to him in love, know his name, and call to him in trouble. I take this to mean when I know God in the fullness of all His amazing ways, I will then love him with a steadfast love. And my complete dependence on His love causes us to have a deep cry for salvation. He gets the praise, I get the freedom. He gets the glory, I get the rescue!
Do not think that knowing him, holding fast and calling on him still works we must contribute to our salvation, as works. These are necessary works God both requires and supplies! We only contribute what He has already given.
We know him only because He knew us first and enabled our knowing Him. “Formerly, when you did not know God, you were enslaved to those that by nature are not gods. But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God,” (Galatians 4:8-9). We know God because He knew us first and that empowers our knowing Him.
We hold fast in love, not by our strength or virtue, but because He holds fast to us. We call upon him because He has called us first. “To those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints together with all those who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours” (1 Corinthians 1:2). We only call on Him for salvation because the Holy Spirit convicted us to do so.
These promises in psalm 91 are made to the one who trusts in God: “I will say to the LORD, ‘My refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust’” (Psalm 91:2). As you trust in Him, you will know Him more clearly, love Him more deeply, and call on Him more freely. The root of every good fruit is trust in God.
Why did Satan seek to tempt Christ with verses 11-12 of this Psalm? Because he knew that Jesus Christ is God. Christ’s refusal to put His Father to the test shows His obedience is perfect; so should we strive to be, if we are in Him.
Know God then, in the face of Christ, because in Christ you are fully known. Hold fast in love to Christ because it is God’s love in Christ which holds you fast. Call upon the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, for in Christ you have been called.
We all need guardian angels. I sure hope I have a whole team, because I need them. And I say to them now, “Sorry, my bad.” The next two verses of Psalms 91 describe the protection God has for us in a beautiful way. These verses opens our eyes to the gentle, loving, care of God our Father for both His Son and those of us who are in Christ through salvation.
Psalm 91:11-13 New International Version (NIV)
11 For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways; 12 they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone. 13 You will tread on the lion and the cobra; you will trample the great lion and the serpent.
Read it again. Can you see God our Father speaking to Jesus and telling His Son, “When the time comes to send you to earth, I am going to command My angels to watch over you, to guard you in everything you do, and in every place you go (“all your ways”). The angels will hold you up, so that you won’t hurt yourself; you won’t even trip over a stone.
God’s love and care for His Son is easily seen because He makes sure that His Son knows ahead of time that He will be watching over Jesus every moment, and that is loving. The Father promises that Jesus will be protected and cared for, and that the Father will give Him the power to overcome any wild animals that might attack Him, and that is loving. So our picture of God the Father is of a loving, powerful, careful protector.
But wait! Look again! There is another picture here in theses same verses…like a picture inside the picture of the Father being protective and loving to the Lord.
Let’s look at the words of Scripture very closely. Why do you think that God, when He was writing these verses, chose the lion and the serpent as animals that wouldn’t harm Jesus? Do you remember in the garden of Eden when Satan entered into a serpent? And do you remember that the Scripture says that Satan is like a lion, looking for people to devour? Ohhhh!!! The lion and the adder are word pictures of Satan!
So God is telling Jesus He has protection against Satan himself! And when God tells Him that He will trample the lion and serpent under His feet, He is also promising that Jesus will certainly be victorious over Satan!
Because we can understand what God meant in our verse – that the lion and the serpent really mean Satan, we can see the hidden picture! We see the Son of God standing tall and powerful in our verses! Jesus is much more powerful than just being able to tread down a lion or a snake. Jesus is extremely mighty and able to tread down and to destroy all the power of Satan himself. When Satan tempted Jesus in the wilderness, Jesus overpowered Satan in His thinking and reasoning with him. But at the end of His earthly ministry, He trampled Satan all the way down when He was on the cross. When Jesus was dying and looked most defeated, He was really at the greatest point of His victory over Satan, and evil and death! It is there that God put His enemies under Jesus’ feet! There is another rich and wonderful picture!
Thank you, dear Father, for painting beautiful pictures of You and Your Son in the Word so that we can know you more completely. Thank you, too, for guarding Jesus and us against the Evil One. Thank you for sending Jesus to save us!
Thank you, Lord Jesus, for your great power and glory. Thank you for triumphing over your enemy and ours by dying on the cross, and rising in three days as you said you would!
Has your family struggled recently? What trials or difficulties have come your way? What pains have you experienced so far this year? These next verses in Psalms have a lot to say about these trials and how we should think and feel about them in relationship to the great God we serve and worship.
Psalm 91:9-10 New International Version (NIV)
9 If you say, “The Lord is my refuge,” and you make the Most High your dwelling, 10 no harm will overtake you, no disaster will come near your tent.
God is called the refuge for those who have made Him their dwelling place both in verse 2 and 9. A refuge is a place of protection and rest from dangers and troubles. We live in a wretched sinful world, one that is full pain and suffering. Because of that, all people will experience problems or as we read earlier in Psalm 91, “Terrors in the night” or “deadly pestilence.”
But, even in the middle of such difficulties, for those who make God their dwelling place, He will be their refuge. Look at this for a minute. To dwell means to live. a dwelling is a house, a place where you have all your stuff, where you rest, where you eat, and where you feel safe. Where you dwell is where you live. So “If you say, “The Lord is my refuge,” and you make the Most High your dwelling,” you are living in the Lord. You are going everyday and spending time. You return often and feel safe. And, ultimately and finally, God will keep evil from befalling those who are His. This is all because of the power and grace of His Son, Jesus Christ, who took the punishment due to those who are His.
The key, though, is that for people to experience this comfort and
reassurance they must make God their dwelling place. This comfort and
peace don’t come simply from thinking ‘happy thoughts’ or putting forth
‘positive energy.’ It is rooted and grounded in an objective being, God,
or as the psalmist refers to Him, the Most High.
No harm will overtake you, no disaster will come near your tent is the next section this does not mean everything is sunshine and roses. Look closely! No harm will overtake you. How can it? God is all powerful. Trails may come, but they can’t overtake you if you are living in the Most High. I have seen people go through tremendous tragedies and cancer and never lose their joy. It can not overtake them. They have the hope of eternity in Jesus and no earthly troubles are going to change that.
Are you clinging to God? Are you calling out to Him when the difficulties and trials of living in a sinful world come at you? Do you know and are you trusting in the Most High to be your refuge? If not, please turn to Him, the Creator of all things and experience the comfort and blessing of knowing Him and living under His comforting shelter.
The next two verses in Psalm 91 are sometimes difficult to comprehend. Is it literal, or is it figurative, or is it symbolic? But the more important question is, “Do you have the courage to believe that God means this literally in His promise of protection?” Is it possible that this could mean exactly what it says? Can you see that this paints a picture of spiritual warfare, as well as physical attacks? I think it is safe to say that not everyone will benefit from this promise. Like all the other promises in Psalm 91, this one is available to all; but only those who believes in God and holds onto the promises within, will receive the benefits. But we need to chooseto believe and trust His Word!
Psalm 91:7-8 New International Version (NIV)
7 A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you. 8 You will only observe with your eyes and see the punishment of the wicked.
Notice that this verse follows on the heels of verse 6, which tells us that we will not be afraid of the destruction…. God knows that there will be times when we will be overwhelmed with all the negative reports in life. Current events come to my mind; how about yours? That is why He is warning us in this verse that thousands will fall around us; they will not only cave into the doubts and worries of spiritual warfare, but could be consumed by the actual real-life events that are happening all around us(wars and mass murders; viruses and diseases).
At this point, we have to choose whether we will believe and trust; running to that shelter of the Most High, where He promised we would rest in His shadow. Remember Psalm 91: 1 and the first promise? He offers the promises of protection, but we must choose to claim them! Otherwise, we find ourselves, along with the rest of the world, passively accepting the consequences of “the destruction” that is happening to the thousands at our side, and the ten thousands at our right.
Now let’s take a look at the rest of our selection today. You will only observe with your eyes and see the punishment of the wicked .Here God is telling us that we will see His judgment at times. Sooner or later, every unconfessed sin of unbelievers will be exposed and paid for. We have seen that happen. An evil dictator falls; an aggressive tyrant faces his crimes against humanity. I think this verse is telling us that if we seek His protection from the evil that is causing those around us to fall, we will see it and not let it become part of us. Our protection keeps us from letting the Enemy’s hate become a part of us. By believing and trusting in His protection promises, we are putting ourselves in a separate category from the wicked mentioned in the verse. I want to caution you that Psalm 91 does not promise protection from persecution. There is a difference in the destruction of the enemy and persecution for the gospel’s sake.
In truth, Jesus, himself, told us that if we follow Him, we can expect to be persecuted. Jesus suffered persecution, but He did not face calamity, disaster, disease, or catastrophes. This verse lets us know to expect that spiritual warfare will be a part of our Christian walk, as well as physical attacks. The words of this verse are not written just to inspire or comfort us, but to provide protection and deliverance from the attacks of the Enemy.
What I hope you have seen, and will see in the coming verses is that Psalm 91 is a complete covenant package of protection. It covers all the evils known to mankind, and God tells us how to claim His protection over them all!
