HE IS MY DELIVERER

Psalm 91:3,4, Amplified Bible

For [then] He will deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the deadly pestilence.  [Then] He will cover you with His pinions, and under His wings shall you trust and find refuge; His truth and His faithfulness are a shield and buckler.  It says “noisome” pestilence in the King James Bible.  That means injurious, hurtful, harmful to health.

After we say that the Lord is our Refuge and Fortress and that we trust in Him, then He delivers us from the snare or trap that satan lays for us and from deadly pestilences.  He covers us with His wings.  The Truth of His Word is a protective shield for us against all the fiery darts of the enemy.

According to the dictionary, a snare is an instrument for catching something unexpectedly or to involve it in difficulty, particularly by the leg (our walk of life); anything by which one is entangled and brought to trouble; to bring into unexpected evil, perplexity or danger.  Satan is the one who sets the trap to entrap us in our walk of life.

The first chapter of James talks about temptation.  It is all about the weakness of one’s flesh.  Temptation is pressure or enticement on your flesh, to do or say something that is outside the will or Word of God.  A test, trial or temptation is a snare, a trap satan sets; the bait or lure is your own weakness, with the intent of killing you, stealing from you and destroying you.  Bait implies a snare.  The whole aim is to steal the Word of God from you.  Jesus was tempted in all points so that He took care of every temptation for us, if we yield ourselves to Him rather than the temptation.  When He was tempted, He gave us the illustration of what we are to do in response to a temptation, test or trial.  His response was:  IT IS WRITTEN!  Also in a trial, if you lack wisdom on what to do, ask God.  He will show you step by step how to come out of it.  Depend on Him.  God has got you covered!

We are also delivered from pestilences when we trust in the Lord for our lives.  According to Luke 21:11 in the Amplified Bible, pestilences are defined as “plagues: malignant and contagious or infectious epidemic diseases which are deadly and devastating.”  I would say that covers it all as far as diseases are concerned.  As far as I am concerned, it also covers chemical and biological warfare.

We are also covered under the wings of the Lord.  The Jewish prayer shawl has long tassels which are called wings, representing the protection of the Lord.  We are under His wings.  We have already quoted Psalm 57:1 in the previous day’s Pearls but let me refresh your memory.  That verse says that we take refuge in the shadow of His wings and are confident until calamities and destructive storms are passed.  That can refer to both physical storms and spiritual storms.  In Psalm 61:4 we read this:  “I will dwell in Your tabernacle forever; let me find refuge and trust in the shelter of Your wings.”

God’s Truth (His Word) and His faithfulness to His Word for us is our shield and buckler.  A shield is a broad piece of defensive armor used in war for the protection of the body with different shapes and sizes (triangle, square, oval) made of leather or wood covered with leather and borne on the left arm.  It is a good defense against arrows, darts, spears, etc.  A buckler is a kind of shield, wood or wicker woven together, covered with skin or leather, fortified with plates of brass or metal and worn on the left arm.  In the middle was a prominence, useful in causing stones and darts to glance off.  A buckler could be body armor, often 4 foot long and covered the whole body.

Ephesians 6:16, Amplified Bible

Lift up over all the [covering] shield of saving faith, upon which you can quench all the flaming missiles of the wicked [one].

I WILL SAY OF THE LORD

Psalm 91:2, Amplified Bible

I will say of the Lord, He is my Refuge, and my Fortress, my God; on Him I lean and rely, and in Him I [confidently] trust!

This verse involves you and me saying something.  We are to say that God is our Refuge and our Fortress.  He is our God.  We confidently trust in Him; we lean on Him; we rely on Him.  In The Message Bible we say:  God, You’re my Refuge.  I trust in You and I’m safe.  That is pretty concise.  God, I trust you for my safety.  That’s it!

What are we saying when we say that God is our Refuge and Fortress?  A refuge is a place where we are safe and protected.  It is an enclosure, a shelter of protection from all physical danger.  A fortress is our place of strength, our defense against all human enemies, our stronghold.  God is our stronghold.

There are many scripture references about refuge and fortress.  I will list a few in the Amplified Bible:  Psalm 16:1; Psalm 18:1-3; Psalm 46:1,7; Psalm 48:3; Psalm 57:1,2; Psalm 59:16,17: Psalm 62:5-8; Proverbs 30:5; 2 Samuel 22:2,3.

From a summary of all these scriptures I declare that the Lord is my Rock of escape, my Fortress and my Deliverer. The Lord of Hosts is with me as my Refuge, Fortress and High Tower.  He is the One in Whom I take refuge.  He is my Shield and the Horn of my salvation.  He is my keen and firm Strength (mighty and impenetrable to temptation); I am strong in Him.  He is my Stronghold and my Savior to save me from violence.  He is my High Tower.  I can call upon Him Who is worthy to be praised and I am saved from my enemies.  He is a very present and well-proved help in trouble.  The Lord has made Himself known as my Refuge, High Tower and Stronghold.  The God of mercy is my defense and refuge in the day of trouble.

“He only is my Rock, my Salvation, my Defense, my Fortress; I shall not be moved.  With God rests my salvation and my glory; He is my Rock of unyielding strength and impenetrable hardness, and my refuge is in God!  I trust in, lean on, rely on, and have confidence in him at all times.  I pour out my heart before Him.” (Psalm 62:6-8)  God is a Refuge, Fortress and a High Tower for me.

As my High Tower, the Lord lifts me high above all my enemies.  I look down on them from my position in Him, seated with my Jesus in the position of authority at the right hand of His Majesty, Father God.  I run to Him and I am safe and set high, aloft, above all that would harm me.

Psalm 57:1,2, Amplified Bible

Be merciful and gracious to me, O God, be merciful and gracious to me, for my soul takes refuge and finds shelter and confidence in You; yes, in the shadow of Your wings will I take refuge and be confident until calamities and destructive storms are passed.  I will cry to God Most High, Who performs on my behalf and rewards me [Who brings to pass His purposes for me and surely completes them]!

Proverbs 30:5, Amplified Bible

Every word of God is tried and purified; He is a shield to those who trust and take refuge in Him.

We can trust God and His Word to be the place of our protection.

CANOPY OF PROTECTION

Psalm 91 is our security system.  It is our Psalm of protection by the God of the universe.  This Psalm is a done deal because of the finished work of Jesus.

Psalm 91: 1, KJV and Amplified Bible

He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High (El Elyon) shall abide, dwell, remain stable and fixed under the shadow of the Almighty (El Shaddai) [whose power no foe can withstand].

When we abide somewhere, we dwell there.  We are fixed unalterably, settled, set, firmly established, steadfastly dwelling in that place.  We take up residence there.

We are in the secret place of God, covered by Him, sheltered under His wings like little chicks are under the mother hen.  In Psalm 27:5 we read that in the day of trouble He hides us in His shelter; in the secret place of His tent He hides us; He sets us high upon a rock.  In Psalm 119:114 we read that He is our hiding place and our shield; we hope in His Word.

The shadow of the Almighty is His glory.  We read in Isaiah 4:5 that over all, (that means you and me) the glory shall be a canopy, a defense of divine love and protection.  His glory is our canopy of defense and protection.  His glory is His love expressed and revealed for all to see.  We can be here on this earth inside the glory of God, a protection over us and around us.  Yes, God is our protection.  His power no foe can withstand—-absolutely no foe.  No one can stand against Him or His children, when we stay fixed in Him.

The protection of His glory, of His presence comes as we worship Him.  We dwell in the secret place of the Most High God WHOSE SHADOW no foe can withstand.  Once again, I repeat; His shadow is His glory or His power as a canopy over us as His defense for us of His divine love and protection.  There is no enemy or foe that can stand against us in God’s Presence.  That is forbidden territory for the enemy.  He cannot even come near the Presence of God.

When we are in God’s Presence, through worshipping Him, we cannot be touched by the enemy.  Satan may try to deceive us and lie to us and tell us that we can be touched.  Oh, no, no, no.  That would be contrary to the Word of God that we have just read.  We are protected as we walk out our victory over whatever comes against us.

Two more scriptures seal our knowledge that we are protected by God.  1 John 5:18 makes this statement about those of us who are born or begotten of God:  God carefully watches over and protects us; Christ’s divine presence within us preserves us against the evil and the wicked one does not lay hold, get a grip on us or touch us.  In Luke 10:19 we read that Jesus said that He gives us power to tread on serpents and scorpions (demonic powers) and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means harm or hurt us.

We are protected by Almighty God.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Today is the day set aside in the United States of America to give thanksgiving for all we have.  But I say to you that every day should be a day of thanksgiving set aside to give thanks to God for every day is the day that He has made.  We are to rejoice and be glad in it.

Spend some time today with your family thinking of all that you have to be thankful for.  Even in the worst of circumstances, there is always something for which we can be thankful.  Did you know that thanksgiving is contagious?  It draws good things to you.  People who are thankful are people who are generally prosperous and healthy and live a long life.  I am told that the medical profession is now releasing information regarding the chemicals that are released in our human bodies from our brain when we are cheerful and uplifting and when we are depressed and down.  Different chemicals are released.  One set of chemicals enhances your health and leads to a full life.  The other set of chemicals tear down your body cells and lead to disease and death.

The key to long living is a life of joy, a life of thanksgiving.

Today we are going to read Psalm 150 together.  It is the last Psalm in the book of Psalms.

Praise the Lord!  Praise God in His sanctuary; praise Him in the heavens of His power!

Praise Him for His mighty acts; praise Him according to the abundance of His greatness!

Praise Him with trumpet sound; praise Him with lute and harp!

Praise Him with tambourine and [single or group] dance; praise Him with stringed and wind instruments or flutes!

Praise Him with resounding cymbals; praise Him with loud clashing cymbals!

Let everything that has breath and every breath of life praise the Lord!

Praise the Lord!

Hallelujah!

PRAISE THE LORD FOR HE IS GOOD

God is soooooooooo good!  He is good all the time!  All the time He is good!

Today I did a study on the goodness of God, and when I finished my study, I was singing and shouting praises to God because I realized what all He has done for me and continues to do for me personally every day.  I started my day feeling a bit overwhelmed with all that I had to do and four hours later I finished praying.  I thought I understood goodness before but I did not have a clue of what His goodness really means to us.

He is kind and loving all the time toward all people.  That is what His goodness is.  He is good.  There are so many scriptures on goodness but I am going to focus on Psalm 145, which is labeled in my Bible:  The Goodness of the Lord.

Psalm 145:1-3, Amplified Bible

I will extol You, my God, O King; and I will bless Your name forever and ever [with grateful, affectionate praise].  Every day [with its new reasons] will I bless You [affectionately and gratefully praise You]; yes, I will praise Your name forever and ever.  Great is the Lord and highly to be praised; and His greatness is [so vast and deep as to be] unsearchable.

Romans 11:36, Amplified Bible

For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things.  [For all things originate with Him and come from Him; all things live through Him, and all things center in and tend to consummate and to end in Him.]  To Him be glory forever!  Amen (so be it).

One generation praises His works to another and declares His mighty acts.  I am speaking of and meditating on the glorious honor of His majesty and of His wonderful works (things, words).  I am speaking of the might of His tremendous acts and I am declaring His greatness.  I pour forth like a fountain the fame of His great and abundant goodness and am singing aloud of His rightness.

The Lord is gracious and full of compassion, slow to anger and abounding in mercy and loving-kindness.  The Lord is good to all, and His tender mercies are over all His works, the entirety of things created.  O Lord, all Your works are praising you, and I as Your loving one bless You, confess Your goodness and Your name and praise You.  I continue to speak of the glory of Your Kingdom and talk of Your awesome power, a power which makes known to the sons of men Your mighty deeds and the glorious majesty of Your Kingdom.

Lord, I thank You that You hold up all Your children who are falling and that you raise up all those who are bowed down.  The eyes of all of us are waiting for You, looking and watching and expecting You, to give us good in due season.  You open Your hand and satisfy every living thing with favor.

Lord, You are righteous and gracious and merciful to all.  You are near to all who call upon You in truth, with sincerity.  You are fulfilling the desires of those who reverence You and hearing their cry and saving them.  You preserve all those who love You.

My mouth shall speak praises to You my Lord continually, and let all my flesh bless Your holy name forever.

I MAGNIFY THE LORD

Psalm 34:1,3, Amplified Bible

I will bless the LORD at all times:  his praise shall continually be in my mouth.

O magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt his name together.

Psalm 69:30

I will praise the name of God with a song, and will magnify him with thanksgiving.

If we look up the word “magnify” in the dictionary, it means “to make great or greater, to increase, to enlarge.”  In Cruden’s Concordance the word “magnify” means “to declare and show forth one’s greatness and glory, to increase one’s esteem, reputation, and authority.”

Blessing the Lord and praising Him magnifies Him in our lives.  It causes Him to become greater than our problems.  It elevates Him to level of priority in our lives.  It causes us to see beyond our small earthly world to the great, immense supernatural realm of God’s Kingdom.  It changes us from small thinking to possibility thinking.

When we magnify the Lord, He hears us and delivers us from all our fears.  We do not want for any good thing.  He redeems our soul from destruction.  We are blessed to see His goodness in the land of the living.  His eyes are ever upon us and His ears are ever open to our voice.  He hears His beloved children and He sees us and He delivers us.

In 2 Samuel 7:26 we read:  And let thy name be magnified for ever….

We are to magnify the name of the Lord.  We are to show forth His greatness and His glory and His authority.  It is all in His name.

But now look at this passage of scripture in Psalm 138:1,2:  “I will praise you with my whole heart; before the gods will I sing praise unto you.  I will worship toward your holy temple, and praise your name for your loving-kindness and for your truth:  for you have magnified your word above all your name.”

God says this:  Yes, let My name be magnified; praise Me.  Praise My name for My loving-kindness and for My Truth.  For I have magnified My Word (My Truth) above all My name.  This passage of scripture tells me that He holds His Word as His Truth in the highest place of honor and respect and authority.  You and I must do the same.

We are to SAY CONTINUALLY:  LET THE LORD GOD BE MAGNIFIED (in me, in my family, in my body, in my marriage, in my job, in my country, in my home, in my children).  I say continually:  Let God be magnified as my victory, as my deliverance, as my prosperity, as my health, as my help, as my success, as my overcomer, as my LORD.  Amen, So Be It!

Psalm 35:27

Let them shout for joy, and be glad, that favor my righteous cause:  yes, let them say continually, Let the LORD be magnified, which has pleasure in the prosperity of his servant.

Psalm 40:16

Let all those that seek thee rejoice and be glad in thee:  let such as love thy salvation say continually, The LORD be magnified.

Psalm 70:4

Let all those that seek thee rejoice and be glad in thee:  and let such as love thy salvation (victory, deliverance, aid, prosperity, health, help, welfare) say continually, Let God be magnified.

O GIVE THANKS TO THE LORD

Psalm 118:1; Psalm 107:1; Psalm 136:1

O give thanks unto the LORD, for he is good:  for his mercy endures for ever.

O give thanks unto the God of gods:  for his mercy endures for ever.

O give thanks to the Lord of lords:  for his mercy endures for ever.

Why are we to give thanks to the Lord?  Look at the rest of the verses in these three Psalms.

He is good!

His mercy endures forever.

He alone does great wonders.

By His Wisdom He made the heavens, stretched out the earth above the waters, made great lights with one being the sun to rule by day and the others being the moon and stars to rule by night.

He brought Israel out of Egypt (bondage to a slave master) with a strong hand and with a stretched out arm.  He defeated her enemies before her. He gave them land for an inheritance.

He remembers us in our low estate.

He has redeemed us from our enemies.

He gives food to all flesh.

We can call upon Him in distress, and He answers us and sets us in a large place.

He is on our side; what can anyone do to us?

He takes care of us when we are in trouble and when we are not in trouble.

He is our strength and our song and is become our salvation.

He brings life to us when we are compassed about with the enemies of trouble.

He makes each day a new day for us so that we can rejoice.

He sends prosperity

He has redeemed us from the power and strength of our adversary.

We cry to the Lord in the midst of our troubles and He delivers us from our distresses.

He brings us out of darkness, destruction, misery, ignorance, sorrow, wickedness and the shadow of death and breaks the bands that hold us back.

He sent His Word and healed us and delivered us from our destructions.

He makes the storm a calm so that the waves are still.

He blesses us with multiplication and increase.

He waters our fields and prepares us a habitation in which to dwell and sow and plant and harvest.

Whoever is wise sees all these things and understands the loving-kindness of the Lord.

We will praise God for His goodness and for His wonderful works to the children of men!

He is our God.  He is good.  We will praise Him.  We will exalt Him.

We give thanks to You Lord God, for you are good and Your mercy endures forever.

THE TRUTH SETS YOU FREE

Jesus spoke these words to those who believe in Him:

If you continue in my Word, if you abide in my Word, if you hold fast to My teachings and live in accordance with them, you are indeed or truly my disciples.  And you shall know the Truth, and the Truth shall make you, set you free.  (John 8:30,31)

In John 17:17 Jesus tells us that His Word is the Truth.

We as believers in Jesus Christ must also believe His Word that we hold in our hands called The Bible.  This Bible is God’s Word, His voice expressed on paper.  It is God speaking to us.  That is why the Bible comes alive after you accept Jesus as your Savior.  Up to that time you did not have access to the Holy Spirit to interpret God’s Word.  He is God’s teacher sent to us to teach us about God and His Kingdom, or His way of doing things.  God’s way of doing things is completely different than the world’s way of doing things.  Basically, the Word of God is our manual to retrain our way of thinking.  Every day we have to take the Word of God into our minds and spirits to live the way God wants us to live.  And His way of living is successful, victorious, abundant living.  He never fails.  He is never defeated.  When we hook in with Him and His Word, we are not defeated nor do we fail.

I know what you are saying to me if you have been walking with Jesus any period of time.  Well, it hasn’t always worked for me.  I can say the same thing on occasions.  This I know:  The Word of God works every time if it is abiding in us.  There is the clue.  It came from Jesus’ mouth.  If you abide in me and my words abide in you, you are my disciples and the Truth shall set you free.  Let’s admit some things here.  Consistency is the key to victory.  When we consistently abide in Jesus and His Word, we get results.  When we consistently look to Him for our victory and not ourselves, we get results.  God’s Word keeps us on the right track of thinking because sometimes our thinking gets off track and we experience a derailment as a train would.

Romans 12:2, 2 Corinthians 4:16 and Ephesians 4:23 all tell us to constantly, daily renew our minds with the Word of God.  Every day we are exposed to the words of the world where we work, where we shop, and at home, if we watch secular television.  There are words of doubt, unbelief, fear, dread, failure, defeat, sickness and disease being released all the time in the world.  That is the reason we must expose our minds on a daily basis to the Word of God.  His Word keeps our thinking on line and gives us a fresh mental and spiritual attitude.

When we hear things that are contrary to God’s Word, if we know His Word, we know that in comparison to His Word, they are lies.  God’s Word is Truth.  You hear the doctor tell you that you are dying.  God’s Word tells you that you will live and declare the glory of the LORD.  The banker is foreclosing on your house.  God’s Word says that He will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory.  Whose Word are we going to believe?  Of course, it is tough because we must constantly practice believing God when it looks like we are going down for the third time.  Wow!  What are we to do?  Stand!  Believe God!  He does not lie.

I have been practicing saying this all the time:  I believe I receive!  Why don’t you do that as you read the Word of God and see things that God says are yours?  I am finding that it is changing me day by day.

THE WORD BRINGS UNDERSTANDING

In Psalm 119:105 and 130 we read that the Word of God is a lamp or candle unto our feet and a light unto our path.  The entrance of His Word gives light or understanding.  It gives us discernment and comprehension of the ways of the Lord.  That Word of God is God Himself speaking to us and giving us understanding.

In Proverbs 6:23 we read that God’s Word is a lamp and that His Word is light or understanding and a way of life for His children.

When you lack wisdom and understanding of a situation in your life, go to the Word of God and get understanding.  He has the answer to all our questions and the comfort in all our situations we encounter in life.

Everyone is looking for answers.  Those answers can be found in the Word of God.  His Word is given to us to direct us and guide us into the ways of Truth.  It is God’s way of speaking to us and giving us His way of doing things and His way of thinking.  Through His Word, His ways and thoughts can become our ways and thoughts.

Today, as you read your Bible, ask the Holy Spirit to give you understanding for your day and to give you words of understanding for others you encounter along the way.

THE TRUTH IS THE LIGHT

The Truth of God is His Light sent forth to dispel the darkness of satan’s lies.

Psalm 119:105,130

Your Word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path.

The entrance of Your Word gives light; it gives understanding, discernment and comprehension to the simple.

Here we see that God’s Word is light.  It gives understanding to all.

Yesterday we learned that Jesus is the Word and that He is the Truth.  Today we see His Word gives light.

He also said that He is the Light of the world and that he who follows Jesus shall not walk in darkness but have the light of life (John 8:12).  In John 1:9 John refers to Jesus as the true Light which lights every man that comes into the world.  Isaiah prophesied in 42:5-7 of Jesus coming as the Light for not only the Jews but also the Gentiles.  He said that He would come as a Light to open the eyes of the blind, to bring the prisoners from the prison, and bring those who sit in darkness out of their prison.

In Isaiah 9:2 and Matthew 4:16 we read that the people who walked in darkness have seen a great Light; those who dwell in the land of darkness and the shadow of death, upon them has the Light shined.  Luke tells us in 1:78,79 that because of God’s great mercy and loving-kindness a Light from on high will dawn upon us and visit us to shine upon and give light to those who sit in darkness, and in the shadow of death, to direct and guide our feet in a straight line into the way of peace.

1 John 1:5:  …God is light and in Him is no darkness at all.

Follow me carefully; we are going somewhere with this.  So, we have definitely established from God’s Word that God is Light and in Him is no darkness at all.  Yesterday we established that God’s Word is Truth, that Jesus is called the Word, and that Jesus is the Truth.

Now, let’s take it a step further.  Are you ready for this? Jesus said in Matthew 5:14-16 that you are the light of the world and that you are to let that light shine for all to see your good works and glorify your Father Who is in Heaven.  In 1 Thessalonians 5:5 we read that we are the children of light, and the children of the day; we are not of the night, nor of darkness.  In Ephesians 5:8 we are instructed to walk as children of light.  Once we were darkness but now we are light in the Lord.

How do we let the Light of God shine?  What does that mean?  I submit to you that it is a simple instruction and way of life.  As we give voice to God’s Word, His Word which is Truth, goes forth as a Light from the children of Light (God Himself, Jesus the Word, the Truth and the Way) to dispel the darkness of anything contrary to THE TRUTH.  Where there is light, there cannot be darkness.  It is not possible.  Light a candle and the room is no longer dark.  Send forth the Word of God Who is Light and Truth and the place where it is sent is no longer dark.  This is fact.  Wow!

Send the Light of God’s Word of Truth into the darkness of sickness and disease, poverty, lack, want, discouragement, disappointment, doubt, unbelief, failure, defeat, etc. and let God’s Word of Light do His work of bringing the light of health, prosperity, well-being, wholeness, faith, success, encouragement, etc. into your life and the lives of other people.