I AM FLOURISHING

Psalm 92:12,13, Amplified Bible

The [uncompromisingly] righteous shall flourish like the palm tree [be long-lived, stately, upright, useful, and fruitful]; they shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon [majestic, stable, durable, and incorruptible].  Planted in the house of the Lord, they shall flourish in the courts of our God.

I love these verses in Psalm 92.  We will be studying verses 14 and 15 tomorrow.  They are such melodies to my soul.

I am righteous.  What does that mean?  I have been made right with God and been given His ability to think the way He thinks and to do things the way He doe them.  Now that takes some practice and time spent with Him and His Word to learn from His manual (the Bible) how He does things.  He thinks differently than you.  If you have spent any time with Him, you already know that.  Every day we have to renew our minds to way He thinks.  For example, He says that we are to give when we need something.  In the world we hoard when we are in need.  The two ideas are at exactly opposite ends of the pole.  But that is the way God is.

Because I am righteous, look at all that I am.  First of all, I flourish like a palm tree.  Palm trees withstand the storms of life when other trees are uprooted and fall.  A palm tree is generally long-lived.  It is useful and fruitful.  We flourish like the palm tree.  Flourish means:  To expand, prosper, increase, increase in wealth, enlarge, shoot out, enter into a state of prosperity, become extremely successful.  I like that, don’t you?  I like to increase in wealth and become extremely successful.  Why?  So I can help others and bring joy to their lives.

I grow strong like a cedar in Lebanon.  I am full of God’s majesty; therefore, I am majestic.  I am stable because the Lord of stability lives in me.  I am durable because God always endures long.  He never wears out.  Neither do I, in Him!  I am incorruptible because the incorruptible One lives in me.  He is incorruptible.  Nothing decays Him.

I am planted in the house of the Lord.  I am planted there.  I am not going anywhere.  I am fixed in Him and His house.  Because I am planted in the house of the Lord, I flourish (succeed, prosper, increase and expand) in everything I set my hands to do in the courts of my Lord.

How refreshed we are in Him!

I HAVE SET MY LOVE UPON HIM

Psalm 91:14-16, Amplified Bible

Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore will I deliver him; I will set him on high, because he knows and understands My name [has a personal knowledge of My mercy, love, and kindness—-trusts and relies on Me, knowing I will never forsake him, no, never].  He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him and honor him.  With long life will I satisfy him and show him My salvation.

We are to set our love upon the Lord.  We are to love Him first, above all other people and things.  We are to love Him above our spouses and children.  But we cannot love Him until we know how much He loves us.  Don’t focus on trying to love Him.  Focus your attention on how much He loves you, and the first thing you know is that you will be responding to His love for you.

When we set our love upon the Lord, He delivers us.  He sets us above all the problems and troubles of this world.  How does He do that?  He does that as we know and understand His name.  When we understand the value of His name, we trust Him completely, knowing He will never forsake us.  His name is above every name, and every knee must bow to His name.  The knee of sickness and disease and lack must bow to the name of the Lord Jesus.  There is no other name on earth that has the power of the name of Jesus.  All other names of things are in subjection to the name of Jesus.  They are not greater than He is or His name is.  He has given us His name as power of attorney, in His place, to use as we need it.  Use His name when needed.  He will back you.

Proverbs 18:10

The name of the LORD is a strong tower; the righteous run into it and they are safe, high above evil, strong, set aloft.

The Lord will never forsake you.  He assures you of that in Hebrews 13:5,6, Amplified Bible.  “…for He [God] Himself has said, I will not in any way fail you nor give you up nor leave you without support.  [I will] not, [I will] not, [I will] not in any degree leave you helpless nor forsake nor let [you] down (relax My hold on you)!  Assuredly not!]  So we take comfort and are encouraged and confidently and boldly say, The Lord is my Helper; I will not be seized with alarm [I will not fear or dread or be terrified].  What can man do to me?”

We call upon the Lord and He answers us.  He is always right there.  His line is never busy; He never puts you on hold; He never ignores your call and lets it go to voicemail; He never keeps you waiting.  In today’s modern world, that is such a blessing to me.  He is always available.

He is with me in trouble.  He delivers me from all my troubles.

The Lord honors me.

He satisfies me with long life and shows me His salvation (deliverance, healing and health, prosperity, well-being) in every area of my life.  In Him is life and there is no death.  In His pathway there is life and there is no death.  That means that in Him we simply take off our earth suit when the assignment He has given us on this earth is finished.  We don’t have to vacate our bodies with sickness and disease or accidents brought on by satan.  There is a no trespassing sign on us that says:  Keep Off!  Private Property!  Owned by Jesus Christ!   Only one catch to that—-we have to enforce it.  We have already done all the dying we are going to do when we accepted Jesus as our Savior and Lord.  We have died to self and are alive in Him.  Glory to God!

NO EVIL BEFALLS ME

Psalm 91:9-13, Amplified Bible

Because you have made the Lord your refuge, and the Most High your dwelling place, there shall no evil befall you, nor any plague or calamity come near your tent.  For He will give His angels [especial] charge over you to accompany and defend and preserve you in all your ways [of obedience and service].  They shall bear you up on their hands, lest you dash your foot against a stone.  You shall tread upon the lion and adder; the young lion and the serpent shall you trample underfoot.

You have made the Lord your refuge.

You have made the Most High your dwelling place.

Therefore, no evil comes near you.  No plague comes near your dwelling.

The Lord gives His angels charge over you to accompany, defend, guard, protect, keep preserve you everywhere you go.

The angels bear you up away from danger.

God has given you authority over all the demonic forces (lions, serpents, adders).  You trample them underfoot.  In other words, they are under your authority.  They have no authority over you.  They have no power over you.

In terms of the power God has given you, let’s talk about several scriptures in the New Testament.

Hebrews 2:14,15

Jesus has rendered the devil powerless where you are concerned.  He completely paralyzed him and put him out of commission forever.  He is rendered absolutely helpless.  Jesus has brought him to naught and made him of no effect.  In modern language, he has been reduced to zero.  Jesus has delivered you from the devil’s authority.  Now you have the authority over him.  Jesus has redeemed you, released you from the devil’s captivity or bondage

Colossians 2:14,15

Jesus has nailed to the cross the handwriting of all the ordinances that satan has written against you, the law of sin and death.  Therefore, it is cancelled and blotted out and wiped away forever.  God Himself has disarmed the principalities and power that were set against you; He has triumphed over them in Jesus.

1 John 3:8

Jesus was manifest in this earth to loosen, undo, dissolve, destroy the works of the devil for you.  When Jesus went to the cross, the works of the devil were destroyed forever where you are concerned.

Colossians 1:13,14

The Father has delivered you and drawn you to Himself from the control and dominion of darkness (which is satan, all the demons and all their assignments of depression, oppression, etc.) and transferred you into the Kingdom of the Son of His Love, Jesus, in Whom you have your redemption; your release is secured through the blood of Jesus, which means the forgiveness of your sins and all that sin brings.

What about the angels?  Hebrews 1:14 tells us that the angels of the Lord are ministering spirits sent forth to minister for those who are heirs of salvation.  If you are born again, that is you.  Psalm 103:20  “Bless the LORD, you his angels, (His mighty ones) that excel in strength, that do His commandments, hearkening unto the voice of the Lord.”  And the voice of the Lord is the Word of God in your mouth.