2022-07-29
Good Morning Dear Ones,
The Spirit commands me to finish up on the crown of protection. PS 5: 12, “Surely, Lord, You bless the righteous, You surround them with Your favor as with a shield.” The people, like Job and others who were right with God, may have suffered while on earth, but they are called to the Lord’s side in heaven at the time He has decided, and are given the crown of protection. People of faith know that God watches over the righteous and eventually demonstrates His protection of them in the glorification process. PS 61: 1-3 is a prayerful plea written by David that Job would have cried in His suffering. “Hear my cry, O God, listen to my prayer. From the ends of the earth, I call to You, I call as my heart grows faint; lead me to the Rock that is higher than I. For You have been my Refuge, a strong Tower against the foe.” I capitalized the word “Rock” on purpose because it leads to that Advocate and Protector we know as Jesus Christ. 1 JN 2: 1: “My dear children, I write to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have an Advocate with the Father---Jesus Christ, the righteous One. He is the atoning Sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.” Our protective God doesn’t leave us hanging in jeopardy but sees to our need for protection---both on earth and forever [PS 9: 9-10]!
The very nature of heaven is a place where the wages of sin (which is spiritual death -RO 6: 23) can’t happen. This is a form of protection. How do I know this remarkable fact? We are given a description of the city of eternal light (heaven’s New Jerusalem) in the apostle John’s book of Revelation. REV 21: 26-27, “The glory and honor of the nations will be brought into it. Nothing impure will enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.”
When we entered into the new covenant, the Covenant of Grace, we agreed to look within ourselves deeply enough to bring consciousness of even our most subtle sins on earth to the surface and to, with openness and honesty, confess them to the Lord. This confession demands stoppage of the attitude or behavior. In return for this promise, the Lord will shower us with His blessings, including His protection. PS 34:7-9, ”The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him, and he delivers them. Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge in Him. Fear the Lord, you His holy people, for those who fear Him lack nothing.”
We must take care in doing this that we don’t become self-righteous, something that is easy to do. In prayer, God will protect us from this, if we have the wisdom to ask for it. We are told, in MT 7: 1-2, “Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way, you judge others, you will be judged and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” Anyone who keeps this in mind is not likely to find himself in a pit of misery from which there is no escape. I marvel at how God protects us when we read and take seriously the wisdom He shares with us in the Scriptures. In the stories of Job, we see his friends, Eliphaz, Zophar, Bildad, and Elihu, all being very judgmental. This only adds to Job’s suffering, but Job emerges from all without losing His faith in God. It only proves that “nothing can separate us from the love of God”—RO 8: 38-39 and that we have an Advocate to plead our cause to God in Jesus Christ.
Our God loves us enough to bring about good out of evil done to us, righteous motivation out of the judgments of others. PS 41: 1-3, 10-13, “Blessed are those who have regard for the weak; the Lord delivers them in times of trouble. The Lord protects and preserves them ---they are counted among the blessed in the land ---He does not give them over to the desire of their foes…But may You have mercy on me, Lord; raise me up, that I may repay them. I know that You are pleased with me. Because of my integrity You uphold me and set me in Your presence forever. Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting. Amen and amen.” God uses evil for good—GN 50: 20, “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.”
PRAYER: O Lord, no matter where we go, what age we are, or what the circumstances of our lives may be, the righteous need not go without Your love and protection. PS 9: 9-10, “The Lord is a Refuge for the oppressed, a Stronghold in times of trouble. Those who know Your name trust in You, for You, Lord, have never forsaken those who seek, You.” Imagine a God Who never abandons us! We certainly can’t have that assurance with other people. Due to our sinful natures, another person can’t be relied upon 100 %, but You always keeps His promises. We must understand that You allow bad things to happen to us for Your always-righteous reasons and must have the faithful patience to wait for You to show us Your reasons. We are blessed mightily in the holy/mighty name of Jesus Christ, Whom we offer praise and thanks. Amen.
NEXT WEEK: The Holy Spirit calls upon me to write about the many kinds of separation that lead to the crown of separation eternally, those things which qualify us for eternal life. In general terms, MT 25: 32, which refers to it as the “separation of sheep and goats,” should be mentioned first. Those who persevere in times of trial separate themselves from those who don’t.
Over the last seven years, God has put me in touch with some relatives I never knew existed or that I had. This remarkable truth arose from my hobby of doing genealogy, i.e. learning about the origins of my family, the names of ancestors, and the identity of living relatives yet unknown to me. On my father’s side of the family, a law student who did his undergraduate work at Harvard University and a chemist in Israel got in touch with me. On my mother’s side, I was contacted by two Canadian cousins, one in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and another in Montreal, Ontario. In addition, I contacted a cousin who is a graphic artist in CT and other cousins in NJ, ME, and CA. I have to believe it was the will of God that I should connect with all these people, who have added so much to my life. My mother (now deceased) would have loved to know about them, and for all I know, she may have been put together with knowledge of them in her eternal life. Certainly, I would like to think this has happened. Each of these ancestors and living relatives has a story; in each story, God has something for me to learn. And to think, this is only one way that God demonstrates His love for people! Praise and thanks be to Him!
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn, JS 24: 15
© Lynn Johnson 2022. All Rights Reserved.
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