#53 THE CALL TO OVERCOME: PSALM 91:11-16

     After sharing all the promises made to those who choose to dwell in the Secret Place of the Most High in the first part of Psalm 91, the writer then proceeds to explain the mechanisms that make the promises effective. You see, God does not wave a magic wand and voila, we are no longer subject to evil. Specific things have to happen to enable us to overcome the evil that seeks to destroy ourselves and our world, so let’s unpack the rest of Psalm 91 to find the steps becoming victorious over evil.

   For He will give His angels charge concerning you to guard you in all your ways. They will bear you up in their hands, that you do not strike your foot against a stone. You will tread upon the lion and cobra, the young lion and the serpent you will trample down.           (verses 11-13)

In order to put these verses in context, let’s look again at what Christ said in Matthew 18:18, “Truly I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven.”  As he instructed his disciples, Christ emphasized the responsibility of the outcomes of our lives belongs to us, not to God. I propose that the promises of verses 11-13 in Psalm 91 are a direct result of our own actions. If we choose (or loose) good for ourselves, then that good will be manifested through the protection of angels. They will guard us and prevent us from tripping over the obstacles the kingdom of evil puts in our paths. And, even better, because of the knowledge, understanding, and wisdom that comes to us through dwelling in the Secret Place, we will be able to put the kingdom of evil under our feet (and the feet of Christ) and destroy its effectiveness both in our lives and the lives of our neighbors. As we find our places in the Secret Place, we may well find ourselves among those described in Revelation 15:2-4 (NKJV):

   And, I saw something like a sea of glass mingled with fire, and those who have the victory over the beast, over his image and over his mark and over the number of his name, standing on the sea of glass, having harps of God. They sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying:

   Great and marvelous are Your works, Lord God Almighty! Just and true are Your ways, O King of the saints (nations)! Who shall not fear You, O Lord and gorify Your name? For You alone are holy. For all nations shall come and worship before You. For Your judgments have been manifested.

That last statement in the song of Moses and the song of the Lamb sums up the whole purpose of God’s plan for us to dwell in the Secret Place–His goal is that His judgment will be manifested in our world. What is His judgment? God loves all of us, His love is absolute, and His love is greater than the everything evil is! And, when we choose to dwell in the Secret Place of the Most High, we will begin to manifest His judgment.

   Because he has loved Me, therefore I will deliver him; I will set him securely on high, because he has known My name. He will call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will rescue him and honor him. With long life I will satisfy him and let him see My salvation. (verses 14-16)

The writer of this Psalm waited to the end to make the point of how we enter and dwell in the Secret Place of the Most High. I like the wording of the first part of verse 14 in the NKJV: “Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore I will deliver him…” We enter the Secret Place and stay there when we set our love upon God. When you look at our lives, many of us have many things that we “love” or enjoy, but we don’t set our hearts on them. Setting our love upon God involves so much more than feeling His presence or spending a daily quiet time with Him. Setting our love upon God means we make Him the most important person, place, or thing in our lives. Setting our love upon God starts with thinking and progresses to speaking and doing. Setting our love upon God will open the door to His judgments being manifested in our world.

     As I’ve thought about the last verse of this Psalm, I’ve talked with God about the long life that is promised, and I’ve worded it a little different. My goal is to see Christ return–I’m not being selfish because I know Christ’s return will herald the total defeat of the kingdom of evil. (All of the hesitancies we have about what our world will be like will melt away as God’s absolute love is fully manifested.) So, I’ve changed the long life to immortality–”With (immortality) I will satisfy (her)…”–on the basis of Romans 2:6-7, “Who (God) will render to each person according to his deeds: to those who by perseverance in doing good seek for glory and honor and immortality, eternal life…” I’m believing that, as we take our proper places in the Secret Place of the Most High, we will be the ones to defeat the kingdom of evil and experience the return of Christ. And, I won’t be satisfied until that happens.

     God wants to save our world from the kingdom of evil. As we have discussed throughout these posts, before God started creating our world in the place where He was not, He had a plan in place to deal with and to eventually destroy the kingdom of evil. Although Satan was able to build a dividing wall between God and the human race when he deceived Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, Christ obliterated that wall and made the way for each of us to enter and dwell in the Secret Place of the Most High. With the promises given to us in Psalm 91, we have the ability to be everything God wants us to be and to release God’s judgments in our world. God’s love is absolute–perfect, complete, and real–and His love will not fail! 

 

     This post ends the “book” that I wanted to write. I still want to continue my blog, so next week, I am planning to change the format of my posts. I am hoping to write shorter pieces more frequently. Rather than build a specific train of thought, my posts will be centered on different topics and/or different scripture passages (or whatever else the Lord lays on my heart). As far as my book is concerned, I have decided not to seek a traditional publisher (based on a circumstance involving an instance of being lost, a storm, and a tent that blew down). I am, however, considering offering my book as a print on demand volume and an e-book (please remember all of my posts are copyrighted). I will still leave my posts up on this blog, so anyone can access them for free. However, I do realize some people may want the ease of a book when they are reading. So, I will keep you all up to date on what God opens up for me.

     All scriptures are from the NASB unless otherwise noted.  Please feel free to comment–just be respectful.

     ©2009-2010 by Patricia Zell. All rights reserved.

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patriciazell, August 29th 2010 | Tags: , , , , , , ,
Posted in THE CALL TO OVERCOME

#52 THE CALL TO OVERCOME: PSALM 91:3-10

     Protection, watchcare, and the ability to overcome. If we ever wonder why God wants us to choose Him–to choose to dwell in the Secret Place of the Most High–Psalm 91 gives us a strong and clear answer. God wants us to be safe from evil and to overcome the kingdom of evil and its desire to destroy us. Verses 3-13 describe the fullness of what abiding in the Secret Place of the Most High can bring into our lives. So, let’s begin with verses 3 and 4:

   For it is He who delivers you from the snare of the trapper and from the deadly pestilence. He will cover you with His pinions and under His wings you may seek refuge; His faithfulness is a shield and bulwark.

     God is the only One who has the ability to deliver us from evil–remember Christ’s words when he taught the disciples how to pray: “…And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil…” (Matthew 6:13). When we choose to abide in the Secret Place of the Most High, we put ourselves in the position where God can give us the knowledge, understanding, and wisdom we need to avoid and to overcome the snares our enemy puts in our paths. You see, this is why Christ went to the cross–by obliterating the dividing wall between God and the human race, Christ made the way for us to find the escape from the kingdom of evil. In a sense, as verse 4 indicates, God has set up a refugee camp for the human race and Christ provided us with the access to that camp.

     I want to highlight the last part of verse 4–God’s faithfulness is a shield and bulwark (serves as a strong defense or protection). I know there are many people who have prayed and the evil in their lives has increased rather than ended. In those situations, we may find it easier to credit the lack of deliverance to God’s sovereignty rather than to look deeper into the circumstances. Remember, the Bible tells us in Genesis 3:1 that our enemy is crafty–Satan knows how to set complex traps that no human can get out of on his or her own. So often we just ask God to deliver us while we make no changes in what we believe and do. Listen, the choices we’ve made and our lack of understanding keep us in bondage to the kingdom of evil. How much time do we put into asking God for knowledge, understanding, and wisdom? If the Bible is reality, then God is faithful. If we’re not experiencing His faithfulness, then the lack is in us, not in Him. Christ spoke these words: “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock and it will be opened to you” (Matthew 7:7). Or, looking at this concept from another perspective, abiding in the Secret Place of the Most High demands a concentrated effort on our part.

    You will not be afraid of the terror by night, or, of the arrow that flies by day; of the pestilence that stalks in darkness, or the destruction that lay waste at noon. A thousand may fall at your side and ten thousand at your right hand, but it shall not approach you.

     There is a lot to be afraid of in our world–loss, death, and destruction lurk everywhere. I propose that, on the basis of these verses (Psalm 91:5-7), the place for us to deal with fear is in the Secret Place of the Most High. Or, in other words, we don’t have the ability to overcome fear before we abide in the Secret Place, but living under God’s shadow will enable us to defeat fear. As Psalm 56:3 says, “When I am afraid, I will put my trust in You.” As we abide in the Secret Place and gain knowledge, understanding, and wisdom from God, we will begin to overcome the fear of evil. We will gain victory over the loss, death, and destruction that is wrecking havoc in the human race. According to these verses, we can reach a stage where evil will not approach us–as far as I’m concerned, that’s a goal I reaching for.

   You will only look on with your eyes and see the recompense of the wicked. For you have made the Lord, my refuge, even the Most High, your dwelling place. No evil will befall you, nor will any plague come near your tent.

These verses (Psalm 91:9-10) make a tremendous statement–if we dwell in the Secret Place of the Most High, evil can’t reach us. Here is an answer to the question of why bad things happen to “good” people. Our own goodness cannot stop the kingdom of evil from attacking us–the only way we can keep out of the way of evil is to abide in God and pay attention to the knowledge, understanding, and wisdom that only He can give us. Christ set the example as he walked in our world–not once until the cross did anyone or anything harm him. Although Satan and his cohorts made every effort to destroy his life, Christ remained safe from evil until it was time for him to obliterate the wall between  humans and God. And, on that cross, Christ gave his life–Satan didn’t take it.

     Now, a surface reading of verses 9 and 10 could imply that God was somehow behind the destruction of “wicked” people–we could infer that the destruction is God’s retribution for those people not choosing to abide in Him. Let’s think this through–if a person chooses not to abide in the Secret Place of the Most High, then he or she is not in the position to receive protection and watchcare from God. God will not override the decision any person makes, thus the kingdom of evil has free reign in the lives of those people who choose against abiding in God. These verses do not speak to the choices God makes, but to the ones human make. The only place to be safe is in the Secret Place and we are the ones who chose.

     Safety seems to be a highly underrated concept in Christianity.  We may pray for God to bless us, but how much thought do we put into what our responsibilities are in assuring that we stay safe? After all, safety is a key component of overcoming evil–if we don’t stay safe, we are sitting ducks for destruction. So, finding the place of safety is in our best interest, and the only way we can get to that place is to seek God with everything we have.

     Finally, I don’t think we should rejoice in seeing the recompense of destruction coming upon any human being who might be included in the “wicked” (the whole kingdom of evil is wicked and we will see their destruction). Remember Isaiah 25:6-8? Let’s listen to this passage again:

   The Lord of Hosts will prepare a lavish banquet for all peoples on this mountain; a banquet of aged wine, choice pieces with marrow, and refined, aged wine. And on this mountain He will swallow up the covering which is over all peoples, even the veil which is stretched over all nations. He will swallow up death for all time, and the Lord God will wipe tears away from all faces. And He will remove the reproach of His people from all the earth. For the Lord has spoken.

God’s desire is that every human being chooses to dwell in the Secret Place of the Most High. That’s why Christ died on the cross. And, if the Bible is reality, we will see every person receive truth and understanding as Christ returns to our world–we will all be safe. That will be such a joy!

     All scripture is taken from the NASB.

     ©2009-2010 by Patricia Zell. All rights reserved.

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patriciazell, August 22nd 2010 | Tags: , , , , , , ,
Posted in THE CALL TO OVERCOME

#51 THE CALL TO OVERCOME: PSALM 91:1-2

     Many years ago, after my husband almost died twice in an eighteen month period, God focused our attention on a Psalm which has become one of the most meaningful passages in our lives. At the time, God had already encouraged us with Deuteronomy 30:15-20 (choosing life and blessings rather than choosing death and cursings); in this Psalm, we found the foundation that gave us the ability to choose life and blessings. Psalm 91 spoke so clearly to me that I copied it down and posted it on our front door. Every time we came into our house, we were reminded of the power of dwelling in the Secret Place of the Most High, so this Psalm remained on our door for a number of years and built our confidence in the absolute love that God has for all of us. It also became the call to overcome in our lives. For, truly, if we have any hope of overcoming the kingdom of evil, it has to begin with our choice of where we live. 

He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress; My God, in Him I will trust.      (Psalm 91: 1-2)

     When we began our discussions through the first several posts of this blog, we talked about how God was all there was before He started creating and how He created an alternative to Himself before He created any beings (first post, http://is.gd/d56i5). We inferred that, when God removed Himself from a “place,” the Wrath of God came into existence and was completely separate from where God was (aka the Secret Place of the Most High). Then we went on to discuss how Lucifer became Satan and set up his kingdom in the Wrath of God and how God went to the kingdom of evil to create our world. So, in the world we live in, two basic forces (good and evil) exist and God has given us the right to choose which force rules our lives. The trouble is our world is full of deception and misunderstanding because, by finding a way to scam Adam and Eve, Satan was able to construct an impenetrable wall between God and the human race. Satan built such a network of lies that finding truth was neigh to impossible (only Enoch and Elijah were able to get around Satan’s ploy). The Bible tells us how God worked with humans over many years to break through all the roadblocks Satan erected and how He made the way for Christ to be born. After Christ worked on correcting some of the misunderstandings people had about God, he went to the cross where he knocked down that dividing wall and made a way for people to not only find truth, but also for them to choose life and blessings. Christ opened the door to the Secret Place of the Most High for anyone who wants to enter. 

     Way back when I was in college, my Christian friends and I talked a great deal about having quiet times with God–times that we would devote to reading the Bible and praying. In my mind, somehow, this concept of having quiet times equaled visiting with God during regularly scheduled meetings. At that young age, I was challenged not only to find time for my quiet time, but also, to keep my mind centered on reading the Bible and praying while I was meeting with God. However, my concept of relating to God began changing after I graduated from college and moved away from family and friends. Suddenly, I didn’t have anyone but God to rely on, and I transitioned from having quiet time meetings with God to living my life snuggled next to Him on a comfy couch. In other words, I found my place in the Secret Place of the Most High and moved in. In the years since, I have never regretted my decision.

     Have you ever heard a sentiment that says something like God demands our worship and praise for His own sake because He is who He is? I think sometimes the statements we Christians make portray God as being somewhat egoistic. Psalm 91 shows us that God is not all about Himself, but He is all about us. He wants us to live in the place where He is–not for His sake, but for our sakes. Abiding under the shadow of the Almighty gives us a place of safety in a world of evil. As verse 2 encourages us, we can look at the Secret Place of the Most High through the lenses of being a refuge and a fortress. The dictionary defines “refuge” as being shelter or protection from danger or difficulty and “fortress” (fort, fortify) as being a permanent defensive place that is strengthened against attack. If anything is clear in our world, it is the fact that evil is intent on destroying all of us. Through Christ, God has made the way for us to escape that evil and to reach the point where our defense can destroy Satan’s offense. So, God wants us to abide in Him for our good, not for His selfish purposes.

     Psalm 91:2 ends with the words, “…in Him (God) I will trust.” I think we struggle with this word, “trust.” How many times have you trusted someone only to be disappointed or hurt? Yet, practically everywhere we go, we hear the words, “Just trust me (or us)?” I would like to propose a concept that has grown in my life as I have walked with God–I do not trust any human being (including myself), but I do trust God. Trust is defined as the firm confidence in the honesty, integrity, reliability, justice, etc. of another person or thing. As far as I can see, if the Bible is reality, there is only one entity who is worthy of our trust and that is God. Everyone and everything else in our world are subject to variableness. James 1:17 tells us that God does not vary in any way at all–His absolute love never changes. So, through the years, I have learned to put my trust in God and to obey Him by loving myself and my fellow human beings.

     Dwelling in the Secret Place of the Most High is a matter of choice, not of feelings. Listen again to God’s words found in Deuteronomy 30:19-20:

   I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live; that you may love the Lord your God, that you may obey His voice, and that you may cling (cleave, KJV) to Him for He is your life and the length of your days; and that you may dwell in the land which the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give them.

Life is found through dwelling in the Secret Place of the Most High, for it is there where we can find the knowledge, understanding, and wisdom we need to overcome the kingdom of evil. Each and every one of us has the right to abide under the shadow of the Almighty. We have a distinct choice in our world, and I’m praying for the day when all of us will understand the power of dwelling in the Secret Place of the Most High.

    All scriptures have been taken from the NKJV.

     ©2009-2010 by Patricia Zell. All rights reserved.

      

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patriciazell, July 20th 2010 | Tags: , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in THE CALL TO OVERCOME