Month: February 2020

To say we live in difficult times is an understatement. Sometimes I find it not only a little scary but also a little confusing. If you look at the internet there seems to be a mix between those who are completely denying the reality of what is happening around the world right now, and those who are spreading the flames of fear. Neither one is good. The Lord really had to rebuke me the other day because I had spent hours watching videos on what is happening with the corona virus around the world. It was filling me with fear. He actually called me Henny Penny, the little chicken from the children’s book that went around yelling “the sky is falling”. But Lord, it really is falling! Yes, it is. Amos tells us in Amos 5:18-19 the following: “Woe to you who desire the day of the Lord! For what good is the day of the Lord to you? It will be darkness and not light. It will be as though a man fled a lion, and a bear met him. Or as though he went into a house, leaned his hand on a wall, and a serpent bit him”. It is quite clear from Scripture that the Day of the Lord is not a good season. However, that being said, we as Christians need to have the kind of faith that can rise above the fear that the world is experiencing. It is at this time that I have to go back into my arsenal and look at the ways that the Lord has protected me in the past. I remember 20 years ago I had a strange dream that made no sense to me when I woke up. I was walking through a dark forest and I could see storm clouds in the sky. I came to a little cabin in the woods and when I went inside, I heard the Lord say the following to me: “I am the Lord of the Lightening, do you trust me not to get hit?” I woke up not sure what to expect. Several hours later I felt this deep darkness come over me that was so strong that I actually fell asleep for a few minutes. When I woke up I asked the Lord what it was that I was experiencing. He told me that Satan desired to touch one of my children. I immediately began to pray for protection over them, but I still had no idea what was happening. Two hours later I received a phone call from one of my pastors. My oldest son, who had been skiing with other people from church, had had a skiing accident. He lost a ski while jumping from a big hill and not able to land correctly, crashed into the ground landing on his head and his knee. He convulsed and then lay still. The people behind him thought he might be dead. He was taken to the hospital by ambulance and I was called. But he wasn’t dead. As a matter of fact, he walked out of that hospital 4 hours later with a sprained knee and a concussion. He told me that he knew what happened was demonic because he could feel “someone” hold his ski as he took off from the hill. A week later a young man jumped off that same hill and broke every bone in his body and died. Was I afraid when I received the call? No! Because I had been warned and my son was protected. I rejoiced in the goodness of God as I drove to the hospital that afternoon. What can I learn from this memory? I can remind myself that those who fear the Lord, those who trust in His goodness will be protected. What memories do you have of God protecting you or one of your family members? If you are struggling with fear right now, go back into your arsenal and remind yourself of the ways that God has protected you, provided for you, and taken care of you in the past.

Perhaps you read the above story and you thought to yourself, well I don’t have anything as dramatic in my life as a dream or a vision giving me insight into what is happening. That circumstance was unusual for me as well. Several years ago my youngest son was in the hospital having surgery. He was thousands of miles from home, in a strange place and the surgery was not going as well as they had hoped. I don’t know all the details but I do remember that when my son was put back into his room, he kept calling me. He called me several times that day because he was afraid. He sounded so weak and exhausted on the phone and I felt so helpless. I knew that even if I got on a plane that very day, it would be a long time before I could get to him. By the end of the day, after numerous phone calls from my very sick son, I got angry at God. I told Him that I couldn’t understand why He had been so silent all day on this matter. I had been seeking Him, praying for my son and I got silence. His answer shocked me. He told me that He had already talked to me about this matter of my son, and that I needed to go back and look at that promise again. I was speechless. But it also taught me a great lesson on standing on my promises. A couple of years earlier, while I was in a class at church, the Lord spoke to me very clearly. He told me the following: “You have never had a safe man in your life. But I am your Father, your Brother and your Husband and I am safe, and I will always protect what is yours”. There it was. My son was protected. He recovered from that surgery and he did eventually come home. But I had to learn to apply that promise and to stand on it. I have taken great liberties with that promise. There are many people and things that I now claim as my own. Not for my benefit but because I plead His protection over them. Look back at your life. Has God made you a promise of protection? Perhaps it was something you read in your Bible. Maybe it was a verse that spoke to your heart, or something you heard Him say to you. I am not special and what He has said to me He will say to anyone who has the faith to receive it. If you don’t have a verse or promise, you are welcome to use mine. God is no respecter of persons. What He gave to me He will freely give to you, if you can believe it. I would love to hear your stories. In this crazy time we live in, we need to encourage each other with “songs of deliverance”.

I have noticed a trend recently when it comes to power. If you look at history, often times the most corrupt regimes were and are run by the same family, generation after generation. We can see it in our own government as well. How many political families have been in power for decades, their children reaping the rewards simply because of their last name. God’s people are not immune from this problem either. If you look at the Levites in Scripture, you will find a similar issue. What had once been orchestrated by God Himself had become so corrupted by the time of Jesus, that their false teachings and pride had blinded them so much that they crucified the very Messiah they were looking for. Thousands of years of family run religion had turned into a ruling class that created nothing but fear and false teachings. Jesus himself accused the Pharisees of being responsible for every prophet that had ever been stoned and killed. (Matthew 23:34-46) Does the New Testament address this issue? I believe it does. In Ephesians 4:11-12 Paul speaks about something which is commonly called the Five Fold Ministry. Paul tells us that God gave us Apostles, Prophets, Evangelists, Pastors and Teachers for the equipping of the saints. These leaders are for the edifying of the Body of Christ. Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 12 that although we are all part of the body of Christ, we are each individual members, or parts that make up the body. He asks the Corinthian church “If the whole body were an eye, where would be the hearing?”. We all know that our bodies have many different organs and each one has its own function and importance. Just as our physical organs work together, the different gifts need to work together in the body of Christ. God ordained it that way for our own protection. Paul was teaching the Corinthians wisdom when he tried to help them set up their leadership. By allowing different gifts to flourish in a church body, it equips the saints and helps each member to mature and grow. Teachers help those with the gift of teaching to learn how to teach. Prophets teach those with that gift to hear and prophecy what God is saying to the congregation, etc. But it also keeps the different parts accountable to each other. It keeps the body and the leadership from becoming blinded and falling into deception and false teaching. Jesus is looking for a pure and spotless bride that He can bring home one day. That is the one and only goal that we each should have for both ourselves and for those around us.