13 February 2011
Psalm 91:3
16/02/11 20:35 Filed in: Bible Teaching | Psalms
Surely He will save you from the fowler’s snare and from the deadly pestilence.
In verse three the Psalmist is saying ‘surely’, but surely what? Surely in light of the fact that He is the Almighty and that our trust is in His bigness He will save us. Surely nothing is too difficult, no problem too small, no mountain too high. Nothing, there is nothing that He won’t deliver us from!
It is in this verse that we see we have something trying to trip us up, trap us or ensnare us. This is the enemy of our souls, Satan or the devil. His mandate is three fold: steal, kill and destroy. Peter in I Peter 5:8 calls him your enemy the devil, and Paul says in Ephesians not to be unaware of the enemy’s devices. We are told not to give the enemy a foothold. Jesus said to pray that we are delivered from the evil one. The enemy will bait us like a bird in order to trap us. If you are sick, the enemy will throw thoughts at you about death. What if? If you are facing a financial difficulty, he will bait you with creditors, poverty, and bankruptcy. If you are embarking on a new job, all the doubts will fly at you that you aren’t capable. I Corinthians 10 calls these vain imaginations, arguments that set themselves up against the knowledge of God. We are told to take them captive to the obedience of Jesus Christ. We need to see the bait for what it is – it is spiritual warfare. Our battle is not against flesh and blood but against the enemy. The good news is that God will save you. It is a given! Even though there is a battle we are the victors for our victory comes from the Almighty. There is nothing that is too difficult.
Surely He will save you!
Psalm 91:2
14/02/11 23:25 Filed in: Bible Teaching | Psalms
I will say of the Lord: He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.
This is such an interesting verse as it begins with a proclamation or a confession statement – I will say! How important it is for us to confess who God is, what He said He would do and the promises He has for us.
Your words are powerful. Proverbs 18:21 states that your words either bring life or death. That is powerful! Your words today are framing your tomorrows. God said let there be - and there was – out of nothing came forth the creation of our world, the universe, and mankind. The same creative ability rests in your tongue. On the other hand when we speak negatively you cause death – it’s a curse. You can prophesy life into dry bones by commanding them to live. Or you can speak out, ‘I can’t do that and you won’t’!
Here in Psalm 91 it says, ‘I will say of the Lord’. Why “of the Lord”? That needs to be our focus. It’s not about what I can do or can’t do; it’s about whom He is and what He promised He would do. It’s all about our perspective. We can put our eyes on ourselves - our frailty, our limitations and our own resources or we can look to the lord and who He is. We move out of a place of confinement; out of the box. We so often try to live in our own small world, our smallness of mind.
In Joel 3 it says, ‘let the weak say I am strong, let the poor say I am rich’. Are you lying? No, you are agreeing with God and who He is in us. Paul says when I am weak then I am strong – how bazaar! That is because greater is He that is in you. If our eyes stay on the Lord and we declare with our mouths who He is, it makes a statement in the heavens. Our mouths release the power of our creator to do what only He can do.
Jesus often spoke to diseases, demons, the wind and waves. He even spoke to the fig tree. In Mark 11:14 He spoke to the fig tree saying: “May no one ever eat fruit from you again” and the following day Peter said, “Rabbi, Look! The fig tree you cursed has withered!” Wow – He spoke to the tree and it died! Notice the word ‘cursed’. Jesus didn’t swear at the tree, He spoke to it and “endued it with power to fail’. That is what cursed means. Your words have the same power, either for life or death.
Jesus went on in Mark 11 to say, “Have faith in God”. That’s why you need to “say of the Lord”. We need to remember who He is and what He will do then speak words of life into being.
This is such an interesting verse as it begins with a proclamation or a confession statement – I will say! How important it is for us to confess who God is, what He said He would do and the promises He has for us.
Your words are powerful. Proverbs 18:21 states that your words either bring life or death. That is powerful! Your words today are framing your tomorrows. God said let there be - and there was – out of nothing came forth the creation of our world, the universe, and mankind. The same creative ability rests in your tongue. On the other hand when we speak negatively you cause death – it’s a curse. You can prophesy life into dry bones by commanding them to live. Or you can speak out, ‘I can’t do that and you won’t’!
Here in Psalm 91 it says, ‘I will say of the Lord’. Why “of the Lord”? That needs to be our focus. It’s not about what I can do or can’t do; it’s about whom He is and what He promised He would do. It’s all about our perspective. We can put our eyes on ourselves - our frailty, our limitations and our own resources or we can look to the lord and who He is. We move out of a place of confinement; out of the box. We so often try to live in our own small world, our smallness of mind.
In Joel 3 it says, ‘let the weak say I am strong, let the poor say I am rich’. Are you lying? No, you are agreeing with God and who He is in us. Paul says when I am weak then I am strong – how bazaar! That is because greater is He that is in you. If our eyes stay on the Lord and we declare with our mouths who He is, it makes a statement in the heavens. Our mouths release the power of our creator to do what only He can do.
Jesus often spoke to diseases, demons, the wind and waves. He even spoke to the fig tree. In Mark 11:14 He spoke to the fig tree saying: “May no one ever eat fruit from you again” and the following day Peter said, “Rabbi, Look! The fig tree you cursed has withered!” Wow – He spoke to the tree and it died! Notice the word ‘cursed’. Jesus didn’t swear at the tree, He spoke to it and “endued it with power to fail’. That is what cursed means. Your words have the same power, either for life or death.
Jesus went on in Mark 11 to say, “Have faith in God”. That’s why you need to “say of the Lord”. We need to remember who He is and what He will do then speak words of life into being.