Supernatural Protection For The Obedient, 9/14/14

I recent days in my Facebook posts I have talked a lot about America's problems of a lack of supernatural protection due to sin and disobedience to God in my messages: Terrorist Warning and Reality About 9/11. Today I want to share from the scriptures about supernatural protection that is available from God for those who are obedient to him, whether the individual or the nation. God loves us madly wants to protect us but we have to do our part to qualify for all the supernatural protection he is able to provide. The single best package of scripture that show how God wants to protect us when we walk closely with him is Psalm 91. Notice that it begins with saying that the person who receives this is someone who "dwells in the secret place." So we know that this great promise is for those who are living in an intimate, obedient relationship with God:

Psalm 91 New King James Version (NKJV)

Safety of Abiding in the Presence of God

91 He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High

Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.

2 I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress;

My God, in Him I will trust.”

3 Surely He shall deliver you from the snare of the fowler[a]

And from the perilous pestilence.

4 He shall cover you with His feathers,

And under His wings you shall take refuge;

His truth shall be your shield and buckler.

5 You shall not be afraid of the terror by night,

Nor of the arrow that flies by day,

6 Nor of the pestilence that walks in darkness,

Nor of the destruction that lays waste at noonday.

7 A thousand may fall at your side,

And ten thousand at your right hand;

But it shall not come near you.

8 Only with your eyes shall you look,

And see the reward of the wicked.

9 Because you have made the Lord, who is my refuge,

Even the Most High, your dwelling place,

10 No evil shall befall you,

Nor shall any plague come near your dwelling;

11 For He shall give His angels charge over you,

To keep you in all your ways.

12 In their hands they shall bear you up,

Lest you dash your foot against a stone.

13 You shall tread upon the lion and the cobra,

The young lion and the serpent you shall trample underfoot.

14 “Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore I will deliver him;

I will set him on high, because he has known My name.

15 He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him;

I will be with him in trouble;

I will deliver him and honor him.

16 With long life I will satisfy him,

And show him My salvation.”

So we see that God is able to provide amazing supernatural protection for those who are obedient and intimate with him. It is vital that we understand that it is not just any believer that is eligible for this. One can be saved and headed for(the lowest level of) heaven but not be truly obedient and walking in intimacy with God. This promise is for those who have sacrificially laid down their lives for the purposes of the Kingdom of God and who live a life of earnest seeking and obeying God, no matter the cost. Elisha the prophet was such a man and the scripture tells us a magnificent account of the supernatural back-up he had in the unseen spiritual realm all around him:

2 Kings 6:16-17 New King James Version (NKJV)

16 So he answered, “Do not fear, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” 17 And Elisha prayed, and said, “Lord, I pray, open his eyes that he may see.” Then the Lord opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw. And behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.

So we see that tremendous supernatural support is available to those who are sold out to God and walking in obedience and intimacy with him. Elisha was not some special man that God favored while he ignored others that were not so special in his eyes. Elisha came by this by making tough choices to give his everything to God and become his friend. So it is available to us all if we are willing to pay the price that Elisha did.

The book of Hebrews teaches us beautifully about the realm believers are in as children of God and what is around us in the unseen spiritual realm because we are in Christ:

Hebrews 12:1-24 New King James Version (NKJV)

The Race of Faith

1 Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses...

...22 But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels, 23 to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are registered in heaven, to God the Judge of all, to the spirits of just men made perfect, 24 to Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaks better things than that of Abel.

Knowing this can help us be bold and confident and courageous if we are adequately holy and intimate with God. But if we are sinful and obedient we will not be bold and will not be able to access that might normally have been available to us:

Proverbs 28:1 New King James Version (NKJV)

28 The wicked flee when no one pursues, but the righteous are bold as a lion.

Let me give you a practical illustration of this principle from current issues. I know a man who is a man of God who is of a kindred spirit to me, and is preparing for the harsh realities of our future in America. He is aware that he will eventually face armed soldiers like American soldiers sent to carry out marshal law and or Russian or Chinese soldiers who are here in their coming effort to conquer America. This man is definitely an imperfect man but sincere in this relationship with God and makes every effort to seek God and obey him the best he knows how at his stage of maturity. He has been praying about how to deal with these coming realities. Recently, he told me how God gave him a dream to encourage and prepare him for this kind of a confrontation.

In the dream he saw himself standing unarmed outside his front door facing a soldier with an automatic assault rifle. He said that the soldier had on a red beret and may have been Russian. As the soldier spoke to him the man made bold act of faith and initiative and reached out and seized the soldier's weapon and began to wrestle it from him. In the struggle the gun went off and several bullets sprayed out of the gun and bounced off the man's chest before he successfully took the weapon from the soldier. This was a picture of how the Lord is planning to supernaturally protect my friend with angelic help like Psalm 91 speaks of. Now hear me well. I know this man very well and I can tell you that he does not believe that just any believer will be protected this way just because they are saved. He knows that God has shown him this because he has been adequately obedient to God and intimate with him so that he qualifies for this kind of help. Notice that he had to show great courage to try to seize the weapon. This kind of courage comes from having from righteousness like Prov. 28:1 talks about:

Proverbs 28:1 New King James Version (NKJV)

28 The wicked flee when no one pursues, but the righteous are bold as a lion.

It is very important that we all understand that just being saved does not necessarily qualify one for this kind of thing.

Think about it this way. When these deadly situations come, if you are not someone who is obeying God and thereby producing fruit for the Kingdom of God, why would he feel the need to keep you alive? God is a King who is at work to advance his Kingdom throughout the earth. If you are not wholeheartedly serving him to help him do that, then you are really of no use to him on earth. So why not just allow you to come home early and enjoy the low level of heaven(there are three that people go to, depending on spiritual maturity) that you have chosen for yourself by your recalcitrant life where you never yielded to God to give him your everything? The fact is that great numbers of American christians will die in the years ahead because they are not close enough to God so let's let this motivate us to yield to God unreservedly and give him our whole hearts and lives so we can not only be spared in the times to come but more importantly produce fruit for Jesus.

Again, God loves us madly wants to protect us but we have to do our part to qualify for all the supernatural protection he is able to provide. We must have submitted our life to him completely or we cannot expect his protection. So please give God your everything and he will carry you through what is coming upon us as a nation. If you have never given your life to God then please pray this Prayer To Receive Eternal Salvation and be saved from eternal destruction today. If you are already a believer in Jesus but have not truly and completely consecrated yourself to God in complete obedience to him then please pray this Prayer Of Consecration and commit your life to his purposes with all your heart from this day forward. And there is hope of our nation if we will Cry Out To God For America. God bless you.

Steve Pursell, 9/14/14