"Cause me to hear Your lovingkindness in the morning, For in You do I trust; Cause me to know the way in which I should walk, For I lift up my soul to You. Deliver me, O Lord, from my enemies; In You I take shelter."Psalm 143:8-9

I stumbled across this amazing story that I wanted to share. During World War II, a US marine was separated from his unit on a Pacific Island. The fighting had been intense, and in the smoke and the crossfire he had lost touch with his comrades. Alone in the jungle, he could hear enemy soldiers coming in his direction. Scrambling for cover, he found his way up a high ridge to several small caves in the rock. Quickly he crawled inside one of the caves. Although safe for the moment, he realized that once the enemy soldiers looking for him swept up the ridge, they would quickly search all the caves and he would be killed. As he waited, he prayed, "Lord, if it be your will, please protect me. Whatever your will though, I love you and trust you. Amen." After praying, he lay quietly listening to the enemy begin to draw close. He thought, "Well, I guess the Lord isn't going to help me out of this one.." Then he saw a spider begin to build a web over the front of his cave. As he watched, listening to the enemy searching for him all the while, the spider layered strand after strand of web across the opening of the cave. "Ha," he thought. "What I need is a brick wall and what the Lord has sent me is a spider web. God does have a sense of humor." As the enemy drew closer he watched from the darkness of his hideout and could see them searching one cave after another. As they came to his, he got ready to make his last stand. To his amazement, however, after glancing in the direction of his cave, they moved on. Suddenly, he realized that with the spider web over the entrance, his cave looked as if no one had entered for quite a while. "Lord, forgive me," prayed the young man. "I had forgotten that in you a spider's web are stronger than a brick wall." Brothers & Sisters, God's resources to protect you are vast. When you pray for protection, believe that He hears you and is able to manage it with great skill, and even perhaps a stroke of humor. TAKE SHELTER IN HIM!

"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." Surely He shall deliver you from the snare of the fowler And from the perilous pestilence. He shall cover you with His feathers, And under His wings you shall take refuge; His truth shall be your shield and buckler. You shall not be afraid of the terror by night, Nor of the arrow that flies by day, Nor of the pestilence that walks in darkness, Nor of the destruction that lays waste at noonday. A thousand may fall at your side, And ten thousand at your right hand; But it shall not come near you. Only with your eyes shall you look, And see the reward of the wicked. Because you have made the Lord, who is my refuge, Even the Most High, your dwelling place, No evil shall befall you, Nor shall any plague come near your dwelling."Psalm 91: 1-10

Psalm 91 powerfully expresses God's protection of His people who choose to dwell in His shelter. People who love and protect life as part of their faith tradition have certain promises in these words. We do believe that part of our divine protection derives from the commitment to value and protect human life. This psalm describes the extent of that protection. It is a protection promised all the more to those who truly walk by faith in the righteousness of Messiah (Jesus). "A thousand may fall at your side, And ten thousand at your right hand; But it shall not come near you. Only with your eyes shall you look, And see the reward of the wicked." Brothers & Sisters, abide in the secret place of the Most High – rest there. He is your refuge and your fortress, and walking in His righteousness will be your own "Iron Dome", but better. Now, at this season for thankfulness we can all express our gratitude to Him for both---the temporal, and the eternal safety He has provided us. REST UNDER HIS WINGS!

" And when the servant of the man of God arose early and went out, there was an army, surrounding the city with horses and chariots. And his servant said to him, "Alas, my master! What shall we do?" So he answered, "Do not fear, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them." 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."2 Kings 6:15-17

The same is true for believers today. We do not see the invisible military dynamics in the heavenlies above us, as we wage our spiritual war here on earth, and often haven't a clue of just how the Lord is surrounding us with his angelic protection. Brothers & Sisters, if there was ever a time in history to grab hold of this one truth – “do not fear, for those who are with us are more than those against us" -- it is now! DO NOT FEAR!

"And the Angel of God, who went before the camp of Israel, moved and went behind them; and the pillar of cloud went from before them and stood behind them. So it came between the camp of the Egyptians and the camp of Israel. Thus it was a cloud and darkness to the one, and it gave light by night to the other, so that the one did not come near the other all that night."Exodus 14:19-20

“Pillar of cloud”.In English it has been rendered, “pillar of defense”. The term is a direct reference from the Exodus of Israel from Egypt when they were led out of slavery and protected by a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night.[Exodus 13:21]. The pillar both led (directed and guided) and protected the children of Israel from the Egyptian army…providing both leadership and protection. We believe that through the prayers of the saints, and because of the Lord’s faithfulness to us, that we are being guided and protected and it is under the providential care of our God. We have often reminded our spiritual community of the constant reality of the spiritual war in which we are engaged. And as the earthly conflict here has escalated, we also suspect that many of you are under attacks of various kinds. Just as God watches over Israel, He continues to watch over us now, and His angelic host are still protecting every believer as His Spirit guides us through the barrage we face from our enemies. Those who stand in faith are not afraid. Why should we fear if God is with us; who can be against us? Brothers & Sisters, stand strong and have courage knowing the Lord is watching over and protecting you – but more than that, He wants to lead you to victory over every spiritual battle you have to face today. KNOW YOU ARE LED AND PROTECTED!

"Ye shall not need to fight in this battle: set yourselves, stand ye still, and see the salvation of the LORD with you, O Judah and Jerusalem: fear not, nor be dismayed; to morrow go out against them: for the LORD will be with you. And Jehoshaphat bowed his head with his face to the ground: and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem fell before the LORD, worshipping the LORD. And when he had consulted with the people, he appointed singers unto the LORD, and that should praise the beauty of holiness, as they went out before the army, and to say, Praise the LORD; for his mercy endureth for ever. And when they began to sing and to praise, the LORD set ambushments against the children of Ammon, Moab, and mount Seir, which were come against Judah; and they were smitten."2Ch 20:17,21-22

Most of us worship God when things are going well. And while worship can and should be a daily joyful exercise, and also an expression of praise for the Lord's victories, remember that worship has also been commissioned by God's people as one of the weapons in our spiritual arsenal. So we can learn something from Jehoshaphat. He assigned worshipers to lead the armies into battle -- and Israel crushed her enemies! Worship brought forth the victory in the midst of battle! Brothers & Sisters, in the midst of your spiritual battle, learn the power of praise and the weaponry of worship, to disarm principalities and powers in heavenly places. When fears, doubt, discouragement, and despair threaten to overwhelm you -- try warring with worship. Learn to praise Him in the midst of the battle...and soon enough you'll be praising Him even more, for the victory! LEARN TO DEPLOY A VICTORIOUS BATTLE STRATEGY!

"The LORD is on my side; I will not fear: what can man do unto me?"Psalm 118:6

Truth be told, there aren't too many safe places in this world anymore, are there? However, there is one very safe place we have found, and it's the very safest place there is. You may have heard of it -- it’s called "God's perfect will". We should all be striving to make our home there for the rest of our earthly days. We may be afraid to go to those places or do those things that God may be calling us today. It could be to share you’re your God-given talents in some far away land, and it could be across the street to help a neighbor. Whatever the case may be, it's easy to get wrapped up in other people's fear, anxiety and criticism. But we have a choice. We can either give in to those fears or stand for the Lord and choose what has called us to do. Brothers & Sisters, let's submit all our fears to the Lord today and choose the latter. I want to live in the will of God, don’t you? He will not leave our side when we step forward to do great things for Him! DO YOU HAVE A SAFE PLACE?

"When Gideon came to the Jordan, he and the three hundred men who were with him crossed over, exhausted but still in pursuit. Then he said to the men of Succoth, "Please give loaves of bread to the people who follow me, for they are exhausted, and I am pursuing Zebah and Zalmunna, kings of Midian. "And the leaders of Succoth said, "Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna now in your hand, that we should give bread to your army?"Judges 8:4-6 ; "And the Angel of the Lord appeared to him, and said to him, "The Lord is with you, you mighty man of valor!"Judges 6:12

"Exhausted but still in pursuit..." Well, now we know why the angel of God addressed Gideon the way he did. With his small three hundred man army he had just decimated the army of Midian -- but the victory wasn’t complete, and so the Jewish general and his small, exhausted, hungry, band were determined to cross the Jordan and take care of 15,000 additional Midanite enemies and their leaders, Zebah and Zalmunna. Once chosen and appointed to his task, Gideon didn't settle for the slaughter of 120,000 Midianites. He might have reasoned that, having driven the remaining enemy force across the Jordan River, a natural barrier, Israel was now safe. After all, he and his men were exhausted and hungry. But this victory was insufficient, especially because the Midianite leaders were still alive. Instead, Gideon continued to press on, refusing to settle until the job was completely done. His refusal to allow serious physical discomfort to compromise his objective is apparently one of the things that qualified Gideon as a "mighty man" of God. No settling into a comfort zone for him. Brothers & Sisters, are you moving toward victory, but exhausted and hungry? Be careful now. Comfort could be your greatest enemy. And your so-called friends may not be standing there to give you a hand, but rather, watching skeptically from the sidelines to see whether or not you'll make it through your "heroic effort". Now is not the time for self-pity, fleshly resentment, or mediocrity. "The comfort zone is for those who are exempt from pain but denied progress; protected from failure but held in the grip of mediocrity." Keep your focus and spiritual passion for victory, and finish the job appointed you -- because God has too much invested to settle for mediocrity! OUTNUMBERED, EXHAUSTED, BUT STILL IN PUSUIT!