GOD'S PROTECTION
By Lars Hyldgård
Safety is one of the things people value the most. That’s why we invest in insurance, have medical science, fire departments, law enforcement and intelligence services, and it’s why we have quality control of everything from food products to building constructions. Why is safety that important to us? Because we don’t want to die nor experience accidents or sicknesses.
Are you safe? Or do you live with an inner sense of anxiety that bothers you? Does our welfare society bring the utmost sense of safety – or are you still afraid of what might happen to you? Who or what guarantees that you are alive and well tomorrow?
Because the world is an unsafe place, we want to be as safe and secure as we can be. When all is said and done, we are in need of a much more powerful sense of safety than the one our insurances and well-meaning democracy is able to give to us. In the same way that a child may experience safety with a present father or mother, so can we experience safety with God. Even when things are falling apart all around us, our faith in God can lift us all the way into His loving arms. God wants to be our safety, and He has the power to protect us from any thinkable danger!
The Bible is full of promises about how God will protect and rescue those that turn to Him. But how does God protect?
1. First and foremost, we need to take God’s outstretched hand through His Son, Jesus Christ. We need His salvation, by giving our life to Jesus and making Him the highest authority in our lives.
2. Next, God wants us to stay close to Him, so that He can protect us and give us the things that best serve us.
Illustration:
It’s like the fencing around a flock of sheep. Within the perimeters of the fence, the shepherd can guarantee the protection of the sheep. But outside of the fence the sheep will be left to happenstances and therefore luring dangers.
Can you expect to be protected automatically when you are a Christian?
It is the belief in that Jesus died for our sins and rose again that saves us from perdition. In relation to eternal life, we can be secure when we hold on to our relationship with Him. We can trust God’s promises that our sins are forgiven, and that we, because of the power in the atoning death of Jesus, have a guarantee of eternal life with Him.
But in relation to this life the Bible doesn’t promise us protection automatically by trusting in Jesus. If we as believers choose our own path rather than God’s, it creates a crack in our lives. Through that crack, God’s adversary, the devil, can get access to steal, kill and destroy in our lives. (See the gospel of John 10:10 and the letter to the Ephesians 4:27). But when we repent, ask forgiveness and choose God’s way, that crack is covered and closed by the blood of Jesus. We can remain within God’s fencing by living wholeheartedly in the light of God’s word in the Bible.
God’s full protection
The dominion of Jesus Christ in our lives gives us absolute protection. Of course, we can still die, or become ill or have problems. But God's word and his peace will be the gamechanger in any circumstance, so that we can live and die without any fear. When we have made Jesus Lord in our life, we can rest assured, trusting in his protection, help and comfort. God wants us to live within His protective framework, where we can be safe and have confidence in Him. The dominion of Jesus is one of freedom, where we experience true freedom and safety.
A missionary who lived with his wife and two little children in the Red Light District in Amsterdam said: Being where God wants you to be is the safest place on earth!
The Bible says:
Oh, that My people would listen to Me, that they would walk in My ways! I would soon subdue their enemies! (=protection, Psalms 84:13-14)
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; for He shall give His angels charge over you, to keep you in all your ways. In their hands they shall bear you lest you dash your foot against a stone… Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore I will deliver him. (Psalm 91:9-14)
Jesus told His disciples:
Are not five sparrows sold for two copper coins? And not one of them is forgotten before God. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows. (Luke 12:6-7)
He also said:
“I have told you these things so that you can have peace in me. In this world you will have troubles. But be brave! I have defeated the world!” (John 16:33)
God loves us, and he wants us to be his victorious children in this world, trusting in Jesus!
Safety is one of the things people value the most. That’s why we invest in insurance, have medical science, fire departments, law enforcement and intelligence services, and it’s why we have quality control of everything from food products to building constructions. Why is safety that important to us? Because we don’t want to die nor experience accidents or sicknesses.
Are you safe? Or do you live with an inner sense of anxiety that bothers you? Does our welfare society bring the utmost sense of safety – or are you still afraid of what might happen to you? Who or what guarantees that you are alive and well tomorrow?
Because the world is an unsafe place, we want to be as safe and secure as we can be. When all is said and done, we are in need of a much more powerful sense of safety than the one our insurances and well-meaning democracy is able to give to us. In the same way that a child may experience safety with a present father or mother, so can we experience safety with God. Even when things are falling apart all around us, our faith in God can lift us all the way into His loving arms. God wants to be our safety, and He has the power to protect us from any thinkable danger!
The Bible is full of promises about how God will protect and rescue those that turn to Him. But how does God protect?
1. First and foremost, we need to take God’s outstretched hand through His Son, Jesus Christ. We need His salvation, by giving our life to Jesus and making Him the highest authority in our lives.
2. Next, God wants us to stay close to Him, so that He can protect us and give us the things that best serve us.
Illustration:
It’s like the fencing around a flock of sheep. Within the perimeters of the fence, the shepherd can guarantee the protection of the sheep. But outside of the fence the sheep will be left to happenstances and therefore luring dangers.
Can you expect to be protected automatically when you are a Christian?
It is the belief in that Jesus died for our sins and rose again that saves us from perdition. In relation to eternal life, we can be secure when we hold on to our relationship with Him. We can trust God’s promises that our sins are forgiven, and that we, because of the power in the atoning death of Jesus, have a guarantee of eternal life with Him.
But in relation to this life the Bible doesn’t promise us protection automatically by trusting in Jesus. If we as believers choose our own path rather than God’s, it creates a crack in our lives. Through that crack, God’s adversary, the devil, can get access to steal, kill and destroy in our lives. (See the gospel of John 10:10 and the letter to the Ephesians 4:27). But when we repent, ask forgiveness and choose God’s way, that crack is covered and closed by the blood of Jesus. We can remain within God’s fencing by living wholeheartedly in the light of God’s word in the Bible.
God’s full protection
The dominion of Jesus Christ in our lives gives us absolute protection. Of course, we can still die, or become ill or have problems. But God's word and his peace will be the gamechanger in any circumstance, so that we can live and die without any fear. When we have made Jesus Lord in our life, we can rest assured, trusting in his protection, help and comfort. God wants us to live within His protective framework, where we can be safe and have confidence in Him. The dominion of Jesus is one of freedom, where we experience true freedom and safety.
A missionary who lived with his wife and two little children in the Red Light District in Amsterdam said: Being where God wants you to be is the safest place on earth!
The Bible says:
Oh, that My people would listen to Me, that they would walk in My ways! I would soon subdue their enemies! (=protection, Psalms 84:13-14)
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; for He shall give His angels charge over you, to keep you in all your ways. In their hands they shall bear you lest you dash your foot against a stone… Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore I will deliver him. (Psalm 91:9-14)
Jesus told His disciples:
Are not five sparrows sold for two copper coins? And not one of them is forgotten before God. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows. (Luke 12:6-7)
He also said:
“I have told you these things so that you can have peace in me. In this world you will have troubles. But be brave! I have defeated the world!” (John 16:33)
God loves us, and he wants us to be his victorious children in this world, trusting in Jesus!
