“I will say of the LORD, ‘He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.’ Surely he will save you from the fowler’s snare and from the deadly pestilence.”

Psalm 91:2,3

Praise be to you for your great promises, Lord Jesus, such as the one above in Psalm 91. These promises are fastened at one end to your plans laid out before the foundation of the earth, then stretched over time as a canopy of protection, and fastened at the other end in the conclusion of history when all evil and sin will be swept away and confined to Hell and the lake of fire.

Your faithfulness is our shield and rampart, throwing back the attacks of the enemy. We live every day under your powerful, pure and persistent protection. And you give us a part in this, equipping us with the ever-present and portable protection of our spiritual armor (Ephesians 6:10-18). I praise you especially for the shield of faith, which we can choose to raise with praise to quench all the fiery arrows of lies and accusations the enemy shoots at us.

At the same time, we live with the ever-present possibility of “escaping” to our own devices, wandering off into the fields of self and sin, exposing ourselves to the sinister attacks of Satan.

You have certainly given us great freedom of choice: great power to dwell in your shelter, or not. And in giving us this choice-potential, you have exposed yourself to grief and pain as we often choose to disobey, to not forgive, to not get up the shield of faith. Thank you for your willingness to continue to suffer grief as you work in our lives to conform us to Christ.

Praise you for your persistence in moving us towards maturity, bringing diverse difficulties our way so that we can practice procuring your grace, persisting in prayer, acting in wisdom, obeying in joy, and thereby be protected from the “snares of the fowler.”

Yours is such love, such kindness, such empowering, such willingness to suffer for the good of your children! There is no other like you! You are the Lord my God, you are the Creator and Savior, King and Shield, Protector and Redeemer, to you be glory and honor and praise forever.

Prayer: “I bow before you, my King, and give myself to you anew with all my heart, mind, soul and strength. May I honor you today in all I say and do. Lead me in what is righteous, good, lovely and graceful. Amen.”

“Let not mercy and truth forsake you….” (NKJV) Proverbs 3:3

Working with a team is not easy. To do so while starting a fellowship in a difficult country makes it a bigger challenge. First, we did not choose each other. Second, we are so diverse. Third, we don’t have much natural affinity for each other: I never would have selected any of my present teammates even as colleagues, to say nothing of friends. However, God chose us to work together and that needs to be our perspective.

As a team, we decided to make unity a top priority and selected Proverbs 3:3-4 NKJV to be the guide for our relationships: “Let not mercy and truth forsake you; bind them about your neck, write them on the tables of your heart; so shall you find favor and good understanding in the sight of God and men.” (Emphasis mine)

Mercy is extending to others the undeserved grace we ourselves have received from Jesus. Mercy is the opposite of being judgmental, critical and negative.

Mercy flows from humility, which can be defined as “seeing myself as God sees me.” That is, we are all sinners who are faulty and make mistakes, but are also children of the King, forgiven, accepted, delighted in and deeply loved by God. Thus, as we see ourselves as no better than others, we will be in awe of God’s acceptance of us and be more willing to extend to others the grace God has given us.

Prayer: “Lord, unity is not natural; help me to live in mercy and truth so that in humility I can accept, love, listen to and “care-front” those around me, and thereby be more useful for you. Amen.”

“Fear of man brings a snare, but he who trusts in the Lord shall be safe.” (NKJV) Proverbs 29:25

If our time here in the Middle East and the things learned could be summarized in one verse, it would be Psalm 118:6, “The LORD is on my side; I will not fear; what can man do to me?” This lesson has been coming at me from a new angle these past weeks.

As a leader, I have repeatedly had the responsibility of telling people news which was not pleasant for them—fellow workers, locals and family members. These were unrelated events, but the basic task was the same: relate a truth I didn’t want to tell and they didn’t want to hear.

With each occurrence, I had a struggle with fear: what would the person say? Would I lose their friendship? Would there be negative repercussions for me personally? Would they become angry and tell me off?

Obedience, however, is not to be predicated on how easy or comfortable the assignment is. God leads us firmly and clearly. He is as gentle with us in His guidance as we let Him be! If I quench the Spirit by refusing to follow His lead, then I force God to use a stronger way to get my attention. He faithfully disciplines those He loves, including those who resist His leadership. But when we obey, fearing Him, not people, He can reward us the right way, taking us to the next step up in growth.

Knowing this, in each case, after much prayer, in fear and trembling I obeyed what I knew to be the Lord’s desire. And, in each case, in the end it worked out well.

Follow up on yesterday’s post.

“Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you…The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.”

Exodus 14:13,14

When the people of Israel were faced with Pharaoh’s great army at the Red Sea, Moses directed them to look to God to fight the powerful enemies pursuing them.

As we face the daunting challenges here of official opposition and bureaucratic labyrinths, folks at home have been praying for God to fight for us. And the Living God, the Lord of Hosts, has been powerfully answering their prayers, giving progress on a number of fronts. Giving a waterfall of blessings. It’s a fulfillment of Psalm 37:3 “Trust in the Lord and do good, so shall you dwell in the land and truly you will be fed.”(KJV)

Here are a few examples, all related to the foundation we’ve been working to set up. It has been shackled for several months by opposition from various authorities and a lack of competent help. The Lord has used these difficulties to “prune” our plans so they fit what He wants, and then began setting us free to work. He accomplished this by:

• clearing up the police investigation against us.
• giving us an accountant who is well versed in how to handle customs matters for foundations
• giving us an experienced man who could advise us on what to do and what to avoid.
• giving us two new board members and providing a cooperative spirit among all the board members (a nice change from previous infighting).
• Most wonderfully, God is changing the heart of the woman in the government who has opposed us strongly, the woman I mentioned a couple of days ago, the one we’d been praying for God to bless. She wrote a letter asking us to help a man with TB of the bone. We are sure this is a “test” for us (we will definitely help this man) and see it as a possible breakthrough.

Folks interceded, God answered. Partnership successful. We are thankful for those who “prayed” their part.

Prayer: “Lord, today help me to believe that you are at work when I can see no answers to my prayers, to fear you, not people or events, to stand in awe of you before you answer. Help me to remember the truth of your Word: ‘The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear him, and he delivers them’ (Ps. 34:7). Amen.”

More on “The LORD Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress.”Psalm 46:7

When King Hezekiah was unexpectedly faced with a huge army, he called on the Lord of Hosts and the enemy was vanquished.

Joshua, before the battle for Jericho, met with the captain of the Lord’s hosts and got his instructions for a victory.

And we wait for Him now, knowing He will help as we pray Psalm 25:2, “…in you I trust, O my God. Do not let me be put to shame, nor let my enemies triumph over me.”

Right now, we are facing a minor battle. Friends in the States have sent us good used clothing to be distributed to poor people here, but the customs officials say we must pay very high taxes on them. Our lawyer says this is not what the law says, but the only way to counter the decision of the customs agents is to open a court case. This does not seem the best route, especially as court cases can drag on for years here.

We are powerless, so we are praying for God to do something about–and for–the person responsible for imposing the non-legal tax on our package. Maybe he would cause them to be promoted out of that position! No answer is in sight, but our Lord is fighting for us. We can praise Him now for whatever answer He chooses to give before it comes.

Prayer: “Lord, today help me to live in the light of your being the Lord of Hosts, trusting you to fight for me where I can’t fight for myself. Help me to pray first and work second, recognizing that without you I can do nothing. Glorify yourself in me as I trust in you. Amen.”