February 16, 2020 PM Service
The Lord is my light and my salvation;
Whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the strength of my life;
Of whom shall I be afraid?
Notice the contrast. You have the Lord, and you have fear. You can’t have both, it’s one or the other. If you have the fears, it’s because you haven’t made the Lord your light, salvation, and strength. You’re not seeking him. Also Notice, David said,” The lord is MY light.” David made the Lord his light. If you’ll do this, then the Lord will begin to remove fear from your life. When God comes in, the things that aren’t God go out. People will go to counselors and will do things to get temporary help, but they don’t do the one thing that brings permanent change. The only permanent change in your life, has to take place inside of you; And that takes place as you allow God to become to you personally what only He can. That comes from seeking Him. Salvation is complete deliverance. It’s not just talking about being saved. Its’ complete deliverance from everything.
The Lord is the strength of my life.
When you deal with fear, it’s not just natural things. You’re dealing with spiritual forces that come against you. And we have learned that spiritual resistance requires spiritual assistance. Thoughts have to be dealt with. Because thoughts determine where your life goes. Interrupt those thoughts with, “That’s NOT who I am. That’s not who I want to be.” If you don’t put a stop to those thoughts, it’s who you will become. Those thoughts will put you in a place where you don’t have any victory. When you put a stop to them, the depression will leave. You have to draw strength from the Lord to combat those thoughts because they become so demonic. Any kind of thought that presses you down and reminds you of every failure, and shameful thing you’ve ever done, you have to know that its very source is darkness. Jesus is not going to come and do something about that FOR you. He gave you the authority to deal with that, and you have to do it. You remind yourself, “that’s not who I am anymore.” If God has forgotten it, I have to forget it and get it out of my life. The devil wants to keep you in that cycle. He wants you to live right there. Demons are involved in depression. Suicidal thoughts are not to be trifled with or entertained. If you are dealing with that, you need to talk to someone. You don’t have to feel embarrassed. It does not make you a bad person. The devil is the bad person.
When the wicked came against me to eat up my flesh, My enemies and foes, They stumbled and fell.
That is because of the presence of God in his life. There is a place in God where the devil can’t get in. There’s a hedge that comes around you. We read about it in the book of Job, and it’s very real. Its Gods will for every born again christian to have this in their life. You can get in that place of God’s protection and the devil is a million miles away. Then, when He does attack, it’s so clear it’s the devil, and it’s so out of the ordinary, that you recognize it right away. But if you haven’t been giving God your time, you could be under that every day. You don’t know if it’s the devil, or you. It just feels like normal everyday life. That’s how warped it’s become. God wants us to have his presence to the degree that the devil can’t get to us. God’s presence will repel the darkness. It’s a peace that surpasses human understanding, that this world knows nothing about. This is available to every christian.
Though an army may encamp against me, My heart shall not fear;
Though war may rise against me, In this I will be confident. One thing I have desired of the Lord, That will I seek: That I may dwell in the house of the Lord
All the days of my life, To behold the beauty of the Lord, And to inquire in His temple.
Meaning this – I’ve got God’s presence to the degree that it repels my enemies, I am able to enjoy God’s beauty and ask him anything at any time and get an answer. Most of us don’t believe that’s available. How do you desire after him? It’s not a desire until there’s an action behind it. What proves the desire is pursuit. You have to do it. That’s proof to God. Intentions don’t cut it.
For in the time of trouble He shall hide me in His pavilion; In the secret place of His tabernacle He shall hide me; He shall set me high upon a rock. And now my head shall be lifted up above my enemies all around me; Therefore, I will offer sacrifices of joy in His tabernacle; I will sing, yes, I will sing praises to the Lord. Hear, O Lord, when I cry with my voice! Have mercy also upon me and answer me. When You said, “Seek My face,” My heart said to You, “Your face, Lord, I will seek.”
This means, seek me! Consecrate yourselves. Dedicate yourselves. Prepare yourselves.
Do not hide Your face from me; Do not turn Your servant away in anger;
You have been my help; Do not leave me nor forsake me, O God of my salvation. When my father and my mother forsake me, Then the Lord will take care of me. Teach me Your way, O Lord, and lead me in a smooth path, because of my enemies. Do not deliver me to the will of my adversaries; For false witnesses have risen against me, and such as breathe out cruelty. I would have lost heart, unless I had believed That I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait on the Lord; Be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart; Wait, I say, on the Lord!
Don’t give up! Don’t cave in and quit. Why? Because you will see the goodness of God if you seek him. You’ll taste him. You see his goodness. You’ll see fear leave. You’ll see changes taking place. Only if you seek him. It is worth it. It is impossible for you to seek God, and it not work. It will work for ANYONE.
Exodus 32:1 Now when the people saw that Moses delayed coming down from the mountain, the people gathered together to Aaron, and said to him, “Come, make us gods that shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.”
Get before God and stay there until you know what to do. The people weren’t willing to wait until they know from God what to do. When they wouldn’t wait for Moses, what there were really saying is, “God we aren’t waiting on you.” God sent Moses up that mountain. Moses wasn’t the hold up. Life and society will constantly apply pressure on you to move forward. You can’t become impatient. But what does God have to say about it? Sit down with God, until he speaks to you. You’ll know what God wants you to do. You CAN know. Your flesh won’t like it. Your mind won’t like it. But you have to do the same thing that every other human has to do. You have to get with God until your flesh shuts up, your mind calms down, get all of the distractions out of there, until you can recognize, where God is pointing you. IF you don’t wait on God, you’ll form your own plans, and your own ideas and make mistakes that could have been avoided. It’s a skill you have to develop.
You have to learn to wait. You seek God by waiting in his presence. It allows him to become your light and salvation. It allows him to become the strength of your life. It allows his presence to come into your life, so that when you get up from a low place, you don’t walk away without God. You walk away, and God goes with you. And then when your enemies come, you’ve got spiritual assistance and His presence, and his voice, and confidence that comes only through him. No man can impart a relationship with God through the laying on of hands or by speech. It only comes by your own pursuit and development. Your life will take on a whole new dimension.
Why do people run from God? Because they’re not willing to give up what they want for what He’s asking of them. He’s asking you for more of you. He’ll let you continue to do what you want, and He’ll stay after you while you do it. It’s his mercy in action.
How do you seek God? You wait. You get in his presence and you wait.
2 Chronicles 16:9 For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him.