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[1] Happy is he whose resting-place is in the secret of the Lord, and under the shade of the wings of the Most High;
[2] Who says of the Lord, He is my safe place and my tower of strength: he is my God, in whom is my hope.
[3] He will take you out of the bird-net, and keep you safe from wasting disease.
[4] You will be covered by his feathers; under his wings you will be safe: his good faith will be your salvation.
[5] You will have no fear of the evil things of the night, or of the arrow in flight by day,
[6] Or of the disease which takes men in the dark, or of the destruction which makes waste when the sun is high.
[7] You will see a thousand falling by your side, and ten thousand at your right hand; but it will not come near you.
[8] Only with your eyes will you see the reward of the evil-doers.
[9] Because you have said, I am in the hands of the Lord, the Most High is my safe resting-place;
[10] No evil will come on you, and no disease will come near your tent.
[11] For he will give you into the care of his angels to keep you wherever you go.
[12] In their hands they will keep you up, so that your foot may not be crushed against a stone.
[13] You will put your foot on the lion and the snake; the young lion and the great snake will be crushed under your feet.
[14] Because he has given me his love, I will take him out of danger: I will put him in a place of honor, because he has kept my name in his heart.
[15] When his cry comes up to me, I will give him an answer: I will be with him in trouble; I will make him free from danger and give him honor.
[16] With long life will he be rewarded; and I will let him see my salvation.
- Easy Bible. Psalms 91:1-16
Psalms 91 is considered one of the "Prayer of Protection" for those who look to God's shield from the evil influencer of this realm who is mostly liken to that of a serpent or snake (Gen. 3:1, 14; Amos 9:3). We all know who this spirit is.
Notice I said "influencer" instead of referring to a physical entity?
Ephesians 6:12 - [12] For our fight is not against flesh and blood, but against authorities and powers, against the world-rulers of this dark night, against the spirits of evil in the heavens.
Often times, we tend to label (I despise labels) individuals who offend us as being the enemy when in truth the real enemy is of a spiritual power. When we war against one another, the devil sits back and laugh at us because he knows that we are fighting the fight the wrong way (well, from his perspective its the right way). In fact, Satan is untouched while we do his job and destroy one another before our time, this was Satan's plan from the beginning.
The Bible tells us that we were made in the image of God (Genesis) which is ultimately Spirit (body, soul, and spirit).
Luke 24:39 - [39] See; my hands and my feet: it is I myself; put your hands on me and make certain; for a spirit has not flesh and bones as you see that I have.
The rationale is this:
Before we die, the physical body eventually gets old, break down, decays, and is put into the ground and buried. The soul is immortal and lives on forever whether in heaven or hell, and the Spirit that sustains both the body and soul is the breath of life which God provides.
Matthew 10:28 - [28] And have no fear of those who put to death the body, but are not able to put to death the soul. But have fear of him who has power to give soul and body to destruction in hell.
James 2:26 - [26] For as the body without the spirit is dead even so faith without works is dead.
So when we hurt each other in a physical sense (abuse, murder, etc..) are we hurting the devil (who is also a spiritual being, without a body or soul) who influences these offenses? Are we not doing the very works of this cunning serpent by destroying each other, causing division and strife against one another, which is contrary to God's original purpose for humankind?
1 Peter 5:8 - [8] Be serious and keep watch; the Evil One, who is against you, goes about like a lion with open mouth in search of food; ...
Love does not divide but brings all peoples together. No man, no race, no culture, no nationality is inferior of the other. We are all one classification of a specific race without color, nationality, culture etc... we are spiritual souls.
Here is another analogy. We've often hear the phrase, "fight fire with fire". I've had the opportunity as a combat veteran to experience war and combat up close and we know all too well that if the enemy is using a large caliber weapon against us, the wise thing to do is match power with power, weapon with weapon. No military force would return fire from a weapon such as a pistol or rifle when the enemy is using a 50 caliber automatic weapon against them, instead, the opposing party would either match the same weapon or use an even bigger weapon to quickly incapacitate the threat without haste (read the war between Ukraine and Russia when it comes to weapons). So why do we continuously use the 22 mm pistol against the devil who is using rockets, missiles, tanks and fighter jets against us?
It should have been clear from what was quoted above in Matthew 10:28. Spirit against Spirit.
Ephesians 6:13-18 - [13] For this reason take up all the arms of God, so that you may be able to be strong in the evil day, and, having done all, to keep your place. [14] Take your place, then, having your body clothed with the true word, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness; [15] Be ready with the good news of peace as shoes on your feet; [16] And most of all, using faith as a cover to keep off all the flaming arrows of the Evil One. [17] And take salvation for your head-dress and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: [18] With prayers and deep desires, making requests at all times in the Spirit, and keeping watch, with strong purpose, in prayer for all the saints,...
Like the scripture suggests, while I was overseas deployed in a war zone, our gear included helmet, flack jacket (bullet proof vest) that also protected our groin, a war belt which housed our canteens with water, magazines with ammunition, grenades, a first-aid kit each person had to carry to use on our fellow comrades in case they get injured, gas mask to protect us from foreign chemical agents, a backpack with additional items, and our rifle and bayonet.
Even though the scripture indicates little to which a soldier was required to wear in those ages to protect and defend himself, as war evolved, so evolved our weapons and tactical equipment.
But what we neglect to understand from a spiritual perspective, the devil's tactics and weapons has not, and neither the weapons to defeat him in the spiritual arena. We as human beings are a prideful race and we think we have all the wisdom in the world often putting ourselves in the place of the almighty God, making us a God unto ourselves with our limited knowledge and understanding. By doing so we end up becoming fools and deceiving ourselves in the process ultimately destroying ourselves and our children's children because we think we can win this war against the devil on our own. Don't be deceived.
The questions I have for you today are:
KVINC
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