WE NEED GOD’S MERCY AND PROTECTION TO SURVIVE IN THESE TIMES OF DANGER
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1. WE ARE LIVING IN DANGEROUS TIMES WHEN DIFFERENT KINDS OF DESTRUCTION ARE SURROUNDING US . DANGERS ARISE BECAUSE OF CRIME AND LAWLESSNESS .DANGERS ARISE OUT OF NATURAL CALAMITIES , WHEN NATURE’S FURY RISES AGAINST US IN AN UNPRECEDENTED MANNER. WE CANNOT SURVIVE THESE DANGERS IN OUR OWN STRENGTH AND WISDOM . WE NEED THE GRACE AND MERCY OF GOD TO PROTECT US IN THESE TIMES. WE NEED JOURNEY MERCIES IN ALL OUR TRAVELLING WHEN WE GO OUT AND WHEN WE COME IN. WE NEED THE LORD TO BE A WALL OF FIRE AROUND US AND A GLORY IN THE MIDST OF US.
" It is of the LORD’s mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness. " Lamentations 3:22-23
" The LORD shall preserve you from all evil; He shall preserve your soul. The LORD shall preserve your going out and your coming in From this time forth, and even forevermore." Psalm 121:7-8
" And I myself will be a wall of fire around it,’ declares the LORD, ’and I will be its glory within.’ " Zechariah 2:5
2.WE NEED GOD’S PROTECTION WHEN MEN RISE AGAINST US . THE LORD’S PROTECTION SHIELDS US FROM THE ATTACKS OF THE ENEMY . WITHOUT GOD’S PROTECTION OUR ENEMIES WOULD SWALLOW US ALIVE . THE LORD HELPS US TO ESCAPE FROM THE SNARE OF THE ENEMY . THERE ARE MANY SNARES AND HIDDEN DANGERS IN THIS WORLD , BUT THE LORD WILL PROTECT US FROM BEING CAUGHT IN THE SNARES AND TRAPS LAID FOR US.
" If the LORD had not been on our side—let Israel say- if the LORD had not been on our side when men attacked us, when their anger flared against us, they would have swallowed us alive; the flood would have engulfed us, the torrent would have swept over us, the raging waters would have swept us away. Praise be to the LORD, who has not let us be torn by their teeth. We have escaped like a bird out of the fowler’s snare; the snare has been broken, and we have escaped. Our help is in the name of the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth. " Psalm 124 :1-8
" no weapon forged against you will prevail,and you will refute every tongue that accuses you.This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and this is their vindication from me," declares the LORD. " Isaiah
54:17
" for the LORD will be your confidence and will keep your foot from being snared. " Proverbs 3:26
" Surely he will save you from the fowler’s snare and from the deadly pestilence. " Psalm 91:3
3. WE NEED GOD’S PROTECTION FOR OUR SOUL . WHEN WE ARE IN THE HAND OF THE LORD , NO ONE CAN SNATCH US OUT OF HIS HAND . NO AMOUNT OF WEALTH OF THIS WORLD CAN COMPENSATE FOR THE LOSS OF OUR SOUL . WE CANNOT BE PREOCCUPIED WITH THE CARES OF THIS LIFE AND NEGLECT THE WELFARE OF OUR SOUL . THAT IS THE TRAGEDY THAT HAPPENED IN THE DAYS OF NOAH . SOMETIMES WE CAN INSIST ON RECEIVING SOMETHING FROM GOD THAT IS NOT ACCORDING TO HIS WILL AND GOD MAY GRANT IT TO US . BUT IT WILL NOT BE A BLESSING TO US BECAUSE IT WILL BRING LEANESS INTO OUR SOUL. SOMETIMES GOD SAYS ’NO’ TO OUR REQUESTS IN ORDER TO PRESERVE OUR SOUL. THAT IS WHAT HAPPENED TO
APOSTLE PAUL WHEN HE ASKED GOD TO REMOVE THE THORN IN HIS LIFE. GOD ALLOWED THAT THORN IN ORDER TO KEEP HIM HUMBLE AND THEREBY PRESERVE HIS SOUL.
"My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. " John 10: 27-29
"What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul? " Mark 8:36
"As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man." Matthew 24:37-39
" Then he said to them, "Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions." And he told them this parable: "The ground of a certain rich man produced a good crop. He thought to himself, ’What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’"Then he said, ’This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods.And I’ll say to myself, "You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry." ’"But God said to him, ’You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’"This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God." Luke 12 :15-21
" And he gave them their request; but sent leanness into their soul. " Psalm 106:15
"To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. " II Corinthians 12:7-9
