Author’s note: Recently we lost a great man of God to violent death while traveling. He was a father in Christ to a nation, and the effects of his loss, to his family and to that nation, are incalculable. This is not acceptable, and it must stop. This death is what has inspired my recent articles, including this one. There is provision in the Word for 100% protection from violence in general and accidents in particular. I hate the devil. No demon from hell should be able to send us to Heaven before the Lord specifically says it is our time to go! So, we must discipline ourselves to practice the principles that allow us to enjoy God’s protection, not only for ourselves, but for all those others who benefit from our lives. To God be the glory!
GOD’S PROVISION FOR PROTECTION
The angel of the Lord encamps all around those who fear Him, and delivers them. Ps 34:7 NKJV
David, perhaps the most serious fighting man recorded in the Bible, survived countless battles ( think BRAVEHEART battle scenes ), and died quietly in his bed, old and full of days. Same with Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joshua and Moses, and many others. Certainly the greatest example of avoiding violence and accidental death was the Lord Himself. Time after time the devil tried to kill Him prematurely, starting at His birth. But every scheme of the devil was overthrown. You may say, “Wait a minute, He died on a cross!” Yes, but what you don’t understand was that through the cross He as the Father’s High Priest was offering Himself as God’s Passover lamb for all time. Pilate, Herod, the Jews, and the Romans were all merely bit players in that drama.
With long life I will satisfy him, and show him My salvation. Ps 91:16 NKJV
Now, some heroes in the Bible did die violently, like our brother. But that doesn’t change the Word of God in any way. If we had time to study, perhaps we could see what happened to cause those premature deaths, and what we could learn from them. But one thing is clear is that they were not the will of God.
THE FEAR OF THE LORD
Perhaps the greatest promises of the Bible revolve around the fear of the Lord. Consider these:
Oh, how great is Your goodness, which You have laid up for those who fear You… Ps 31:19 NKJV
He ‘lays up goodness,’ He stores it up, just so that He can pour it out on those who fear Him.
Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear Him, on those who hope in His mercy, to deliver their soul from death, and to keep them alive in famine. Ps 33:18-19 NKJV
By humility and the fear of the Lord are riches and honor and life. Prov 22:4 NKJV
My heart is humbled when I consider the fear of the Lord. Oh, how we dwell in presumption instead of thanksgiving! I want to tell you that the fear of the Lord is FEAR, as well as awe, reverence and respect. This idea that some seem to have that God is all ‘balloons and cotton candy’ all the time is a deception from the enemy. Isaiah, Jeremiah, John and the Apostle Paul all trembled before Him. The fear of the Lord is the key that opens up the provision for protection. The fear of the Lord is to depart from evil. When I realized, and this was a profound reality, that evil was harmful, and that God’s prohibitions were there to protect me, not to keep me from fun, but to preserve my life, I just quit rebelling against Him.
For instance, the sabbath day, a day of rest. When I take a weekly day to rest, I am so much more effective the other six days of the week. The commandment that is perhaps the most culturally acceptable one among Christians to break is given for our benefit. It’s been said that if you don’t take your sabbaths, you will make them up on a sick bed or in a hospital…
Then they will call on me, but I will not answer; they will seek me diligently, but they will not find me. Because they hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the Lord… Prov 1:28-29 NKJV
This is one of those great verses that will answer a lot of questions if you will think about it.
The first thing you must realize is that the fear of the Lord is a choice. You choose to walk in the fear of the Lord. Our lives are the sum of the choices, especially the daily choices, that we make. Choosing the fear of the Lord is a daily choice. Making the choice daily allows us to walk in fresh anointing. The reason men of God become stale ( old, tired, dried out ) is that they do not choose, consciously, daily to renew the anointing upon their lives. Your anointing is your choice!
The Word details four great principles that, when embraced, will lead us into the fear of the Lord, where the Angel of the Lord brings deliverance.
My son, if you receive my words, and treasure my commands within you…
Every man has a fight with God. You see this so clearly in witnessing, but even in counseling other born again ones. They only want to give ‘this much’ to God…the rest they want for themselves. They are truly fighting God. The key to receiving and treasuring is to end the fight, to surrender completely. This is a daily choice. Then, and only then, can you begin to receive and treasure the things of God…
So that you incline your ear to wisdom, and apply your heart to understanding…
To incline is to bow, which implies humbling yourself. Humbling yourself is the logical next step of surrendering. The Lord can’t teach you anything until He has your respect. When you are fighting Him you are showing your disdain for Him. Do you see how the fear of the Lord is a choice? The clock is ticking on every man. What choice will you make? Fight or surrender? Disdain, or humble yourself? Hell is a choice, just like Heaven.
Yes, if you cry out for discernment, and lift up your voice for understanding…
I call this principle HOLY DESPERATION. Things get accomplished when desperation sets in. That is why, in athletics, you have to play good in the beginning of the game, when your opponent is fresh and full of enthusiasm, and at the end of the game, when your opponent gets desperate. There is a holy passion in the things of God. You cry out and lift up your voice!
If you seek her as silver, and search for her as for hidden treasures;
No one can touch my wife or my Bible. I draw that line and stand behind it with all that I am as a man. My wife is the most important person in my life, and my bible is the most important thing in my life. What you value defines who you are. Observe a man for only a few minutes and you will begin to see what he treasures most in his life. The one who walks in the protection of the Lord, in the fear of God, will be the one who treasures what God says is most important.
Then you will understand the fear of the Lord, and find the knowledge of God. Prov 2:1-5 NKJV
Finally, beware of presumption. Just because you have done something one hundred times does not mean the enemy is not out there, seeking an opportunity against you. Pray and listen to God’s still, small voice. He will never leave you, nor forsake you. He will walk with you even through the valley of the shadow of death, if necessary, to fulfill His commitment of protection to you. He loves you, and I do, too!
Remember dear ones, we must be about our Father’s business…