He Surrounds Us

 

Those who trust in the Lord are as secure as Mount Zion;

      they will not be defeated but will endure forever.

 Just as the mountains surround Jerusalem,

      so the Lord surrounds his people, both now and forever.Ps 125

So true, there ARE mountains that surround Jerusalem. Just this morning, I was praying for a young man for protection and I saw huge wings covering him. So I felt it was Psalm 91:4 where we are protected by God's wings as a shelter and  I sensed he was “under His wings”. But then, I read this morning and realized it was not wings, it was being “surrounded” by protection and then I saw the hills around Jerusalem and went, WOW, that’s it!! Not only are we protected by God's covering but we are surrounded by the protection also. We too are like that, to keep the image in our minds, that our God surrounds us and how very secure we are!! We will not defeated by the enemy, but we have the Lord surrounding us and what a praise to come from our lips. I will not only remember that His wings protect and cover me but He is like the mountains that surround Jerusalem...because His Word is His Promise to me that He surround me.

Chains of Oppression

 Some sat in darkness, in utter darkness,
   prisoners suffering in iron chains, because they rebelled against God’s commands
   and despised the plans of the Most High.  So he subjected them to bitter labor;
   they stumbled, and there was no one to help.  Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble,
   and he saved them from their distress.  He brought them out of darkness, the utter darkness,
   and broke away their chains. Psalm 107:10-14 

 As I read about “prisoners in iron chains”, I thought about chain gangs that were chained to each other in iron shackles, and they were required to do hard labor on the railway tracks. Not only were they chained but their tasks were back breaking and laborous.We too can be prisoners in chains and not even realize it. We can be chained to burdens that are not ours but are for God to deal with. The chains can be made of something called “unforgiveness” which hold us to spirits of resentment, bitterness, anger, rage and even hate. What chains do is they bind and restrict our movements. Isn’t that what sin does in our lives, it prevents us from having a wonderful spirit filled and free life? Like in Isaiah 61, the prisoners (captives) are freed from their captivity. We can be prisoners and have invisible chains on us and not even realize it. We need to be set free from those chains that are binding us to sin. How do we get free? We begin to spend time in prayer and ask the Lord to cleanse our hearts and make us free from all those sins that are tying us down. We need to forgive those that have hurt us and have caused us pain. Secondly, we need to realize that we have a loving God that will free us, but all we have to do is ask. Ask God to remove those chains of oppression right now, today and not to let any time go or you will be a slave to sin and be like those prisoners on the chain gang – bound and enslaved.
“Create in me a clean heart and renew a right Spirit within me.” (Psalm 51:10)
Question: Are you bound in chains and need to be set free? Are you willing to forgive and be released as a prisoner of sin?

Sing a New Song

1 Sing to the LORD a new song; 

   sing to the LORD, all the earth. 

2 Sing to the LORD, praise his name; 

   proclaim his salvation day after day. 

Turn to the Lord in prayer and receive a new song in your life! Oh YES!! It is never too late to have a “new song” in your life. You can stop at this very second and ask God to lift you up and create in you a clean heart and to renew a right spirit within you! You can begin to release everything that you are holding on to and allow God to renew and restore you. When you have been restored, you can begin to sing a new song, a new verse to come from your life and your life can be very different from where it was going a second ago. I think of a recent prayer session with a lady that had believed so many lies about herself and in an instant, she saw Jesus in her life and how He erased all those lies and showed her that she was a precious diamond to God. She was transformed in a second and she had a new song. We had her take a prophetic step forward, leaving everything behind and to start anew, afresh with a new song in her life. You too can have a new song in your life, anytime you decide to go to God in prayer. Take off the old clothes and to put on the new clothes of righteousness and walk in God’s anointing and blessings that are awaiting us all...this second...in prayer!
Question: Would you like to be restored, renewed and to be filled with the Holy Spirit so that your life will have a new song?