The Shield part 2
You all know I like the law of first mention, right? Where the first time a word, or phrase, or concept is used in the Bible kind of sets the tone for how it will be used thereafter. Well, the first time the word "shield" is used in the King James Version of the Bible is in Genesis 15:1, "After these things the word of the LORD came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward." That's God speaking. That's love speaking. Saying, "Don't worry. I got you. I'll protect you... and reward you." Man, that's powerful to me! That's the gospel right there. The good news. And then I think Jesus picked up this thread in His earth walk ministry when He said, "These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world" (John 16:33). Fear not. Have peace. Be of good cheer. Don't worry about all of those things that are trying to drag you down... because God can, and will, and does, hold us up! One of my all-time favorite verses, Jude 1:24, "Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy." We spend so much times talking about picking ourselves up... but what if we really understood that we don't have to fall at all. God--again, LOVE--is able to keep us from falling in the first place. It's the old saying, "If you go down swinging, you might not go down at all." It's the understanding that we don't have to fight, because God is protecting us. I think tomorrow we're going to talk about what it means to let love defend us, or shield us. Really dig into it. Because, to continue my Captain America theme, part of his deal was using the shield to stop bullets, or fists, or energy blasts, or whatever. But, at the same time, Captain America THREW his mighty shield. But like I said, I think that's tomorrow's Rant. To wrap it up tonight I want to stick with the idea that love is our shield and our exceeding great reward. We don't have to go out conquering, because in Him we are more than conquerors! We don't have to overcome, because in Him we have already overcome! He overcame the world. Greater is He that is in me, than He that is in the world. The fire in you is hotter than the fire you're in. You don't have to be conformed to the world when you understand that God has conformed you to the image of His only begotten Son. You don't have to protect yourself when you know God is protecting you. And you certainly don't have to defend yourself by attacking. If you're attacking someone... you need to stop and look at what you're doing. What's your sphere of influence? What can you control? Yourself, right? Not other people. You can't force the world to fit into your idea of what it should be. You have to simply love people no matter what. And, yes, it's hard to love people when they're attacking you. Hard to feel that joy, or that reward. But while sorrow may last for the night... we know that joy comes with the morning! Hang in there. Keep that head up. God is your shield. LOVE is your shield. You are safe in His loving arms.