Last night was one of those sleepless nights I sometimes experience mostly due to one too many cups of chocolate coffee after dinner. I got to bed a little later than normal and tossed and turned, read, watched TV, prayed, read some more and finally settled in and decided to watch television until I just conked out. Somewhere between COPS and one of those TV court shows I saw this commercial for Five Gum.
Having a sales and marketing background I like to evaluate the creativity and effectiveness of commercials but this one was a little different. The first thing that popped into my mind was that guy is representative of the Christian and the enclosure...the protection that comes with our life in Christ.
Many people are being duped to believe that once they go through the motions of 'getting saved' that life is skipping through the daisies, smelling the flowers, watching the little birdies fly...that all their dreams and wishes will come true and that life will resemble a Disney movie. No wonder people are pouring into those feel-good mega churches that avoid the message of sin, condemnation, hell and redemption. You know the ones I am talking about...where if you tithe, you'll get rich and if you have a positive outlook, life will be grand and everyone will like you.
From what I've read in the Bible life seems to be a little more like the above commercial. If we trust Him we will be protected from what ever life throws at us. And like this guy we might get a little sticky from the experiences but like that cage...God's protection is always there. The Bible is full of evidence of this protection. Look at Daniel. Thrown into the den of hungry lions and their mouths were shut and at daybreak there he was just as alive as he was the night before. An event that caused King Darius to proclaim the protection of Daniel's God throughout his kingdom.
Daniel 6:26-27 "I issue a decree that in every part of my kingdom people must fear and reverence the God of Daniel. 'For He is the living God and He endures forever; His kingdom will not be destroyed, his dominion will never end. He rescues and He saves; He performs signs and wonders in the heavens and on earth. He has rescued Daniel from the power of the lions.'"
And who can forget about Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego? King Nebuchadnezzar was so furious when they would not bow down to worship the golden image that he had the furnace heated seven times hotter than normal...it was so hot that it immediately killed the guards as they pitched the three into the fire. But were they burned? NO! As a matter of fact the king sees not three boys, but FOUR walking around in the fire. When he told them to come out they didn't even smell like smoke. Now, that is truly the protection of God!
That's the old testament, the old covenant you say? The new testament starts out with a clear picture of God's protection when an angel warned Joseph to take the baby Jesus and his mother and flee to Egypt. That same protection is available for us today. Believers need only look as far as Ephesians to be reminded that God has provided armor for our protection, that daily we should gird ourselves. I ask you now, are you protected?
Ephesians 6:10-17 "Finally, be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God."
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Great post. In my opinion we, as Christians, are going to be tested as never before. We are way overdue for judgement in our country and we are just seeing it beginning......BUT GOD will, and does, protect His own. "I have been young and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, not his seed beging bread." Psalms37:25 & tne of course Psalms 91 where we are hidden under His wing.
ReplyDeleteSusan
Amen to that! HE truly is our protector and comfort. Very good post! Blessings ~ ♥ ∞
ReplyDeleteAmen! Another message I needed today.
ReplyDeleteGreat Post!!! This is LIFE on this earth, but Jesus came to give us LIFE, and that more abundantly!!
ReplyDeleteGood post. It's all about God....not us. That's the message I feel Believers need to know today. Thanks for your support and kind words you leave at my post from time to time. Strider
ReplyDeleteHi Theresa, I wanted to stop over from the Hearts blog and 'meet' you! Welcome!
ReplyDeleteGod bless,
Brenda
Good words, That segment of scriptures from Ephesians are some of my favorites. I never would have fought a fire without my protective clothing and equipment. Don that Armor! God bless and have a good weekend.
ReplyDelete"If we trust Him we will be protected from what ever life throws at us. "
ReplyDeleteI want to belie that but then I thnk of all the things people go through and am not so sure. Jsut yesterday my freinds attended the funeral of a woman in her 50's who couldn't take it any long, all the physical pain from decades with her lupis and praying for healing. She hanged herself adn her husband found her. in her funeral they read her suicide note. She said noone was to blame, she made teh decision on her own. she couldn't take the pain any longer, couldn't hold to the promise of healing in this life and believed Jesus would receive her even though she cut her life short and then of all things she encouraged the crowd to trust in Him and to go forward in him when she in fact did the opposite! Very sad indeed.