God's "hedge of protection"

Job 1:10 (NIV)

“Have You not put a hedge around him and his household and everything he has?

This verse is the basis for the phrase, “God’s hedge of protection”.  I pray for His hedge of protection all the time.  I pray for His hedge of protection around my house when a major storm is coming.  I pray for His hedge of protection when I and/or a loved one are going on a trip.  I pray for His hedge of protection around my wife, children, and grandchildren as they go about their lives.  It is a most wonderfully comforting thought that God’s hedge of protection shields and guards His children.

Who spoke these words to God?  Satan!  Job 1:6 states that the angels came to present themselves before the Lord and Satan also came with them.  It was the Lord who first spoke to Satan and after Lord praised Job in verse 8, Satan retorts with this cynical rebuttal.  While indeed a rebuttal, it was a fact that God protected and blessed Job and He had the power to keep trouble away from Job. 

Job lost God’s protection because it was God’s choice, not because God no longer had the power.  Scholars have contemplated and debated for centuries why God used Job the way He did and caused Job to lose everything.  Yet a major learning point from this story is that God is God and has the power to do whatever He chooses.  Also, the end of the story for Job was receiving wonderful blessings.  

It takes great faith to believe with all of your heart that God will protect you and those you love.  Indeed, He has the power and desire to do so.  God’s power and desire has another name---grace.  God’s grace will put a hedge of protection around you and your loved ones.  What a promise!

What does He protect you against?  Whatever you ask Him.  Protect you against physical danger—He will.  Protect you against Satan’s temptations—He will.  Protect you against losing your faith—He will.  Protect your children against the forces of evil.  He will.  Whatever you ask Him to protect you against, He will, but you must believe that He will with all of your heart.

“God's protection has always been with me.  It's just a matter of understanding that He loves us and He wants us to be safe.  He will keep us safe if we just put our trust in Him.  That's the thing...that's all there is to it.  Prayer is a powerful thing.” –- Charlie Daniels

Do not grieve the Holy Spirit

Ephesians 4:30-32 (NIV)

And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.  Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. 

The Bible says that if you are a reborn believer in Jesus Christ that you must not grieve the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 4:30 above) and you must not quench the Holy Spirit (I Thessalonians 5:19).  The Greek meaning of “grieve” is to “make sorrowful”; the Greek meaning of “quench” is to “extinguish”.  Grieving the Holy Spirit is something that you do that is unbiblical while quenching the Holy Spirit is something that you don’t do that biblically should have been done. 

Earlier in the letter to the Ephesian church, Paul described 7 spiritual blessings (Ephesians 1:3-14) the last of which is the sealing of the Holy Spirit in the life of a believer in Jesus Christ (v 13-14).  What is difficult to comprehend is the fact that the Holy Spirit is a person within the life of a born-again believer.  Throughout Scripture the Holy Spirit is referred to as “he”, not “it”.  The Holy Spirit possesses a personality.  Only a person can be grieved.  The Holy Spirit is grieved when a Christian does things that are not acceptable to God.  As you read Ephesians 4:17-5:21, you learn that the Holy Spirit is grieved such actions as

·  living like a pagan (living your daily life as if God doesn’t exist)

·  lying

·  being angry

·  stealing

·  cursing

·  being bitter

·  being unforgiving

·  being sexually immoral

So every time that you commit one of these sins you grieve the Holy Spirit. 

Every time that you fail to do something that God desires you to do (or to be)—e.g. being joyful, thankful, prayerful, unselfish—you quench the Holy Spirit.  Quenching the Holy Spirit suppresses or prevents Him from leading your life according to the will and ways of God.  Fire is one of the descriptions of the Holy Spirit (Matthew 3:11, Acts 2:3).  Of course, a fire can be quenched if it is not “fed” with air.  The fire of the Holy Spirit in the life of a believer can be quenched as well if you do not allow Him to fill and guide you.

Grieving and quenching the Holy Spirit hinder you from living a godly life.  Sins of commission and omission will do this.  It is impossible, humanly, never to grieve or quench the Spirit, but it is humanly possible to keep growing in Christ and minimize your sins.  You do this by saturating your mind with God’s Word and everyday pray for forgiveness and help to do the right things and be the right person. 

Someone once said that you grieve only someone who loves you.  Your enemies don’t grieve when you fail.  May you be encouraged by this truth of such magnificent divine love that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit have for you.

God opposes everyone who is proud

James 4:6-7 (CEV)

God opposes everyone who is proud, but He gives grace to everyone who is humble.  So surrender to God. 

The word “surrender” is one of the four key “S” words that describe the ideal life of a Christian.  The other three are solitude, simplicity, and serenity.  Perhaps a fifth word could be “service”. 

The Greek word for surrender is “hupotasso” meaning “to subordinate, obey, or submit self unto”.  Christians are called to surrender our plans to God.  Actually we are to surrender everything to God (Romans 6:13).  If you feel resistance in your heart and mind when you hear the word “submit”, you have a problem with pride.  What are other signs of pride?

·   Insecurity

·   The need to be right all of the time

·   Being argumentative

·   Needing others to heed your views

·   Needing to be heard more than wanting to hear others

·   Anger

·   Impatience

·   Resists receiving correction

·   Likes to go by formal titles, e.g. Dr.

·   Stubbornness

·   Loves to compete and compare

The Bible is very clear about what God thinks of pride:

·  “Do not lift up your horn on high, Do not speak with insolent pride.” (Psalm 75:5)

·  “There are six things which the Lord hates; yes seven which are an abomination to Him:  a proud look, ……..” (Proverbs 6:16)

·  Always remember:  “God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble” (Proverbs 3:34)

·  “When pride comes, then comes dishonor, But with the humble is wisdom.” (Proverbs 11:2)

·  “In the mouth of a fool is a rod of pride, but the lips of the wise will preserve them.” (Proverbs 14:3)

·  “A man’s pride shall bring him low: but honor shall uphold the humble in spirit.” (Proverbs 29:23)

·  “The pride of man will be humbled and the loftiness of men will be abased; And the LORD alone will be exalted in that day” (Isaiah 2:17).

·  “For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.” (Matthew 23:12 NIV)

·  “………lest being puffed up with pride he fall into the same condemnation as the devil." (I Timothy 3:6)

·  “…and all of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, for God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” (I Peter 5:5)

·  “……boastful pride of life is not from the Father……” (I John 2:16)

Is there any doubt that God opposes pride?  The original word for oppose is “anthistemi” where the word “antithesis” comes from and literally means “to stand against”.  Just imagine anytime you show pride or arrogance that there’s God standing with His arms folded or hands on His hips staring down at you and showing immense disapproval.  What about the other imagery, that of God smiling at you, nodding His head in approval, giving His grace (unmerited favor) to you?  Which imagery matters more to you? 

Here’s some thinking by C.S. Lewis consider[1]:   “The essential vice, the utmost evil, is pride.  Immorality, anger, greed, and drunkenness are mere flea biters in comparison.  It was through pride that the Devil became the Devil.  Pride leads to every other vice.  It is the complete anti-God state of mind.  As long as you are proud you cannot know God.  A proud man is always looking down on things and people.  And, of course, as long as you are looking down, you cannot see something that is above you.” 

What areas of pride still exist in your character that you can work on via God’s help to eliminate?  What can you do starting now and in the near future to surrender more of your life and your life’s plans to Him?

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[1] CS Lewis, Mere Christianity, Copyright CS Lewis, Pte Ltd, 1942, 1943, 1944, 1952, HarperCollins Edition, 2011, pp. 121-122, 124