GOD IS GOOD

GOD IS GOOD (Psalm 34:1-22)

                Along about the age of 40 or thereabouts, I was at a very low point in my life. I was battling constant depression. I was addicted to alcohol and cigarettes, I was about to lose everything that was dear to me including my family. My life was out of control and even though I had been born and raised as a Christian, I had no idea how to access the power of God to deliver me. My knowledge of the Word was all theoretical and doctrinal, but somehow not practical when it came to living life by the Spirit of God.

                In my desperation I began to attend a home group made up of Pentecostal believers and Adventists who had become Spirit filled and Spirit baptized.  I was in search of something that would get down into my heart and soul … to make fundamental changes in my life and it had to be something more powerful than turning over a new leaf, or using my own stiff backbone to deliver me. I had tried that a thousand times and it had never worked.

                After attending this home group for a while I finally got up my nerve to ask them to pray for me. When they did, a monster of a demon manifested in me and whether by a vision or what I do not know, but I saw him inside of me just as clearly as I can see anything. He leered at me threateningly and showed me how his tentacles were almost infinitely connected to every cell of my being and he spoke to me without words warning me that if I tried to get rid of him, he would destroy me.

                I backed out of the prayer group, thanked the people who were praying for me and made a dash for home. It scared me to death. I didn’t know that I had a demon. I didn’t know how long I had had it or when it had come in, but I did know that it was destroying my life and that I needed deliverance from that evil entity. Somehow I instinctively understood that even though I had lived with an outer form of godliness all of my life, I had never been truly born again. I had never died to self and the world and I had never been raised up by the power of Jesus to live by His Holy Spirit.

                Retreating to one of my favorite places in the mountains I began to pace and to pour out my troubles to the Lord. I told Him that I needed to be born again and it had to be something vastly different than I had ever encountered before. I told Him that I was going to ask Him into my heart and life, but if the experience was no better than all the other times I had come to Him making my useless promises, this would be a very short conversion. In giving my life fully to God all I could picture was becoming more legalistic… getting a firmer grip on my life… It doesn’t work.

                So, believing that there was something more…something more powerful and more life changing than I had ever experienced in all of my years of religion, I surrendered my life fully and completely to Jesus.  When I did, something like warm oil and a cool breeze invaded my being as if “Heaven Came down and Glory Filled My Soul.

                In that moment the tangible presence of Jesus flooded into me and the first thing He asked me is, “Do you want me to get rid of that thing?” I said “Yes.” And the next thing I saw in my spirit, again just as plainly as I had ever seen anything, I saw that big menacing demon as if driven by a mighty wind. He was terrified and blew away from me like a little black leaf and He couldn’t get away from me fast enough. I have never seen anything so terrified as that demon… and suddenly I understood the power of Jesus. I said to the Lord, “Oh, so that’s what it is all about.”

                In that moment of time the Lord delivered me from the demon, from depression, from addiction to both cigarettes and booze and about two weeks later when I was again on the mountain, the Lord caught me up into a vision of the universe and how it works and how all of creation praises the Lord and how everything exists in Him and how our physical universe is waiting in eager anticipation for the revealing of the sons of God. Romans 8:19-23. It all became so real to me and I lost track of time as if caught up into another realm.

               

                When I became aware of myself and my surroundings again, the first thing I noticed was that I was speaking in tongues profusely and without any effort on my part. The prayers of the prayer group and their laying hands on me had borne fruit and life for me will never be the same. I had discovered something infinitely more powerful than manmade religion and it comes to us when we are baptized in the Holy Spirit and fire, just as the Bible promises.

                So naturally this chapter of the Bible (Ps. 34) has new and living meaning to me.

                “I will bless the Lord at all times; his praise shall continually be in my mouth.” Ps. 34:1

                “This poor man cried and the Lord heard him; and saved him out of all his troubles. “ Ps 34:6

                “The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit. Ps. 34:18

                “Many are the afflictions of the righteous; but the Lord delivers him out of them all.” Ps. 34:19

                “The Lord redeems the soul of His servants; and none of those who take refuge in Him will be                                   condemned.

                I have encountered the power and grace of the Lord and I can never return to those weak and powerless things that once controlled my life. Addictions and depression and such may presume to rule over us with an iron fist, but they are no match for the mighty power of Jesus Christ… and until we have had that living encounter with Him by His Holy Spirit, we can only carry about an empty façade of religion even as our heart hungers for something more.

                David was anointed to be king of Israel, but we all know that he had a long row to hoe on his way to the throne. But in reality, all of those things were training him how to be a good and faithful king who relied on the grace of God. He was an Old Covenant man with a New Covenant heart. He somehow saw beyond the types and shadows and the religion of his day, to the Lord Himself and in that reality he could write Psalms of praise, and dance wildly before the Lord with abandonment and to lead God’s people in righteousness.

                The point is the Lord delivered me instantly and without effort on my part, just as David was anointed with oil, or like Israel was delivered out of Egypt in one day. It is done directly by the power of God and yet we also know that there is the desert where we learn to walk in the Spirit and thee Word. There is a king Saul to try and keep us away from our destiny. And yet all of these things that we must go through, they are all preparing us to reign with Christ. So God delivers us, but He also trains us in the art of overcoming by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of our testimony.

                This training is not instantaneous. We are still in a battle field and we need to learn how to properly wear the armor of God and the weapons of our warfare as well as how to live in the authority of the Name of Jesus against the enemy. So you may be able to point back to a certain time of deliverance just as I did, or Israel or David or anyone who walks with the Lord. But we also know that being born again is the beginning of the Christian life and not the end of it. We all have a lot of growing to do and that is why we need to be members of the body of Christ.

                I know that in every congregation there are those who live in the sunlight of God’s presence and power and some who live in the shadows of defeat and doubt and fear. Many are hanging on by a thread.             In every church and in every Sunday school class or Sabbath school class we need to do more than just rehearse the lesson. We have been doing that for fifty years and yet much of the body of Christ is languishing… feeling powerless… falling away. We need an uncommon revival of the power of God. We need something more than past revivals that cooled down in time and devolved into self- centered religion and prosperity teaching and good feelings, but drifted away from the solid foundations of the Word. “All who are being led by the spirit of God, these are the sons of God.” Rom. 8:14

                We need to group together crying out to God for something more. We need to pray for one another, for deliverance from bondage. We need to cry out to God saying: “O Lord, we pray that You will deliver your people unto holiness and victory. Shake us from our half- hearted attempts and worship. Invade our souls with the glory of heaven. Set our tongues loose to praise Your name.

                “Many are the afflictions of the righteous; but You Lord deliver us out of them all. You redeem the souls of your servants… and none of those who take refuge in you will be condemned.” Ps. 34:19

                Teach us to live by Your Spirit and not by our flesh. Help us to experience Your Word in our lives… not as just a doctrine, or a theory… not as a proof text for one point of view or another… but Let Your Word be to us living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow judging the thoughts and intentions of our hearts. Heb. 4:12

                We exalt Your name Oh Lord our King and Redeemer. Loose our hearts to shout joyfully to the Lord. Ps. 100:1

                Let the rivers clap their hands; Let the mountains sing together for joy before the Lord, for He is coming to judge the earth; He will judge the world with righteousness and the peoples with equity.” Ps 99:8, 9.

                “Bless the Lord O my soul and all that is within me, bless His holy name. And forget not His benefits;  Who pardons all our iniquities; Who heals all our diseases; Who redeems our lives from the pit; Who crowns us with loving kindness and compassion; Who satisfies our years with good things, so that our youth is renewed like the eagle.” Ps.103:1-5.

                Even the mighty eagle at some point in his life loses everything… his feathers… his eyesight his talons, even sometimes his beak. He becomes completely helpless so that if other eagles don’t feed him and protect him he would surely die.

                Even we as Christians can soar one day and seem to lose everything the next. We need each other to pray for one another and protect one another. The power of that little prayer group 35 years ago is still working in and through my life.  Likewise the faith and powerful prayers of our church family here keep that fire burning hot. We know that our vital connection with God and with each other is a key to the Christian life. The Lord is faithful… His strength is renewed every morning as we breathe in His Holy Spirit and breathe out praises to His name.

                There is never a dull moment when we live in the presence of the Lord.