How to Defend Yourself

Enterprise = you. Shield = Psalm 91.

Sell your cloak. Buy a sword.

Last night, I wrote a Twitter thread about how the Democrats and the mainstream media are stoking fear and hopelessness during this season of rest.

1. The Democrats and Big Media (BIRM) want the public to be without hope in the face of the Wuhan virus.

— baldilocks: praise the Lord & keep your powder dry (@JulietteAkinyi) March 24, 2020

I don’t think I conveyed how much it infuriated me, but instead of simmering in anger, I’d like to provide a counterpoint.

While everyone else talks about the China Virus/Wuhan Flu/coronavirus/COVID-19 and its effects on the world, I’ve been trying to keep my mind focused on Jesus the Christ, as has been so for the last 20+ years and specifically so since about 2008. Looking back to that year, I’d say that God has been drawing me closer to Him through personal tribulation.

I began calling myself a Christian in the mid-1990s but during the time period mentioned, God has been using tough times and tears to shape me and mold me; to change me into something that I was not prior to that (borrowing a concept from my pastor).

And that’s what He always does for those who He draws to Himself. Jesus the Christ said that no one is drawn to Christ unless the Father flips the drawing switch. However, I submit that this drawing business isn’t a one-time good deal, but something that happens continually throughout the life of the believer.

Trouble is a primary tool for the drawing, especially trouble of the seemingly insurmountable variety. But the thing is that God provides solutions to all problems. Sometimes the solution consists of only one thing, the assurance that He is God. That’s always the starting point, and, ultimately, the end point. But, more often than not, there is a lot of action between the beginning and the end.

I’ve faced permanent loss – of persons and things. I’ve felt like a trapped animal before. I’ve had radically reduced circumstances before. And then I remembered that God was with me and that He kept me. Each situation was a drawing to Him.

And now …

The fear of pestilence and the shadow of death – that’s what we all are facing.

God is drawing this world to Himself.

Several years ago, my pastor preached a series of sermons on Psalm 91. Simply, it is a prayer composed by David requesting protection from God. At the time of the composition, David was on the run from King Saul. I made it my business to memorize the psalm and after I did that, I personalized it.

Here’s the King James version.

1 He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.
2 I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust.
3 Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence.
4 He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler.
5 Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day;
6 Nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday.
7 A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee.
8 Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward of the wicked.
9 Because thou hast made the Lord, which is my refuge, even the most High, thy habitation;
10 There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling.
11 For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.
12 They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone.
13 Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder: the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under feet.
14 Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high, because he hath known my name.
15 He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honour him.
16 With long life will I satisfy him, and shew him my salvation

And here’s my personalized version.

When I dwell in the secret place of you, Most High
I will abide under the shadow of you, Almighty.
I will say of you, Lord, you are my refuge and my fortress. My God.
In you will I trust.
Surely, you will deliver me from the snare of the fowler and from the noisome pestilence.
You will cover me with your feathers and under your wing will I trust.
Your truth is my shield and my buckler.
I will not be afraid for the terror by night,
Nor for the arrow that flies by day,
Nor for the pestilence that walks in darkness,
Nor for the destruction that wastes at noon day.
A thousand shall fall at my side and 10,000 at my right hand, but it shall not come nigh me.
Only with my eyes will I behold and see the reward of the wicked.
Because I have made you, Lord, you who is my refuge, even you, Most High, my habitation.
There shall no evil befall me, nor shall any plague come near my dwelling.
For you have given your angels charge over me to keep me in all my ways.
They shall bear me up in their hands, lest I dash my foot against the stone.
I will tread on the lion and adder; the young lion and the dragon will I trample under feet.
Because I have set my love upon you, therefore you will deliver me.
You have set me on high because I have known your name.
I will call upon you and you will answer me.
You will be with me in trouble. You will deliver me and honor me.
With long life will you satisfy me and show me your salvation.

I’ve been praying this to God almost every day since I memorized it. While doing so, I try to keep in mind that I’m talking to a person and when I find myself merely reciting the psalm, I stop and begin again.

Notice that the request has conditions; notice that pestilence and deliverance are mentioned twice and plague once. And be advised that dwelling has many connotations. Your body, your house/apartment and your country are all dwellings.

And note the exhortations about fear.

The psalm can be dissected much more, but that's not my purpose here.

This is: to go on spiritual offense against the forces of fear and darkness and the human agents thereof.

I've used these weapons and God's other weapons before; they work. But only if you pick them up.

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Two Kingdoms Offer Protection to Their Children

Disclaimer: I'm biased towards this Kingdom.

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*****

Compare and contrast.

In this post, I opined that the Devil is not only the progenitor of lies, also the architect of all that is false.

God is building His kingdom, and so the [Devil] is building his.

This adversary does deal in simple falsehoods, but those aren’t his most lethal weapons. He is an imitator of his enemy, God, and therefore, his deceptions are high, wide, deep, broad, complex—and, long-term.

These types of deceptions are four-dimensional at the very least; they are his weapons of mass destruction.

If you take everything you know about the God of the Bible, you'll notice the Devil -- and his servants -- will always try to copy those things. But the parodies will always be a far inferior and will, ultimately, be a curse.

Case in point coming.

In Psalm 91:1-2 (KJV), David observed that

He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.

I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust.

The implication is that if a person trusts in God and everything that entails, that God, in turn will protect that person. (Pertinent note: a person's core self is his/her spirit and soul and, in this Psalm, God offers conditional protection to a person's dwelling. While you're wearing it, your physical body is the dwelling of your spirit and soul. This is important to remember.)

Robert Spencer points to a milestone on the highway of postmodernism -- a building in the parody kingdom.

The Orlando Weekly’s Xander Peters frames the story this way: “Orange County middle school teacher has an incredibly racist Twitter account.” According to Peters, this teacher “retweeted an anti-Muslim post by Identify [sic] Evropa, a white supremacist group that aims to create a white ethnostate.”

Neither the Orlando Weekly nor the Orlando Sentinel, which also covered the story of this “racist” teacher, shows you a photo of the offender. That is probably because the accused “racist” and “white supremacist” teacher, Sundai Brown, is a black woman.

What race is she supposedly attacking? Jihad terror and Islamization. Islam, as any sane person knows, is not a race, and Muslims are not of a single race, but of all races. But the Orlando Weekly and Orlando Sentinel are out to destroy Sundai Brown’s career and livelihood, for the crime of opposing jihad violence and the spread of Sharia to non-Muslim countries. They have targeted her because she reportedly tweeted that “imans [sic] worldwide instruct muslims to invade western countries, outbreed them, overthrow governments, kill infidels and implement sharia law.”

Understand this: Ms. Brown, is, under the chaotic laws of Leftism, a "white supremacist." Under that law, a white supremacist is anyone who openly disagrees with any idea, anyone, or any group that the Organized Left (OL) takes under its wing of protection. Also, understand this: the OL can confer, withdraw favor on an idea, person, or group at any time for any reason.

The OL also takes these privileges to itself:

• Promotion of one idea/person/group over another, regardless of previous status. Black people used to be the OL's faired-haired boys and girls, if you'll pardon the irony. But now, the OL has demoted black people in its hierarchy of "children."  have been displaced by Muslims, illegal aliens, and women.

• Denunciation of heretics. As is demonstrated by the treatment of Ms. Brown, any member of one of the protected groups who "attacks" one of the groups higher that his/hers, will be publicly denounced, shamed, and, if possible, driven to financial ruin.

• The OL can and will promote an idea, then denounce it later; often seconds later.

That list is far from exhaustive.

Thus are the foundations on which a person/group takes refuge under the wing of protection offered by Leftism ever shifting and, ultimately, unreliable. Those foundations are composed of the sand on which postmodernism -- a kingdom of lies -- are built. This is a "perfect" counterpoint to the solid foundation that God provides.

Is it harsh to say that Leftism is of the Devil? Yes, it is. Harshness is often necessary. 

And here's something else that the Kingdom of God and the kingdom of the Devil have in common: you can die -- be removed from your present dwelling place -- due to reliance on either.

Where the situations diverge: what comes after that.

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