Get Under the Shadow
1 Corinthians 15:54 Then, when our dying bodies have been transformed into bodies that will never die, this Scripture will be fulfilled:
“Death is swallowed up in victory.
55 O death, where is your victory?
O death, where is your sting?”
56 For sin is the sting that results in death, and the law gives sin its power.
5 But thank God! He gives us victory over sin and death through our Lord Jesus Christ.
58 So, my dear brothers and sisters, be strong and immovable. Always work enthusiastically for the Lord, for you know that nothing you do for the Lord is ever useless.
Jesus of Nazareth is "The Christ" or the anointed one. There are many anointed ones mentioned in the Bible. Saul was anointed to be king and then walked away from God, the pagan king Cyrus was anointed to assist Israel, David was anointed by God to rule in righteousness.
Jesus is specifically THE Christ. His anointing was to overcome sin and death. Sin leads to death. Jesus was, and is, filled with perfect grace, as a man, to lead people out of sin and eventually out of death. He was, and is, anointed to OVERCOME sin and death. To defeat them both and win the victory.
The question we should all be asking is HOW? The answer is actually really clear: through judgment, which will lead people to fully rely on the Holy Spirit as their pride is broken. People who sign up for this are called " The Church". This judgment is for the Church.
John 16:8 And when he comes, he will convict the world of its sin, and of God’s righteousness, and of the coming judgment.
9 The world’s sin is that it refuses to believe in me.
10 Righteousness is available because I go to the Father, and you will see me no more.
11 Judgment will come because the ruler of this world has already been judged.
12 “There is so much more I want to tell you, but you can’t bear it now.
13 When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own but will tell you what he has heard. He will tell you about the future.
14 He will bring me glory by telling you whatever he receives from me.
15 All that belongs to the Father is mine; this is why I said, ‘The Spirit will tell you whatever he receives from me.’
This is the point of judgment: God takes away every crutch of the flesh (starting with the church) we would tend to lean on so that He can be our only strength.
That is the point of COVID 19, the division in the earth, the financial calamity setting up to shake us even more, persecution of believers, and the failure of governments. This is all designed to demonstrate that all of our Godless structures and strength are toothpicks stacked up against an ocean of power.
The reference to "death where is your sting" is from Hosea 13:14. Hosea 13 is about the severe end time judgment of God's people that will result in them having victory. Paul rightly interprets this very negative-sounding passage as hope when he refers to it in 1 Corinthians 15, talking about the rapture, or translation of the bodies of saints, in the first resurrection:
Hosea 13:13 Pain has come to the people
like the pain of childbirth,
but they are like a child
who resists being born.
The moment of birth has arrived,
but they stay in the womb!
14 “Should I ransom them from the grave?
Should I redeem them from death?
O death, bring on your terrors!
O grave, bring on your plagues!
For I will not take pity on them.
In this Hosea passage God says the people refuse to go forward and give up their earthly crutches... Like babies who won't be born. He says "I will not redeem those who refuse to go forward" then he describes the destruction of their physical strength, so they will return to Him:
Hosea 13:15 Ephraim was the most fruitful of all his brothers,
but the east wind—a blast from the LORD—
will arise in the desert.
All their flowing springs will run dry,
and all their wells will disappear.
Every precious thing they own
will be plundered and carried away.
16 The people of Samaria
must bear the consequences of their guilt
because they rebelled against their God.
They will be killed by an invading army,
their little ones dashed to death against the ground,
their pregnant women ripped open by swords.”
All of this is so they will turn from their pride so they can be SAVED forever. God is willing to allow EXTREME loss on earth for eternal salvation. Jesus was anointed to show us this. We are supposed to follow Jesus IN to our own cross. Hosea lays it out clearly in the next verses:
Hosea 14:1 Return, O Israel, to the LORD your God,
for your sins have brought you down.
2 Bring your confessions, and return to the LORD.
Say to him,
“Forgive all our sins and graciously receive us,
so that we may offer you our praises.
3 Assyria cannot save us,
The Lord desires to be gracious to people... For us to live "in his shade."
This is the problem with misinterpreting judgment: we think we should fight the very thing God is using to humble us. Rather than be humbled, we insist on "being better humans". This is the un-anointed road IN TO sin, and thus, death.
God doesn't want us to have better medicine, better discipline, better science, better laws, better governmental leaders....
Governmental and spiritual leaders are promised to come "in His name" saying they are anointed (the Christ) and lead people away from Him (think about this practically. You will elect some antichrists if you aren't careful). True leaders in the anointing of the Holy Spirit are calling for people to be broken in humility right now, not restored impatiently. Repent, the kingdom is at hand:
Luke 21:8 And He said: “Take heed that you not be deceived. For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am He,’ and, ‘The time has drawn near.’ Therefore do not go after them.
9 “But when you hear of wars and commotions, do not be terrified; for these things must come to pass first, but the end will not come immediately.”
This is describing our time... Just before the end... The Antichrist will come out of the Church!
Jesus didn't come to overcome liberal government, or financial woes. He came to defeat all sin and thus death. He didn't come to defeat only the sins you care about and let the others go for the sake of unity... he came to kill sin. All of YOUR sin and all of mine. So we could be safe. So we could not die eternally.
Earthly comfort is anointing of antichrists. It wars against God bringing a new heavens and a new earth.
God is looking for actual humility. For us to say we need a better... A closer... Relationship with God. To live under HIS shade, not our own fig leaves.
Psalm 91:1 Those who live in the shelter of the Most High
will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty.
2 This I declare about the LORD:
He alone is my refuge, my place of safety;
he is my God, and I trust him.
3 For he will rescue you from every trap
and protect you from deadly disease.
4 He will cover you with his feathers.
He will shelter you with his wings.
His faithful promises are your armor and protection.
5 Do not be afraid of the terrors of the night,
nor the arrow that flies in the day.
6 Do not dread the disease that stalks in darkness,
nor the disaster that strikes at midday.
7 Though a thousand fall at your side,
though ten thousand are dying around you,
these evils will not touch you.
8 Just open your eyes,
and see how the wicked are punished.
9 If you make the LORD your refuge,
if you make the Most High your shelter,
10 no evil will conquer you;
no plague will come near your home.
11 For he will order his angels
to protect you wherever you go.
This is what COVID 19, racial strife, economic stress, natural disasters, governmental failures... These are highlighting the works of the flesh. Don't double down on good ideas. Good ideas are taking us to hell.
Double down on humility, weakness.. your utter need for God. Come under His shadow... Stop "squirming in the birth canal", afraid of the light at the end of the tunnel.
You can give yourself to God. Nothing else is going to work. In the coming months and years this will be plain to see. If you come under His shadow, you will avoid much pain and be a witness to others there is a safe place. If not, God is determined to make a witness of you either way.
The failure of man is crescendoing right now. By the end of this year it will be ringing through the earth like a gong. Those who refuse to humble themselves in the church will be given to the leadership of the demons of self-will that they love to embrace and fear divorcing.
Satan is coming to earth out of the mid-heavens. Many think they want someone to come fix what is happening. They will get someone...a man and those who agree with him in the church. He is called the Antichrist. He is anointed to war in the flesh. Satan will give this man His authority and throne. It is about to get a WHOLE lot more confusing... A whole lot more offensive.
Get clarity now about what God wants. He is willing to go to extreme measures to humble us so He can save us. He really is:
Revelation 12:7 And war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought with the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought,
8 but they did not prevail, nor was a place found for them in heaven any longer.
9 So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.
10 Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, “Now salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down.
11 “And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death.
Get under the shadow.
“Death is swallowed up in victory.
55 O death, where is your victory?
O death, where is your sting?”
56 For sin is the sting that results in death, and the law gives sin its power.
5 But thank God! He gives us victory over sin and death through our Lord Jesus Christ.
58 So, my dear brothers and sisters, be strong and immovable. Always work enthusiastically for the Lord, for you know that nothing you do for the Lord is ever useless.
Jesus of Nazareth is "The Christ" or the anointed one. There are many anointed ones mentioned in the Bible. Saul was anointed to be king and then walked away from God, the pagan king Cyrus was anointed to assist Israel, David was anointed by God to rule in righteousness.
Jesus is specifically THE Christ. His anointing was to overcome sin and death. Sin leads to death. Jesus was, and is, filled with perfect grace, as a man, to lead people out of sin and eventually out of death. He was, and is, anointed to OVERCOME sin and death. To defeat them both and win the victory.
The question we should all be asking is HOW? The answer is actually really clear: through judgment, which will lead people to fully rely on the Holy Spirit as their pride is broken. People who sign up for this are called " The Church". This judgment is for the Church.
John 16:8 And when he comes, he will convict the world of its sin, and of God’s righteousness, and of the coming judgment.
9 The world’s sin is that it refuses to believe in me.
10 Righteousness is available because I go to the Father, and you will see me no more.
11 Judgment will come because the ruler of this world has already been judged.
12 “There is so much more I want to tell you, but you can’t bear it now.
13 When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own but will tell you what he has heard. He will tell you about the future.
14 He will bring me glory by telling you whatever he receives from me.
15 All that belongs to the Father is mine; this is why I said, ‘The Spirit will tell you whatever he receives from me.’
This is the point of judgment: God takes away every crutch of the flesh (starting with the church) we would tend to lean on so that He can be our only strength.
That is the point of COVID 19, the division in the earth, the financial calamity setting up to shake us even more, persecution of believers, and the failure of governments. This is all designed to demonstrate that all of our Godless structures and strength are toothpicks stacked up against an ocean of power.
The reference to "death where is your sting" is from Hosea 13:14. Hosea 13 is about the severe end time judgment of God's people that will result in them having victory. Paul rightly interprets this very negative-sounding passage as hope when he refers to it in 1 Corinthians 15, talking about the rapture, or translation of the bodies of saints, in the first resurrection:
Hosea 13:13 Pain has come to the people
like the pain of childbirth,
but they are like a child
who resists being born.
The moment of birth has arrived,
but they stay in the womb!
14 “Should I ransom them from the grave?
Should I redeem them from death?
O death, bring on your terrors!
O grave, bring on your plagues!
For I will not take pity on them.
In this Hosea passage God says the people refuse to go forward and give up their earthly crutches... Like babies who won't be born. He says "I will not redeem those who refuse to go forward" then he describes the destruction of their physical strength, so they will return to Him:
Hosea 13:15 Ephraim was the most fruitful of all his brothers,
but the east wind—a blast from the LORD—
will arise in the desert.
All their flowing springs will run dry,
and all their wells will disappear.
Every precious thing they own
will be plundered and carried away.
16 The people of Samaria
must bear the consequences of their guilt
because they rebelled against their God.
They will be killed by an invading army,
their little ones dashed to death against the ground,
their pregnant women ripped open by swords.”
All of this is so they will turn from their pride so they can be SAVED forever. God is willing to allow EXTREME loss on earth for eternal salvation. Jesus was anointed to show us this. We are supposed to follow Jesus IN to our own cross. Hosea lays it out clearly in the next verses:
Hosea 14:1 Return, O Israel, to the LORD your God,
for your sins have brought you down.
2 Bring your confessions, and return to the LORD.
Say to him,
“Forgive all our sins and graciously receive us,
so that we may offer you our praises.
3 Assyria cannot save us,
nor can our warhorses.
Never again will we say to the idols we have made,
‘You are our gods.’
No, in you alone
do the orphans find mercy.”
4 The LORD says,
“Then I will heal you of your faithlessness;
my love will know no bounds,
for my anger will be gone forever.
5 I will be to Israel
like a refreshing dew from heaven.
Israel will blossom like the lily;
it will send roots deep into the soil
like the cedars in Lebanon.
6 Its branches will spread out like beautiful olive trees,
as fragrant as the cedars of Lebanon.
7 My people will again live under my shade.
They will flourish like grain and blossom like grapevines.
They will be as fragrant as the wines of Lebanon.
Never again will we say to the idols we have made,
‘You are our gods.’
No, in you alone
do the orphans find mercy.”
4 The LORD says,
“Then I will heal you of your faithlessness;
my love will know no bounds,
for my anger will be gone forever.
5 I will be to Israel
like a refreshing dew from heaven.
Israel will blossom like the lily;
it will send roots deep into the soil
like the cedars in Lebanon.
6 Its branches will spread out like beautiful olive trees,
as fragrant as the cedars of Lebanon.
7 My people will again live under my shade.
They will flourish like grain and blossom like grapevines.
They will be as fragrant as the wines of Lebanon.
The Lord desires to be gracious to people... For us to live "in his shade."
This is the problem with misinterpreting judgment: we think we should fight the very thing God is using to humble us. Rather than be humbled, we insist on "being better humans". This is the un-anointed road IN TO sin, and thus, death.
God doesn't want us to have better medicine, better discipline, better science, better laws, better governmental leaders....
Governmental and spiritual leaders are promised to come "in His name" saying they are anointed (the Christ) and lead people away from Him (think about this practically. You will elect some antichrists if you aren't careful). True leaders in the anointing of the Holy Spirit are calling for people to be broken in humility right now, not restored impatiently. Repent, the kingdom is at hand:
Luke 21:8 And He said: “Take heed that you not be deceived. For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am He,’ and, ‘The time has drawn near.’ Therefore do not go after them.
9 “But when you hear of wars and commotions, do not be terrified; for these things must come to pass first, but the end will not come immediately.”
This is describing our time... Just before the end... The Antichrist will come out of the Church!
Jesus didn't come to overcome liberal government, or financial woes. He came to defeat all sin and thus death. He didn't come to defeat only the sins you care about and let the others go for the sake of unity... he came to kill sin. All of YOUR sin and all of mine. So we could be safe. So we could not die eternally.
Earthly comfort is anointing of antichrists. It wars against God bringing a new heavens and a new earth.
God is looking for actual humility. For us to say we need a better... A closer... Relationship with God. To live under HIS shade, not our own fig leaves.
Psalm 91:1 Those who live in the shelter of the Most High
will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty.
2 This I declare about the LORD:
He alone is my refuge, my place of safety;
he is my God, and I trust him.
3 For he will rescue you from every trap
and protect you from deadly disease.
4 He will cover you with his feathers.
He will shelter you with his wings.
His faithful promises are your armor and protection.
5 Do not be afraid of the terrors of the night,
nor the arrow that flies in the day.
6 Do not dread the disease that stalks in darkness,
nor the disaster that strikes at midday.
7 Though a thousand fall at your side,
though ten thousand are dying around you,
these evils will not touch you.
8 Just open your eyes,
and see how the wicked are punished.
9 If you make the LORD your refuge,
if you make the Most High your shelter,
10 no evil will conquer you;
no plague will come near your home.
11 For he will order his angels
to protect you wherever you go.
Psalm 91 isn't primarily a Psalm about how you don't need to worry. Psalm 91 is a Psalm about the choices you make in judgment: to either drawn near to God in humility and weakness, or to try and stand on your own in arrogance, sin, and death.
Trusting in the flesh ... The strength of man... Is the ORIGINAL sin. It is highly offensive to God because it wars against His Spirit. His Spirit is life:
Galatians 5:16 I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.
17 For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish.
18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
19 Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness,
20 idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies,
21 envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
23 gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.
24 And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
17 For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish.
18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
19 Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness,
20 idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies,
21 envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
23 gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.
24 And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
This is what COVID 19, racial strife, economic stress, natural disasters, governmental failures... These are highlighting the works of the flesh. Don't double down on good ideas. Good ideas are taking us to hell.
Double down on humility, weakness.. your utter need for God. Come under His shadow... Stop "squirming in the birth canal", afraid of the light at the end of the tunnel.
You can give yourself to God. Nothing else is going to work. In the coming months and years this will be plain to see. If you come under His shadow, you will avoid much pain and be a witness to others there is a safe place. If not, God is determined to make a witness of you either way.
The failure of man is crescendoing right now. By the end of this year it will be ringing through the earth like a gong. Those who refuse to humble themselves in the church will be given to the leadership of the demons of self-will that they love to embrace and fear divorcing.
Satan is coming to earth out of the mid-heavens. Many think they want someone to come fix what is happening. They will get someone...a man and those who agree with him in the church. He is called the Antichrist. He is anointed to war in the flesh. Satan will give this man His authority and throne. It is about to get a WHOLE lot more confusing... A whole lot more offensive.
Get clarity now about what God wants. He is willing to go to extreme measures to humble us so He can save us. He really is:
Revelation 12:7 And war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought with the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought,
8 but they did not prevail, nor was a place found for them in heaven any longer.
9 So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.
10 Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, “Now salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down.
11 “And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death.
12 “Therefore rejoice, O heavens, and you who dwell in them! Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and the sea! For the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, because he knows that he has a short time.”
13 Now when the dragon saw that he had been cast to the earth, he persecuted the woman who gave birth to the male Child.
14 But the woman was given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness to her place, where she is nourished for a time and times and half a time, from the presence of the serpent.
15 So the serpent spewed water out of his mouth like a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away by the flood.
16 But the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed up the flood which the dragon had spewed out of his mouth.
17 And the dragon was enraged with the woman, and he went to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.
13 Now when the dragon saw that he had been cast to the earth, he persecuted the woman who gave birth to the male Child.
14 But the woman was given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness to her place, where she is nourished for a time and times and half a time, from the presence of the serpent.
15 So the serpent spewed water out of his mouth like a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away by the flood.
16 But the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed up the flood which the dragon had spewed out of his mouth.
17 And the dragon was enraged with the woman, and he went to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.
This is all about the church and Israel. A war is coming to both. It is designed to humble and break us both.
Get under the shadow.
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