By Sister Gina Lopez
You need to understand that we are at war. What is going on around the world is not just a battle, not a personal battle either, but a battle in the spirit realm. The two forces are fighting against each other, the forces of darkness and the forces of light. This is not a physical battle but a spiritual battle. It is not against flesh and blood but against power and principalities. In such a time as this, you need to know what God wants to tell you. You cannot make your own steps without asking the Lord. Do not look at what is missing but look at what you have in Jesus Christ. This is the time when the church is going to shine even brighter as she leans onto the Lord. And as you come to the end of your life, God will take over. It is very exciting. Prepare your heart and embrace and believe the word of God. Let there be no spirit of doubt and confusion.
SCRIPTURE:
Psalm 23:1-6
“The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters. He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness For His name’s sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; For You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; My cup runs over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me All the days of my life; And I will dwell in the house of the LORD Forever.”
God wants to tell you that there is nobody else you can run to but the shepherd. The shepherd takes care of his flock, his sheep. If one is lost, he is willing to sacrifice his own life to save one sheep.. Your shepherd is Jesus Christ. In Adrian Rogers’ book entitled “The Lord is My Shepherd,” he says that sheep are hard to train. They cannot be a part of any circus because sheep are dumb animals and their eyes cannot see clearly. So when you think of it, it is like we are being described like sheep, not to put us down, but only because God wants to show us that we, as the sheep, need a shepherd. The sheep does not know what to do, where to go and sometimes, he does not even know that he is about to fall off a cliff while grazing grass. There are times when a sheep will be lying on its back and cannot get back up anymore so the shepherd has to help him back on his feet. If not, his stomach will become bloated and he will eventually die. See the likeness?
The Lord is reminding the whole world right now that there is nobody else they can go to . Only Jesus. He is the true shepherd. He is the true wine. He is the King of all Kings. He is the Master. He is our Lord. The Lord is reminding each and every person in this world that through the pandemic we are going through right now, there is no other God who we should call onto except the name of Jesus. He is the only Lord. He is the owner of our life. He is our Creator. We have to go back to Him. what is happening right now during this pandemic is a big shoutout from the Lord. He allowed all of us to go through this because He wants to remind us to return to Him.
In Jesus, we shall not want. Nothing will be lacking. But if we rely on our work, on other people, on our businesses and on other things, we are in danger. We will be shaken. But the moment we come to know the Lord and fix our focus on Him, we will be secure because we know that we have everything in Christ Jesus.
As we return to Him, go to Him and seek for Him, we will lie down in green pastures. The Lord is able to allow us to rest. We will sleep like a baby because we know that the Lord is watching over us. When we are asleep, He is there. When we are awake, He is there. When we do not have a job, He is there. This is the time that the Lord will show forth how powerful He is and that He is truly the Great Provider as we continue to look to Him as the source of everything. He will give us rest. Only in His presence can we find rest. The enemy has been trying to do everything to make us so fearful. But if we have Christ in us, we will find rest. He makes me lie down on green pastures. Only Jesus can give us a good night’s sleep; rest that comes from within and not just physical rest. We can only find and enter into the rest of the Lord if we make Him our Lord.
Not only Savior. Most of us just go to Him thinking only of the things we can get from Him. That should not be the case. We go to Him because we allow Him to be the one to direct our path. He leads me beside the still waters. When God is directing your path, we will be able to enter into the stillness of the Lord. We are not confused. We are able to rest in the midst of all we are going through. The security is unfathomable. When there is he storm, in the middle of it is its eye. That eye is a place of stillness and peace in the midst of what is going on around us. God is leading us there, beside the still waters, where we will be refreshed and renewed. There is the place where we can reconnect and settle down with God. If the Lord is the one leading us, He will lead us to that place.
He will restore our soul. What is the soul? The soul is the mind to think, the heart to feel and the will to act. A lot of times, you need to understand that we have three parts: body, soul and spirit. When you accept the Lord, your spirit is born again and becomes secured. But the struggle is your mind, heart and will which are not yet born again. So when we learn to be still in the presence of Lord, seek Him, wait upon Him and listen to Him, He will be able to restore our soul. We will be able to have the mind of Christ. we will not think how the world thinks but how Jesus thinks. And then our heart will beat like the heart of Jesus too. His desires will be our desires too. So if our heart is renewed and our heart is so in love with Jesus Christ that all we want to do is to please Him, then we will have the will and the empowerment of the Holy Spirit to act upon the will, plans and choice of God. He alone will tell us what to do.
He leads me in the paths of righteousness. This righteousness is not simply right and wrong. This righteousness is our need to align to the blueprint and will of God. Jesus said, “My food is to do the will of my Father.” What does that mean? It is to strengthen us. That is where He is leading us. The path He has prepared for us even before we were born. There are paths that we have to take individually and there are also some that we need to take corporately. It is for His name’s sake alone. Do not take any steps that will glorify yourself. Allow Jesus to take His rightful place as reigning King of our lives. It is all about Him to glorify Him.
What is happening to the entire world now? We are going through the valley of the shadow of death. The enemy has been trying to put fear, depression and restlessness in the hearts of people in each and every home around the world. But God is reminding us that we should not be fearful because He is with us. He will never leave us not forsake us. And if God is for us, who could be against us. We need to understand that in this time of pandemic, as children of God, we will stand all the more and tell the enemy that he is already defeated because Jesus already died for you and me more than 2000 years ago. We are assured not only of our eternal security, but of God’s protection right now as He keeps us in the palm of His hands and makes us stronger so we can come out victorious in the end.
You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. We are asked to prepare a feast in the presence of His enemy in your own household. Now is the time to rise up as a family in our own household. God allowed us to be quarantined but the enemy wanted to quarantine us to keep our mouths shut and just listen to Him. That is why this is called the corona virus. Because the enemy wants to get the crown of God. But the crown of God is what we will shout from our homes. This is the time for every family to rise up and celebrate and become one. Seize the moment. Declare that Jesus reigns!