These are the message notes for Part 3:
Psalms 91:1-16 NKJV
(1) He who dwells 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 I will trust.”
(3) Surely He shall deliver you from the snare of the fowler And from the perilous pestilence.
(4) He shall cover you with His feathers, And under His wings you shall take refuge; His truth shall be your shield and buckler.
(5) You shall not be afraid of the terror by night, Nor of the arrow that flies by day,
(6) Nor of the pestilence that walks in darkness, Nor of the destruction that lays waste at noonday.
(7) A thousand may fall at your side, And ten thousand at your right hand; But it shall not come near you.
(8) Only with your eyes shall you look, And see the reward of the wicked.
(9) Because you have made the LORD, who is my refuge, Even the Most High, your dwelling place,
(10) No evil shall befall you, Nor shall any plague come near your dwelling;
(11) For He shall give His angels charge over you, To keep you in all your ways.
(12) In their hands they shall bear you up, Lest you dash your foot against a stone.
(13) You shall tread upon the lion and the cobra, The young lion and the serpent you shall trample underfoot.
(14) “Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore I will deliver him; I will set him on high, because he has 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 honor him.
(16) With long life I will satisfy him, And show him My salvation.”
Satan will attempt to steal everything that God has promised you, and will do everything he can to keep you from enjoying what God has already provided for you.
He will try and take something from you that you already have in this natural world or he will endeavor to keep you from receiving something that God says is yours.
It is up to us to resist his attempts.
Ephesians 4:27 NKJV
(27) nor give place to the devil.
Ephesians 4:27 CEV
(27) and don’t give the devil a chance.
James 4:7 NKJV
(7) Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.
1 Peter 5:8-9 NKJV
(8) Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.
(9) Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world.
Resist – stand against
You never want to fight the devil in his arena. You always want to deal with him on your turf.
As a follower of Jesus, you have an arena that you are supposed to live and fight the enemy in. You want to make the devil fight you on your turf and not his.
The devil’s arena is in the realm of your thoughts. He will try and get you to reason with him. That is why he deals with us in the area of worry. He tried to get Jesus over in that arena.
You and I must fight the devil in the arena of faith. You don’t have to argue or reason with him, you just merely have to quote the Word of God to him that you believe in your heart.
We are not left defenseless.
Psalms 91:4 NKJV
(4) He shall cover you with His feathers, And under His wings you shall take refuge; His truth shall be your shield and buckler.
Ephesians 6:16 NKJV
(16) above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one.
If God’s Word is our truth and shield, then it is going to be contradicted.
There are three levels of contradiction against God’s Word:
- You will have thoughts and feelings that will contradict the Word of God.
- He is going to contradict through circumstances that do not agree with the promises of God’s Word.
- He will contradict through the direct attack of people and their venomous hatred.
Hebrews 12:3 KJV
(3) For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds.
Jesus went through all three of these and overcame them.
God’s Word will contradict and overcome all of the negative circumstances and contradictions in your life.
But it takes a process and we call this process the Good Fight of Faith. This is a fight that we can win.
Genesis 12 to Genesis 17 took 25 years. It was during this time that God was doing a work in Abraham.
Genesis 17:1-5 NKJV
(1) When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am Almighty God; walk before Me and be blameless.
(2) And I will make My covenant between Me and you, and will multiply you exceedingly.”
(3) Then Abram fell on his face, and God talked with him, saying:
(4) “As for Me, behold, My covenant is with you, and you shall be a father of many nations.
(5) No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham; for I have made you a father of many nations.
Notice God worked on them from the inside out first before their circumstances changed.
- If you are going to change your circumstances, you are going to have to let the Word of God change you.
- If you are going to let the Word of God change you, you are going to have to put God’s Word in your vocabulary.
Psalms 91:2 NKJV
(2) I will say of the LORD, “He is my refuge and my fortress; My God, in Him I will trust.”
Genesis 17:5 NKJV
(5) No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham; for I have made you a father of many nations.
Genesis 17:15 NKJV
(15) Then God said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name.
God put a little of Himself in their names and in their words and it began the process of changing them and then changing their circumstances.
He not only gave us His Name but He put Himself in us!
1 John 4:4 NKJV
(4) You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.