"Approaching Jesus!" (Luke 7:1-10)

COVID-19 has people washing their hands more than ever and many are praying more than ever as well. Some have prayed for the first time, others are praying more than ever before. Entire countries have even set apart days for prayer and fasting. Yet, as we make our requests to God in Jesus’ name this story in Luke 7 can help us.

Luke 7:1–10 (NIV84)

Jesus comes to Capernaum where we find a Roman centurion with a servant whom he highly respects. But his servant is ‘sick and dying’. The centurion has heard of Jesus who is purported to work miracles. So the centurion sends some Jewish elders he knows to ask Jesus to come and heal his servant. He’s a powerful Roman military man who believes that Jesus could heal his valued servant who was dying (7:1-3).

The Jewish elders go and plead with Jesus to heal the centurion’s servant. They reason that Jesus should heal this servant because the centurion deserved the favor. They say that the centurion loved Israel and he had built their synagogue (7:4-5). These Jewish elders believed that the centurion loved Israel and had demonstrated his love by building their synagogue. This was a Roman military officer of army that was occupying Israel. He was on the side of their oppressors, but he was different. He had gone so far as to build their synagogue, or at least fund its construction. According to these Jewish elder the centurion deserved to have his servant healed because his benevolent actions made him worthy of Jesus’ help. We don’t what Jesus thought of their argument, we only know that Jesus went to the centurion’s home.

When Jesus was on his way, the centurion sent a message with his friends to intercept Jesus. They tell Jesus how the centurion doesn’t think he deserves to have Jesus come under his roof. The centurion’s friends tell Jesus not to come to the centurion’s home.  He didn’t want to trouble Jesus because he wasn’t worthy to come to Jesus. In fact, this is why he hadn’t come to Jesus in the first place (7:7). Why should Jesus to come into a Gentile home and upset other Jews and become ‘unclean’. More importantly he didn’t want Jesus to think he felt entitled to receive Jesus’ personal attention. He didn’t think that he was worthy of Jesus’ favor. Contrary to what the Jewish elders had argued, he did not consider himself worthy or deserving of a personal visit from Jesus.

This foreign military man approached Jesus in a way very differently than the Syrian general Naaman had approached Elisha (2 Kgs 5:10). This man believed that all Jesus had to do was say the word and his servant would be healed. The centurion’s friends inform Jesus that the centurion believed that Jesus had authority to merely speak and word and his servant would be healed. For the centurion was a man under authority, with soldiers under him. The centurion was under the authority of Rome and his soldiers were bound to obey his commands and his servant also obeyed his word. Evidently, the centurion believed that God had given Jesus authority over ‘sickness and death’ and all Jesus had to do was speak the word and the servant would be healed (7:8-9). Hearing this, Jesus was amazed!

This is one of only two places in the gospels where we are told directly that Jesus was amazed. Amazed, Jesus turns to the crowd following him and says, “I tell you, I have not found such great faith even in Israel.” Jesus was amazed at the centurion’s faith and Jesus had not found a Jew in all of Israel that had such ‘great faith’. Jesus praised him, but not because he loved Israel and built a synagogue. His ‘great faith’ was exhibited in his humble profession of inadequacy and in his complete confidence in the power and authority of Jesus. He believed that Jesus didn’t even need to see the servant; all Jesus had to do was to say the word! When the friends of the centurion returned to the centurion’s home they found the servant well (7:10).

The story contrasts two ways of approaching Jesus; two ways of bringing our requests of Jesus. The first approach is represented by the Jewish elders. They go to Jesus and they plead with Jesus to do something for this worthy centurion. Sure he was a soldier in the oppressor’s army, but he loved the Jewish people and had built a synagogue.  This is radically contrasted by what the centurion had friends tells Jesus. The centurion didn’t want Jesus to trouble himself for he didn’t think of himself worthy. This is why the centurion hadn’t come to Jesus in the first place (Luke 7:7). The Jewish elders thought the man was worthy, but this is not what the centurion thought about himself. He had a low view of himself, but he had an high view of Jesus.  In sharp contrast to the Jewish elders, he begs Jesus, "Lord... I am not worthy... but say the word, and my servant will be healed".  The centurion was a man under Rome’s authority and the soldiers under him were bound to obey him and his servant obeyed him as well. Evidently, the centurion believed that God had given Jesus authority over ‘sickness and death’ and all Jesus had to do was say so and his servant would be healed.

When Jesus heard this he was amazed (7:9). This is one of only two places in the gospels where we’re told directly that Jesus was amazed. Here Jesus turns to the crowd and in amazement he said, “I tell you, I have not found such great faith even in Israel.” Jesus was amazed at the centurion’s faith! Jesus hadn’t found a Jew in all of Israel that had such ‘great faith’. According to Jesus this Gentile soldier of the occupying Roman troops was the model of genuine faith. But this was not because of what he had done; Jesus praised him because of his humble dependence and unwavering confidence in the power and authority of Jesus. Jesus didn’t even need to be present; he just had to say ‘the word’.  

The other place where we are told directly Jesus was amazed is in Mark’s account of Jesus’ Nazareth sermon. There Jesus was amazed at their lack of faith (Mark 6:4-6). What a contrast this Gentile soldier is to those in Jesus’ home synagogue! How shocking this story would have been to its original observers. According to Jesus this Gentile army officer of the occupying Roman troops was the model of genuine faith. The religious leaders missed the mark, but the centurion made his humble request and his confidence in Jesus and Jesus spoke a word and the dying servant was healed!

"Prophetic Prospective in Pandemic" (Daniel 7:1-18)

Daniel 7:1-18

Fixing our eyes on Jesus in the midst of the pandemic is the best remedy to the scary statistics, the ‘doomsday’ reports and conspiracy theories. I’m reminded of when Jesus in Luke 5 told a 'paralyzed man' that his sins were forgiven. This isn't what the man expected, but it was what he really needed. Jesus claimed to have the authority meet this need and then told the paralyzed man to get up. The man did get up confirming that the ‘son of man’ did in fact have the authority on earth to forgive sins. But who is this ‘son of man'? This can simply be a way of addressing a man (Num.23:19). The Lord referred to the prophet Ezekiel as ‘son of man’ on numerous occasions (Ezek.2:1). Was Jesus referring to himself as a man or was he referring to a unique figure whom Daniel saw coming on the clouds of heaven (Daniel 7:1-18)?

In Daniel 7 we find Daniel's vision a fourfold progression of kingdoms that is followed by the coming of an eternal kingdom. These images enable us to see, feel, and hear the horror of these beastly kingdoms, but we shouldn’t overanalyze the details and miss the ‘big picture’.  These hybrid beasts rise from the chaotic sea which was stirred by the ‘winds of heaven’.  They signify corrupt human power and are a perversion of God’s natural order (7:2-3, 17, Isaiah 17:12, 57:20).  

Isaiah 17:12  “Oh, the raging of many nations— they rage like the raging sea!”

So the images in Daniel's vision depict these violent human kingdoms. First beast is a lion with eagle’s wings has its wings torn off, and then it stands and is given the heart of a man. This image appears to be Babylon which is compared to both a lion and an eagle (Jer. 4:7, 49:19; Ezek.17:3, 11-12).  The second beast, a bear that is raised on one side, has three ribs in its mouth and is told to arise and eat its fill of flesh. The imagery portrays the savage power of empire building and is likely the Medo-Persian Empire (Daniel 5:28). The third beast, a leopard with four wings and four heads, represents the rapid expansion of the Greek empire.  The Greeks ruler, Alexander the Great, conquered the known world by the time he was 26 years old. We are told that he was given authority to rule by God (7:6). A fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, is exceedingly strong and it devours the whole earth (7:23). It crushes its victims with its ‘iron teeth’; and trampled underfoot whatever was left. Ten horns arise from this beast, followed by a domineering little horn has eyes like a man and an arrogant boastful mouth (7:8). There’s no reference to God in this image; that is until the ‘Ancient of Days’ is seated and the ‘son of man’ comes on the clouds. Then the beast is slain and thrown into a blazing furnace (7:9-11).

In contrast to these violent beastly kingdoms is the image of a wise elderly man dressed in white garments that represents the ‘Ancient of Days’. He is seated on his throne that is ablaze with fire flowing from it and ten thousand times ten thousand attend him.  He puts an end to corrupt human power, and sets everything right.

Daniel 7:13-14  “In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence. He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all peoples, nations and men of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed.

In contrast with these beastlike earthly rulers, we see the one who was like a ‘son of man’. He comes on the clouds of heaven which is imagery of God coming in judgment (Ps 68:4, Isa.19:1).

Psalm 68:4  Sing to God, sing praise to his name, extol him who rides on the clouds— his name is the Lord— and rejoice before him.

These beastlike kings are contrary to the divine order. They are contrasted with the ‘son of man’ who is given authority, glory, and sovereign power. Who is this enthroned ‘son of man’ who is given universal dominion and is the object of worship? This is who Jesus claimed to be (See Mark 14:62). The ‘son of man’ was the primary title that Jesus used of himself . Also remember that before Jesus ascended into the clouds, he said, “all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me (Mt 28:18)”.

In summary, Daniel sees four temporal beastly kingdoms that are overcome by the ‘son of man’ and are replaced by God’s kingdom. The churning of the sea by the winds of heaven (7:2) and the descriptions of the beasts reveals that ‘God is Sovereign’ over the events of history.  For example: the lion-like creature whose wings were torn off was lifted from the ground and the heart of a man was given to it (7:4; possibly Nebuchadnezzar); the bear-like creature was told, ‘Get up and eat your fill of flesh’ (7:5); and the leopard-like creature was given authority to rule (7:6). The inhumanity (bestial figures) and short-term nature of these kingdoms is contrasted with the righteousness of the ‘son of man’ and of God’s everlasting kingdom. The visions depict the intense brutality of these kingdoms, but even more so they impress upon us that behind the scenes of history are the ‘mysterious purposes of God’ and the ‘might and majesty’ of His Christ, our Lord Jesus!

Whenever a friend and I got overly anxious and felt like everything was ‘out of control’ we would say to one another, “what’s the matter has Christ gotten down off his throne?” It was a funny way for us to encourage one another to trust that Jesus is reigning at God’s right hand and that God is working everything together for our good (Romans 8:28, 34, Hebrews 1:3, 8:1, 10:12, 12:2)! AMEN?

The Virus and Forgiveness (Mt.18:21-35).

The over 2 million cases worldwide show us that ‘coronavirus’ is good at infecting people. Its 14 day incubation period also means you can have the virus and infect others without even knowing it. Now ‘unforgiven sin’ operates destructively in our lives not unlike COVID-19. It infects us and we can spread around its effects even if we don't realize how its has influences us and those around us. 

Previously (Luke 5:17-26), we saw how Jesus healed a paralyzed man after claiming authority to forgive his sins. The ‘religious experts’ found this blasphemous. Yet, Jesus validated his claim by enabling the man to get up, and walk home a forgiven worshipper of God (Luke 5:22–26). As forgiven people one of our biggest challenges, especially when locked-up together, is the need to forgive one another from the heart. Jesus not only has authority to ‘forgive sins’ but he also taught with authority about forgiveness. Now I want to look at Jesus’ parable of the ‘unmerciful servant’ (Matthew 18:21-35). Peter was struggling with forgiving others, so he asked Jesus how many times he should forgive those who sinned against him. Peter asks, “up to seven times”. Jesus says, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.

Jesus tells his ‘parable of the unmerciful servant’. He says that the ‘kingdom of heaven’ was like a king who settled debts with his servants. He went on to say that one of the king’s servants owed him 10,000 bags of gold; which the servant could never repay. The man fell down before his master, the king, and begged for time to repay the debt. The servant couldn’t possibly repay such an enormous sum, but he begged his master, ‘Be patient with me; and I’ll repay everything.’ This seems self-deceptive or an attempt to deceive the master. Now despite all this the master had mercy upon his servant, and freely cancelled entire debt of 10,000 bags of gold (18:22-27). Note that one bag (ESV ‘talent’) of gold would have been small fortune, and ten thousand bags would have been beyond most people’s wildest dreams.

Then the servant, whose debt was cancelled, found a fellow servant who owed him 100 silver coins. A hundred silver coins (ESV ‘denarii’) was something like a hundred days’ wages. However, it was nothing compared to the debt his master had cancelled. Yet, the first servant grabs his fellow servant, chokes him and demands that his fellow servant repay him. The fellow servant falls down and begs, ‘Be patient; and I’ll repay you.’ But the first servant refused, and had his fellow servant thrown into prison until he could repay (18:28-30). The first servant had made the same request from his master who cancelled his massive debt that he could never repay. His fellow servant asks for time to repay his 100 silver coins debt. Unlike the master, the first servant refused to be patient even though his master, the king, had completely absorbed the cost of the 10,000 bags of gold.  

His fellow servant asked for time to repay a debt; which was possible if he was given enough time. The first servant, however, grabs his fellow servant, chokes him and demands that he repay his debt. Although they shared the common experience of being a servant encumbered with debt, he denied his fellow servant the experience of being freed from debt. When his fellow servant falls down and begs the first servant refused, and had his fellow servant thrown in prison until he could repay.

Some of the other servants saw this, and were distressed so they told their master, the king. The master calls the first servant in and says, “You wicked servant, I cancelled all your debt because you begged me. You should have had mercy on your fellow servant like I had on you! The master was angry and handed him over to the jailers until he repaid all that he owed (18:31-34). Jesus ends the story by saying, “This is how my heavenly Father will treat you if you do not forgive a brother or sister from your heart.

This story makes it clear that forgiven people are forgiving people. Those forgiven by God are about extending forgiveness to others. In other words, ‘forgiven people’ seek reconciliation and not revenge (Gen.4:24). Jesus, here and elsewhere, seems to be saying that those who refuse to forgive others will themselves be refused forgiveness! Unforgivess is like a virus that harms us and those around us.  

Matt 6:14-15     For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.

Mark 11:25       And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him, so tat your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.”

Luke 11:4          Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us. 

Is this consistent with the gospel of grace? The New Testament is clear that ‘forgiven people forgive’. One theologian explains this by saying that forgiveness isn’t like the meal that is waiting for you at home even though you failed to offer food to the person on the street. Forgiveness is more like the air we breathe. If we fail to exhale than we’ll suffocate. We won’t be able to take in another breath unless we exhale. If we are open to the forgiveness of God, then we’ll be open to forgiving others. If we’re not open to forgiving others, then we are not really open to God’s forgiveness.  Peter’s question and Jesus’ answer make it clear that if we’re counting how many times we’ve forgiven someone, we’re just postponing revenge.

#JesusChangedMyLife

This is the story of Jesus calming a storm (Luke 8); followed by my story of how Jesus changed my life!

(Luke 8:22–25) Jesus tells his disciples they were to cross the lake. They set out into the lake in a boat. Jesus falls asleep and then this storm comes down and fills the boat with water and they’re sinking down. The disciples wake Jesus, saying, “Master, Master, we’re going to drown!” Jesus gets up, rebukes the wind and waves; the storm stops and all is calm. Then Jesus rebukes his disciples, saying, “Where is your faith?” They’re amazed and afraid and ask one another, “Who is this; that even the wind and waves obey him!”

Jesus used a storm in my life to enable me to come to know him. Before I became a Christian, I was on propeller airplane flight that was caught in a ‘severe thunderstorm’. Dark thunder clouds surrounded the plane, lightning was flashing and thunder was crashing and the plane was shaking.

The pilot announced that he would try to fly above the turbulence; but before he could finish his sentence the plane started falling. The pilot tried this again and again each time the plane would dive down, and this continued for about an hour. The passenger on my left had her head on her knees and the passenger on my right was vomiting into a bag. I thought that plane was going to crash and I was afraid of dying.

I thought my life was over, and my life had no meaning, no purpose and I had no peace! I didn’t even believe that God existed, but in the midst of that storm I found myself praying to God, ‘I want to live’. Well, that plane landed safely, but I couldn’t forget that storm my atheism offered me no comfort!

Two years later the Lord used the lives of two friends to draw me to Himself. Willy, befriended me; and he had a peace and contentment that I didn’t have! And Joseph, he told me the gospel of the free gift of eternal life through Jesus Christ. He said that if I confessed with my mouth that Jesus is Lord and if I believed in my heart that God raised him from the dead then I would be saved.

I prayed that prayer and Jesus came into my life, and now if I died I know that I would go to be with the Lord; because Jesus lived the life I should have lived and died the death should have died, and Jesus rose again from the dead and that he has changed my life!  

Now I know want you to know that you can trust Jesus in the storms of life. No matter what you you’ve done… no matter what you’re facing, if ask Jesus to be your ‘Saviour and Lord’ he will do the same thing for you!

VIRUS got you down? CHEER UP! (Luke 5:17-26)

Luke 5:17–26

In this story from Luke 5, Jesus heals a 'paralyzed man'. So Jesus was teaching in a crowded house in Capernaum. The Pharisees and teachers of the law were there from all around Galilee, Judea and Jerusalem.  This is Luke’s first reference to Pharisees. Later, Luke presents them as questioning Jesus for eating with tax-collectors (Luke 5:27-32). Then after that we find them in the synagogue on a Sabbath trying find a reason to accuse Jesus (Luke 6:1-11).  We’re told that these ‘religious leaders’ were there, but we are also told that the power of God was there for Jesus to heal (5:17). Something significant is going to happened, something ‘unexpected’; ‘something remarkable’.  Jesus had been teaching with authority, healing many from evil spirits and from various diseases and the crowds were growing (4:40-41). News about Jesus is spreading and a crowd is there gathered. So the crowd and the Pharisees and the teachings of the law are there and the house was packed.

Four men (Mark 2:3) arrive carrying a paralyzed friend on a mat, but they can’t get to Jesus because of the crowd. But, they’re determined to do whatever it takes to get their friend before Jesus. Ironically, the ‘religious leaders’ were actually blocking this paralyzed man from getting close to Jesus. Yet, the four so loved their paralyzed friend that they went up on the roof. They removed some of the roof tiles and they lowered the paralyzed man down on his mat through the roof before Jesus. The sceptical group of Pharisees and teachers of the law see this man being lowered through the roof and they’re likely thinking this is ridiculous! This is chaos! Jesus looks up at the falling debris and dust and he sees the paralyzed man being lowered down, but Jesus also sees by their actions that they have faith (5:20).

So Jesus addresses the man as his friend, and says, “Your sins are forgiven”.  Surely this wasn’t exactly what they were expecting. Surely, this man and his faithful friends were hoping that they would be able to walk home together. But now the paralyzed man is being told that his sins have been forgiven. Now, at that time, if you wanted your sins forgiven then you went to the temple. In those days, they had the Mosaic sacrificial system, the Levitical priesthood, the festivals and the ‘Day of Atonement’ for that. It was the priests and especially the high priest, who had been given authority by God to affirm that one’s sins were forgiven.

The Pharisees were an influential Jewish sect, a kind of pressure group or a holiness movement. They had their own set ideas about what was needed to restore God’s reign over Israel. They heard about Jesus and they were there to make sure Jesus’ message didn’t contradict their understanding of the Law (Torah) and their ‘oral tradition’. Consequently, when they heard Jesus telling this man his sins were forgiven they would have been outraged. This was worse than they had expected; Jesus was speaking blasphemy. Who did Jesus think he was? The authority to forgive sins was the prerogative of God alone. This was dangerous and blasphemous!

Whenever I used to lament to a friend of mine over the little progress I had made in the Christian life, my friend used to say something to me. He’d say, “Cheer up… you’re worse than you think!” WHAT? It was a bit of a joke, but what he was actually saying was that I had underestimated the depth of my problem. Yet, I should ‘cheer up’ because Jesus had already met my ‘greatest need’. In other words, our biggest need is the need for the forgiveness of our sins and that Jesus has already dealt with by his ‘cross and resurrection’. The greatest need is acceptance with God and our biggest problem is the problem of our sin and our need for forgiveness. We need our sins to be forgiven so that we can have acceptance with God. Moreover, Jesus, the ‘son of man’ has authority on earth to forgive ours sins and he has accomplished our forgiveness through his perfect life, his sin atoning death and his victorious resurrection from the dead! Jesus has met our greatest need and dealt with our biggest problem! 

Now Jesus knew their thoughts and he asks, “Why are you thinking these things in your hearts? Jesus responds to their questioning of him with a question of his own. Jesus asks what is easier to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or ‘Get up and walk’. Anyone can say either one of these statements, however, if someone says take up your mat and walk, then he will need to physically verify that authority by doing the thing (5:23-24). So that his hearers would know that Jesus, the ‘Son of Man’, had authority on earth to forgive sins Jesus told the paralyzed man to get up, take his mat and go home. The man got up and everyone who saw this was amazed. The man went home praising God and the crowd was filled with awe, and they praised God saying, “We have seen remarkable things.” The healing confirmed his claim to have authority to forgive sins. 

It is truly ‘remarkable’ that whatever we perceive that we need most, Jesus has met our greatest need which is the need for acceptance with God and he has made this possible by dealing with our biggest problem which is our sins. May the ‘good news’ of  'total acceptance with God' and the forgiveness of our sins' through faith in the life, death, burial, and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ be our greatest joy! May Jesus take his rightful place as our greatest hope in these trying times! AMEN?

2 Corinthians 5:21 ²¹ God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

Hebrews 9:22 ²² In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.

1 John 1:9 ⁹ If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.

Romans 10:9–10 ⁹ That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. ¹⁰ For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.

"Our Refuge" from the Virus (LK 4:1-13; Psalm 91)

Luke 4:1-13¹ The Spirit ‘anointed’ him and the heavenly voice confirmed Jesus to be the 'Son of God'.  Full of the Spirit, Jesus was led into the wilderness where he was confronted by Satan for 40 days. After 40 days, Jesus is tired, hungry, thirsty, dirty, sweaty, and in his physical weakness he faces the devil and all his accusations. 

³ The devil brings Jesus’ identity or ‘Sonship’ into question. In each incident Jesus is tempted to listen to the devil and to act independently apart from the direction of his ‘heavenly Father’. Jesus, faithfully, trusts God’s good intention by clinging in faith to God’s word (Deut.8:3, Exodus 16-17); this for Jesus was the only viable option.

By contrast, in the ‘garden of Eden’, Adam believed the lie and aligned himself with the devil. Israel also, in the wilderness, failed to trust God and longed to return to Egypt. They failed to trust God’s good purpose, and yet Jesus in each of these temptations resisted the devil and in each incident Jesus trusted God and His word (Deut.6:13, Ex.20:3).

In Luke’s gospel, the third temptation is the devil taking Jesus to Jerusalem where he sets Jesus on the highest point of the temple. The devil brings Jesus’ identity into question and challenges Jesus to put his faith in action. The devil says, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, ¹⁰ for it is written,  He will command his angels to guard you, ¹¹ they will bear you up with their hands, lest you strike your foot against a stone (Psalm 91)." The devil tempts Jesus to throw himself down and prove that the word of God is true. 

¹²  Jesus answers the devil’s misuse of scripture by saying, ‘"You shall not put the Lord your God to the test." ^So So the devil is forced to flee from Jesus for a more opportune time. Moreover, Jesus would remain faithful even in his greatest trial when at Calvary Jesus would remain faithful and would trust his Father even to the point of death upon a cross.

Mark 15:34b “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

Hebrews 12:2 (NIV84) ² Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Jesus resisted the devil and obeyed the Father as a truly obedient son even to the point of death on a cross. Consequently, as his adopted brothers and sisters, we can pray this marvelous Psalm 91 in our times of trials (COVID-19). We pray not to put God to the test, but we pray as those beloved of God, forgiven and accepted in Christ! We know that Jesus has lived a perfect life and died a sinners death on our behalf and so we look to God for mercy. So we can pray in the name of our Lord Jesus who is enthroned at the right hand of the throne of God (Hebrews 12:2) and we can trust our gracious ‘Heavenly Father’ no matter what we face! 

Psalm 91 (NIV84)             ¹ He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. ² I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.” ³ Surely he will save you from the fowler’s snare and from the deadly pestilence. ⁴ He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart. ⁵ You will not fear the terror of night, nor the arrow that flies by day, ⁶ nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness, nor the plague that destroys at midday. ⁷ A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you. ⁸ You will only observe with your eyes and see the punishment of the wicked. ⁹ If you make the Most High your dwelling— even the Lord, who is my refuge— ¹⁰ then no harm will befall you, no disaster will come near your tent. ¹¹ For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways; ¹² they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone. ¹³ You will tread upon the lion and the cobra; you will trample the great lion and the serpent. ¹⁴ “Because he loves me,” says the Lord, “I will rescue him; I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name. ¹⁵ He will 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 will I satisfy him and show him my salvation.”