God's Love is Your Hedge of Protection

God’s Love is Your Hedge of Protection 

by rebekahbeene

I saw a news report on a new threat that may soon be growing in our yards. It is called the giant hogweed. It is listed as an invasive species of concern in Arkansas and many other states. The agriculture specialist speaking about the plant said that a slight touch combined with sweat or any other form of water will give huge blisters. Contact with the eyes can cause temporary and sometimes permanent blindness. An ordinary looking plant with pretty white flowers and huge green leaves can prove a terrible nuisance and danger. 

Most research indicates that five years of intensive management is required to attempt to eradicate it. Five years! Much work must be done to remove the threat of the plant by digging, mowing, cutting, and herbicide application. The person eradicating the plant must wear protective clothing and gloves as well as facial protection. This is a seriously dangerous plant that is highly invasive.

Life can be like an invasive plant at times. Things that normally wouldn’t bother us cause whelps of pain if it comes via the hand of one you thought was a friend. There are also areas of our life that we feel should have no problems –our families, our ministries, our jobs and our homes. Yet all our territory is subject to the invasion of the enemy of our souls. Without proper eradication methods, we are hopelessly embroiled in his dangerous tactics which leave us wounded, blinded and without hope.

Life in Christ however, will make things wonderful. Even when we’ve had contact with noxious things of the world we can be healed. We don’t have to live injured by the things that come our way. We are protected by divine right by God Himself. The King of Kings is our antidote for all of life’s poisons. 

God wants you to know that He is your protector from the noxious weeds of life. The closer you get to Him, through His Word, prayer and fellowship, the less affected you will be by the things around you. He protects your life, your heart, your mind and your faith. Poisons from enemy territory can’t touch you as long as you know what God says about things. His peace passes all understanding – what you know about the world, what you feel about the problems and what you perceive as truth. As you begin to dig into the Word, it will uproot the enemy’s thoughts, poisonous weeds of doubt and fear will have to flee! Application of the Word over all the lies and half-truths will cause them to shrivel away.

Oh beloved, how loved you are! Someone may have sowed seeds of untruth into your life – that you are unworthy, unlovely or unneeded. God says the opposite – Christ has said you are valuable to Him, you are beautiful in His sight and you are useful and have great potential for the Kingdom of God. It’s time to eradicate the untruths and replant God’s truth! Everything you are in Christ is perfection. Every Word you speak with the Father is heard. Every hope you have is being turned toward God so that He will give you the very desires of your heart! You walk in blessings, you stand in faith, you kneel in prayer and you step forward in victory – because the noxious things of life cannot overtake you.

God loves you and He’s for you – that is a hedge of protection against which no enemy can encroach! Rejoice as you live loved and walk in His blessings all the days of your life. 

Psalm 37:4 Delight yourself in the LORD; And He will give you the desires of your heart.

Psalm 10:17 O LORD, You have heard the desire of the humble; You will strengthen their heart, You will incline Your ear

Ephesians 4:24 and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.

2 Peter 1:3 seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence.

Psalm 3:3 But thou, O Lord, art a shield for me; my glory, and the lifter up of mine head. KJV

Jude 12 May mercy and peace and love be multiplied to you.

Psalm 91:4 He will cover you with His feathers. He will shelter you with his wings. His faithful promises are your armor and protection.

Is Your Heart Drought Stricken? There's Hope!

Drought is one of the most costly natural disasters affecting our country. Although it’s gotten pretty hot by now, it’s nothing compared to the disastrous weather we were having a year ago. In June much of our state was in severe to extreme drought with all of the state in some form of drought. Not only was it dry, but most weather stations in our state were reporting the highest number of 100°F days for the month of June ever recorded.

It was hot, it was dry and it was miserable. The gardens dried up, the row crops suffered and hay was being brought from across the country at incredible prices. I can remember driving on the interstate and noticing that the trucks were carrying blackened and old hay. Everyone was desperate. Ranchers who had been weathering extended droughts for the last couple of years were now selling their prime beef cattle for butcher beef.  It was sad times across the nation’s mid-section.

When I look outside my window and see rain these days I don’t dare complain. The grass is green and we’ve stayed under 100 degrees just about everywhere around here. The mornings are misty and damp and still there’s a cool in the air. For all this I am most thankful.

Sometimes we experience different types of drought. Droughts of the heart, the spirit, the mind. It could be a cut back at work, a setback in health, or a fall back of friendship or fellowship. At first, we adjust – we cut back on our wants and concentrate on our needs. We quit wishing for more and start praying for enough. But as the hard times of sorrow or worry or fear extend, we find ourselves desperate for any source of water and for any cool place to lie down and rest.  

For the Christian, God is so merciful! He will take our withered lives, our barren lands and our broken hearts and restore them! He gives water in a dry and arid place and He brings a cooling peace to those who seek Him with their whole hearts. He is a restoration loving God! He is a redemption bringing Savior! Regardless of how hard things may be at the moment, we can look forward to our hearts, minds and spirits being renewed.  We may not know when it will happen, but God’s promise is that if we seek Him we will find Him. And where we find Him, we find rivers of living water for everything we need.

Oh beloved, is your heart crying from a drought?  Your soul may seem fine to the outward glance, but inwardly you are dying for lack of refreshing. You’ve gone from well to cistern to pool and found nothing worth having, nothing to quench the thirsting of your soul. Run to the Lord this morning! For God has promised you refreshment and renewal and blessings. He understands your situation, He sees the extreme conditions you’ve been living in and He is able to cause you to flourish in the midst of it all. You don’t have to wait until things get better to thrive, for God is your reason for living! He says to you this morning come away to Me and receive all you need for your heart, your spirit and your mind. I AM your fountain of living water and I will never turn you away.

Circumstances may bring drought, but life in Christ will always cause you to flourish for God loves you and He’s for you and that’s your true source of refreshing always!

John 4:14 But those who drink the water I give will never be thirsty again. It becomes a fresh, bubbling spring within them, giving them eternal life.

Psalm 63:1 …O God, you are my God; I earnestly search for you. My soul thirsts for you; my whole body longs for you in this parched and weary land where there is no water.

Psalm 143:11 For the glory of your name, O Lord, preserve my life. Because of Your faithfulness, bring me out of this distress.

Psalm 107:8-9 Let them praise the Lord for His great love and for the wonderful things He has done for them.   For He satisfies the thirsty and fills the hungry with good things.

Today is Your Declaration of Dependence!

We enjoy visiting many battlefields when traveling across the country.  Shiloh is one of the larger parks we’ve visited as well as Pea Ridge right here in Arkansas.  Considering the smaller places, there are remnants of battlefields everywhere. Our country has survived much and has much rich history to read and see. 

Life itself is a battlefield and there are many sieges within our days. While many lives have been lost in the battles within our country, there is no need to lose a battle as a Christian, when we have such an arsenal of truth and grace to count on.

There’s the battlefield of the mind.  We have one and only one enemy and he wants to win.  He wants to win at putting you in such a position that you cannot hear from God and cannot believe He will rescue you. The enemy wants to make you think that you are cut off from God’s supplies. You cannot believe him.  He tells you that you are un-loveable, unusable, unable and undone.  He speaks lies into your mind and if you don’t have your orders straight from the Word of God, you will believe him.  Take out your sword beloved!

Then there’s battlefield of the heart. Once again the opposing force assaults and wounds.  He reminds you that you’ve been left alone, your heart is broken and you feel dejected and full of sorrow. This is a sniper’s work. It only takes one word of rejection spoken quietly to get you vulnerable. He will tell you it’s over - you might as well give up.  You become afraid, hesitant and desperate. Desperate soldiers make mistakes and may desert their God given position.

The battlefield of the spirit.  This battle is raging constantly. The enemy assaults you by attempting to make you believe you can fight in your own strength. As you try desperately to fight and win, you find yourself exhausted, winded and ready to surrender. But just as he has you right where he wants you, the Cavalry of God’s Heavenly Host arrives and reminds you what God’s Word says for you are an overcomer! You will be Victorious! You cannot fight in your own strength, but through God you can wage war and win!

Oh beloved, God knows your battles this morning. He knows that you went to bed last night trying to figure out how you are going to make it. He knows the skirmishes have brought tears and sorrow so many times. But this day God wants you to get up and stand up and declare His Word over every problem, over every situation, over every battle, over every lie and corrupt word that’s been spoken over you.

Today is your Declaration of Dependence! You are counting on God! You can shout it with David, who picked up a small stone and put it in a sling. You can declare it with Joseph, who sat at the bottom of a well. You can proclaim it with Abraham as you climb the mountain of adversity.  Oh beloved, you are a soldier in God’s Army and you have a huge cloud of overcomers to assist you by their testimonies. You have the Word of God that is strong and invincible and your only weapon, but oh what a weapon it is!

You are never alone in this battlefield of life. God loves you and He’s for you so you will always be a winner through Jesus Christ Who is the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords.  Rejoice, that even though you may be in a battle today, ultimate victory is yours! Amen!

Deuteronomy 20:4 For the Lord your God is going with you! He will fight for you against your enemies, and He will give you victory!

2 Corinthians 12:9 Each time He said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me.

Deuteronomy 31:6 So be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid and do not panic before them. For the LORD your God will personally go ahead of you. He will neither fail you nor abandon you.

Proverbs 21:31 The horse is prepared for the day of battle, but the victory belongs to the LORD.

I Chronicles 29:11 Yours, O LORD, is the greatness, the power, the glory, the victory, and the majesty. Everything in the heavens and on earth is Yours, O LORD, and this is Your kingdom. We adore You as the one who is over all things.

Walk in His Promises for 2013!

As the old year slipped away, some folks were partying, some were sleeping, others were wishing on falling stars. Whatever 2012 was like, it’s forever in our memories. For the good times, we fondly reminisce and hold those memories dear to our hearts. For the hard times, we remember that every day is a new opportunity to start over and make a better day for ourselves and those we love. New years melt away into the past so quickly, reminding us to make the most of the times for the days truly are short. Danny and I have been holding hands as the ball drops for 4 decades now. We’ve celebrated with friends of our youth, then with our own little ones in our home. Other years we celebrated with a house full of teens or waiting for the car to roll into the driveway. Then there were the years we had a houseful of friends, learning to celebrate again as a couple with an empty nest. Those years gave way to celebrating with grandchildren sometimes and married children other times. Like many of you, we had years that we had to say good-bye to loved ones and other hopes and dreams left in the past.


But with every New Year, there is the wonderful view that even though things might have been hard, God saw us through it all! And there are always the promises of God to greet us. We are a blessed people indeed! We who claim to know Christ can also lay claim to all the promises of God for they are available as the sun comes up each morning and the calendar rolls over each year.

I know this past year may have been hard for you, but God was with you all the way. Maybe you didn’t know that when the hard time came, but as you look back you can see and take a deep breath – you made it! Maybe you want things to go differently this year, but you’re watching the news and you wonder how on earth you’ll make it!

Oh beloved, I’d like to pray for you! I pray that God will pour out His richest blessings on you for 2013! For you, beloved, I pray that you will not only hold onto the promises of God but you will walk with victory in each of them! I pray that you will not look back to the mistakes, the hurts, the broken promises of people or the unmet hopes of your heart, but that you will look ahead, for God is with you! He loves you more than you can imagine and He’s not only walking with you into the future, He is walking ahead of you, making a way where there seems to be no way! Look up to His countenance, look forward to His promises and look inward to His Holy Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead, which dwells in you! You are His forever and He will never turn His back on you or say it’s over! All the way to heaven you will live in the promises of your Lord for they are faithful and true no matter what else may come.

2 Timothy 1:7 For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. KJV

2 Corinthians 9:8 And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that always having all sufficiency in everything, you may have an abundance for every good deed. NAS

I Corinthians 2:12 And we have received God's Spirit (not the world's spirit), so we can know the wonderful things God has freely given us.

Romans 8:11 The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you. And just as God raised Christ Jesus from the dead, He will give life to your mortal bodies by this same Spirit living within you.

2 Corinthians 1:20 For all of God's promises have been fulfilled in Christ with a resounding "Yes!" And through Christ, our "Amen" (which means "Yes") ascends to God for His glory.

Hebrews 6:16-20 16 Now when people take an oath, they call on someone greater than themselves to hold them to it. And without any question that oath is binding. God also bound Himself with an oath, so that those who received the promise could be perfectly sure that He would never change His mind. So God has given both His promise and His oath. These two things are unchangeable because it is impossible for God to lie. Therefore, we who have fled to Him for refuge can have great confidence as we hold to the hope that lies before us. This hope is a strong and trustworthy anchor for our souls. It leads us through the curtain into God’s inner sanctuary. Jesus has already gone in there for us. He has become our eternal High Priest in the order of Melchizedek.



Isaiah 43:16, 18-19I AM the LORD, who opened a way through the waters, making a dry path through the sea. “But forget all that— it is nothing compared to what I AM going to do. For I AM about to do something new. See, I have already begun! Do you not see it? I will make a pathway through the wilderness. I will create rivers in the dry wasteland.”