FUN FACT:  The Witness Security Program was authorized by the Organized Crime Control Act of 1970 and amended by the Comprehensive Crime Control Act of 1984. The U.S. Marshals have protected, relocated and given new identities to more than 8,600 witnesses and 9,900 of their family members, since the program began in 1971.  The successful operation of this program is widely recognized as providing a unique and valuable tool in the government’s battle against major criminal conspirators and organized crime.  However, sometimes they were found out and it did not go well for the witnesses.

God’s witness protection program involves being given a “new identity”, too.  However, His protection is forever!  “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”  (John 3:16, NIV). When we believe and put our faith and trust in God, asking His Son, Jesus to forgive us, we become new creatures with souls that will live forever with him!  God’s protection involves tens of thousands of angel armies at our disposal here on earth when we call on Him for help!  Imagine the Creator of all, who knows all and is in all, protecting our precious souls because of His great love for us who believe? 

ENTER THE PLAN OF PROTECTION — “This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!”  2 Corinthians 5:17, NLT

BE THE WITNESS — “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.”  1 Peter 2:9

Our new identity is Jesus Christ living in us, working on us, transforming us to be like Him in every way.  God protects us while this work is being done.  It will not be fully complete until we meet Him face to face in all of His glory. 

“Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.”  Philippians 3:12-14, NIV

“Our God-of-Angel-Armies is always by our side”!  This song by Chris Tomlin is playing in the background as we read our next Psalm of praise to the God Who Protects.  He is ALWAYS by our side.  Sometimes, in the middle of pandemics, plagues, drought, hurricanes, financial ruin, lost jobs, lost loved ones, we don’t feel Him, but God is there.  Don’t trust your “feels” but trust that God is with you.  Call out to Him, He hears you!

You hear me when I call
You are my morning song
Though darkness fills the night
It cannot hide the light

Whom shall I fear

You crush the enemy
Underneath my feet
You are my sword and shield
Though troubles linger still

Whom shall I fear

I know who goes before me
I know who stands behind

The God of angel armies
Is always by my side…

Yes, to those who really believe what they believe to be really real, God is there.  We know He fights the battles that admittedly overwhelm us.  We know He hears us when we cry out to Him, for He is there.  We know to trust in Him alone for all that is going on around us.  We know that when we ask for wisdom to live skillfully in the world He created, we will receive it in abundance.  We know God will bring peace to our worried minds and troubled hearts…when we “stop and get out of the traffic of the world, be still to listen for God, know God and lean in to really hear God.

“Step out of the traffic! Take a long, loving look at me, your High God, above politics, above everything.”  –Your Heavenly Father, God

Worship and Wisdom, Psalms and Proverbs

Psalm 46, The Message

A Song of the Sons of Korah

46 ^1-3 God is a safe place to hide,
    ready to help when we need him.
We stand fearless at the cliff-edge of doom,
    courageous in seastorm and earthquake,
Before the rush and roar of oceans,
    the tremors that shift mountains.

Jacob-wrestling God fights for us,
    God-of-Angel-Armies protects us.

^4-6 River fountains splash joy, cooling God’s city,
    this sacred haunt of the Most High.
God lives here, the streets are safe,
    God at your service from crack of dawn.
Godless nations rant and rave, kings and kingdoms threaten,
    but Earth does anything he says.

⁷ Jacob-wrestling God fights for us,
    God-of-Angel-Armies protects us.

^8-10 Attention, all! See the marvels of God!
    He plants flowers and trees all over the earth,
Bans war from pole to pole,
    breaks all the weapons across his knee.
“Step out of the traffic! Take a long,
    loving look at me, your High God,
    above politics, above everything.”

¹¹ Jacob-wrestling God fights for us,
    God-of-Angel-Armies protects us.

TRUTH:  God-of-Angel-Armies protects us.  So, as His witnesses, we keep telling His Story of testimony to His Greatness.  Our witness is protected by God, guided by His Holy Spirit, in the Name of Jesus, His Son!  God in Three Persons is our God of Angel Armies.  THIS is who protects us because of His great love for us.

What if we die on earth because of our belief and in our telling?  Jesus promises He has a room prepared for us to live with Him forever. 

What if sickness overcomes us?  Earth is temporary.  Nothing on earth lasts.  Our bodies are temporary tents that house our souls.  Souls who believe and follow Jesus live forever! 

“Step out of the traffic! Take a long, loving look at me, your High God, above politics, above everything.”

Proverb 17:22-24, The Message

A cheerful disposition is good for your health;
    gloom and doom leave you bone-tired.

²³ The wicked take bribes under the table;
    they show nothing but contempt for justice.

²⁴ The perceptive find wisdom in their own front yard;
    fools look for it everywhere but right here.

WISDOM:  God is right here.  God is our wisdom.  Be still means to let go of the doom and gloom attitudes and know God is in control.  He never lets go of us!

Be still and know that I AM God

Be still and know that I AM

Be still and know

Be still

Be.

Abba Father,

You are here while I read Your Word and learn from it.  You are with us who believe in every place we reside.  You love us.  You hear our voice when we call and You know us by name.  You protect us and provide for all we need…even before we ask.  You are all I need.  You are everything anyone needs.  Continue to transform us to be all you created us to be no matter what is happening around us.  You remind me, that there will always be some sort of trouble in this world, but to be still and remember the God of Angel Armies is always be my side.  Thank you, thank you, thank you.

In Jesus Name, Amen