Q & A: How do I stay safe when I live in a dangerous neighborhood?-KCM

If you have made Jesus Christ your Lord, protection belongs to you. In fact, what you know from the Word of God will save your life. If you build God’s promises of protection and deliverance into your heart and life, you can live in this world with all of its danger and still feel secure.

Of course, safety, security and deliverance from danger don’t come automatically. Those are some of the benefits included in salvation, which Jesus purchased for us on the cross. Just like all the other benefits of salvation, however, they show up in your life only as you begin to trust God for them specifically.

Read all of Psalm 91, and you’ll see how much God wants to protect you. Even from the first line it begins to show us how to receive that protection: “He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.”

If you are to enjoy God’s protection, there are some conditions you must keep to activate that protection in your life. For one thing, you have to abide in Him. Abiding under the shadow of the Almighty is the result of spending so much time in the Word of God and His presence that His truth governs your actions without even a conscious thought. Stay in the Word day after day. Take the 91st Psalm into yourself until it becomes engrafted in your heart. Remember this: It’s the Word you act on today that will get you delivered. It’s not what you heard last year. It’s not even what you know. It’s what you do.

Another definition of abiding is simply obeying. First John 3:6 says,“Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not.” The reverse of this is also true—whoever sins (or is disobedient) does not abide in Him. Disobedience can be dangerous. When you sin, you get out from under God’s protective covering. Thank God we’re living in the day of grace and mercy, and it’s never too late to call upon the Lord. But if you haven’t been abiding in the Word and walking in obedience, it will be difficult to call on Him in faith when trouble comes.

There’s something else important about the person who lives in the protective shadow of the Almighty. Psalm 91:2 tells us what it is—he speaks in faith. He “will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, on Him I lean and rely, and in Him I (confidently) trust!”

This man is doing more than just trusting God with his heart…he’s saying it with his mouth! That’s what you need to be doing too. Faith brings God’s supernatural power into this natural realm. Faith is released into this natural realm by words.

Make up your mind right now to get your mouth in line with God’s Word. Do you know what will happen when you do? You’ll be able to go to sleep at night. You won’t lie there in worry or fear. Instead, you’ll trust God with every part of your life. Once you have that kind of peace on the inside, you can be assured you’ll have supernatural protection on the outside.

When you read Psalm 91, remember this: The first two verses are what we do and say. Verses 3-16 are God’s answer and commitment to us. When we do our part—trusting and saying, God does His part—delivering and preserving. So stand on God’s promises concerning protection, and “He shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways” (Psalm 91:11).