by donfinto | Apr 15, 2020 | The Good Report
Psalm 91 – The Coronavirus psalm
This Psalm has been a strength for many believers who turn to the Bible looking for answers during this trying and unknown time. The psalmist even foresaw times like the one in which the world is experiencing now. Twice he spoke of being protected from the pestilence – the “deadly pestilence” and “the pestilence that stalks in the darkness.” Once he speaks of the “plague that destroys at midday.”
But the opening verse is the key for our focus: “He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.”
Dwelling in the LORD brings rest.
Paul tells us that “God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 2:8). And from our perspective with God, we see Him at work in all situations. He will never allow the enemy to win the battle. Jesus has been given “all authority” not only in heaven but also “on earth” (Matthew 28:18).
Let us pray for all those who will turn to the Lord during this worldwide “pestilence/plague.” Let us become the believers who put our trust in Him, trusting that even this will be turned for our good as we trust in Him.
by donfinto | Apr 1, 2020 | The Good Report
Turning plagues into prayers
Four scriptures from John’s
Revelation stir me to turn the present plague into prayers. In Revelation 9:20,
after the trumpet plagues had been sent across the earth, John mourns that “the
rest of mankind that were not killed by these plagues still did not repent of
the work of their hands,” indicating that God can use plagues in a way of
calling people to repentance.
Similar frustration is
expressed following the bowls of wrath that are reported in chapters 15 and 16.
“They were seared by the intense heat and cursed the name of God, who had
control over these plagues, but they refused to repent and glorify him” (16:9).
“Men gnawed their tongues in agony and cursed the God of heavens because of
their pain and their sores, but they refused to repent for what they had done”
(16:10-11).
However there can be another
response. Following the two witnesses, John reports, “At that very hour there
was a severe earthquake and a tenth of the city collapsed. Seven thousand
people were killed in the earthquake and the survivors were terrified and gave
glory to the God of heaven” (11:13). Giving glory to God implies that there was
repenting going on.
Let us pray that this present
crisis will be used of God to turn the hearts of thousands, even millions of
hearts to Jesus. Do remember the prophecy about a billion soul world revival
beginning in our day.
Let us be filled with hope
and with joy in Jesus. Let us turn this plague into a “good report.” To the
glory of God! Through Jesus the King!
by donfinto | Mar 25, 2020 | The Good Report
“Do not fear” Luke 12:32
This word from the very erudite C. S. Lewis is a fitting
“Good Report.”
From his book, “Present Concerns: Journalistic
Essays,” published in 1948.
Substitute “atomic bomb” with “coronavirus,”
and you will find—though written 72 years ago—it is still very accurate and
encouraging to this day.
“In one way we think a great deal too much of
the atomic bomb. “How are we to live in an atomic age?” I am tempted to reply:
“Why, as you would have lived in the sixteenth century when the plague visited
London almost every year, or as you would have lived in a Viking age when
raiders from Scandinavia might land and cut your throat any nigaht; or indeed,
as you are already living in an age of cancer, an age of syphilis, an age of
paralysis, an age of air raids, an age of railway accidents, an age of motor
accidents.
In other words, do not let us begin by
exaggerating the novelty of our situation. Believe me, dear sir or madam, you
and all whom you love were already sentenced to death before the atomic bomb
was invented: and quite a high percentage of us were going to die in unpleasant
ways. We had, indeed, one very great advantage over our ancestors—anesthetics;
but we have that still. It is perfectly ridiculous to go about whimpering and
drawing long faces because the scientists have added one more chance of painful
and premature death to a world which already bristled with such chances and in
which death itself was not a chance at all, but a certainty.
This is the first point to be made: and the
first action to be taken is to pull ourselves together. If we are all going to
be destroyed by an atomic bomb, let that bomb when it comes find us doing
sensible and human things—praying, working, teaching, reading, listening to
music, bathing the children, playing tennis, chatting to our friends over a
pint and a game of darts—not huddled together like frightened sheep and
thinking about bombs. They may break our bodies (a microbe can do that) but
they need not dominate our minds.”
“Do not fear, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to
give you the kingdom” (Luke 12:32).
Be outrageously blessed in Jesus this and every
day.
