For thou O Lord art a shield for me,
my glory, and the lifter of my head.
Psalm 3:3 (KJV)

Now more than ever our world is suffering.  Inside our own communities, our churches, and our homes, a spirit of darkness has overshadowed us.  The Word of God says that in these days, “darkness shall cover  the earth and gross darkness the people, but…”

Yes. BUT…but, as the scripture continues it speaks of the elevation of the Sons of God and describes our triumphant debut among the lost, the underprivileged and the down-trodden as we usher in the Glory of God.

For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people:
BUT the Lord shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee.
Isaiah 60:2 (KJV)

In the midst of the fear and darkness, people struggle with anxiety, depression, sadness and often cast aside a satisfying faith in a loving God for a more carnally appealing release.  They find this “release” in hedonistic behaviors, where only what makes them personally satisfied is the only goal.  Drugs, alcohol, sexual impropriety and other ways to escape the realities of the harshness of life’s troubling situations are being acted upon all around us.  As Christians, it could become easier to fall into habits or behaviors that don’t empower your relationship with God, but causes you to push away from Him.

Things that perpetuate selfish attitudes of an unsaved world encouraging all  to “do your own thing” can be tough to resist, but now is the time to resist it, repent from it, and reestablish our strength through our relationship with Christ.

The Lord is a shield for us.  He is stronger than any temptation we may experience.  He protects our hearts from fear, hatred, pride and “any weapon formed against us.”   (Isa 54:17)
We have to hold fast to our commitment to Him…as He is stalwart in His commitment to us.

He is the lifter of our head.  We cannot shine our lights into the darkness of the world if we are defeated, worried or walking around with our heads down.  Our light can only be seen when we reflect the glory of our God.

His Glory comes over us when we look to Him in a posture of reverence, submission and worship.  We look up to God.  Not just physically, as when we worship Him, but spiritually as well.  We look up to Him for our peace, our answers, our purpose.

We rely on Him to deliver us from the evil of this world.  We trust Him to make all our issues work for our good, according to His plan for us.  We look to Him for comfort, acceptance and love.

Because He is so much to us, we need to acknowledge that His investment in us is not purposeless.  He needs us to be His Glory revealed here in the earth.  We may be the only expression of God some of the people we meet may ever know.  Our responsibility is to shine the light of Christ in our circles of influence.  It is our dedication to the good Our Heavenly Father imparts upon us.  We are blessed…to be a blessing.  We are lifted up to lead others to Jesus.

And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.
John 12:32 (KJV)

We are the “earth” by which Jesus will be lifted up.  It is a great responsibility, but one that becomes easier to have as we lift our lives, our hearts, our efforts to God.  In exchange, He will lift up our heads in this dark world; bless us and cause our light to draw others to Him.

Let us once again be overjoyed by Our God’s interaction with us and rejoice in Him with Lifted Heads.

Until next post…Blessings, VW1