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Coronavirus: Are You in Egypt or in Goshen?
.
BY PATRICIA B.
CLARK
Are you
living in Egypt or in Goshen?
This is a
very important question that needs to be answered by every believer in Christ
as the fear of sickness and possible death grips our nation and the world.
This
question is based on the Exodus account of God’s people, the Hebrews, living in
slavery in Egypt when God raised up Moses to confront Pharaoh to let God’s
people go.
There
were ten plagues in all, the last one being the death of all the firstborn in
Egypt, but these plagues did not touch the Hebrews living in the land of
Goshen.
Egypt is
a type of the world and its systems that do not acknowledge the Lord Jesus
Christ.
Goshen is
a type of the kingdom of God where those who love and obey Jesus Christ live
even here on earth.
I
explained in my previous article that as Jesus approaches, we are entering into
a new era in the life of the Church.
We can
expect to see monumental changes in the way we “do church” because maintaining
our church buildings and paid clergy is becoming increasingly financially
impossible.
We will
also experience the Lord’s presence in new and stronger ways.
His Word
is going to open to us like never before and we will see the fulfillment of
many of his promises that have seemed out of our grasp in the past.
What we
are seeing as this pandemic sweeps our world, our wealth disintegrates with the
fall of the economy and food becomes scarce, is the falling down of the Devil’s
kingdom.
As I
explained in one of my previous articles, Jesus told us in 1972 he was going to
shake the world and when he was through, the only thing left standing would be
that which is rooted and grounded in him.
Our
economy and our government are not founded upon Jesus. He has been told to
leave, so what we are experiencing is the result of that ousting of God.
However,
those of us who love and serve Jesus, can expect to be entering his kingdom at
the same time the foundationless worldly institutions are disintegrating.
His
kingdom is coming in our hearts and as we pray for the sick and see them
recover, as we see God multiply our “loaves and fishes”, it will become
visible to all that the kingdom of God is in our midst.
If you
are a Christian who has a relationship with Jesus and seeks to do his will,
then you are in his kingdom and you should have nothing to fear.
By way of
clarification, I would like to briefly give my assessment of what kingdom life
really is.
To me, kingdom life is life after the cross has done a particular
work in my life that brings me to the point where I can honestly and
meaningfully say to Jesus, “Not my will but thy will be done.”
It is a
total change of focus from worldly things such as entertainment, movies, theme
parks, and such to just loving to spend time in God’s presence seeking him and
listening for his voice.
It is
wanting to be with the people of God sharing our lives and reaching out to
others who need to know Jesus and then finding that the greatest joy is in
helping others.
In this
time of great suffering as people panic over the fears of sickness, possible
death, food scarcity, and financial ruin, we can meaningfully hold onto God’s
promises in his Word for us, our families and our neighbors.
Here are
some particularly meaningful promises for this time:
Psalm 27:5 – “For in the time of trouble He shall
hide me in His pavilion; in the secret place of His tabernacle He shall hide
me; He shall set me high upon a rock.” (NKJV)
Psalm 91:3-6 – “Surely He shall
deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the perilous
pestilence. He shall cover you with His feathers, and
under His wings you shall take refuge; His truth shall be your shield and
buckler. You shall not be afraid of the terror by night,
nor of the arrow that flies by day, nor of the pestilence that walks in
darkness, nor of the destruction that lays waste at noonday.”
God wrote
these words specifically for you and for me. The problem we Christians often
have is that we don’t believe these words down in our heart.
In our
mind we agree with them, but when something frightening happens, we are scared
and we realize that in our heart we doubt that God will do this for us.
If you
feel like this, you can do something about it. Get alone with God. If you have
to get up in the middle of the night to do it, then do it.
It is
time to get radical in our relationship with God if we have not already done
so. Turn off your TV and get to bed early so you can get up early for quality
time with Jesus.
Determine
you are going to pray a certain length of time even if you can’t think of anything
to say.
I
remember when I first committed to pray for an hour every morning, I didn’t
think I could think of that much to say.
However,
because I committed to it, I did it and to my surprise I had a lot to say and
God answered me.
I didn’t
hear an audible voice but in my mind I knew he was there and I heard and saw
his answers in many ways.
Sometimes
the answer came later in a dream.
Sometimes
I saw his answer in that what I prayed for came to pass. The Bible became more
alive to me.
One thing
we can do in this special time, is pray God’s Word and picture it in our mind.
For example, let’s look at the first clause in Psalm 27:5 as
written above: “In the time of trouble He shall hide me in His
Pavilion.“
I can personalize that by saying, “Jesus, thank you for hiding
me in your pavilion.”
Then we can pray, “Jesus, please help me know what your
pavilion looks like. Help me to know I am there with you.”
We know
this is a spiritual reality but these abstract things can be seen in our mind
as a picture just like Jesus showed us when he told parables.
As you
begin to picture a pavilion, you can ask Jesus to help you see yourself there
with him.
Our mind
understands words, but our heart understands pictures. Jesus will help you get
the truth of his Word not only in your mind but also down into your heart.
Assuming
some of you will ask God to help you see what his pavilion of safety would look
like, I want to explain how I do this.
If you
make your mind blank and expect a picture of the one and only pavilion in the kingdom
of God to pop into your mind, it probably isn’t going to happen.
The kind
of communication I’m speaking of here is very personal in that what one person
thinks a pavilion would look like might be totally unacceptable to another
person.
It is his
pavilion related to you and what you think looks safe
and desirable. You prayerfully build this in your mind.
Your mind
is active and Jesus is helping you. You know he is helping you because you
asked his help and you have brought yourself before him in prayer. This is a
form of meditation.
Paul told Timothy in 1 Tim 4:15, “Meditate on these things…”
The Greek
word for meditate seen here is meletao which
means “meditate” and “imagine” from a root word meaning “revolve in the mind.”
According
to biblical usage of this word, it means “to care for” and “to attend to.”
Our mind
is a battleground and meditation is one of our most powerful weapons.
I have
found that when I picture being with Jesus in a pavilion in my own mind, a
place I prepared many years ago, I instantly feel his presence. I revolve it in
my mind in that I keep going back to it over and over again.
Another
thing that came out of that prayer time was that I learned how to get a
specific word from God for my life personally. I encourage you to try this
yourself.
I found
that after praying for an hour, I could ask God if he had anything to say to me
that I could look up in my Bible by book, chapter and verse.
Then I
would look up any Bible reference that came into my mind.
For
example, I had decided to work on my Master’s degree in counseling. I took one
course and when it came time for the second, I felt heavily burdened about it.
I didn’t know what to do.
I needed
a specific word from God. After pouring out my heart to him, I asked him for a
Bible verse and into my mind came the thought Ecclesiastes 12:12.
As I turned to that reference, here is what I read, “Of making
many books there is no end, and much study is wearisome to the flesh. Let
us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep His commandments,
for this is man’s all.”
Nothing
could have been clearer than that! I didn’t need to get that degree. I just
needed to continue seeking Jesus and he would direct me in whatever I needed to
know.
I found
that hearing God in this way only happened after I had spent a least half an
hour or more in prayer.
In other
words, I couldn’t just ask God a question any time without having spent time
seeking him in his presence.
Prayer is
more about seeking a relationship with God than it is getting answers to our
questions.
However,
God wants to speak to his people. He speaks to us a lot and in many ways, but
often we just don’t hear.
Maybe
this is because we are expecting him to communicate in some other way.
However,
I want to encourage you to talk to Jesus about how he wants you to hear him.
Perhaps he will also give you book, chapter and verse.
Over the
years, I filled up notebook after notebook with words from God received in this
way. It was a tremendous help and comfort during some very difficult times.
As fear
continues to grip this nation and the world, make up your mind as a Christian
to live in Goshen.
Read in
Exodus how God brought plagues upon the Egyptians but not on his people in
Goshen.
Daily
seek God in his Word and obey him in every possible way.
Believe
and act like you are in spiritual Goshen, and you will be in a place where God
can protect you.
Patricia
B. Clark
It
was prophesied to Patricia and her husband Stoner in 1972 that God was
preparing them for specific ministries in the end times. After many years of
pastoring churches their ministries have crystallized into specific areas
germane to the end times. They travel and present seminars for churches and
church leaders on the following topics: becoming the church Jesus is coming
for, how to minister for SRA, Revelation seen inwardly and allegorically,
living supernaturally in the end times and other topics.
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