The Firewall and Blood Shield

UV 2892/10000 The Fire Wall and Blood Shield
Hast not thou made an hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he hath on every side? thou hast blessed the work of his hands, and his substance is increased in the land.
Job 1 v 10
Scripture talks of God Almighty being a shield to Abraham, an encompassing 360 degree shield to David, a hedge to Job,a fencing, a wall to Moses, everlasting arms holding up the Israelites, a wall of fire and glory in our midst, a camp of angels surrounding and guarding the faithful, the wings of a hen that protects the tiny and vulnerable chicken from predators. The progression of godly protection culminates in Jesus being a blood shield that protects us every visible and invisible threat, every earthly or terrestrial threat as well as eternal danger or threat. As the blood shield that covers every believer, He first and foremost protects us from the deadly and just wrath of a holy God.
Not only are we protected from both godly anger and worldly danger, the Lord blesses the work of our hands and the words of our lips. He reveals or manifests His glory in us and around us. The glory of the kingdom of God does not consist in vast armies, pomp and splendour but in the eternal well being of His people. To secure our well being, He builds and maintains several layers of protection around us as satan in the words of Jesus is a killer, robber and thief. God is not in the business of causing human suffering. That is the work of the enemy of our souls who like a sinking man wants to drag more people down with him. He however does give permission to the enemy to test our faith and character even as He did when satan sought permission to afflict Job. He robbed Job of his possessions, family, cattle and flocks and yet Job withstood the severe test. A lesser man would have denied God and repudiated his faith in Him. Job only said with characteristic patience, “What God has given, He has taken away.” He respected the sovereignty of the Lord and even praised Him for the act of “taking away.” Ultimately, Job’s story has a happy ending of restoration with double of whatever he had and owned before he was afflicted. He thanked God like David that it was good that he was afflicted that he might learn His holy will.
We need to continually cultivate a hedge of prayers around us, maintain the fencing of specific promises for specific issues of life, build a wall of faith, a shield that turns in all directions- in and out, up and down, in good times and tough times, in plenty and in famine. The Holy Spirit is the firewall of protection the Lord lays deep inside our souls and lives. Above all is the blood shield of Jesus, the armour of God that protects us from our inner vulnerabilities and external threats.
Prateep V Philip