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We appreciate you and pray for God's very best in your life. Thanks for letting us come into your homes. We are praying for you and your family. While we can't gather in person, I I hope you'll stay connected with us throughout the week through social media, our podcasts, or any of our online platforms. If you've never visited our YouTube channel, it's the easiest and quickest way to access all these messages. But thanks for being with us. Let's get started with our confession. Say it like you mean it. This is my Bible. I am what it says I am. I have what it says I have. I can do what it says I can do. Today I will be taught the word of God. I boldly confess. My mind is alert. My heart is receptive. I will never be the same. In Jesus name. God bless you. I want to talk to you today about the guardian of your soul. When we look at all that's going on in the world. It's easy to live worried and afraid. We watch the news and see conflict between nations and natural disasters, sicknesses, accidents. If that's not enough, now we're dealing with this virus. We think, what if I get sick? What if my business doesn't make it? What if my child has an accident? All these concerns are valid. If you were on your own, you would have a good reason to live worried. But the scripture says you have turned to your shepherd, the guardian of your soul. You're not in this by yourself. You have a protector, a defender, a deliverer. The most high God is the guardian of your soul. When he breathed life into you, he didn't just put you on the earth and say, good luck, you're on your own. He said, I'm going to guard you. I'm going to push back forces of darkness. I'm going to hide you from enemies. I'm going to shield you from trouble. Psalm 91 says, God will rescue you from every trap and protect you from the fatal plague. You don't have to be afraid of this virus. God has a shield around you. He knows how to keep harm away. And if it does come, he knows how to heal you. He knows how to restore what was taken. He will rescue you from every trap. The enemy doesn't have the final say. Nothing can snatch you out of God's hands. And because you've turned to your shepherd, he's protected you from things you know nothing about. He kept that car from hitting you. He pushed back that sickness. He thwarted plans of the enemy, moved people out of the way. That would have been a bad influence. He's been guarding your soul since you were born. If you knew all the things he's already kept you from, you wouldn't worry about what you're facing now. You would stay in peace, knowing that God has you covered. You're in the palm of his hand. You're not at the mercy of fate, bad luck, dreaded disease. You have a guardian, a protector, a God who promised he will rescue you from every trap. When my father was a little toddler, barely able to walk, he lived on a farm with his family. One night he wandered away from everyone and fell into a fire. He could have easily been killed. But it just so happened. Someone came walking by and pulled him out. Another 15 seconds and he would have lost his life. That should have stopped his destiny. But there is a guardian of your soul. There is a God watching over you that will rescue you from trouble. He will stop the plan of the enemy. Psalm 121 says, Your guardian God is right by your side to protect you. He guards you when you leave and he guards you when you return. He guards you now and he will guard you always. You can't go anywhere without your guardian God. That's why we can live from a place of peace, a place of faith. Even though there's turmoil all around us, people worried, panic, stay in peace. It's not a surprise to God. He didn't say we wouldn't have trouble, we wouldn't have to face these things. But he did promise he will rescue you from the trouble. He will keep the fatal plague from taking you out. You don't have to live worried about your future, afraid of what could happen. God has a hedge of protection around you, a bloodline that the enemy cannot cross. When the Israelites had been in slavery for many years, God told Moses he was going to bring them out the way God did it was to send plagues on the Pharaoh and his people that were oppressing them. What's interesting is the Israelites lived next door, but none of the plagues affected them. God sent swarms of locusts. They ate up all the Pharaoh's crops, destroyed their food supply. But right next door, the Israelites crops were fine. I can imagine some of the locusts started to fly toward the Israelites land. But when they got close, just like an electric fence, they suddenly turned around and left them alone. This happened with plague after plague. God said in Exodus, I will make a distinction between my people and Pharaoh's people. At one point all of Pharaoh's livestock, all of his cattle suddenly died. But right next door, the Israelites livestock was perfectly fine. That's because God put a shield around his people. Even though the plague was all around them, he kept it from harming them, like with the Israelites. Because you belong to God, because you honor Him. He's put a distinction on you. What will defeat others won't be able to defeat you. When business is going down, you're going to go up. When others are struggling, you're going to going to be soaring. That's why David said, a thousand may fall at my side, 10,000 at my right hand, but it will not come near me. David understood this principle, that what happened to others wasn't going to happen to him. God put a distinction on him. And I don't mean this arrogantly, like we're glad somebody else has difficulty and not us. I'm talking about living from a place of faith, knowing that you have an Advantage. God has a shield around you. Psalm 91 in the message translation says, God protects you from deadly hazards. Even though others succumb all around you, you will stand untouched. You will watch it all from a distance because God is your refuge. Evil can't get close to you, Harm can't get through the door. You may have some things come to the door, but it's not going to get in. You're going to come out untouched. You're going to watch it all from a distance. You remember the rapper MC Hammer? He had a popular song called you can't touch this. You need to see yourself that way. When sickness comes, instead of accepting it, thinking, I knew this would happen, you, you need to announce to the enemy, you can't touch this. I am God's property. My body is a temple of the Most High. I will live and not die. When lack and struggle comes, saying, you'll never get ahead, just announce, you can't touch this. The favor of God is on my life. I will prosper even in a desert. When your children aren't making good decisions, they're getting off course. Instead of being depressed, thinking, what did I do wrong? You need to remind the enemy, you can't touch this. As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. My children will be mighty in the land. You need to see yourself as untouchable to the enemy. And yes, we all have difficulties. I'm not saying that. You won't have to face sickness, opposition, betrayals. They may come, but they don't have to stay. You don't have to answer the door. Don't open it up. Say, I knew you'd show up. Come on in. Let me get you a cup of coffee. No. When it knocks, say, no, thanks, you're not welcome here. Don't accept it. Don't learn to live with it. Quit calling it my sickness, my anxiety, my dysfunction, my addiction. It's not yours. None of it belongs to you. It's on foreign territory. Your body is a temple of the Most High God. Sickness doesn't belong in your temple. Depression doesn't belong in your temple. Fear, addictions, lack doesn't belong there. Stand firm and keep that door closed. Yes, things may come. I'm not asking you to deny the facts. Act like you don't have a sickness. But you don't have to accept it in your mind. Let it become permanent. Thinking it's always going to be that way. See it as temporary. This too shall pass. I have several friends that have contracted the coronavirus. They fought the good fight of faith, now they've come through it. When you face a sickness, a bad break, loss, that doesn't mean you don't have this distinction. You must not have enough faith. Not at all. The scripture says, rain falls on the just and the unjust. There are times when difficulties come. We're praying, believing, but it didn't work out our way. When it rains, don't get discouraged. Don't give up on your dreams. God knows what he's doing. If you'll keep the right attitude, that rain is not going to hinder you. It's going to cause you to blossom. The enemy may have meant it for your harm. The reason God allowed it is so he can bring you out better than you were before. Psalm 91 starts off by saying, if you dwell in the secret place of the most High, you will abide under the shadow of the Almighty. The next verse says, I will say of the Lord, you are my refuge, my fortress and my God. It's significant that the psalmist didn't just say, I'm going to stay in the secret place, and that will keep me protected. He said, I will say of the Lord. What you're saying is going to make a difference whether you see God's protection and favor like you should. Well, Joel, I'll probably get this virus. I always have bad breaks. I don't think my business is going to make it. My children are never going to do what's right. You need to zip that up. You are opening the door to difficulties. If you're going to activate this protection and you can't go around talking defeat, you have to do like the psalmist and start saying of the Lord, Lord, thank you that you're my protector. Thank you that you're shielding me from every plague, rescuing me from every trap. Thank you that I'm going to come out of this untouched. The way you're going to see the distinction is by declaring you're protected and thanking God that there's a hedge around you. David had all kinds of opposition. He had people trying to kill him, armies coming against him. His own son tried to dethrone him. He could have lived afraid, complaining. God, you anointed me. Why am I having all these difficulties? No, listen to how David talked. Psalm 27. The Lord is my light and my salvation. Whom shall I fear? The Lord protects me from danger. Why should I be afraid? When enemies come against me, they will stumble and fall. Though an army surrounds me, I will remain confident, for in the time of trouble, God will hide me he will place me out of reach, high on a rock. David knew how to activate this shield. You have to thank God for it. You can't go around worried, panicked, and expect to see this hedge of protection. In 1st Samuel 23, David was living on the run from King Saul. He had been good to Saul. He was his armor bearer, served him faithfully. But Saul was jealous of David. He could see the favor on his life. He couldn't handle the thought of someone getting more attention than him. So even though David had done nothing wrong, Saul was trying to kill him. He was so obsessed with it that he chased David again and again through the desert. Saul had the most skilled warriors. He had people that were specialists in tracking people here. David was a shepherd. He didn't have any special training like Saul's men. Surely they could find David. Surely they could capture him. Verse 14 says, Saul hunted David day after day, but God did not let him be found. God knows how to hide you from the enemy. He knows how to hide you from trouble. He can hide you from the virus. He will place you out of reach from the opposition. Saul was so frustrated, he went back home. Later, some of David's men turned on him. They contacted Saul's people and gave them David's location and all the details of where he was hiding. Saul was thrilled. He said, finally, someone has had mercy on me. Well, help me get rid of this man that's trying to take my throne. David wasn't trying to take Saul's place. Saul had disobeyed and not done what God told him to do. And now he was trying to take it out on David. When you're doing the right thing, people are coming against you, trying to push you out. Don't worry, that's not your battle. There's a guardian of your soul. You have a protector, a defender. You don't have to fight. Stay on that high road and God will keep you out of reach. He will hide you when you need to be hidden. He's not going to let that adversity stop your purpose. Don't live upset, afraid, trying to pay people back. Let God be your defender. He knows how to take care of the opposition. Saul told these men to go back and spy on David. Study his movements, find out when he eats, when he sleeps, where he gets food. Saul was so determined to catch David, he had them go overboard and do this extensive surveillance. David didn't know some of his men had betrayed him. He thought he was in a great hiding place. But he looked up and saw Saul quickly Closing in. This time he was caught. There was no way he could escape. Saul was right on the other side of the mountain with all of his army, just a matter of hours before David would be captured. I can imagine David saying, God, I didn't see this coming. I never dreamed my own men would turn on me. But, God, I believe you will rescue me from every trap I know, even when trouble surrounds me, you will bring me safely through.