"Powerful Protection"

"Keep me as the apple of Thy eye, hide me under the shadow of Thy wings," (Psalms 17:8) Whether or not we realize all the times that God protects us, we must firmly believe in His protection; not just making a claim that we believe, and then standing upon that claim; but we must take the necessary action to back up that claim, which involves investing into that claim. Let me step back for a minute, and set this up. In this fallen world, many, if not all of life's struggles and trials have a direct relationship with the fall of man; what that means for you and I, is that because of the state that this world is in, it is only to be expected that this life will be filled with times of trouble. It is because of these difficult times that we face, that we must continually stay as close to God as we possibly can be. Now then; as with many things in this life that are important, these things require planning; which means that there are certain steps or procedures that must be taken into consideration and planed out to make these things happen. As I was praying for this message that I felt God was telling me, I heard a very audible voice, saying, "Plan for your soul!". After hearing this voice, I stayed still for several minutes and thought upon those words; then the strangest vision popped into my head, it was a vision of a box of crayons laying on the dashboard of a car. I know; pretty strange, Right? Have you ever tried to use crayons that have been left in the sun too long? They just don't work that way they were meant to work; as a matter of fact, that may be where in idea of finger painting came from. But as far as the sharp lines being drawn, or the light and dark separations being made in shading, these things are not possible with melted crayons; and depending on how melted they are, the true colors may be tainted for ever. For the person that had wished to use these crayons, leaving them of the dashboard of the car was poor planning. Likewise; for the Christian who is counting on God for His protection, would be wise not to stray too far from the shadow of His wings! What shadows are good for, is for protecting against the heat of the sun; I am reminded of that daily as I stand to long in the sunlight and feel my head start to sting, reminding me to find some shade. Now, I know that most of us are familiar with this concept, and how we are to be standing under God's grace, and many use the illustration of an umbrella in the rain; but this is a little bit different. God's grace is provided for us freely; it is not based upon anything that we do or that we have done; but is solely based upon what God has done for us. What we are talking about here is protection, and primarily, the protection of our souls! Okay; maybe I should ask some questions, and give us something to ponder till tomorrow. First one being, Do you think that there will be any scars when we get to heaven? Secondly; Do you know that there will be different areas in heaven, or do you think that we will all be hanging out together? And Thirdly: "Why call ye Me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things that I say?" (Luke 6:46)