BIBLE TEACHINGS WITH JOEL OSOBA

Dealing with this Coronavirus Pandemic. Love or Fear?

Fear and guilt are attractors of evil things. Fear and guilt are the enemy’s strategies for creating an access point into the life and affairs of anyone; therefore, you want to get rid of fear. If you give your attention to and absorb the Love of God, you will get rid of fear. As you turn your heart towards His ever-loving heart, and the wide-open arms of a caring and understanding God and father, your faith will rise.

Dear friend, your heart is designed to recognize and absorb love. When true love finds its way into your heart it dispels fear. That’s what makes you vulnerable with a person, that’s what makes you let down your guard and still feel secure around someone whom you have come to trust their love for you.

Now, no love is truer than God’s love for you, and it is that love that needs to form the foundation of your faith and confidence in perilous times. You must come to settle the fact that God loves you now, He loves you today and His eyes are upon you to keep you safe. Even though you may not be pleased with how you’ve been behaving and spending your life in the past few days, there’s a provision for you in God’s economy to get protection during emergencies and later settle the scores of repentance and receiving the love and pardon of God, only if you have received Jesus, God’s Son as your Lord and personal savior. If you have accepted Jesus don’t let guilt keep you out and make you think you deserve the plague and if you haven’t, you can do so now by just asking God to forgive you asking Jesus to be your Lord and give you a brand new spirit inside you.

When you acknowledge God’s love and faithfulness in this manner, it keeps your heart in perfect peace knowing that beyond your personal efforts to stay safe God will protect you from any evil beyond your power and conscious efforts.

There are three (3) key areas you want to pay attention to in this season so that you can give the Spirit of God the freedom to protect you personally and use you to protect others and destroy the effect of COVID-19 on the world’s population. When you understand your responsibilities and participation in these three areas it gives you absolute confidence that banishes fear in your heart and makes you a rallying point of strength and wisdom for those who may need it.

Follow health/hygiene precautions: If you’ve ever read through the book of Leviticus in the bible, you will see the disposition of God towards personal and public hygiene. God gave clear laws about the washing of hands and body, washing of clothes and cooking utensils, etc. All forms of hygienic statutes were given by God to prevent the spread of diseases. God is aware that we live in a fallen world where plagues and diseases arise from time to time; caused by our own doing and wickedness towards one another in some cases. Because this God gives us a heads start by showing us He is in the business of cleanliness even though He is also a miracle-working God. When you study the bible you will understand the mind of God as our healer. One way He keeps us healthy is by teaching us hygiene from His word. Therefore, you must take all the necessary precautions of cleanliness. Wash your hands, get your bottle of sanitizer, systematically avoid contacts with fluids from people’s mouths or nostrils. Don’t run your hand on public infrastructures like buses, railings, glass doors and door handles, etc. All of these are great details that can create over sensitivity in you, but that is why we opened the blog with your confidence in God’s love for you so that even if you forget because you will forget and are not all-knowing you will not be living in the fear that eventually attracts evil.

Social distancing: I draw another lesson from the book of Leviticus (Leviticus 13:1-7). The book of Leviticus is rich with wisdom in dealing with disease outbreaks. On multiple occasions, God instructed that if someone showed symptoms of a communicable disease, the priest was to examine them and put them in quarantine to observe them. While they are in quarantine the priest should make atonement and sacrifice for them and the power of God was going to visit them and heal them.

Therefore, in times like this, it is important that we observe the measures of social distancing that has been recommended by health practitioners and the government. If we are required to stay indoors and avoid public gatherings, then for the sake of ourselves and the people around us we should observe all precautions that can prevent the widespread of the plague among people. I know someone may say “Where is our faith?” I’m glad you asked. What we need to know is that the law is not for the person walking by faith but it is an instrument we need to help those whose faith may not be as great and powerful. Therefore, even though our faith may move mountains, if we lack the wisdom of charity (1Corinthians 13:1-3) we are nothing but clanging kitchen utensils.

It is also important to maximize the season of the imposed lockdown to relax more, pray more, read more, finish some of our personal projects, start a blog, work on a business idea, and make it a quiet period for heaven to reach our spirit with productive information for life.

As children of God, we should be sensitive to the opportunities that heaven has packaged into this kind of season. A Nigerian artist already got a deal to promote his trending music video which he did in the early 2000s, (over a decade later) on a streaming site just because it resonated with the mood of the people in creating awareness for COVID-19. So your breakthrough could be coded in this season.

Spiritual Fortification: This is the best part! Straight to the point; open to Psalm 91 in your bible. Before you start reading it, begin with thanksgiving to a loving God that has His eyes on you and gave His Son for you. Thank God for the power of the blood of Jesus and its victory over every evil plague and curse of the earth. Saturate your heart with thanksgiving to God. As you do this your spirit will begin to rise and buoy with faith in response to the faithfulness, love and the dependable character of God.

Then read through Psalm 91, and declare it inserting your name and personalizing it over yourself and all your loved ones. Do it every day and as many times a day, that fear tries to creep around your heart. God has promised to satisfy you with long life and demonstrate His power to you; therefore, demonstrate your faith in His character by declaring His words out of your mouth in acceptance of His commitment to protecting you from evil.

Having secured yourself and loved ones, get into a posture of prayer and pray for the nations of the earth that are in difficult situations due to the pandemic, pray for the families of the affected people, pray for the various health workers and government officials that will be making the national decisions in these times, ask God for wisdom for them.

Finally, resist the demonic spirit responsible for the spread of fear and the actual disease in the world.  Don’t be naive to think there’s no spiritual dimension to COVID-19, but as the people to whom God has given all authority in heaven and earth, we can enforce our authority and keep the earth safe. We are salt and light. Walk-in God, live by the power of Love, banish fear and the virus and let’s keep our world safe as long as Jesus tarries His coming. In these three simple ways, you can handle yourself and the pandemic in the air around us.

I am your brother in Christ.

Till next week, stay blessed living in a secret place and living hygienically.

Adios!

Joel Osoba is a bible teacher and businessman focused on teaching and inspiring people to find, follow and fulfill God's plan for their life.

He believes that finding, following and fulfilling God's plans is the true meaning of success in life. Please read more of his epic pieces on - https://lifespringsweb.wordpress.com/