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God promised the prophet Zechariah that in the last days, he would be a protective wall of fire around his people: "For I, saith the Lord, will be unto her a wall of fire round about..." (Zechariah 2:5).

Likewise, Isaiah testifies: "For thou has been a...shadow form the heat, when the blast of the terrible ones is as a storm against the wall" (Isaiah 25:4). "There shall be a tabernacle for a shadow in the daytime from the heat, and for a place of refuge, and for a covert from storm and from rain" (4:6).

God can't use a man until He gets him on holy ground. A holy God must have a holy man on holy ground.

Holy ground is not a physical place, but a spiritual one. When God commanded Moses to take off his shoes because he was on holy ground, He was not referring to a two–by–four piece of real estate. He was talking about a spiritual state.

God called Moses from the burning bush, commanding him: "Put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground…" (Exodus 3:5).

Christians today live in a time of great light. The Holy Ghost has revealed to us the powerful meaning of Jesus' work on the cross, and the incredible blessings this means for our lives.

Yet there was a time when Christ's wonderful work was obscured from the world. That period was known as the Dark Ages - simply because the meaning of the cross was veiled from the eyes of humanity.

The psalmist writes of a glorious secret to enjoying a fulfilled, joyful life: "Blessed is the people that know the joyful sound: they shall walk, O Lord, in the light of thy countenance" (Psalm 89:15). The Hebrew meaning of this verse suggests, "Those who have a revelation of the joyful sound will wake up every day with peace, strength and happiness. Their life will be filled with the joy of the morning sun."

One of the most important verses in all of scripture is found in Peter's first epistle. The apostle speaks of the necessity of having our faith tested: "That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ" (1 Peter 1:7).

In this same passage, Peter tells us what we can expect to face in such tests of faith: "...though now for a season....ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations" (verse 6).

"But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world" (Galatians 6:14).

In this sophisticated age, we find it hard to understand the idolatry of the Old Testament. It is incredible to read of intelligent people being so blinded as to offer worship to hand- carved images of wood, stone or precious metals.

Believe it or not, many good people who are involved in doing wonderful things will not make it to heaven. Worse yet, many who consider themselves Christians and who are convinced they are going to heaven will be shut out - even though they aren't indulging in gross sin or bad things of any kind!

I believe that justification by faith is the foundational truth of Christianity. You can't know true rest and peace until you are convinced you can never be made right in God's eyes by your own works of righteousness.

If you don't understand the perfect righteousness of Christ that is yours by faith, you'll lead a life of toil and sweat. You'll spend your days trying to please God through some kind of legalistic, hopeless attempt to establish your own righteousness. But the truth is, you'll never have any righteousness to bring to the Lord!

Go with me to the plain of Dura near Babylon, where King Nebuchadnezzar had summoned every leader - governors, princes and sheriffs - from his far-flung empire. Imagine the sight - multitudes of people dressed in their various native garb, speaking many languages. And they all had gathered for one purpose - to honor the gods of the king!

Nebuchadnezzar had erected a huge, golden image ninety feet tall. And now these leaders, having made their way to the great plain of Dura, were to bow in worship as soon as the royal orchestra began playing. It was that or death!

A young pastor called me some time ago, ready to quit the ministry. The Lord had been using this young man in a wonderful way. But now he was discouraged - feeling worthless, useless, no good to God at all.

You see, he and his wife had been having a lot of marital troubles. They'd had terrible arguments, and it kept getting worse. He said he had prayed for months that God would heal their relationship, but it had only gotten worse. He told me he'd spent more time praying about that than anything else in his life and ministry.