A Focused Family Session with Pastor Daniel McKillop regarding the importance of keeping things of value fenced in...and danger fenced out.
Now will I sing to my well beloved a song of my beloved touching his vineyard. My well beloved hath a vineyard in a very fruitful hill: 2 And he fenced it... Isaiah 5:1-2a
Fencing carries a negative connotation in our free roaming society. While on a recent layover in NYC, I learned that that very night was the night the Christmas tree at the Rockefeller Center was to be lit. I hastily began to make my way to that general location, intending fully to partake of this seasonal event. However, blocks before arriving, I began noticing streets and sidewalks blockaded off. Because of the size of the event, additional security measures were being implemented. There had to be miles -- literally -- of fence, bordering off that general area.
If you're wondering... No. I still don't know what the Christmas Tree at the Rockefeller Center looks like.
Anything valuable is worthy of fencing in.
Why all the precautionary fencing, NYPD? The thousands of innocent New Yorkers would be a high-value target for terrorists. Sadly, history has proven this to be so. Hence, the need for protective borders to be established. As the hostility of the world around you increases, the need for reinforced fencing becomes more and more pertinent. God forbid that the terrorists amongst us place more value on what we possess than we do?!
Fencing is not authoritarian. Fencing is not anti-social.
Fencing. Just. Makes. Sense.
FROM THE BEGINNING
In the beginning, paradise was created for Adam and Eve. It was called the garden of Eden. In the creation process, God separated the garden area from every other space on earth. God did not just casually toss newly created mankind on earth to roam freely. He fenced off a place for him, and said, “Live here." Adam was not given responsibility for anything outside his fence. Rather, he was to be the keeper of the garden.
Fence off an area, and establish dominion there. Then keep enlarging your tent of influence.
If your life is out of control, you need to adapt this principle. Maybe you are trying to control too vast of a space. If you need to get your time; your finances; your relationships; your children; your business; your marriage back in line - that can be overwhelming. Pray about it. Pick one. Put a fence around it. Stick with it. Establish dominion within it, then increase the size of your fence.
FENCES REVERSE RUIN
Thus saith the Lord God; In the day that I shall have cleansed you from all your iniquities I will also cause you to dwell in the cities, and the wastes shall be builded. 34 And the desolate land shall be tilled, whereas it lay desolate in the sight of all that passed by. 35 And they shall say, This land that was desolate is become like the garden of Eden; and the waste and desolate and ruined cities are become fenced, and are inhabited.
Ezekiel 36:33-35
There are a number of ways to make a desolate land become like an Eden. It's a process, but it can happen. A significant part of this process is the erection and enforcement of boundaries. The process of tilling and the effort of building will have no lasting affects, if there is not a wall put around the perimeter of that land.
Desolation is a squatter. If you are not alert, it will be claiming chaotic entitlement to the land that God has promised you. In the same way that God restored order to chaos in the Creation story, God will restore order to your personal life. And He does it by fencing off manageable sections of earth.
Fences keep desolation at bay.
And now go to; I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard: I will take away the hedge thereof, and it shall be eaten up; and break down the wall thereof, and it shall be trodden down: 6 And I will lay it waste: it shall not be pruned, nor digged; but there shall come up briers and thorns: I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it.
Isaiah 5:5-6 KJV
When you put up a fence, it's a package deal. When you have a fence, your ground gets tilled; stones get gathered; plants get pruned; thornes and briars get eliminated. It's the fence package. When you lose the fence, you lose all the other amenities as well.
FENCES, DONKEYS & ANGELS
And the ass saw the angel of the Lord standing in the way, and his sword drawn in his hand: and the ass turned aside out of the way, and went into the field: and Balaam smote the ass, to turn her into the way. 24 But the angel of the Lord stood in a path of the vineyards, a wall being on this side, and a wall on that side. 25 And when the ass saw the angel of the Lord, she thrust herself unto the wall, and crushed Balaam's foot against the wall: and he smote her again. Numbers 22:23-25 KJV
Balaam was headed down the wrong road. Everyone of us are capable of making the same decision. His stubbornness kept him tracking in the wrong direction. He ignored attempt after attempt of God to get his attention. Finally, God sent an angel (messenger) to confront Balaam in a narrowing of the path he was traveling. This path was bordered by two walls.
The beast that Balaam was riding had more respect for the angel than Balaam did. The fear of what he saw caused him to crush Balaam's foot against the fence. This infuriated Balaam... but it ultimately put Balaam in a frame of mind to receive the message from the messenger.
What would have happened if there would have been no “walls” where Balaam was traveling? What if he was freely roaming in a wide open space? The walls provided a perimeter that the angel could use to his advantage — and ultimately get Balaam’s attention.
When you are heading in the wrong direction, it takes a combination of angels, donkeys, and fences to get you turned around.
CLOSE UP THE GAPS
But it came to pass, that when Sanballat heard that we builded the wall, he was wroth, and took great indignation, and mocked the Jews. Nehemiah 4:1
Jerusalem was in a state of disrepair. The walls had been broken down; the gates of the city removed. Because of the anointed, visionary leadership of Nehemiah, the walls were being reconstructed. The favour of God, coupled with the mind of the people to work, caused ruin to be eradicated.
But it came to pass, that when Sanballat, and Tobiah... heard that the walls of Jerusalem were made up, and that the breaches began to be stopped, then they were very wroth, Nehemiah 4:7
On the day that Israel started joining the individual sections of wall together; the enemy realized that they were closing up the gaps. No more breaches. At that moment, Sanballat and Tobiah went from wroth... to very wroth! The construction of fences always enrages the enemy.
Gaps in a fence eradicate the effectiveness of the rest of the fence. The stability and soundness of a fence is rendered meaningless if there is the smallest of gaps in the fence. If there was any degree of respite for Sanballat and Tobiah, it was the fact that there were breaches in the wall being constructed by Nehemiah.
If there would have been a gap in the wall that Balaam's foot was pinned against, the donkey would have bolted through it; Balaam would have dodged his angelic encounter.
If there would have been an unguarded gap in the wall in Eden, Adam & Eve would have regained access to the paradise of God, and would have been eternally damned because of eating the fruit of the Tree of Life in a fallen condition.
Any gaps that exist in a fence must be closed up, or guarded by an angel.
Your adversary knows that walls only work when they are joined together and gaps are closed up. When you get the gaps closed up in your life, the enemy is LOCKED OUT.
PERSONAL APPLICATION
Where do I have gaps? In my devotion? In my relationships? In my private life?
I challenge you to examine your fence; close up the gaps. Get a prayer life. Be accountable. If you have a weakness, confide in a friend. Build a fence around that desolate place in your life.
A fenced in life is a life of victory, peace and prosperity. You can do it!
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