I want to share a story about one of our ministry partners who was delivered from the evil of being laid off before the thief (Satan) arrived to steal the job. Let’s start by talking about some of the great and precious promises of God. It is our responsibility to learn the goodwill of God, to believe it, and then to speak it forth – this is how faith and salvation work. We see in Romans 10 that we need to believe in our heart things pertaining to Jesus, then confess with our mouth, and then salvation will occur. This is true for every aspect of salvation – not just the eternal life aspect. We also see in 1 John 5 that if we pray for anything according to the goodwill of God, we can be confident (faith) that He will answer our prayer; therefore, if we learn, believe, and pray for His goodwill to be done, it will be done! Amen!
Romans 10:9-10 NKJV that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved¹. (10) For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation².
¹ G4982, σώζω, sōzō = to save, to deliver, to protect, to heal, to preserve, to do well (prosper), to be made whole
² G4991, σωτηρία, sōtēria = rescue, safety, deliver, deliverance, health, salvation, save, saving, preservation, future salvation
1 John 5:14-15 NKJV Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. (15) And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.
With this in mind, let’s take a look at the two salvation words that we find in Romans 10:9-10. As I mentioned, Jesus came to save mankind, and that salvation includes much more than “I get to go to heaven when I die.” Jesus gives us a full salvation that includes all the things we find in the definitions of the salvation words like sōzō , sōtēria, and yeshû‛âh. Our salvation therefore includes: deliverance, protection, health, healing, preservation, prosperity, future (eternal) salvation, among other aspects. Importantly for this testimony, our salvation includes “preservation.” When you are “preserved” that means that you will never be harmed – you will be untouched by evil – you will be delivered before the evil makes contact with you! This is an amazing aspect of our salvation! Think about it… If you are preserved from all evil, then you will never need to be healed because you will never be sick or injured. If you are preserved from all evil, then you will never have a financial disaster that requires a miracle to save you from it. If you are preserved from all harm, then you walk in life untouched by evil because there is a hedge of protection around you, thus you abide in continual blessing. Amen! Just as salvation from sins for eternal life comes forth by believing in what Jesus has done and confessing it with your mouth – the same thing applies here. Believe in preservation salvation and confess it with your mouth and it will come true in your life. The person in this testimony actively confesses scripture and the various aspects of salvation multiple times per week and is continuously receiving the benefits of it. The same will work for you!
In addition to believing in preservation salvation, we also find profound promises of protection throughout Psalms 91 that we need to believe in. In particular, in verse 10 it says that “No evil shall happen to you.” When you look up the original Hebrew word translated as “happen,” we find that it means all of this: no evil shall meet up with you, no evil shall encounter you, no evil shall approach you, no evil shall be allowed to meet up with you, etc. This is preservation protection! The most perfect aspect of salvation is being preserved from evil so that you are untouched by it! Amen! When you consider Isaiah 65:24 alongside this verse, what we see is that our Father will set in motion a deliverance to an evil situation which is brewing, and He will answer us before we even call upon Him because He is preserving us from all harm. He puts the answer to the problem in motion before we are even aware that there is a problem brewing, so that preservation takes place and we are unharmed. Amen!
Psalms 91:10 No evil shall happen¹ to you, neither shall any plague come near your dwelling.
¹ H579, אנה, ‘ânâh, BDB Definition: to meet, encounter, approach, be opportune; to allow to meet, cause to meet; to be sent, be allowed to meet; to seek occasion, cause oneself to meet
Isaiah 65:24 NKJV It shall come to pass That before they call, I will answer; And while they are still speaking, I will hear.
As if preservation protection wasn’t good enough on its own, we also have promises from God that He will not only deliver us, but He will also honor us in the process! We see this in Psalms 91:15, and similarly we see in Romans 8:28 that He will turn all things – even evil things the enemy meant for harm – into good things for those who love Him and are called by Him (any born again Christian).
Psalms 91:15 He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him and honor him.
Romans 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.
With all these passages in mind, let me now tell the story of our friend so you can see how all these truths came together… A couple of months ago, our friend (seemingly randomly) had career conversations with 4 directors who sought conversations with him and desired to have him in their teams. It turned out that 2 of the directors had viable job requisitions and were in a position to hire. Our friend interviewed for the positions and the conversations went very well. A few days later, his manager informed him that the vice president wanted him to immediately be removed from the team. Our friend was distraught because he is a high performer with significant contribution to the company, and could not understand why this was happening. He then met with human resources who also informed him that it was expedient for him to find a new job. Concurrently with this, an internal customer came forward with an escalation to the VP, and there was division happening in the team. “OMG! What is going on??” What was happening was that Satan was plotting to steal this person’s job and destroy his finances – one of those ‘strange fiery trials’ that come out of nowhere.
John 10:10 NKJV The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.
1 Peter 4:12 NKJV Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you
In the midst of all of this, our friend prayed for a new job and also that amends be made with the vice president. Soon after prayer, a meeting took place with the VP and amends were made, and the VP said that he could keep his job if he wanted to. A little while after that, a job offer with a pay increase came forth from one of the earlier interviews. And a little while after that, the same person who escalated our friend to the VP changed his tune and was singing praises of how well things had been delivered to his team. Lastly, upon announcement of our friend’s departure for a new job within the company, many coworkers came forward with wonderful words of love & appreciation.
Now let’s think about this in light of the scriptures… Father knew the devil was plotting against our friend, therefore He stirred up the 4 directors to start career conversations with him. He then ensured that there were viable positions with job requisitions that could be acted upon, and this led to interviews taking place. What was He doing? “Before he calls I will answer!” Before our friend knew there was a problem, our Father was already in the act of deliverance! Father was arranging multiple choices of new jobs before the devil drew near. Unbeknownst to our friend at the time, he was already delivered and had a new job in hand before the bad news was delivered to him! Our friend then prayed for the will of God to be done – a new job and amends to be made. The amends immediately followed because it is the will of God and it was brought forth by faith. Then what happened? Remember God said that He will deliver us and honor us. Our friend was honored by receiving a pay increase. He was honored by the complaining party changing his tune. He was honored by his coworkers uplifting him upon notification of him moving to a new role. God delivered our friend before the evil arrived, then honored him, and thus turned everything to good with no evil impact whatsoever – instead there was blessing and increase! How amazing is that! Thank you, Daddy, in the name of Jesus for delivering our friend from all evil before it came upon him! Thank You for preservation salvation – it is the best!
This is not the first time we’ve seen this happen. On multiple prior occasions, we have had friends get laid off, then we prayed, and then they received new jobs with promotions and pay increases. Our Father loves to deliver us and honor us – He upgrades us in the midst of the devil trying to steal from us. How amazing is that! Thank You, Daddy, in the name of Jesus!
God bless you!
Bobby