I say this with pain in my heart, but too many believers are sickly, die prematurely, are involved in tragic accidents, and suffer great calamities, often to the point of the destruction of their own homes and families. Our hearts are made heavy at such times when we discover that some of these bad things happen to good Christian people.
The Bible also shares many examples, both positive and negative, which are full of wisdom and tell both sides of the story—the successes and the failures in people’s lives. We are to learn from both examples.
The problem today is that many ministers are only telling the success side of things. They tell you what God will do for you through His goodness and grace regardless of how you live and your level of character, obedience, and consecration.
Lack of consecration can greatly limit angelic ministry to the heirs of salvation (Heb. 1:14). For example, the angels are encamped around about those who fear the Lord to keep them in all their ways (Ps. 34:7). This Scripture is conditional. Walking in the fear of the Lord is the condition believers must meet to ensure angelic protection for their lives. The manifestation of the fear of the Lord is obedience.
Not only do angels minister protection, but they are also called to minister provision for the believer. When believers are not consecrated, they move outside of God’s path and God’s plan for their lives thus hindering the angels from moving on their behalf. Angels will minister very little provision to those who are not endeavoring to follow God’s plan for their lives.
We tend to forget about those angels. They are mighty. They excel in strength and hearken to the voice of God’s Word (see Ps. 103:20). They are sent by the Lord to minister to us, but very often our lack of consecration limits them.
Notice how angels ministered to Jesus after He overcame the temptations of Satan in the wilderness (Matt. 4:11). Every time Jesus was tempted He spoke the Word of God. That’s what the angels hearken to. But what we fail to often see about these verses is the consecration that Jesus made at the beginning of His ministry. He spent 40 days and nights in prayer and fasting and overcame every temptation the devil threw at Him. The angels then came and ministered to Him.
Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and serve Him only.’ Then the devil left Him; and behold, angels came and began to minister to Him” (Matt. 4:10-11).
That word ‘minister’ generally means to do anyone a service and care for someone’s needs. Here’s something we may not have seen before. Angels are not only committed to the Lord and His Word. They are committed to those who speak His Word and obey it. In a certain sense angels are drawn to a believer’s consecration and their surrender to the Lord’s will.
Notice another example of how angels ministered to Jesus at the end of His ministry in the garden of Gethsemane as Jesus battled to fulfill and complete our redemption. Once again we know what a difficult trial this was for Jesus.
In the garden He prayed the same prayer of consecration three times as Matthew records it, and so intense was the struggle that Jesus sweat great drops of blood (Matt. 26:44). We see here one more time the correlation between the angels and the consecration Jesus made. Angels honor the word of the Lord and they are activated by a believer’s consecration and surrender.
“Now an angel from heaven appeared to Him, strengthening Him” (Luke 22:43).
Not only do angels minister protection and strength to us, but they minister preparation and provision for us also in many different areas. A minister received the following vision from the Lord that wonderfully illustrates this and agrees with Scripture.
