Pandemic Protocol: Biblical Principles For Dealing With Crisis

Your ultimate guide on biblical insight for surviving and thriving during this global pandemic.

BY PASTOR BRYSON G. BAYLOR

It only seems right to address these solutions by mirroring the warnings and precautions made in the natural. If you’re a health professional, it’s an absolute necessity that you have access to Personal Protective Equipment (PPE). This includes different kinds of face shields, gloves, goggles and glasses, gowns, head covers, masks, respirators, and shoe covers. 

The point? To protect yourself from the virus from head to toe as much as humanly possible. The absence of PPE will make you more susceptible becoming contaminated while you’re treating patients.

Even those who aren’t on the front lines of the virus are recommended to utilize more basic PPE–namely masks and gloves. But the premise remains the same: To better stop the spread of the virus. 

Spiritually, God has granted us insight into how we need to be in order to access certain blessings.

"Who may ascend into the hill of the LORD? And who may stand in His holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, Who has not lifted up his soul to falsehood And has not sworn deceitfully. He shall receive a blessing from the LORD And righteousness from the God of his salvation.”
(Psalms 24:3-5)

The Word of God tells us that if we do 4 things, we will be able to receive a blessing from the LORD. In other words, it’s a guarantee or a promise that is made to us. They are as follows:

• Having clean hands
• Having a pure heart
• Having a truth-led soul (not lifting up your soul to falsehood)
• Having a clean mouth (not swearing deceitfully)

The writer is telling us that we have to come into the presence of the LORD with clean hands. We have to wash our hands. We have to rid our lives of the mess and the actions that would contaminate our ability to possess, maintain, and preserve the precious promises and blessings of the LORD.

This is telling us that the purpose of getting into the presence of the LORD isn’t just about getting to a place of deep worship and awareness in the spirit. No! It’s also about getting into the presence of the LORD so we can receive a blessing that will enhance our lives and our ability to reflect the power, goodness, and glory of God in the natural.

So many times we get into the presence of the LORD or we get into a spiritual “zone” where we feel so connected to the LORD. And that is all well and good. However, when we get there, we have the privilege to come back down with something tangible and relevant for our everyday lives. You can have more than just goosebumps and warm fuzzies in your heart. You can have the blessing.

And if we’re going to be able to deal with the ravages of this pandemic and creating the future that God has for us, we need to leave our times of prayer, worship, and devotion with something more than just a feeling. We need the blessing. However, the only way we can possess it is by having clean hands. 

You’ve got to evaluate your life and cleanse it from the things that would contaminate you. Contaminated hands cannot possess the promises of God. It’s a simple fact. You’ve got to explore what, if anything, in your life would cause you to be ineligible for laying hold of what God has for you.

So often we forget that God isn’t just wanting to have relationship with us and give us the grace of Jesus to cover our sins. He wants to use us to change the landscape of “the world.” He wants us to be His agents to bring His will “on earth as it is in heaven.” 

The federal government and health officials globally have been harping over and over and over the massive importance of washing our hands thoroughly in order to stop the spread of this virus. That was the first and biggest message given. Well, this is the message we need to embrace spiritually, also.

Too many believers are comfortable worshipping God and living for God with dirty hands. Hands that are contaminated with behaviors, lifestyles, and proclivities that don’t belong in the environment of heaven; things that don’t belong in the “spirit.” 

"But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh."
(Galatians 5:16)

If we walk in the spirit, keeping our hands clean, we will not fulfill the lusts of the flesh. Better yet–we will not do the things that are contradictory to our state of being born again. Wash your hands everyday... and often.

In addition to having clean hands, we need to make sure our worship is pure. The heart is the seat of worshipping the LORD. That is the pathway we are able to “enter into His gates” and engage in the spiritual realm. Jesus alerts of the true nature of God and of worship when He says in John 4:24, “God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”

You can only worship (engage) God from the spirit. Your heart is the gateway for such engagement. Therefore when your heart is impure, your means for engaging God and seeing him becomes blocked to a certain degree.

This is why scripture tells us to “Love the LORD your God with “all of your heart” in Deuteronomy 6:5. Jesus tells us very adamantly in Matt 5:8, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.”

The only way for us to love the LORD properly is from the heart. The way for us to actually see God and to engage with him at deeper and deeper levels is based on the purity and condition of our hearts. 

Your heart is made for you to worship and relate with God. It is the seat of the spirit and the container of the fruit of your spirit (not to be confused with the fruit of the Spirit as in Galatians 5:22). But whatever your spirit generates, rests in your heart. Whether it be good and righteous things (like the fruit of the Spirit) or if it things of the world that defile us (like the deeds or “fruit” of the flesh) as seen in Galatians 5:19-21 and in Mark 7:18-23.

"Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God."  
(Galatians 5:19-21)

"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law."  
(Galatians 5:22-23)

"And He *said to them, "Are you so lacking in understanding also? Do you not understand that whatever goes into the man from outside cannot defile him, because it does not go into his heart, but into his stomach, and is eliminated?" (Thus He declared all foods clean.) And He was saying, "That which proceeds out of the man, that is what defiles the man. "For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed the evil thoughts, fornications, thefts, murders, adulteries, deeds of coveting and wickedness, as well as deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride and foolishness. "All these evil things proceed from within and defile the man.""  
(Mark 7:18-23)

Let’s not get it twisted: Christ has given us a new heart and a new mind upon being born again. We cannot cleanse ourselves enough to create a good enough heart. Nevertheless, we must monitor and maintain the purity of our hearts–even our born-again hearts. 

What makes worship effortless, deep, and engaging isn’t in how good the songs are, but in how ready our hearts are for the LORD. How connected and in-tune our hearts are in the spirit. David cried out to the LORD in his famous passage of scripture in Psalm 51:10 saying, “Create in me a clean heart, O God.” 

If our hearts are indeed the gateway and portal for us to begin to know the LORD and fellowship with him at deeper levels, it becomes of the utmost importance that we purify our hearts. 

A soul lifted up to falsehood is one that is essentially driven, guided, and shaped by a desire for things that are vain. And if we’re honest, we’re so often driven and motivated for vanities! The idea of “lifting up” your soul to falsehood (or vanity) is literally about how you drive your desires and your life. What are you chasing? What is motivating you? What is on your mind and your heart.

A soul lifted up to falsehood (or vanity) is a soul that bases its power and strength on things that do not matter. This isn’t suggesting that you shouldn’t want good things or desire to experience greater dimensions of blessings. Rather, it is suggesting that if your soul is driven, guided by, and motivated by these vain, and subsequently false things, that you cannot receive the TRUE things of God in your life. 

Chasing falsehood ensures that you will reject the true things God wants for you. This is about your motivation and the compass of your mind. What do you want? What drives you? What makes you tick? What makes you want to do something? What makes you not want to do something?

It is the motivation of your soul (mind, will, intellect, emotions, your personality) that God is looking for. Are you seeking vanity or are you seeking first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness?

In other words, you have to keep your mind in check and your motivations pure so you don’t become led by vanity and falsehood. In “things” you cannot find God. However, when you find God, things will be added to you. 

"But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” 
(Matthew 6:33)

A soul led by things can never truly be led by Jesus.

This last and final key given by the psalmist here is rather interesting and has a dual application. The other three keys (washing hands, purifying heart, not lifting up the soul to falsehood) have to do with your posture and relationship to the LORD explicitly. These keys for receiving the blessing have to do with your relationship with God. However this last key refers to our relationship with God, but it could also implicate our dealings with people. 

Swearing deceitfully is when you make an oath, vow, or promise you generally do it in the name of someone or something. Swearing biblically isn’t cussing (LOL), as if scripture is telling us to cuss properly. Swearing involves making an oath or a promise to do something. And historically, many times people would make an oath or a pledge to do something, but they’d back out of it. 

Even more, sometimes they’d make an oath on the LORD’s name (to really ensure they’d fulfill their side of the agreement) and still, some would back out of it. You can imagine, in a society where the quality of your word was the basis of all things, a person who violates their word and who cannot be trusted would quickly become a problem to that community. 

So in this scripture it could be referring to how we shouldn’t use the LORD’s name deceptively and violate His qualities and His stature because of our shortcomings. I’m pretty sure the LORD isn’t a big fan of that. You could argue that the LORD wants us to “put some respect” on His name. 

However, even more, there is a greater emphasis on the management of the relationships we develop throughout life. And in these relationships (whether economic, family, or friend) we have to make sure that we don’t “play” people (to deceive them or be fraudulent in our behavior). Jesus says it best…

"But I say to you, make no oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, or by the earth, for it is the footstool of His feet, or by Jerusalem, for it is THE CITY OF THE GREAT KING. "Nor shall you make an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. "But let your statement be, 'Yes, yes' or 'No, no'; anything beyond these is of evil.”
(Matthew 5:34-37)

This key of not swearing deceitfully speaks more of our relationship and engagements and interactions with people. It’s telling us that if we are going to seek to get a blessing from God, we must ensure that we are truthful, honest and upright towards people. In other words: We cannot expect blessing and prosperity from the LORD when we are fraudulent, deceptive, and untrustworthy towards others.

Hilariously, I’m reminded of the popular ’90s song by the Spice Girls, “Wannabe.” A lyric in the chorus says, “If you wannabe my lover, you gotta get with my friends.” And I really feel this captures the essence of what the LORD is relaying to some degree in this scripture. 

We see that in order for us to “ascend to the hill of the LORD” in worship and fellowship with the Most High, it requires for us to be honest and just towards people on earth. We have to be people of our word here on earth. We can’t expect to be deep, spiritual wonders, and possessors of heaven and earth while we are deceitful, liars, untrustworthy and false people. It just cannot happen. 

God is as interested in our relationship with those around us as He is our relationship with Him. You can be a bonafide jerk in the natural and be super spiritual at the same time. 

Hence why we me must watch our mouths; our communication and interaction with others. We cannot anticipate for the LORD to bless us immensely and keep His Word for us, when we do not reflect that basic level of keeping our word and doing right by people here on the earth. Watch your mouth!

There is a promise made by God when we do these steps–we shall receive a blessing from the LORD. We shall. You shall. I shall. It’s a promise, an expectation.

I mentioned it briefly earlier and it is worth expounding on again and again. Your prayer life is meant to give you something tangibly when you leave from prayer. The Word tells us that we shall receive a blessing from the LORD. So when you engage the LORD in prayer and worship, you must expect to not return empty-handed. You shall receive a blessing.

“Shall” is a definitive word. It speaks of definiteness of an action. It gives you hope for a thing to occur. When we worship in this pandemic, when we pray and seek God in this pandemic, we can expect to receive something from the LORD–a blessing. 

So many people are wondering and asking, “How are we going to get out of this? How are we going to recover or get back to normal?” Friend, you’re going to do it with the blessing of the LORD! You’re going to plant the heavens (this blessing) in your today to harvest the promises of God in your tomorrow!

This is the benefit and privilege we have as born again believers, to partner with the Most High God in creating the future. We can populate our lives with these distinct, specific blessings of the LORD that will allow us to build our lives based on what heaven is speaking. And this is where I really feel the breakthrough occurs for us.

So many people base what they can or cannot do on what society tells them; on what the news media tells them; on what culture tells them. But this doesn’t have to be the case for you at all. If the media and culture says we’re in a recession and we have a bad economy, most people accept that statement and align their realities to that word; a world of recession and bad economics.

You, child of God, don’t have to do that. You don’t have to live your life based on what circumstance and situations say when you have access to the blessing of the LORD. 

Rather than accepting that reality as your future, you can engage with God in prayer, devotion and fellowship to receive a blessing from Him. You can receive a blessing that will shake and defy every word and prophecy given by the world. You can receive a blessing that will allow you to reap a massive harvest in the famine. 

"It is the blessing of the LORD that makes rich, And He adds no sorrow to it.”
(Proverbs 10:22)

The blessing of the LORD makes rich (expansive, abundant, prosperous) and he adds no sorrow to it! When God equips you during your prayer and fellowship with Him, he wants to reveal this blessing to you. He wants to reveal things to you that will allow you to never be prohibited from fulfilling the assignment He’s given you. He wants to equip you with the blessing that scoffs at the indictment and predictions of the world. 

This is how you can rebuild your life from the effects of this pandemic. This is how you can begin to build a new life, a new future for you and your family–through the blessing. 

I pray you’re able to receive this because your future depends on this. Your ability to overcome depends on receiving from God and planting it in your world.