Dear Heavenly Father,
I'm so grateful to be back here again with You and my friends. Lord, help us to put our attention on You. Let our surroundings just cancel out for a moment and let us find peace in Your presence. You have brought us through another week. All of our lives have been different, with different situations. Only You know it all - the stresses, fears, weight of jobs, family, the world. But thank You for continuing to hold us, protect us, hear from us, and guide us. Lord, I ask that You do just that today as we study Your Word again. Guide us! Amen.
Let me share this... as I was just typing that prayer (I usually sit with eyes closed, in a "peaceful moment" and just type what I am saying in my mind) my sons were upstairs both yelling "MOM" because they can't decide on a movie to watch TOGETHER, our dogs ate their kibbles and then Bodie went on to throw it all back up only to eat it AGAIN, and Big Jake sat in the background watching UFC on LOUD -it's kinda our "thing" to watch together now. OH, how the distractions were alllllllllllllll around! But I know our Father smiles down on this moment. I will continue making Him the focus.
Side note: (((we LOVE our tangents)))
I've started reading C.S. Lewis' book, "Screwtape". I had seen it in the library and thought it looked interesting (the title was intriguing) but C.S. Lewis was smart and used "smart people" language. I'm simple. I rely on the thesaurus to sound smart!! So I didn't think I could get through his book. Then I heard what it was about - a conversation (letters) between two demons about a "patient" (person). Then I was intrigued! I figured I could look up those BIG words when needed. I only get to read a little at a time with our busy schedules, but it's a very intense book. A good read. In it, the demons talk about interruptions that need to be placed in the life of the patient. Distractions. Focus-losers. I tell you all of this because of the prayer event from above. I'm not saying I have a demon assigned to me - LORD, I pray I don't. But I know I don't have a COMPLETE knowledge of the spiritual world. Don't think I will until eternity - if even then. I have no doubt, though, that distractions are constantly being placed before us by the Adversary to keep us from growing more intimate in our relationship with the Father, an extremely valuable priority!!
Our focus the past few weeks has been the idea of God as our refuge! We had an Introduction to the Series and Part 1 so far. We will wrap up this subject focus today! My prayer is that you have received some new insight, a better understanding, and/or an increased drive to seek the Father and know Him as your refuge - and to let Him use you to show this truth to others.
Ok ya'll! So there were three more verses we were going to focus on regarding refuge.
Psalm 91:1-2
Psalm 62:6-8
Proverbs 14:26
We will go ahead and dive into the first one and keep rolling along!
Psalm 91:1-2 reads He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say to the Lord, "My refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust."
In Part 1, we talked about Psalm 91. I'm not going to worry too much about the back story then. In these first two verses of the chapter we hear an amazing "choice and promise" thing going on. The person who chooses {choice} to dwell in His shelter (living a life of communion with God) will {promise} abide in His shadow (protection and security at all times). WOW! That is DEFINITELY a verse for a coffee mug!!!! I love how God does not force us to do anything - it is through free will. This then makes it even more "God-glorifying" when we CHOOSE Him. But He doesn't make a scene out of us choosing Him. He does something greater - He covers us, protects us, shelters us. As a parent, when your child chooses to run over and give you a hug you accept it and give the child a huge bear squeeze right back. You don't stand up and shout, "Look, baby boy knows he needed to give me a hug because I deserve it. I'll just sit here and let him squeeze me and not reciprocate." NO! Your love grows for your child. You cherish that hug! And then you give back to him. How great is our Father that He gives something back to us. Oh, if we are honest with ourselves we KNOW we don't deserve anything of the sort. But with all humility we accept His givings and glorify Him even more!!!
Friends, let me say a few more things about the above verses. Choosing to dwell in the Almighty shows a true believer's character. We know this is our true "home" - all those military friends out there, this might resonate with you! With that, believers who choose Him gain that confidence in comfort and privilege in receiving shelter from those things that try to eternally hurt us. He is a shelter both from the storms of life and, at times, the hot blazing rays of sunshine. I usually relate sunshine to happy and relaxing. Until I drove home (WEST) one evening during sunset and could barely see the road and cars before me. My glasses weren't doing the job. And my hand trying to block the sun was also blocking the traffic before me. I was very tempted to pull over and wait 15 minutes for the sun to lower some more (yes, I know the sun doesn't move or "lower" but you smart folks get what I'm talking about) before I continued on my commute carefully. One last thought about shelter: it's not a temporary pass or a short-lived vacation with God. It is a residence for believers! "He will be their rest and refuge forever!" (Matthew Henry commentary) It is a choice. This has amazing promises connected to it. So what do you choose?
Psalm 62:6-8 He only is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall not be shaken. On God rests my salvation and my glory; my mighty rock, my refuge is God. Trust in Him at all times, O people; pour out your heart before Him; God is a refuge for us. Selah.
This is another psalm penned by David. The background of it (time, reason, etc) is not known. But throughout this chapter David professes his confidence in God and then encourages others to do the same. In verses 6-8 David identifies who God is to him. These descriptors are so powerful! Rock. Salvation. Fortress. Refuge. What/who do you stand on? What foundation do you have under you? God is our rock, a firm foundation. I can stand confidently on Him and His truths! He is our salvation. He saves us!!! This, we will be eternally grateful for. He is our fortress. The protection He provides keeps out eternal harm (like mentioned in the verse above). My house is NOT a good fortress. Someone could probably kick in my front door and get in. Hopefully my crazy protective dogs would then intercede (or our other means of home defense). But God is a FORTRESS! Again, I think of Lord of the Rings and the fortresses that were in that movie. Times that by infinity and that's my God's fortress protection! I love how David proclaims "I will not be shaken." That is a truth for all of us. But I see it as one we must choose to uphold in ourselves. God will not be shaken. Yet we are mere mortals. We must choose daily to stand in Him and NOT BE SHAKEN! Hold tight to His truths and promises, friends. The world around us might tremble and shake but as we seek shelter in Him, hold tight and stand strong! Trust in Him AT ALL TIMES! He will not take a coffee break from His sons and daughters who seek to be with Him. David makes a plea: pour out your heart before Him. I pray you know this: God already knows your heart! It has to do with relationship building though. Communicate with Him. Talk to Him. Let Him hear your heart - not just your hopes, dreams, and desires. Let Him hear your fears, your stresses, your insecurities. Your faith will grow through exercise. And as your faith grows, so will your joy and trust in the Father.
Our final verse of the study...
Proverbs 14:26 In the fear of the Lord one has strong confidence, and his children will have a refuge.
Knowing the Father and having a relationship with Him builds that strong confidence in Him: who He is and His promises. This is a lot like the above verses. But my favorite part of this verse is the ending: ...his children will have a refuge. For those parents out there, have you ever thought about your child's life after you? What I mean by that: we won't be with our child every step of the way. When they are older and on their own, do you wonder what their life will be like? What decisions they will make? Oh, I know I've taken my parents on a roller coaster ride of parenting. But they did an amazing job of raising me in the Father, allowing me to have this knowledge at such a young age. The knowledge that the Father loves me. I had to learn many things the hard way. MANY THINGS! EXTREMELY HARD! My parents, however, lived a life I saw (and still observe) that led me to His truths and promises. I then furthered my understanding beyond what they afforded me. The way we live our lives (walk - talk) effects our children. If we can demonstrate and model for them a interactive relationship with the Father, our sons and daughters will have experience in it prior to their days of independence outside of our arms. It will still be a choice for them that they will have to make. And our prayers will be flooding over them in that. Proverbs 22:6: Raise a child up in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart. What greater gift could we give our children than to show them the Way?! Then, they might know His awesomeness and choose to seek shelter and refuge in Him. AMEN!!
I hope you have received some good news today. Learned new truths. Gained more clarity. Received more joy! I am revived! How amazing to know and remember that God is a refuge for those who CHOOSE Him. He can not be shaken - we will not be shaken if we cling to Him. He is our protector! To know this and feel this just gives me such confidence and reliance on Him!
So where are you? Is He your fortress? Do you stand in His protective shadow? If not or if you have been struggling to rely on Him, now would be as good of a time as ever to realign yourself to Him. Come back to Him. His promises hold true. He WILL BE your refuge. It is your choice! He is standing there, strong and able. What an amazing visual!?! The God of this universe ready to shelter and protect us from any harm. And our children may follow and know that this is true.
Dear Father,
How amazing is this study! I have gained a greater confidence in Your foundation in my life. You have shown me more promises and truths that I want to cling to. My prayer is that we will hold these tight to us and do something with it - ACT upon it. I pray we choose to make our residency in You. To not just seek You in the hard times but find our rest and comfort in You all the time! And Lord how awesome is the thought of being an example to our sons and daughters and others of this world that they might choose to seek refuge in You all the days of their lives. God, You have filled me and led me through this study, I have no doubt! I pray this has been pleasing to You. That my friends reading this have gained more knowledge of You and now eagerly look to You for protection and comfort. Thank You for Your promises, for Your truths that we can stand firm in and not be shaken! Oh, how awesome that is! Walk with us as we go about our day. Lead us in Your ways. Protect us Lord Jesus. Amen.
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