BIBLE PASSAGE:
I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge
and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.”
(Psalm 91:2)
MEDITATION:
Whenever you are stressed, where do you go for relief?
Whenever you are sad, who do you turn to for consolation?
Whenever you are depressed, who do you look to for encouragement?
Whenever you have an important decision, who gives you guidance?
Whenever you are feeling insecure, who can instill confidence in you?
Psychiatrists have determined that one of the basic needs of people
is security. As true believers, we don’t need a list of people to help
us in each unique situation. Why not? Because God is ‘our refuge
and our fortress’.
He is the one we can confidently trust to help us when we are stressed,
sad, depressed, have an important (or even not so important) decision
to make, or when we feel insecure.
What an awesome God we serve! He can fulfill ALL our needs!
We are told that we can find rest in the shadow of the Lord.
“Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High
will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.”
(Psalm 91:1)
Take a moment and visualize Psalm 91:1-2.
Imagine troubles all around you and picture yourself in a peaceful
shadow. Outside of the shadow, you can see adversaries armed and
searching to find you, but no matter how much they look for you,
you are safely hidden from them by the ‘shadow of God’.
Even if troubles of this life
invade His shadow of protection, He still hides you.
“He will cover you with his feathers, and
under his wings you will find refuge; his
faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.”
(Psalm 91:4)
How long can we depend on His protection?
According to His Word, He protects us day and night:
“You will not fear the terror of night,
nor the arrow that flies by day, nor the
pestilence that stalks in the darkness,
nor the plague that destroys at midday.”
(Psalm 91:5-6)
How comforting is that? But , it gets even better!
He dispatches angels to form a protective barrier around us!
If you say, “The Lord is my refuge,” and you make
the Most High your dwelling, no harm will overtake
you, no disaster will come near your tent. For he will
command his angels concerning you to guard you in
all your ways; they will lift you up in their hands, so
that you will not strike your foot against a stone.
(Psalm 91:9-12)
We might say,
“I haven’t seen any angels.”
But what about a friend, or even a stranger, who just happened
to do something for you, or say something you needed to hear at
just the right time?
Last night an angel of the God to whom
I belong and whom I serve stood beside me.
(Acts 27:23)
Rather than looking for something mystical without human form,
we should learn to be aware and sensitive of those around us every
day. God may be instructing His angels to contact you through
someone else – someone who is filled with the Holy Spirit, and
it is the Holy Spirit in them who is speaking to you.
Why would God bless us in such an awesome way? Because He
loves us and He blesses us when we love Him in reurn.
“Because he loves me,” says the Lord,
“I will rescue him; I will protect him,
for he acknowledges my name. He
will call on me, and I will answer him;
I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver
him and honor him.”
(Psalm 91:14-15)
We don’t just ‘say’ we love Him; we that we love Him. God reads
our hearts and He knows our level of sincerity. If we claim to love Him
but choose to allow other things of this world to steal our time with Him,
then our actions (or lack of actions) do not support what we say.
When we love the Lord, we KNOW who He is and we can sense His
presence. However, there are many who claim to know Him and have
convinced themselves that they do, but their actions or inactivity show
that they do not. Jesus has some words for those who don’t know Him.
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will
enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one
who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.
Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did
we not prophesy in your name and in your name
drive out demons and in your name perform many
miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never
knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’
(Matthew 7:21-23)
When we consider the drastic decline in worship attendance (and
especially by those who call themselves Christians), we can assume
that many are falling into the category of not being known by the
Lord. They have decided that other things and activities are more
important than getting to know the Lord more and learning how
to show their love for Him.
How can we know that we love the Lord? In the scriptures,
we are given some explicit ways to confirm our love for Him.
Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father,
you would love me, for I have come here from
God. I have not come on my own; God sent me.”
(John 8:42)
“If you love me, keep my commands.
(John 14:15)
When we worship God, we are acknowledging that He is our Father.
That means we have a desire to obey Him in the same way we want
to obey our earthly father. When we want to obey Him, we will avoid
doing the things He tells us are displeasing to Him; in addition we will
do the things He tells us are pleasing to Him.
We do what Jesus instructs us to do – we ‘keep His commands’. That
means we will spend time learning and understanding His commands.
Then, we will incorporate His commands into our daily living, which
means we will avoid the things He calls sin, and we will have a desire
to do the things He tells us to do.
Think about this:
When God graciously gives us His salvation, He also
gives us a spiritual gift for us to use in expressing our
love and gratefulness for His blessings.
If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give
good gifts to your children, how much more will your
Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!
(Matthew 7:11)
Therefore you do not lack any spiritual gift as you
eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed.
(1 Corinthians 1:7)
I wish that all of you were as I am. But each of you has
your own gift from God; one has this gift, another has that.
(1 Corinthians 7:7)
We should be diligent about discovering the spiritual
gift He has given us; and then, we should be actively
using it to serve God as proof of our love for Him.
For it is we who are the circumcision, we who serve
God by his Spirit, who boast in Christ Jesus, and who
put no confidence in the flesh.
(Philippians 3:3)
They tell how you turned to God from idols to serve
the living and true God, and to wait for his Son from
heaven, whom he raised from the dead—Jesus, who
rescues us from the coming wrath.
(1 Thessalonians 1:9b-10)
Those who have served well gain an excellent
standing and great assurance in their faith in
Christ Jesus.
(1 Timothy 3:13)
I thank God, whom I serve, as my ancestors did,
with a clear conscience, as night and day I constantly
remember you in my prayers.
(2 Timothy 1:3)
Each of you should use whatever gift you have
received to serve others, as faithful stewards of
God’s grace in its various forms.
(Peter 4:10)
Be shepherds of God’s flock that is under your care,
watching over them—not because you must, but because
you are willing, as God wants you to be; not pursuing
dishonest gain, but eager to serve;
(1 Peter 5:2)
How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who
through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished
to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to
death, so that we may serve the living God!
(Hebrews 9:14)
If we fail to obey this ‘serve’ command from the Lord, then
we are failing in our attempts to ‘know’ Him, and we can’t
expect Him to ‘know’ us.
ACTION:
Do you turn to the Lord and trust Him to guide you through your
time on earth? Do you love Him – really love Him? Do you show
your love for Him? Do you know Him – really know Him? Do you
have a desire to know Him more? What are you doing in your life
that shows you love Him, know Him, and want to serve Him? And,
most importantly, does He know you?
“No one can come to me unless the Father who sent
me draws them, and I will raise them up at the last day.”
(John 6:44)
When the scriptures use the word “draw”, we shouldn’t think
of it as ‘coaxing’, ‘coercion’, or ‘coddling’, but something much
stronger. If we picture a well, we don’t see God standing at the
top asking the water to come up.
Instead we see Him reaching down with a bucket and drawing
it up to Him. He is taking the water out of the pool below,
much like He reaches down and lifts us out of the ‘pool’ of
the world and draws us toward Jesus. We can consider it as
God ‘rescuing’ a portion (bucket) of the pool below.
With that image in mind, we can see that we have to forcefully
resist His ‘drawing’ us toward Jesus. It’s more than just a matter
of saying “No” or “Not right now”; it’s fighting against His efforts
to “draw” us. It also gives us an idea of how strongly God wants us
to come close to Him. When we reject His efforts to ‘draw’ us, we
cannot expect Him to ‘know’ us, can we?
Satan doesn’t want us to ‘know’ the Lord so he will flood our minds
with many reasons and justifications why we should refuse His efforts
to ‘draw’ us toward Jesus. We shouldn’t forget that we aren’t making
a choice to live our life as we please right now; instead we are making
a serious decision of where we will spend eternity.
Pray,
“Heavenly Father, thank You for Your promise to shelter
those who love You. Thank You for Your assurance that
we can depend on You to be there for us, and with us.
Thank You for Your love for me. Forgive me if I have
failed to adequately show my love for You. I want to know
You better. When I step into eternity, I don’t want to hear
those words, ‘depart from Me, I never knew you’. Remind
me that wherever I go this day, and whatever situations I
face, You and Your angels will be with me. Thank You,
Lord, for the peace, love and security You have promised
to those who love You and obey Your commands.”
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