God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Psalm 46:1.
“I will say to the LORD, ‘My refuge and my fortress, My God, in whom I trust!” Psalm 91:2.
Let me dwell in Your tent forever; let me take refuge in the shelter of Your wings. Psalm 61:4.
Today your LORD (יהוה) God says:
It is time you entered My rest with Me. There is anxiety and fear in the lives of many today, and many of these are believers. This ought not to be. I have given you everything pertaining to life and godliness. And I have given you Jesus and He has poured out upon you My promise, the gift of the Holy Spirit, and My Holy Spirit produces fruit with your spirit and He gives you grace gifts that empower you to do what is needed at any given moment. I have not stripped you but clothed you in Christ and equipped you. “Now the God of peace, who brought up from the dead the great Shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the eternal covenant, Jesus our Lord, equip you in every good thing to do His will, working in us that which is pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen.” Hebrews 13:20-21.
But there is more for you to consider. You are not on your own. You have a refuge, a shelter, My tabernacle “to give shade from the heat by day, and refuge and a shelter from the storm and the rain.” Isaiah 4:6. “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.” Psalm 46:1.
Today we continue our series of “It is time to enter God’s rest,” with Life Lesson No. 5: “My refuge and My fortress.” I want you all to dwell in My secret place where the evil one cannot touch you. “We know that no one who is born of God sins; but He who was born of God, God keeps him, and the evil one does not touch him. We know that we are in God, and that the whole world lies in the evil one.” 1 John 5:18-19. There is no snatching out of My hand. Jesus explained, “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.” John 10:27-30.
So where is this secret place where the evil one cannot interfere with your life? In Me, in your spirit, for the Kingdom of God is within you. My Name is a strong tower, the righteous one runs to it and is saved. It is the inner chamber that Jesus told you to go into to pray in secret to Me. It is a direct line of communication in which there is no interference. And you have access to Me by the Holy Spirit. And you can seek and find the place of refuge, like the cities of refuge of old. You were to make haste to get to one before the avenger of blood cut you down. And I tell you now to make haste to enter My rest. Let Me show you how from Psalm 91.
Psalm 91 begins: “He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.” Psalm 91:1. The “secret place of the Most High.” This is high upon the rock, it is coming to the rock which is higher than you. I have pulled you out of the miry swamp and placed your feet on a height and put a new song in your mouth. And when you are in My secret place, you abide in the shelter of My shadow. “How precious is Your lovingkindness, O God! And the children of men take refuge in the shadow of Your wings.” Psalm 36:7. “Be gracious to me, O God, be gracious to me, for my soul takes refuge in You; and in the shadow of Your wings I will take refuge until destruction passes by.” Psalm 57:1. “For You have been my help, and in the shadow of Your wings I sing for joy.” Psalm 63:7.
But how do you get to the place? This fortress of strength, this place of answers and perfect protection? It all has to do with what you are saying. So what do you say? Do you say you are stressed and worried? No, and yet that is what many say as a good part of their conversation, even with strangers, but that will pull you out of My secret place and put you in the enemy’s camp. Be careful how you walk, not as the foolish but as wise, redeeming the time by restoring and not destroying. Death and life are in the power (hand) of your tongue. And Psalm 91 provides you with the words to say, so say them slowly until it becomes part of your prayer life: “I will say to the LORD, ‘My refuge and my fortress, My God, in whom I trust!” Psalm 91:2. That may seem too short and simple to you, but it is powerful and is the only thing you are directed to say in all of Psalm 91 for all of the benefits you find therein.
So say it to Me now with your heart. “My refuge and my fortress, my God in whom I trust! And as you say it, you will feel the confidence and peace coming into your soul.
And what are the reasons and the resulting benefits for making Me your refuge and your fortress, your LORD and God in whom you trust? “For it is He who delivers you from the snare of the trapper and from the deadly pestilence. He will cover you with His pinions, and under His wings you may seek refuge; His faithfulness is a shield and bulwark.” Psalm 91:3-4.
And how do you stay in My all encompassing care for you? Your part is not to let your heart be troubled or afraid but to declare that you do not fear “the terror by night, or the arrow that flies by day; the pestilence that stalks in darkness, or the destruction that lays waste at noon.” Psalm 91:5-6. Everyone around you can be shouting out fear and dread, but you walk through their midst in perfect protection, as Jesus did when the people of Nazareth sought to hurl Him over the cliff and as Daniel did locked all night in the den of hungry lions. Do not be looking at what is happening to other people, except to pray for them and pull them into My refuge with you. I told Peter not to be looking at what I was doing with John but to follow Me. “How does that concern you? Your business is to follow Me.”
Be fully persuaded of My promises of protection to you who have taken refuge in Me in Psalm 91, keep your mind stayed on the rock of My Word to you, “A thousand may fall at your side and ten thousand at your right hand, but it shall not approach you. You will only look on with your eyes and see the recompense of the wicked. For you have made the LORD, My refuge, even the Most High, your dwelling place. No evil will befall you, nor will any plague come near your tent.” Psalm 91:7-10. You may be wondering how this can be if thousands are falling at your side, but I would remind you of Noah. He sought refuge in Me and trusted My Words and everyone perished at his side but it did not come near him. He floated above the flood of trouble. “Therefore, let everyone who is godly pray to You in a time when You may be found; surely in a flood of great waters they will not reach him. You are my hiding place; You preserve me from trouble; You surround me with songs of deliverance. Selah.” Psalm 32:6-7. You can have this too if you walk with Me as Noah did. “No weapon that is formed against you will prosper; and every tongue that accuses you in judgment you will condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and their vindication and righteousness are from Me,” declares the LORD.” Isaiah 54:17.
And what are some of the ways I protect you in these perilous times? I have made the angels as ministering spirits to those inheriting salvation, those who are joint heirs with Christ. “For He will give His angels charge concerning you, to guard you in all your ways. They will bear you up in their hands, that you do not strike your foot against a stone.” Psalm 91:11- 12. Do you recall I sent angels to rescue Lot and his family from the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah? Everyone else there perished. And I sent My angel to deliver Peter out of prison and the clutches of Herod who planned to kill him the next day. And I sent the Heavenly Host complete with its fiery chariots to defend Elisha from attack.
And I have given you the Name of Jesus, which is the only name given to men by which you MUST be saved. And Jesus gave you the authority to use His Name to cast out demons. “You will tread upon the lion and cobra, the young lion and the serpent you will trample down.” Psalm 91:13. Use it. Submit to My Words about you, resist the words of the devil, and he will flee from you. “If anyone fiercely assails you it will not be from Me. Whoever assails you will fall because of you.” Isaiah 54:15.
But to walk in this kind of trust, you must first know and believe in My love for you, as manifested in Christ Jesus and in My gift to you of My Holy Spirit, and your heart must be for Me. When you know and believe in the love I have for you and have tasted My goodness in your life, you will seek Me and thirst for more. “How precious is Your lovingkindness, O God! And the children of men take refuge in the shadow of Your wings. They drink their fill of the abundance of Your house; and You give them to drink of the river of Your delights. For with You is the fountain of life; in Your light we see light.” Psalm 36:7-9. And again, “How great is Your goodness, which You have stored up for those who fear You, which You have wrought for those who take refuge in You, before the sons of men!” Psalm 31:19. There are great benefits is making Me your refuge. “O taste and see that the LORD is good; how blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him!” Psalm 34:8. Those who seek Me want for no good thing. Psalm 34:10.
And as you love Me, call upon My Name with all its promises (I am the LORD your healer, I am the LORD your deliverer, I am the LORD who sees ahead and provides for you) and cling to Me in times of trouble, what do I promise you I will do? “Because he has loved Me and clings to Me, therefore I will deliver him; I will set him securely on high, because he has known My name. He will call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will rescue him and honor him. With a long life I will satisfy him and show him My salvation.” Psalm 91:14-16. I show you My Salvation. Yeshuah. And that is My proof of My commitment, love and care for you. It is all summed up in the finished work of Jesus on your behalf. In Him I have given you EVERYTHING forever.
I love you. My place of rest is your refuge and your fortress. Live there. Fight from the strong tower of My Name. It is an impenetrable fortress.
He who walks righteously and speaks with sincerity, He who rejects unjust gain and shakes his hands so that they hold no bribe; he who stops his ears from hearing about bloodshed And shuts his eyes from looking upon evil; he will dwell on the heights, his refuge will be the impregnable rock; his bread will be given him, his water will be sure. Your eyes will see the King in His beauty; they will behold a far-distant land. Isaiah 33:15-17.