Dwelling in the secret place

Psalm 91 : 1

Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High
    will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.

Dwelling:

Dwelling does not mean you visit and go - sometimes people visit churches. They come and visit and go. they are not established.

Some people come after worship , some people come during benediction.

they don't live. Their dwelling places are different, but Church will be a visiting place.

Some times when you don't come home on time, your spouse will say , are you living in the house or are you visiting?

Dwell means you are living, you are involved in day to day activities , you are in communication with people living with you, 

you are in fellowship with people are you.

This is called Dwelling.

For these people, the following portion says they have Rest.

Rest: For people who dwell in shelter of the Most High will have the rest 

How do we know what is the shelter of Most High

Jesus always  dwelt in that shelter.

Matthew 8:20

19 Then a teacher of the law came to him and said, “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.”

20 Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.”

Son of Man has no place to lay His Head. 

The dwelling place for Lord Jesus was the shelter of Most High.

Before preaching - He go to mountains and pray.

After preaching - He went to mountainside and pray. 

The Shelter of Lord Jesus is the Shelter of Most High.

Then Who can dwell in this shelter?

Psalms 15:

He who does not backbite with his tongue,
    Nor does evil to his neighbor,
    Nor does he take up a reproach against his friend;
4 In whose eyes a vile person is despised,
    But he honors those who fear the Lord;
He who swears to his own hurt and does not change;
5 He who does not put out his money at usury,
    Nor does he take a bribe against the innocent.

He who does these things shall never be moved.

Your works will be of righteousness.
You tongue will not back bite.
He does not mess with money matters.

He who does these things shall dwell in the secret place of God.
and the who one who dwells will not be shaken.

Psalm 16:8

I have set the Lord always before me;
Because He is at my right hand I shall not be moved.

what is this in Secret place:

There is a place where God sees and there is a place where people see.

Shelter of Most High  vs Shelter of world.

Matthew 6: 5,6

5 And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standingin the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. 

6 But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. 7 And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. 

The Fathers shelter is in secret place. 

Shelters most important person is the Father

hypocrites love to pray on the public places.

many times we love to pray in the public, but if you see our secret lives, it will be shallow. 

if i see my life, i feel am very good in public prayer, but when i go into secret place then i know my real prayer life is. But the Word says, come to the Shelter of the Most High.

In the Shelter of the Most High, come and pray.

and there V6 He sees  what is done in secret will reward you.

The hypocrites as soon as they prayed they will look for others appreciation. Did I pray well, did it have correct words, better english, 

But the Unseen God sees the prayer done in secret place.

We have to pray as Church together, when we pray , you should not 

thinking whether Iam praying nicely, is my english good, is everybody appreciating my prayer.

When you pray, dont ask or look for people appreciation. 

Also stop appreciating the prayer of others, don't lead others into wrong delusions.

if you are touched by the prayer of other person, then tell  how God worked because of their prayer. but simple dont say your prayer is very nice.

Similarly when somebody shares a message. dont say what a beautiful message. But if you have experienced the touch of God by that message, give a testimony of how you are impacted by that message to give Glory to God, not to impress the other person.

Today do we want the Lord God Almighty to see and hear our prayer, 

go back to the basics, 

go back to your prayer closet, 

go back to the secret place.  

Go Back to that Shelter of the Most High.

It is in that Shelter, that God sees your and my prayer.

Not what the public see -

Father is unseen - but He sees what is done in secret.

We have to get disciplined in going to secret place.
The Lord when on earth disciplined Himself to go to the secret place.

V 7 says We are not heard of many words.

But a sincere heart cry.
Reward:
Hypocrites got their reward when they look for people praise.
What is their hearts desire. Their hearts desire is that people should praise and after they pray in public when someone comes and tells them that prayer is very good. That's it they immediately got the reward they were looking for.The hypocrites shelter is public places.
People give different opinionsBut if we look for reward from heaven then go-to the shelter.
Fasting.

Your Fasting is between u and Father , Father sees in Secret will reward openly.

Matthew 6:16 “When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show others they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. 17 But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face,18 so that it will not be obvious to others that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

Your external appearance and your desire for people to appreciate your work , you reward is from people.

Moses -Exodus 2: 9-10Then Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Take this child away and nurse him for me, and I will give you your wages.” So the woman took the child and nursed him. And the child grew, and she brought him to Pharaoh’s daughter, and he became her son. So she called his name Moses, saying, “Because I drew him out of the water.”
Moses mother had nursed him for few months or years we don't know. But whatever time she got , she trained him .

Son, you will grow up in a palace, big big buildings, separate rooms for you, best of the bath rooms, best of entertainment but that's not your shelter.
Son, the head of the palace is pharoah, but he is not your father.
Son, you will be with princess and nobles but they are not your brethern.
So Moses , he was living in a palace, where Kings and queens grow up.It was greater than any celebrity house today.
All pleasures available.

As I said before , Moses never was a public man, but a man who grew up in secret place.
Right from birth he was dwelling in secret place, then God chose him after 80 years to start ministry.
Today so many people want outward show, very few dwell in that secret place.
But jacobed , Moses mother taught him that although he was living in palace, his Shelter is not the palace.She trained him in such a way that he Chose God's ways His Shelter .
Can the mothers in our Church train their kids like Jacobed trained her son .
Although pharoah is head of the palace, he Chose to recognize that God of his ancestors, the Lord God is his Father.
Although many nobles and royals are there in palace, he chose to be identified with Hebrews.
Where is our shelter today?Who is our Father ?Who is our brothers and sisters.
David.
For a day in Your courts is better than a thousand. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God Than dwell in the tents of wickedness.Psalms 84:10 NKJV
David was annoited as King at age of about 17. But he became King of Israel at age of 40. He became a King, he has a palace built in Jerusalem. Every facility and pleasure at his hand, but he says
After waiting so many years one would think he will sit in the palace and enjoy but his heart was for God.
I would rather be doorkeeper in the house of my God.This is the revelation that we should get today that it is better to be in the presence of God and in the house of God than all worldly pleasures.
It is not the house you live that matters, but it is where your shelter is that matters most in eternity perspective.

Abraham might have a big palace in Ur. But when God called him he left the house he has , he left the people he knew and he moved to the Shelter
What is his shelter it is God's calling.

Psalm 31:20

19 Oh, how great is Your goodness,
Which You have laid up for those who fear You,
Which You have prepared for those who trust in You
In the presence of the sons of men!
20 You shall hide them in the secret place of Your presence
From the plots of man;
You shall keep them secretly in a pavilion
From the strife of tongues.

When facing accusations, it is easy to retaliate and get back,

But for a believer the battle is always in the secret place.
but not with the flesh.

When Jacob was about to face Esau, his battle was in the secret place, he sent everyone ahead and in the secret place, he wrestled with God.

whenever you face battles, go to the secret place, it is in secret place of the Most High you will have safety, security, rest from enemies.

Shelter of most high is this.
Living in His Will.Living in the secret place. FellownshilLiving in His calling.

Lead me to the cross

Our faith is not based on feelings, not based on fairy tales, but based on Truth of God.

If faith is based n feelings, then sunday feeling will not be there on monday morning with all the stress.
If faith is based on fairy tales, then new tales will take over the old tales.
But the Faith that is based on Truth will help each one of us in working out our salvation and we will endure till the end.

1 Corinthians 15 : 1-5

Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand, 2 by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you—unless you believed in vain.

3 For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures,

We are saved if we hold fast that Word which was reached to us.
Basics:

Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures.
He was buried
He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures.


The essence of Christian life is at the Cross.

When we go through stress, anxiety, confused, what we need to look is at the Cross.

It is at the cross, every question is answered.
It is at the cross, every storm quiets down.
It is at the cross where lonely found their true family.
It is at the cross every pain got healed.

Let us look what hapenned on the cross.
Matthew 27:27
27 Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the Praetorium and gathered the whole garrison around Him. 28 And they stripped Him and put a scarlet robe on Him. 29 When they had twisted a crown of thorns, they put it on His head, and a reed in His right hand. And they bowed the knee before Him and mocked Him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” 30 Then they spat on Him, and took the reed and struck Him on the head. 31 And when they had mocked Him, they took the robe off Him, put His own clothes on Him, and led Him away to be crucified.

50 And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit.


I want all of us to understand the depth of the Cross.
There was a preperation for the Cross.
Mocking..
Spat on the Face of Son of God.
Stripped Him
And V50 says He yielded up His Spirit.
I want all of us as we fast and pray to meditate on the cross.
Worship is never completed without meditation on what was done on the cross.
There should never be a moment in our lives where we take the work on the cross lightly.

For my sin, for your sin - to redeem us this precious Act of God on the Cross.

Lead me to the Cross where your love poured out.

Lead me to the cross where your love poured out.
Jesus died on the Cross.
Luke 9:23 says - if you want to be my disciple, deny yourself and take up your cross.

Quiet my soul.

When we goto God, first thing we should ask God is to quieten our soul.
The Word of God says - Be still and know that He is the Lord.
We dont know when God when we are in hurry, when we are busy, when have to finish things quickly or emotionally charged.
We know God when our soul is quietened.
When emotions calm down.
Sometimes when emotions are running high we would say or do things in haste and when we quiet down we look back and think, i should have done things when i had quietened a bit.

Even in a marriage, you will know your spouse , not at the time of wedding or before wedding, that time it is all excitement about marriage , but when everything quiets down then you start living together then you will know truly what the other person is.

Quiet down in presence of God.
In Presence of God , enjoy the presence of God,
God is on the throne, dont talk too much. Meditate on His goodness. Meditate on the cross.

In our prayers, don't just blabber, but ask God quiet my soul.
My soul is going through too many questions, anxieties.
Quiet me Lord.

Then look at the wonderful cross where the blood was spilled.


But one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came out.
John 19:34 NKJV

The blood and water came out.

This blood came because of my sin.
My shame.
All because of me.

Look at the cross. Look at the blood and water. Medically , when a person go through so much of flogging and loss of blood, all the blood and fluids in the body gather at one place.
Spiritually
Blood - redemption
Water - life imparting.

My glory is in the cross.

Everything I once held dear I count it as loss.

What is the dearest thing we hold dear today in our lives.
For some - their identity in society.
For some it might be - your beauty.
For some it might be - their money.

What is the richest gain. I count it as loss.

For Paul, he counted all as rubbish in comparison to knowing Christ.
I don't want to know anything in you except Christ.

Philippians 3:8 says
8 Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ 



Lead me to the cross. Bring me to my knees
When we come to the cross, the cross teaches us Humility.

- Humble.
Whoever boasts, let him boast in Christ.

Whatever we hold dear to our lives, we try to boast about it.
For example, if our children does very well in studies, and we hold the thought my children are doing very well better than others. You hold that dear, then you start boasting without knowing saying wherever you go , whomever we meet, we will start saying my children does well in the whole school than everybody else.

Galatians 6:14

 14 But God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom[a] the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. 

Rid me of myself -
At the cross, every selfishness should go.

Lord Jesus on the cross. He was full of concern for people.

Father please forgive them.
To thief, you will be in paradise with me.
To John, take care of mother.

Let us ask God to get Rid of ourself .

We can look at it others and say am not like other person.

Pharisee prayed and said am not like other person.

9 Also He spoke this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others: 10 “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.11 The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other men—extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I possess.’ 13 And the tax collector, standing afar off, would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me a sinner!’ 14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”
I belong to you.
If we find anything of ourselves in us, then we still belong to ourselves, but He sealed us with His Holy Spirit.

Judgement
John 8:15

15 You judge according to the flesh; I judge no one.
Whoever boats, let him boast in Christ.

Nothing to boast.

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Even priesthood is by calling.
No man takes this honor to Himself
There is nothing for man to boast, but only glory in God.

And no man takes this honor to himself, but he who is called by God, just as Aaron was.
Hebrews 5:4 NKJV
https://bible.com/bible/114/heb.5.4.NKJV

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