"Is the Lord your dwelling? Is the Lord your shelter?"

Hello, and welcome back to the One Thing Podcast! Today I would like to share a very beautiful psalm, and it is Psalm 91! We're gonna begin with the first verse, but even as we begin I would like to ask the question today: Is the Lord your dwelling? Is the Lord your shelter? Now, verse one it says, “Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.” And I love this because we're in a time right now in which we know that things like the coronavirus, things like the flu, and all sorts of sicknesses seem to be growing at such a rapid pace. It's grown to a point where kids are not in school, where businesses are closing and it's not just in our nation, but it's literally a worldwide thing. And what is happening right now? The government, people, everybody's looking for a safe dwelling. Nobody wants to be infected, you don't want to be in the wrong store at the wrong time, you don't want to be next to somebody that's sick and so everybody right now is looking to be basically on a lockdown. You know, maybe in their homes, maybe trying to just keep away from everybody and everything -- and the reality is, we're looking for a dwelling place.

"Father, you are the dwelling place that no fire can consume, you are the dwelling place that no germ can overtake, you are the dwelling place that no man can ever destroy"

But when I want to really share from this Word -- it says that “whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High”, what I love about God.. see when you dwell in Him, when you make the Lord your focus for every single day, when you look and you seek His face saying ‘Father, you are the dwelling place that no fire can consume, you are the dwelling place that no germ can overtake, you are the dwelling place that no man can ever destroy’, see, the Word of the Lord says that we are able to find rest. It is a rest not just for our physical bodies, but God is saying that if you dwell in me, if you dwell and you seek my face and you make the Lord the one that you are after, if you seek me with all of your heart-- you will find a rest that no man can give, that no medicine can give. You see we're not just gonna find a rest from all the havoc of the world of viruses and sickness, but there is a rest that God brings to our soul. Is He your dwelling today? Is He your shelter? If not, I'm praying that you will begin to seek Him even now saying, ‘Father, I want to know you. Father, I want to be close to you. And as things are going crazy, Father, I will find a rest-- a rest that can only be found in the shadow of the Almighty.’

"His shadow is a shadow of rest and peace"

Inside God's Dwelling Place
Now as I read this, I'm thinking it says that we're gonna rest in His shadow; now there's another point in the Bible, and many of us may be familiar with it, that talks about a shadow -- and what is it? It's “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death..” Now that's not a good shadow to be in. When I think of the ‘valley of the shadow of death’, I think of the turmoil of the world, I think of it as a place of deep dark sin, of a place of darkness that looks to consume us and to keep us from God, it's a scary place, it's not a joyful place. In the ‘valley of the shadow of death’ when we really look at it -- is to walk without the Lord, Jesus Christ. It's when our mind is always in worry and in fear because we seem to be in this dark place, this dark valley. It's when our hearts seem to faint left and right -- we're worried about money, we’re worried about sickness, we’re worried about all sorts of things and there just seems to be no rest. But I want to say today that there is rest in the shadow of the Almighty God because His shadow is not a darkened shadow of evil, His shadow is a shadow of rest and peace; the rest and the peace of the Lord, Jesus Christ. Will you come and dwell in the shelter of the Most High?

"There are viruses, there are sicknesses that we are facing -- money cannot stand up to those things...God is able to conquer."

Furthermore, verse 2 it says, “I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.” And I find that right now, many people are wondering how much food they have, how much money they have, if the money's even gonna make a difference, if the money's gonna last, we see the stock market falling, we see all sorts of things that man trusted, literally, fall apart because it's something that we are facing. There are viruses, there are sicknesses that we are facing -- money cannot stand up to those things. Even our stock, you know, all those things, they're nothing in the face of sickness and turmoil, but I want to say today, that if we look to the Lord and we find Him to be our refuge and our fortress, our God in whom we trust, He is worthy to be trusted. See, the love of the Lord never fails. The Lord Jesus never fails. God is able to conquer. God is able to provide, a matter of fact, the Word of the Lord says, “He who does not sleep nor slumber will watch over his people.” And we think of that, we can rest assured knowing that as we trust in the Lord, as we seek Him as our refuge and our fortress, we can truly trust in Him. And to trust in Him means very simply that this day I'm not going to go about and do my own thing, I'm not going to decide to go wherever I want and do as I please, but my heart is going to be yielded to God. Father, I yield my mind to you. I yield by heart. Father, let me do that which pleases you. Father, may your Kingdom and your will be done in my life. Guide me this day. Father, in every decision, let it be decided in the light of your will. In all that I do, Father, let me prayerfully consider that I be walking in your way that you have called me to walk in. This truly is to trust in the Lord. This truly is to find Him to be our refuge and our fortress.

"He saves us not only from the deadly pestilence of physical sickness but He also shall deliver us from the pestilence of our sin."

Verse 3, “Surely he will save you from the fowler’s snare and from the deadly pestilence.” What is the deadly pestilence? Right now there is the pestilence of a virus, there’s the pestilence of sickness, there's the pestilence of the money and everything dwindling down and yet God says that if you dwell in Me, if I am your dwelling, if you seek Me, if you follow Me -- listen I am going to deliver you even from that! But I want to also say today that the deadly pestilence that we see, there is even yet a much deadlier pestilence. And that deadly pestilence is sin. The sin of man, the darkness of man's heart is much worse than any virus, it's much worse than any cancer or any sickness because it is the very pestilence against our soul. The deadly pestilence of sin is what separates us from God, it's what has kept us from His glory and it is destroying man every single day to no longer live with God as God intended, but to be his enemies, as the Word of the Lord says, ‘to be under the wrath of God.’ But today, if we trust in the Lord, He saves us not only from the deadly pestilence of physical sickness but He also shall deliver us from the pestilence of our sin. As we turn to the Lord Jesus, He delivers us from the darkened mind. He delivers us from the separation of God. He delivers us from God's wrath and now brings us in-- to a friendship with God, to a restoration with God today. If there is a fear in your heart of the deadly pestilence, know, that if you turn to the Lord Jesus Christ, He's not looking just to deliver us from physical sickness, but He is looking to deliver us from darkness into His glorious light, that we would now be able to serve Him. We would now be able to love Him with all of our heart, soul, mind and strength. And to come into true healing -- which is a healing between God and man. A healing of heart back to the Father, back to what God has intended.

And I love verse 5! Says “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.” And when I think of the terror of night.. Think of the night -- what do we do normally in the night? We try to rest, we lay our heads to rest and not many people can rest when there's terror, bad things happening, when viruses are spreading, it's very hard for people to rest, BUT HALLELUJAH, in God, in Christ, we do not fear the terror of night, nor the arrow that flies by day! I think sometimes of the news that we hear, the things that are going through the atmosphere that are being spoken, can really cause our minds to never be at rest. They can really cause our minds to literally go crazy and all through the night to fear this terror, but see, there is a blessing for the people of the Lord. There is something special about dwelling in God, that even through the night, we can rest assured knowing that the Almighty God is watching over us.

"The odds for the Christian are this -- you may feel outnumbered, but see, with God, you only need one!"

So today -- Is He your dwelling? Is He your dwelling? Because if He be your refuge, if He be your shelter, verse 7, “A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you. You will only observe with your eyes and see the punishment of the wicked.” What a beautiful thing for the Christian. You see, the odds for the Christian are incomparable. The odds for the Christian are this -- you may feel outnumbered, but see, with God, you only need one! When you have Him you have an army behind you. When you have God, you have the full force of heaven behind you. When you speak a Word, it is not just your Word, it is God's Word with you! When you say a prayer, it is not just your prayer, it is the prayers of God forcefully being brought through you by the power of the Spirit. When you walk, you're not just walking alone, but you are carrying the glory of God. We are not alone, but we join together as one with the people of God, as a force that cannot be reckoned with, but a force that comes from God in which a thousand may fall at your right, ten thousand at your right hand, yet it will not come by your dwelling because God is with you! He will be sure to see you through the end. God who began this good work in you, God who began this good work in me, will make sure it is brought to completion! we will only observe with our eyes; in other words -- we will worship, we will praise God, we will be thanking Him, when everybody else is scrambling and many people seem to not know what to do, we can find joy and we can find hope. If that is you today, if you are one that has said, ‘I've been on the outside’, if you were one who were thinking, ‘I have not made the Lord my dwelling’, I'm praying today that right now you would stop and turn to the Lord Jesus Christ because the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ is the gospel that brings us out of the darkness into light, out of the openness into the world into the shelter and the dwelling place of God. God says today that ‘if you seek Me and you seek Me with all of your heart, you will find Me.’

"Christ alone - my solid rock."

I'm praying today that for those of you who are already in the shelter -- that you would be worshiping, that we would be worshipping even if we are in a different place, in a different location, that our worship would join as one, that we will be praying as one and that God would be honored; that He would be honored in our homes, He would be honored in our hearts. And in this time, where many are looking to find the right dwelling, the best shelter, we are able to say, ‘Praise God we are already in the place of safety for we are in the presence of the Lord.’ We are already in the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ. So I ask again: Is the Lord your dwelling? If not, may you turn to Him with all of your heart. May the spirit of God touch you today, I pray that the Holy Spirit would open your mind, that He would open your heart to turn to the Lord, that you would find refuge, that He will become your dwelling and that you will be able to serve the Lord with all of your heart, soul, mind, and strength. And I also pray for those of you who are in the dwelling place of God, where He is your shelter. I'm praying that God would increase. I'm praying that God would bless you where you are. That a new song would arise that you would be able to go deeper with God now than ever before. Father, we thank you that you are our refuge. Thank you, Father, that you are our dwelling. There is no other God that compares to you. There is no other thing, there is no other fortress that is like our God. Christ alone - my solid rock. Father we thank you, and we pray that in the season you would be honored, that your people would rise and that your name will be lifted high. In the mighty name of Jesus, amen.