Abiding in God’s Shelter

Eagles are symbols of strength, boldness, power, and majesty, and for very good reasons. They have powerful wings, some as wide as seven feet which thrust them into the air to soar high in the sky. They have incredible endurance, being able to stay in the air for up to two hours. They are simply amazing to watch in flight. And if you are their prey, they are actually quite frightening as they swoop down with precision to attack.

And don’t dare think about messing with the mother eagle’s babies.  For along with the great power of flight comes the protection of her powerful wings for her chicks. She will fiercely defend her nest and her young, protecting them from danger and attack. Very few predators will come near the eagle's nest to attack the young because of the nest’s lofty position and those who do are in for the fight of their lives to get to those chicks. As long as they stay in the nest, close to their mother, they are safe.

Those who live in the shelter of the Most High

will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty.

This I declare about the LORD:

He alone is my refuge, my place of safety;

he is my God, and I trust him.

For he will rescue you from every trap

and protect you from deadly disease.

He will cover you with his feathers.

He will shelter you with his wings.

His faithful promises are your armor and protection.

(Psalm 91:1-4 NLT)

Abiding in the presence of God provides safety and protection; it is a place of refuge. Like the eagle’s nest high in the rocky cliffs, the presence of God is a place of shelter. In fact, it is the shelter of “the Most High”. When we abide in His presence, we are safe because God is high and exalted in glory and authority above everything. In God’s presence we find rest because we abide in the shadow of a God who is all-powerful, stronger than any foe that might come against us.

Abiding in the presence of God means that I am looking for help and protection from God and God alone. “He alone is my refuge, my place of safety.” I don’t rely on my strength, thinking, or skills, or anyone else’s. In His presence, I know His perfect care and protection and I have no reason to look around for help anymore, for I trust in God alone. When I abide in the presence of His loving care and protection, I don’t even think about looking for another source of help. I am secure. I am at rest. I have peace.

Abiding in God’s sheltering presence does not mean that all the dangers and attacks cease. The hunters are still out there. The traps are still set. There are still other threats to life and vitality out there. But, in His presence, you know complete protection and rescue from whatever comes along to destroy. The threat of harm and death may be very real, but not as real as God’s presence. Not as real as His protection. Nothing, absolutely nothing can touch His beloved children except under His protection, except that He is allowing it for a very good reason. As the mother eagle will sometimes push the little eaglet out to stretch its wings or learn to face its foes, so God orchestrates challenges in our lives to strengthen us, to grow us up. But it is always under His care and protection. He will never let it get out of hand. He will never let us be destroyed. He is always there to cover us “with His feathers” and “shelter us with His wings”. The dangers and attacks may threaten, but they can never destroy.

How can we be so confident? How can we know that we are safe in His presence? Sometimes, it really looks and feels like we’re going down, we’re going to be defeated, we’re going to be wasted. How can I be so sure this is not going to end really, really bad?

“His faithful promises are your armor and protection.” God never broke a promise. Never. Never. Please let that sink in. God has never been unfaithful. God has never not kept His word. He is more faithful than the rising and setting of the sun each day. Believe your beliefs and doubt your doubts. No, totally and forcefully reject your doubts. Believe, even preach to yourself the truth that God never breaks a promise!

OK, that’s all well and good, God never beaks a promise. But give me a promise that I can cling to! These thoughts come to our minds – to my mind, and I am immediately convicted. How could I say, “Give me a promise I can cling to”? I know so many promises. You know so many promises. But the truth is, we really only need one. It is one that most Christians have memorized. We know it so well, it is so familiar, that we ignore that it’s there. This is the one verse of scripture that I am convicted by more than any other in all of scripture.

And we know that God causes all things to work together for good

to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.

(Romans 8:28 NAU)

You may wonder why I am convicted by this verse. Isn’t this a verse of comfort and confidence? Yes, it is, but I see how often I don’t believe it. I see my failure to trust God and believe His promise so clearly and unmistakably made in this verse. I see my anxiety, worry, and fear. And I am deeply convicted.

One promise is enough to give me peace and rest and confidence in the face of the worst life can throw at me. One promise is enough to be my armor and protection. But, let me share with you another.

Aren't two sparrows sold for a penny?

Yet not one of them falls to the ground apart from your Father's will.

Even all the hairs on your head are numbered.

(Matthew 10:29-30 NET)

Here’s the point. Sparrows are virtually worthless. Yet, God’s sovereign care over His creation is so detailed and all-encompassing that not even one sparrow ever dies except by the will of God. God cares for the most minute events in His creation. And what about man, the glory of His creation? What about those specially created in the image of God? Those who are “crowned with glory and honor (Psalm 8:5)”? What about the objects of His divine love? Not one hair is outside of His providential care and protection. Not one hair!

This is huge! What a promise! Think about this. God’s providential care and protection extends even to every single hair on your head. If God’s care focuses on a single hair, don’t you think the huge challenges you think will overwhelm you are also under His care? Every hair is under His care. Certainly the big stuff is under His care too. Nothing, absolutely nothing can touch you except under the providential care of “your Father”. Your loving, merciful, gracious, faithful Father is orchestrating the events of your life – down to the loss of a single hair – according to His all-knowing, all-wise plan for your highest good and His highest glory!

This is what it means to abide in God’s presence. It is a place of calm, peace, shelter. I know I have come into God’s presence because I feel safe, I know rest, no matter what is going on around me. If I am still plagued with doubt, fear, and worry, I need to persist in concentrated meditation on the character of God particularly His sovereignty, knowledge, wisdom, power, goodness, and faithfulness. I need to concentrate my thoughts on the promises of God. I must not give up pursuing the intimate, personal presence of God until I am fully at the place of peace and rest, confident that all is well because He is my shelter, because He has promised that not a hair on my head is outside His providential care.

My Father, how sweet it is to abide in your presence. You are glorious, majestic, perfect, infinite. You are my rock, my refuge, my shelter, my sure defense. I know I am safe in your care. I know nothing can touch me either physically, emotionally, or spiritually as I abide here in your presence. In your presence, I gain perspective. I see that all is well, not because all is going according to my plan, but according to your plan. And, I confess, I embrace the truth that your plan is the perfect plan for my highest good and your highest glory no matter how it might look to me from my finite human perspective. I will choose to rest in your sovereign care and trust you. I love you, and I love the joy, the glory of fellowship with you in your presence.
 

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The Refuge of God’s Presence

We all need a place where we feel safe and secure, a place where we actually are safe and secure. But in a world that’s falling apart and is filled with fallen people, where can you really find such a place? .

Most of us go through times when life is running smoothly and we feel like we’re on the mountaintop with God. But soon, we can easily find ourselves in the valley with a mountain of trouble surrounding us on every side. For some, there is far more time in the valley than on the mountaintop, trouble just comes in waves one after the other. Life can get so tough you feel like you’re drowning..

Where can you go when you feel like you are being overwhelmed by trouble? Many people will resort to denial, trying to ignore the problems. “Don’t think about them and maybe they’ll go away.” Others try escapism. They try to run away from their problems and only end up finding more problems wherever they run.

But, there is an amazing place of refuge, not in denial or escape, but right in the face of the biggest mountains and the fiercest waves of trouble. It is the presence of God.

God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.

Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way,

though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea,

though its waters roar and foam,

though the mountains tremble at its swelling.

(Psalm 46:1-3 ESV)

These verses describe a calm, a peace, and a fearlessness in the face of life’s worst catastrophes. The whole world is falling apart all around, but there is no fear. How can this be? It comes from finding your refuge – your place of safety and protection, your shelter – in God. It comes from finding your strength in God. It comes from the very real presence of God.

"The LORD lives! Praise be to my Rock!

Exalted be God, the Rock, my Savior!

(2 Samuel 22:47 NIV)

When I enter into and abide in the presence of God, the overwhelming problems of life don’t go away, but they are no longer overwhelming. When I enter into the place of intimate fellowship with God and get even a small glimpse of His glorious greatness, I become overwhelmed with Him, and my problems begin to diminish in my eyes. It’s not that the mountains of problems get smaller, it’s just that now I am standing on an even bigger, more awesome and stable mountain. Now, I look at those mountains from the grand vista of God’s awesome glory.

In God’s presence, I gaze at and contemplate on the God who has perfect knowledge of all my problems. I see a God who is perfect in His wisdom and plan for my life and my problems. I see an all-powerful, merciful and gracious God who can and will turn these mountains into stepping stones on which I rise to new heights of character and growth. And I see a God who is sovereign and faithful in caring for me as I walk through the valleys.

When thoughts of my problems swirl around in my head like a hurricane, it can be very difficult to focus my thoughts on the glories of God’s character. It takes determined, focused effort to concentrate and meditate on who God is. I must stick with it until I find refuge, until I find stability and peace in His presence.

How do I do it? I take one of God’s attributes at a time and focus my attention on it and meditate on it. I remind myself that God is sovereign – my problems may seem out of control to me, but God is in full control. I think of His infinite knowledge and wisdom and remind myself that He knows more about my problems than I do and He has a perfect, wise plan to use them for my good and His glory. I remind myself that God is good, gracious, merciful and faithful.

As thoughts of the problems come to my mind and I begin to get distracted and disturbed, I force myself to refocus on the character of God. Slowly, but surely, I begin to gain perspective. As I abide in His presence beholding glory, I actually begin to rest in His presence, find peace in His presence. Now that the threatening thoughts of my problems are far away, now that I am standing on the rock of God’s glory, now, I can begin to look at and think about my problems from God’s perspective. And I can do it calmly, peacefully, and with confidence because I am resting in Him. I am standing with unwavering stability on the Rock of my salvation. I must not be satisfied until I have found this place of safety, security, peace, and calm.

Are you facing problems that threaten to overwhelm you? God invites you, God longs for you to come into His presence. Sit down, curl up with Him in His strong arms, gaze upon His glory. Look intently at that wonder of who He is. Be overwhelmed by an infinitely awesome God.

Come into His presence. He wants to help you think straight, see clearly, find strength, wisdom, direction, hope, peace, stability. Listen to Him comfort you and speak to you. Come into His presence. He’s waiting for you.

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Entering God's Presence

“Father God, I love you . . . I worship you . . . you are so great, so glorious.” These words roll off my tongue in rapid succession, so quickly, so easily as I begin my time of prayer. And as soon as they do, I realize it comes too quickly, too easily. It barely has meaning. It’s just words with little heart.

I slow down. I think. I reflect. I meditate on the glory of God. And now, I begin to enter into the presence of God.

Here is what is in the heart of the one who truly knows and experiences the glory of God’s presence:

One thing I have asked from the LORD, that I shall seek: That I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, To behold the beauty of the LORD And to meditate in His temple. . . . When You said, "Seek My face," my heart said to You, "Your face, O LORD, I shall seek." (Psalm 27:4,8 NAU)

As a deer longs for streams of water, so I long for you, O God! 2I thirst for God, for the living God. I say, "When will I be able to go and appear in God's presence?" (Psalm 42:1-2 NET)

Do you hear and feel the desperation and determination in these verses? “One thing I have asked from the Lord, that I shall seek.” “As the deer longs for streams of water, so I long for you, O God! I thirst fo God . . .” This is passion. This is a desire that demands to be satisfied. It is unquenchable by anything else but personal, intimate, me and God alone in unity of heart, mind and soul fellowship! Nothing else will do. There is no stopping, no ending of the pursuit until there is an abiding in the presence of God. Desperation. Determination.

Discovering the intimate presence of God begins with a longing that has resided deep in the heart, that has been expressed to God, and a longing that will continue to be pursued, “all the days of my life.” There is a continual thirst, for once you have drunk from the well of God’s divine presence, you will be satisfied with nothing else. You may drink from other wells, but they will be so tasteless and unsatisfying that you will know there must be something more, something better, something you know you have tasted before and long for again.

But how is it cultivated? How do you come to taste of this soul-quenching presence of God? You “behold the beauty of the Lord”. Some translations replace the word “behold” with the word “gaze”. It is an intense look. It is contemplation and meditation. On what? On the “beauty” of the Lord. His splendor. His majesty. His glorious greatness. His divine character.

This is no casual approach to God! You can’t think you can carve out 15 minutes in your day, read a few verses, read a few paragraphs in a devotional, and then rattle off all your requests to God in the remaining time and expect to enter into and experience fellowship in the presence of God. It takes time! Time to empty your head of all the thoughts that compete with single minded focus on God. It takes time to focus your thoughts on the character of God. It takes time to get yourself quiet before Him to spend time with Him and hear from Him.

There’s a principle that runs through scripture, especially the messages of the prophets. It is this: “You will seek me and find me when you search for me with all your heart (Jer. 29:13).” Jesus repeated the same basic idea when He said the first and greatest commandment is to love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. You don’t get to the place of intimate fellowship in the presence of God by half-hearted effort. It comes through passionate pursuit that will not stop or be satisfied with anything else but to know, “I have met with God; I have been in the presence of God. And now, I go forth, living and walking in His presence.”

Lord, may I attempt to be satisfied with nothing else then to know your very real presence in deep, meaningful, intimate, personal fellowship with you in your presence. May I be desperate for and determined to gaze on, meditate on, and adore your beautiful majesty. Lord, keep me in your presence, always abiding, walking with you, mindful of your presence with me at all times. Help me to live in fellowship with you – true, life altering, thought governing, heart beating with your heart fellowship with you.

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Abiding in His Holy Presence

God reigns over the nations! God sits on his holy throne!

(Psalm 47:8 NET)

To abide in the presence of God is to abide in the presence of infinite holiness, righteousness and perfection. It is a very sacred place, a place where sin cannot abide. The one and only way anyone can be accepted into the presence of perfect holiness and not be immediately consumed is if they possess perfect holiness. And so, the only way to enter into this sacred place is through the shed blood of the glorious Christ, clothed in His perfect righteousness. It is because of the perfect righteous ness of Christ given to us that we are not just accepted into the holy presence of God, but are actually invited and welcomed. We are told to come boldly before Him. How astonishing!

The LORD our God has shown us his great glory and we have heard him speak from the middle of the fire. It is now clear to us that God can speak to human beings and they can keep on living. (Deuteronomy 5:24 NET)

And so, dear brothers and sisters, we can boldly enter heaven's Most Holy Place because of the blood of Jesus. (Hebrews 10:19 NLT)

How astonishing! How incredible! How glorious! I can enter . . . I am invited and welcomed to enter into the presence of the consuming fire of God’s holiness and live to tell about it!

And as I enter into His holy, sacred presence, I am broken by the gift of His grace that provides me with the righteousness of Christ. And, I see at once that my practice does not match up with my position. I am deeply humbled, deeply grieved over my sin. I see that it is not just the big sins that I commit that make me unworthy of His grace, Christ’s righteousness, this welcome into His presence. It is the very reality that every moment of every day I fall short of the standard, the true standard, His perfection, His holiness, His righteousness. In my best moments, I am imperfect, I think less of God than I should, I love Him less than I should. And I am deeply, deeply humbled and broken and filled with incredible awe and wonder that I can come into His holy presence and be forgiven, be welcomed, be embraced by pure holiness.

You have set our iniquities before you, our secret sins in the light of your presence. (Psalm 90:8 ESV)

Abiding in the presence of His Holiness touches my heart and I come to see the ugliness of my sin. In the glorious light of His holiness I see the darkness of my sin. And I hate it! I want to forsake it. I want to be clean. I want to be pure. And I see so clearly why I desperately need His mercy and grace; why I so desperately need the righteousness of Christ. And I am so grateful. Grateful for His mercy that withholds condemnation in Christ. Grateful for His grace that welcomes me into His presence. Grateful for forgiveness.

Oh, holy God, forgive me! Cleanse me. Make me clean. Draw me into your holy presence where I see your holiness so clearly and am so overwhelmed that I am passionate about turning from sin, passionate about living a holy life, passionate about honoring your holiness, for you are holy.

May my words and my thoughts be pleasing in Your sight, my sheltering rock and my redeemer! (Psalm 19:14 NET)

 

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Abiding in the Presence of God

To all those who have asked or emailed me about when I will be blogging again, I hope to soon get back to regular posts to Soli Deo Gloria related to the character of God. But for now, I want to share with you how God has been working in my live to draw me deeper into an awe and wonder of His glory.

Lately, God has been teaching me so much about abiding in His presence. It has been and I expect it will continue to be a humbling and exciting journey.

You lead me in the path of life;

I experience absolute joy in your presence;

you always give me sheer delight.

(Psalm 16:11 NET)

Abiding in the presence of God is both a fundamentally doctrinal reality and a very personal experience. It is both factual and mystical. It is a matter of the intellect – thinking rightly about God, but also a matter of the heart and soul. It is experiencing God as the one who is infinitely transcendent and yet so wonderfully near and intimate. It is recognizing that God is present everywhere at all times and yet, so beautifully and uniquely present with me, right here, right now as if He were no where else.

Abiding in God’s presence is not a place entered into casually or in a rush but it is available at any time in just a moment.

When you truly enter into the intimate presence of God you know it, because it is unmistakably characterized by peace, harmony, joy, a deep sense of contentment, fulfillment, and soul satisfaction, awe, wonder, confidence, humility, abandonment, surrender, devotion, and love. Yes, it is the place of deep love and affection – you love deeply and you know you are deeply loved.

In the presence of God, in the place of real intimate fellowship with him, all fears, worries, desires, and temptations fade away because in that place, nothing else matters, nothing else can penetrate this sacred place but the beauty of his presence.

It is a place where your head clears of all the fog, and everything becomes crystal clear – everything that really matters that is, for all other thoughts and distractions are shut out.

But it’s not about how you feel – though it is wonderful – for when you start to focus on how you feel, you know it is all wrong. It is all about Him. It is all about delighting in Him, not for the peace, joy and delight that IT BRINGS but just for the peace, joy and delight that HE IS. There is great blessing in dwelling in the presence of God, but the pursuit is never motivated by the blessing alone, in and of itself. It is purely motivated by the blessing of Him, knowing Him, possessing and being possessed by Him.

God, draw me into the joy of your presence, the sheer delight, peace and majesty of your glory. May I find my life in you and you alone. Grant that I would be so overwhelmed by your glorious beauty, majesty, holiness, and infinite perfection that it cannot be contained, that it would overflow in praise and worship, in declaration of your glory to all and in all.

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