Beyond Sunday
Welcome to Beyond Sunday, the Podcast that takes you deeper into the Word of God throughout your week, with your Host Pastor Lee Day.
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Beyond Sunday
Finding Refuge in His Presence
Have you ever longed for a place of complete safety in an increasingly chaotic world? During a recent camping trip, Pastor Lee Day and his wife Erica discovered profound spiritual truths while reading scripture beside a morning campfire that could transform your understanding of divine protection.
The Days unpack the beautiful concept of God as our "hiding place" from Psalm 32:7, revealing that the Hebrew word used is identical to the word for a mother's womb – suggesting a protection that encompasses, nourishes, and develops us completely. This isn't just poetic language; it's a practical reality available to every believer who chooses to dwell in God's presence.
What makes this message so powerful is how the Days balance theological depth with raw honesty about life's challenges. They acknowledge Jesus's warnings about persecution while simultaneously affirming that our strength comes not from avoiding difficulties but from experiencing them while sheltered in God's presence. As Erica beautifully states, "God doesn't always give us the answer, but he always gives us himself."
The conversation takes a challenging turn when they distinguish between occasionally visiting God's presence during emergencies versus habitually dwelling there. Using Spurgeon's insights and their "Stay in the Fort" analogy, they invite listeners to experience the difference between religious visitation and spiritual habitation.
Whether you're facing mountains of uncertainty or simply seeking deeper spiritual grounding, this episode offers practical wisdom for experiencing God as your complete refuge – a shield "above, beneath, around, without and within." Join the conversation and discover how to move from occasional visits to permanent residence in the shadow of the Almighty.
What's going on everybody? This is Pastor Lee Day. I'm pastor of Christ Family Outreach Church and I just want to personally say thank you for tuning in to this podcast episode of Beyond Sunday Today with me. I have a very special person in my life and ministry and she was on a podcast a couple of weeks ago and I just want to say the people have spoken and I have decided to give the people what they want, at least this time anyway. So on the podcast with me today is my wife, Erica.
Speaker 2:How are you doing? I'm doing awesome.
Speaker 1:Amen, amen. So I'm excited to do this episode with you. We recorded together a couple of weeks ago and the title of the episode that we recorded was Prisoner for Christ, and we had so much fun recording that together, so I'm glad you're back and what a blessing it is having someone in life to do ministry with, and we've been doing it together for a long, long time.
Speaker 2:Amen.
Speaker 1:It's your second time on the show and I know you've been telling me and other people that your first time around you were nervous because you didn't know what to expect.
Speaker 2:Yes, yes.
Speaker 1:And I know you've done Bible studies before and you haven't been nervous for those, but something about being in front of a microphone was a little different. Very different but as nervous as you were. I think you did a fantastic job, and so I think you're ready to go today.
Speaker 2:Thank you.
Speaker 1:A few weeks ago, erica and I, we took our youngest son camping. He's 13. And we went with another family from our church and some of you out there who know my bride may be surprised that she was out in the middle of the woods with the bears and the deer and the snakes and the ticks and the spiders and all of those creepy crawlies. But there we are, we find ourselves in the middle of the forest and we're camping. The closest bathroom and shower house was about 500 to 600 yards away from our tent and we were in a tent. We were not glamping, but I'm here to tell you that she did fantastic. I tried, you did a fabulous job.
Speaker 1:I'm proud of you and, as a matter of fact, this was not her first time camping and I do not believe it's going to be her last. I think it's something that we're finding in life that we enjoy doing together and for those of you who camp, you know how fun it is. So we got to get there during the daytime. We put our tent right in the right spot, we hung up our lights they're glowing in the dark as the sun set, we've got our kayaks and our bikes off to the side and of course we've got the campfire. And then early on the first morning there I woke up and I started a fire because it was a cooler morning.
Speaker 1:We've had a lot of those this end of August, end of September, and it's been beautiful. But it was a cooler morning and I got up early, actually before the sun was coming up, and I started a campfire. As I got the fire going, I sat down and began reading my Bible, just having some quiet time in the woods with God. Not too long after that, erica, you got up and you began to read your Bible, study the Word you got going in that morning. Something that you taught me that particular morning just blessed me from the Word of God. It so stood with me that that's actually what we're going to be talking about to the listeners today. So if you're listening out there, I want to just tell you, pay close attention, because it's about to be really, really good. Listen closely to what we have to say, because I'm telling you, if you grab a hold of it, you'll never forget it. Erica, why don't you go ahead, share with the people what you shared with me that morning?
Speaker 2:Well, I was just reading through the Psalms and I kept reading about how the Lord was just encircled around us and how he was our hiding place, and it just kept going from Scripture to Scripture and I kept telling you like it just keeps repeating itself and how he's just that safe place for us. And one of the scriptures that I shared was Psalm 32, 7. It says you are my hiding place. You will protect me from trouble and surround me with songs of deliverance. And that word hiding place, where it says you're my hiding place, is the same word that is used as a womb for a mother which is so cool, and so God himself is our hiding place.
Speaker 2:He is a secure shelter for us, and what encompasses a good hiding place is both strength, height, it's not easily seen and it's reliable. Think about that. He is our hiding place and he is all of those things for us.
Speaker 1:Amen.
Speaker 2:And the other part of that scripture that is so good, where it says he surrounds me with songs of deliverance. That word surround me it also means compass me, encircle me. There's like not one area, it's not just the front and the back, and then the sides are open, or the sides, it's like the top, the bottom, the front, the sides, everything encircling around me. There is no breach in a circle right. There's no breach, and it completely rings around you and I. But what is even cooler, what does he surround us with Songs of Deliverance. I love that.
Speaker 1:I love the piece where it talks about the word that's used in the Hebrew text.
Speaker 1:There is that word for womb like womb of a mother, because you think about what goes on for a child in the womb of the mother and how there is protection there. You know something may bump on the outside of that stomach, something may rattle the outside, but that baby or those babies if there's twins or more, they are protected in the womb of the mother. And what all happens in the womb, you know the provision that goes on inside for that child or those children to be able to receive the nutrients that they need to grow. So when we are found, praise God, hallelujah, when we are found in Christ and we find ourselves in his shadow, if you will, we find ourselves in the shadow of his wings, we find ourselves in the fortress of God, within his presence. Everything that we need to do life with, everything we need to be successful, everything we need to be successful, everything we need to have victory, is right there, found in the presence of God. He keeps us safe, he is our safe place.
Speaker 2:Yes, yes, talking about shadow. Okay, so I just want to share this scripture with you, which is another one in Psalms. Psalms is one of my favorite books in the Bible.
Speaker 2:But Psalm 91, 4,. It says he who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. I will save the Lord. He is my refuge and my fortress, my God in whom I trust. And resting in a shadow means nearness right, you have to be near in order to be resting in a shadow means nearness, right, you have to be near in order to be near it, to be resting in the shadow. So we must walk near someone in order for their shadow to fall on us. And right there, when it says I will rest in the shadow of the almighty, he allows us to rest in that shadow, but we have to be near him in order to do that.
Speaker 1:In order to receive the benefit of the shadow? Yes, absolutely and.
Speaker 2:I love this quote from Spurgeon. I know you use his quotes a lot.
Speaker 1:I'm a fan.
Speaker 2:Yes, so I wanted to share one myself Go ahead girl Look at you.
Speaker 2:He says Every child of God looks towards the inner sanctuary and the mercy seat. Yet all do not dwell in the most holy place. They run to it at times and enjoy Spurgeon. Yes, so like. Do we just go to that shadow every so often when we need it? Do we dwell in that shelter of the most high when we need it, or are we trying to stay there habitually? Are we abiding? Are we living in that shelter of the most high when we need it, or are we trying to stay there habitually?
Speaker 1:Are we abiding? Are we living in the shadow?
Speaker 2:Yes, so people will go there, but yet not all dwell there, and that's where I want to be. I want to be dwelling there.
Speaker 1:I want to be right there with you, girl. Yes, so so good. I know this past Sunday service was so powerful, so, so powerful. If you were not in the room with us, I'm going to tell you you missed it. You missed it From worship to the testimony during worship to the Lord just delivering word. Even during worship it was just so, so powerful. To the message, the presence of God was so thick there I was exhausted at the end of it. And when you come into God's house, you've got two options. You can either you can get in that presence or you can stand back and just witness it, and I don't ever want to be one of those that just stands back and witnesses it. I want to be in the shadow, right. I want to be in the presence receiving. I want to be in the presence receiving the benefit that the presence of God brings.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, absolutely. I don't want to just run to it at times, or you know, look at it and in that sanctuary and the mercy seat, but I want to dwell there, I want to dwell there.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and there's a reason for dwelling there. Matthew, chapter 10, 16 through 22,. Jesus tells his disciples behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. So be wise as serpents and innocent as doves. Beware of men, for they will deliver you over to courts and flog you in their synagogues, and you will be dragged before governors and kings. For my sake, so bear witness before them and the Gentiles when they deliver you over. Do not be anxious how you are to speak or what you are to say, for what you are to say will be given to you in that hour, for it is not you who speak, but the spirit of your father speaking through you. Brother will deliver brother over to death, and the father, his child and children will rise against parents and have them put to death, and you will be hated by all for my namesake. But the one who endures to the end will be saved. Amen, jesus says. But the one who endures to the end will be saved.
Speaker 1:So, as true followers of Jesus Christ, there are going to be really great times, but there's also going to be really hard times, very difficult times. And Jesus says that we have an enemy who wants to steal, kill and destroy. So it is so important to know where our safe place in God is. And that safe place is found in God, in the shadow of the Almighty and Erica. That's why we got to be there To the listeners, that's why we got to be there. That's why we got to be so close to His presence that we find ourselves in His shadow, because Jesus Himself says times are going to get really hard.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, I know I think one of the words that came to us this morning as we were praying, the Lord just he's so good and he just ties everything together, but he had given a couple of people the word boldness and courage, and I just feel like that's what the Lord is just stirring in people's hearts right now Having a boldness and a courage for him, no matter what the cost is. And you know, talking about fear, the best answer to fear is his presence, right?
Speaker 1:Oh, that's so good.
Speaker 2:Isaiah 41, 10, says do not fear, for I am with you, do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. So right there, when he tells us do not be dismayed, we need to just quit trying to figure it out ourselves. Right, it's not necessary for us to understand God's ways and you know, with everything going on in the world, you know you can sit here and say, man, why did this happen? Why did that happen? Why did God allow this to happen? It says do not fear, I'm with you, don't be dismayed, I'm your God. So being dismayed means us trying to figure it out. We just need to bask in his presence, be in the shadow of his wings, and he'll give us the peace that we need and just the wisdom of what we need to do with it.
Speaker 1:Even if we can't understand it, it's okay. Yes, absolutely.
Speaker 2:He says I am your God. He doesn't always give us the answer, but he always gives us himself.
Speaker 1:Yes.
Speaker 2:So praise the Lord for that.
Speaker 1:Psalm 143, 8 through 10 says this Let me hear in the morning of your steadfast love, for in you I trust. Make me know the way I should go for. To you I lift up my soul. Deliver me from my enemies. Oh Lord, I have fled to you for refuge. I have fled to you for refuge. Teach me to do your will, for you are my God. Let your good spirit lead me on level ground.
Speaker 1:I mean I love that. The psalmist says I have fled to you, god. I have fled to you for refuge. He goes on to say let your good spirit capital S. The Holy Spirit of God, let your good spirit lead me on level ground. So a question for you today, folks is God your safe place? Do you make it a habit? Do you make it a habit to run to him in troubling times?
Speaker 2:And you know, I don't even want to get far from his shadow, I just need to stay there, right? Why do I even leave that area? Stay in the shadow of his?
Speaker 1:wings. One of the things that I do when I pull up somewhere is I'm I'm looking for shade.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:I'm looking for shade. It doesn't take much baby to get me sweaty.
Speaker 2:You know, that right.
Speaker 1:Sometimes, before I even leave the house, I'm already sweating on the way out.
Speaker 2:That's why I wear a blanket in the car.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah. So you bring a blanket in the car because you know I'm a blast AC and I don't know if there's any other people out there like me, but I want to see like frost and ice chips spitting out of the AC vents, right. So when we go places, I'm looking for shade right, Rightfully so. And I just think about how, when we are in the shadow of the Almighty, we get the benefits of the shadow. Psalm 46, 1-3 says God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore, we will not fear, though the earth give 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.
Speaker 1:So I take you back to what Erica had said earlier, at the beginning of this podcast, my friends, that the Hebrew text teaches us that being in the presence of God, being in that shadow, is our safe place. Our refuge is like an infant being in the womb. So here we find ourselves in Psalm 46, one through three. God is two things here. Our refuge and strength are refuge and strength.
Speaker 1:So, outside of the presence of God, I'm weak. I'm weak. I need to be in the presence. I need to be within the refuge because it's my safe place, but also because I'm strong in the presence of God. You are strong in the presence of God. But then the psalmist says this a very present help, and I love that. It doesn't just say that God is a help, right, it says that he is a present help. Think about that. God, the creator of heaven and earth, the creator of the universe. He is a present help, Erica, in your life, in my life, in our marriage, in our ministry. He's a present help. How beautiful it is that we serve a God that right now, in this moment, is in the room as our present helper.
Speaker 2:And I need it.
Speaker 1:We all do.
Speaker 2:I need it. I loved this other psalm. I want to share this too, Psalm 3, 1 through 4. Now, David was writing this psal, writing this Psalm actually when he was fleeing from his son Absalom. I can't even imagine fleeing for my life from my son. So just the anguish in that right. So he writes oh Lord, how many are my foes? How many rise up against me? Many are saying to me God will not deliver him, but you are a shield around me.
Speaker 2:O Lord, you bestow glory on me and lift up my head To the Lord. I cry aloud and he answers me from his holy hill. And that word in the original. When you're talking about the shield around me, it actually means a buckler roundabout, a protection which shall surround a man entirely a shield above, beneath, around, without and within.
Speaker 1:So good.
Speaker 2:And so, God, he wards off those fiery darts of Satan from beneath us, the storms of trials from above us, and while at the same time he will speak peace to our front and our back.
Speaker 2:So it's, you know, it's just so awesome, Kind of like I had said before, where the biggest answer to fear is just his presence. And sometimes you know, in different times in our life well, every time in our life but when there's times in our life where maybe you're going through the hardest thing that you can imagine, you know right here, where David is running from his son, for him, from his life, and he's just wanting to bask in the presence of the Lord, and so I've just learned so much from that. You know, going through something hard, like sometimes the only thing you can do cause you don't even know what to pray, sometimes right Is just basking in the presence of him and worshiping God for who he is because we know who he is is truth, right, so his word is truth. So just start saying that, proclaiming that, praise him, thank him and um, and the fear will just start to slip away.
Speaker 1:Yeah, this morning at church. So today's Sunday we're recording this episode on a Sunday afternoon. So this morning at church the worship team was in there practicing and the music was playing and it was just one of those moments where I just closed my eyes, I sat back and I just bowed my head and I just got into the presence. Just feeling the presence was enough. Just basking in that presence this morning was enough. And what a beautiful feeling it is when you feel the presence of God and it gives you such peace and you realize, you know, that the presence of God is enough.
Speaker 1:I know back to that Psalm 46, you had mentioned right there about David running from his son Absalom. Back to Psalm 46, it talks about even if the earth give way, if the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble at its swelling, it is saying yet still we will not fear. And the reason the psalmist says we will not fear is because he recognizes in the first verse of Psalm 46 that God is our refuge, our strength and a very present help, even in trouble. Psalm 91, 1 through 13. This is a little lengthy one, but it's good. I want you to hang on there. There's a point behind it, Of course. There's always a point behind all of God's word. So Psalm 91, 1 through 13, says this he who dwells in the shelter of the most high will abide in the shadow of the almighty. I will say to the Lord, my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust, for he will deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the deadly pestilence. He will cover you with his pinions, and under his wings you will find refuge. His faithfulness is a shield and buckler. You will not fear the terror of the night, nor the arrow that flies by day, nor the pestilence that stalks in darkness, nor the destruction that wastes at noonday. A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you. You will only look with your eyes and see the recompense of the wicked. Because you have made the Lord your dwelling place, the Most High, who is my refuge. No evil shall be allowed to befall you, no plague shall come near your tent, for he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways. On their hands, they will bear you up lest you strike your foot against a stone, you will tread on the lion and the adder, the young lion and the serpent you will trample underfoot.
Speaker 1:I've got a question for you listeners Are you dwelling in the shelter? It reminded me as I was preparing for this particular episode. Erica, I preached a sermon years ago titled Stay in the Fort, Stay in the Fort, and that's something that we just kept coming back to in that particular sermon. That Sunday was stay in the fort, stay in the fort, stay in the fort, Stay in the fort, and that's something that we just kept coming back to in that particular sermon that Sunday was stay in the fort, stay in the fort, stay in the fort. In other words, do not leave the fortress of God, Do not leave the presence of God, because it is his presence that protects you and keeps you safe.
Speaker 2:Yeah, speaks to you too, gives you words of wisdom that you don't even know to follow. Without it, we're to use his word as a shield right With the fiery darts, and it tells us here not to fear danger or disease. You know, and only you could do that when you have a relationship with the Lord, when you're in the nearness of him, and not being afraid even when we see destruction happening around us. And that's so hard to do sometimes, when maybe life seems like it's falling apart, things are happening around you or maybe your plans didn't work out right and you just have to lean back on the word. And what does the word say?
Speaker 1:Psalm 61.4,. We're going to close it, we're going to wrap this episode up with this right here, because we've talked about being in the womb, being in the presence, we've talked a little bit about camping and being out in the tent, we've talked about being in the shelter. So I think it's only fitting to end this episode with Psalm 61.4. Psalm 61.4 says let me dwell in your tent forever, let me take refuge under the shelter of your wings. And I know, when we get away, it's always good to get away to take a vacation, to have time away from the pace that we live our lives, because we're busy people and it's good. I enjoy being a busy family for the Lord. But I think you would agree with me that when we get away, it's always great coming back home, getting back into the routine, back into the grind of life and ministry, full-time and serving the Lord. And I think that it is amazing, when you look at it in this way, that it's always great coming back to our house.
Speaker 1:It's always great coming back to our home, getting back into our place and maybe you're a listener out there that is strayed away from the shelter, maybe you strayed away from your spiritual house. And I just want to remind you that God is your shelter. He desires for you to be in the shadow of his wings. He loves you so much so that he gave his only begotten son, jesus Christ, that if you would believe in him you would not perish, but you would have everlasting life. My friends, that is the literal plan of God for your life. That's John 3.16.
Speaker 1:If you've ever wondered what does God want to do with my life? He gave Jesus for you so that you can live a life worthy of the call that God has placed on you. And you begin to, as you study the Word of God, find out more and more what God wants to do in your life. So in this particular episode, we've talked about the importance of being in the shelter, being in the presence, the safety that we get, the benefits that we get from being in the presence. We've talked about how Jesus gives us a heads up, that this life is not going to be easy, that there will be difficulties, but how strengthening it is knowing that when we are in the presence, even the hard times, when we are in the presence of God, even in the hard times, we still have victory. So, folks, let's pray.
Speaker 1:Father, I am so grateful that you allow us, as people, to be within your presence. I am so thankful that you sent your son, jesus Christ, for every single one of us. I'm thankful that your presence is a sweet refuge for us that we can run to it. Your word says that the righteous. The righteous call upon your name and the righteous run into your name and are safe. So, lord, we love you, we praise you, we honor you and we acknowledge that the only way we can be righteous is through Jesus Christ. God, I pray that if there be anyone out there listening today that needs to receive you as Jesus, as savior of their life, that, father, this day, this day, they would cry out to you and ask you to save their soul. In Jesus Christ's name and blood, all God's people said amen and amen.
Speaker 2:Amen.
Speaker 1:My bride. It was a wonderful time, a wonderful, wonderful time having you on this episode.
Speaker 2:I just want to say it is such a privilege and an honor to even be on here and to share God's word with the people.
Speaker 1:Absolutely. God bless you all Until next time. We will see you on Beyond Sunday. God bless.
