WEBVTT 00:00:12.640 --> 00:00:15.519 There is a place where you can go. 00:00:15.679 --> 00:00:34.799 And as you open up that door and you hear a voice say come in, and you come in and you sit down and there's a fire and there's a great and there's a I imagine a great world where I can just sit down by the fire in this great Lord's house. 00:00:35.520 --> 00:00:41.600 And I can just remain in this god of great wisdom and compassion and love. 00:00:44.159 --> 00:00:46.000 Oh my world's falling apart now. 00:00:47.039 --> 00:00:48.000 Falling apart. 00:00:48.560 --> 00:00:53.600 That's the beauty of being able to dwell and be with God. 00:00:54.320 --> 00:00:59.840 At The Road, our vision is to raise up wholehearted disciples of Jesus Christ. 00:01:00.079 --> 00:01:04.400 For more information on the road, visit the road.org. 00:01:04.640 --> 00:01:07.599 We hope you are encouraged by today's message. 00:01:09.599 --> 00:01:21.599 If you'll go ahead and take your Bibles and open up to Psalm 91, Psalm 91 is a uh, it's a beautiful piece of scripture, but it's a terrifying piece of scripture. 00:01:21.840 --> 00:01:36.799 It's terrifying because this is a piece of scripture that Satan himself quoted to try to get Jesus off focus and uh away from God's great plan. 00:01:37.840 --> 00:01:43.120 I'm gonna uh go and read that in just a second, but first let's read this. 00:01:43.439 --> 00:01:54.799 Psalm chapter 91 says, He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. 00:01:55.040 --> 00:02:02.319 I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge, my fortress, my God, and in him I will trust. 00:02:02.879 --> 00:02:08.639 Surely he will deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the perilous pestilence. 00:02:08.960 --> 00:02:13.360 He shall cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you shall take refuge. 00:02:13.599 --> 00:02:17.840 His truth shall be your shield and your buckler. 00:02:18.080 --> 00:02:29.759 You shall not be afraid of the terror by night, nor of the arrows that fly by day, nor of the pestilence that walks in the darkness, nor of the destruction that lays waste at noonday. 00:02:30.400 --> 00:02:37.039 A thousand may fall at your side, and ten thousand at your right side, but it shall not come near you. 00:02:37.439 --> 00:02:42.639 Only with your eyes will you look and see the reward of the wicked. 00:02:43.840 --> 00:02:50.080 Because you have made the Lord who is my refuge, even the most high your dwelling place. 00:02:50.479 --> 00:03:01.039 No evil shall befall you, nor shall plague come near your dwelling, for he shall give his angels charge over you to keep you in all your ways. 00:03:01.199 --> 00:03:06.080 In their hands they shall bear you up, lest you dash your foot against a stone. 00:03:06.240 --> 00:03:07.759 And you've probably heard that before. 00:03:07.840 --> 00:03:16.879 That's probably the one that's going to ring most familiar, because those were uh the one that's the words that Satan used to try to get Jesus off focus. 00:03:16.960 --> 00:03:18.560 But let's go back to 13. 00:03:19.199 --> 00:03:26.800 You shall tread upon the lion and the cobra, the young lion and lion and the serpent, and you shall trample them underfoot. 00:03:27.120 --> 00:03:31.599 Because he has set his love upon me, therefore I will deliver him. 00:03:31.919 --> 00:03:36.560 I will set him on high because he has known my name. 00:03:37.039 --> 00:03:49.759 He shall call upon me, and I will answer him, and I will be with him in trouble, and I will deliver him and honor him, and with long life I will satisfy him, and I will show him my salvation. 00:03:50.319 --> 00:03:56.240 Part of the reason why this scripture is so it's really hard to teach. 00:03:56.400 --> 00:04:06.960 It's just a hard scripture to teach, is because there's promises in here that I know that a person could read that and say, Well, wait, I'm a Christian, and that's not true of me. 00:04:07.199 --> 00:04:14.400 Like I've gone through hardship, I've gone through hard times, I've seen death in my family, I've I've lost a good job. 00:04:14.560 --> 00:04:18.720 I I thought I was gonna get a good job and I didn't get it, my house burned down. 00:04:18.959 --> 00:04:21.279 What's the deal? 00:04:21.600 --> 00:04:23.920 This scripture can't be true. 00:04:24.639 --> 00:04:29.759 And it requires real wisdom to read this scripture and understand what God's saying. 00:04:29.839 --> 00:04:38.639 And that's why Jesus didn't fall to the temptation, because Satan himself took Jesus to a high place and he said, Hey, jump. 00:04:39.199 --> 00:04:51.839 Like if you're God, jump and prove it, because it says clearly in Psalm 91 that he will give his angels charge over you, and they will protect you and they will keep you, so jump. 00:04:52.720 --> 00:04:58.240 And he said, Yeah, but the Bible also says, Don't put the Lord your God to the test. 00:04:58.720 --> 00:05:03.839 He had enough wisdom to not take a piece of scripture and make it a fortune cookie. 00:05:03.920 --> 00:05:04.959 Does that make sense? 00:05:05.199 --> 00:05:06.959 See, that's part of the problem. 00:05:07.360 --> 00:05:22.560 That's part of the problem is we take verses and we put them on our bumpers and we put them on our shirts, and if I were to ask, and I won't because you could embarrass me the same way, but if I could ask, what is the context of that? 00:05:23.120 --> 00:05:26.240 You might say, I don't know. 00:05:26.720 --> 00:05:27.680 I don't really know. 00:05:27.839 --> 00:05:36.720 Jeremiah 29, 11 is one of those that's just like, whoa, guys, you gotta understand this whole scripture. 00:05:36.800 --> 00:05:40.480 You gotta understand that these people are in captivity. 00:05:40.639 --> 00:05:43.600 These are not like, oh, happy day verses here. 00:05:44.399 --> 00:05:46.160 And so it's super important. 00:05:46.319 --> 00:06:02.720 And so one of the things that just made it super clear for me is this scripture needs wisdom to interpret it, or a person could interpret it that he who dwells in the secret place is immortal. 00:06:03.279 --> 00:06:04.639 He cannot die. 00:06:05.600 --> 00:06:10.639 Thousand may fall at your right, ten thousand at your left, but you will not die. 00:06:11.199 --> 00:06:12.959 Well, I hate to tell you this. 00:06:13.120 --> 00:06:15.600 We don't know exactly who wrote this scripture. 00:06:15.839 --> 00:06:23.439 We believe it was either Moses or David or someone else, but the only thing we do know is they're dead. 00:06:26.000 --> 00:06:28.560 So let that sink in for a minute. 00:06:29.680 --> 00:06:36.720 It requires great wisdom to go through this, but the temptation then is to say, well, then when is it true? 00:06:36.879 --> 00:06:39.360 Then I can't hold on to these scriptures. 00:06:39.759 --> 00:06:44.160 And I'm telling you, I struggled through this uh this sermon. 00:06:44.480 --> 00:06:53.680 I really struggled through this sermon to the point that I called some people that had gone through some real hard times in their life. 00:06:54.000 --> 00:06:57.519 One of my favorite people that I called, I call her Miss Denise. 00:06:57.759 --> 00:07:01.360 I don't know how many of you follow me on social media. 00:07:01.680 --> 00:07:13.360 I have, I'm trying, I'm really trying to create some social media that allows the everyday person to become an extraordinary disciple. 00:07:13.600 --> 00:07:15.040 My bus driver was that. 00:07:15.120 --> 00:07:16.800 She was an everyday person. 00:07:16.959 --> 00:07:30.319 She taped Bible verses above, you guys have heard it because this is my church, but she taped Bible verses above our seats, and you could move and sit anywhere you wanted to sit, but you had to memorize the verse above that seat. 00:07:30.480 --> 00:07:36.160 She was a public school teacher, uh public school bus driver, and she just taped Bible verses above every seat. 00:07:36.240 --> 00:07:45.199 And if you wanted to move, then you had to go and memorize that scripture, and you would have to say, Hey, I wanna I want to sit at John 3.16. 00:07:45.279 --> 00:07:50.480 For God so loved the world, he gave his only begotten son, whosoever believe in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 00:07:50.639 --> 00:07:54.079 And she would uh tell the other guys, hey, do you have that seat? 00:07:54.160 --> 00:07:56.720 Like he has it memorized, you gotta move. 00:07:58.000 --> 00:08:03.439 So you could go anywhere, you could like own that bus as long as you memorize scripture. 00:08:03.519 --> 00:08:11.519 She was an ordinary person, had just a regular job, but was an extraordinary disciple. 00:08:12.079 --> 00:08:15.519 And she made disciples of kids that rode her bus. 00:08:16.000 --> 00:08:18.079 And God used her powerfully. 00:08:18.240 --> 00:08:33.360 And I feel that the world doesn't need more superstars, the world doesn't need more rock stars, the world doesn't need more all-stars, the world doesn't need a better president, the world doesn't need more pastors. 00:08:34.159 --> 00:08:48.159 What the world needs is for us, ordinary people, to get up every day and go do our jobs, filled with the Spirit, prepared for the work of the Lord, and just say, God, how do you want to use me today? 00:08:48.480 --> 00:08:57.279 That's how we need to operate, and that's what's going to impact the world, because there's just not enough MVP superstars to go around. 00:08:57.519 --> 00:09:01.440 There's not enough pastors to go around, there's not enough presidents to go around. 00:09:01.679 --> 00:09:09.039 But if you were to influence one person with just the overflow of your heart, your church doubles tomorrow, right? 00:09:09.120 --> 00:09:10.159 That's just the way it works. 00:09:10.320 --> 00:09:11.679 Anyway, I digress. 00:09:12.320 --> 00:09:26.559 But I started doing some social media stuff to uh allow the everyday person to just say, hey, every day I'm kind of growing in the Lord, every day I'm getting stuff, every day I'm being challenged. 00:09:26.720 --> 00:09:31.360 Uh so um that's one of the things that I that I do on here. 00:09:31.679 --> 00:09:38.639 I called one of the people that speak into my life and influence that, and her name is uh Miss Denise. 00:09:39.279 --> 00:09:50.639 And Miss Denise, uh, if you saw on social media a little while back, you saw uh a photo of a pick, a guitar pick, that I found on the ground. 00:09:51.200 --> 00:09:57.440 One of my great mentors in life, he took me under his wing as a 19-year-old kid. 00:09:57.679 --> 00:10:02.960 He loved the Lord, but he would never, ever in a million years stand up and preach a sermon. 00:10:03.120 --> 00:10:04.639 It's not gonna happen. 00:10:04.879 --> 00:10:06.000 That's not who he is. 00:10:06.159 --> 00:10:07.360 He's not wired that way. 00:10:07.519 --> 00:10:10.480 He doesn't want to do it, he wants to play a guitar. 00:10:11.039 --> 00:10:14.480 And so he owned a studio and he'll help me record my first record. 00:10:14.559 --> 00:10:18.639 And he I ate dinner at his table many times. 00:10:19.440 --> 00:10:24.799 And he was a great spiritual leader to me, but his wife even greater. 00:10:25.440 --> 00:10:28.399 His gr his wife would stand up and preach. 00:10:28.639 --> 00:10:33.360 His wife would lead you in a Bible study, his wife would lay hands on you and pray over you. 00:10:33.519 --> 00:10:35.519 She's just a giant. 00:10:36.639 --> 00:10:41.840 And her husband died of cancer a few years back. 00:10:42.320 --> 00:10:47.600 So I called her and I said, Miss Denise, I've got to preach this sermon. 00:10:47.679 --> 00:10:49.840 I feel like I have to, but I'm scared to. 00:10:51.120 --> 00:10:52.320 And she said, Why? 00:10:53.200 --> 00:10:57.600 I said, Because Miss Denise, I only have one perspective when I preach. 00:10:57.840 --> 00:11:00.080 I only have one perspective when I teach. 00:11:00.320 --> 00:11:03.840 I don't know what people are going through and how that's gonna be interpreted. 00:11:04.000 --> 00:11:06.320 And she's like, Well, that's none of your business. 00:11:08.799 --> 00:11:11.679 And I said, Well, how do you interpret this scripture? 00:11:11.840 --> 00:11:13.279 She said, It's glorious. 00:11:13.519 --> 00:11:26.720 And she sent me pictures of her Bible all marked up, and she just wrote, there's one area where she just writes, Wow, one area where she just writes, God is faithful. 00:11:27.440 --> 00:11:36.080 And she's doing it all the while her husband is going through leukemia treatment, and he ultimately dies. 00:11:37.200 --> 00:11:40.799 And I'm like, Miss Denise, did this scripture let you down? 00:11:41.440 --> 00:11:44.320 And she said, Son, who are we? 00:11:45.759 --> 00:11:48.240 Who are we that we would question God in this way? 00:11:48.399 --> 00:11:49.440 What are you thinking? 00:11:49.600 --> 00:11:55.360 Like, no, he's the most high, he's he's my shelter, he's my everything. 00:11:55.679 --> 00:11:59.600 This scripture is beauty to me. 00:12:00.799 --> 00:12:10.960 But if you're not prepared and if you don't understand what this scripture says, you would you could read this and say, Well, God, you let me down because evil did come near me. 00:12:12.080 --> 00:12:16.000 I remember being a 20-year-old. 00:12:16.320 --> 00:12:27.120 I had just uh moved out of town, uh, 19 or 20, and my mother and my stepfather came to me, they took me out to eat. 00:12:27.519 --> 00:12:37.200 We sat down for breakfast, and they looked at me across the table, and they said to me, Hey, we just want to let you know it's over. 00:12:38.159 --> 00:12:39.039 What's over? 00:12:39.840 --> 00:12:42.399 Me and your dad, we're we're we're gonna call it quits. 00:12:43.600 --> 00:12:50.799 And just to be super frank this morning, I'm thinking, you guys should have done this years ago. 00:12:51.200 --> 00:12:52.720 That's what I'm feeling. 00:12:53.039 --> 00:12:55.919 It's like, guys, it's been over years ago. 00:12:56.480 --> 00:13:04.080 Because there was abuse in our family and there was things that we went through, and I thought, why why am I supposed to care now? 00:13:04.799 --> 00:13:11.919 And I can't tell you just the the mess that came over me, just the turmoil that came over my heart. 00:13:12.320 --> 00:13:16.639 And it was so hard that I got up and I went to a bathroom. 00:13:16.879 --> 00:13:29.519 It was we were in a restaurant, and I remember locking the bathroom door and sitting on the floor of a public bathroom and just weeping and just crying over just over the brokenness. 00:13:30.080 --> 00:13:40.480 I wasn't crying because they were separating, I was just crying over the heaviness of it all, over the darkness of it all. 00:13:40.639 --> 00:13:51.919 I don't know how to describe that, but if you've ever been through something that's just like it's not even the outcome, it's just the weight of the darkness that is there. 00:13:53.120 --> 00:14:00.960 And I remember sitting in the floor and just crying and thinking, God, how how do people get here? 00:14:01.759 --> 00:14:03.679 How do we get here as people? 00:14:05.120 --> 00:14:10.559 And then when it got a little bit like, hey, this is a bit people gonna need to use the bathroom. 00:14:10.639 --> 00:14:11.919 So you got to get out of here. 00:14:12.080 --> 00:14:16.559 I get up and I wash my face, try to look like I haven't been crying. 00:14:16.879 --> 00:14:24.799 I go back out, I sit down in on my seat at the table, and the whole restaurant is just glass. 00:14:25.600 --> 00:14:28.240 So you can see the parking lot clearly. 00:14:28.399 --> 00:14:37.440 And I'm sitting at the in my seat and I see this little girl, and she's walking in, and this little girl comes in. 00:14:37.519 --> 00:14:40.080 You know how Walmart they have the smiley face stickers? 00:14:40.240 --> 00:14:43.519 You know what I'm talking about, those little yellow smiley face stickers? 00:14:43.679 --> 00:14:44.639 She had a whole roll. 00:14:44.720 --> 00:14:46.399 This is how cute she was. 00:14:47.200 --> 00:14:55.519 Somebody, one of those uh greeters at Walmart, saw her, and she was so cute that the greeter had to be like, here, just take the roll. 00:14:55.600 --> 00:14:56.879 Like, just take the whole thing. 00:14:57.039 --> 00:15:00.559 You don't even get a sticker, you get a roll of stickers. 00:15:00.799 --> 00:15:05.120 So she walks into the restaurant with a roll of stickers. 00:15:05.360 --> 00:15:10.879 And I'm I kid you not, there were maybe, I don't know, maybe 50 people in the restaurant. 00:15:11.039 --> 00:15:13.120 She walked up to every person. 00:15:13.679 --> 00:15:16.399 She pulled off a sticker and she put it on them. 00:15:16.480 --> 00:15:18.799 And I'm watching her just go throughout the restaurant. 00:15:18.879 --> 00:15:21.120 And there's people disgusted with her. 00:15:21.360 --> 00:15:28.480 There's some people that think she's cute, there's other people that like that are like, I'm trying to eat, get control of your child. 00:15:28.960 --> 00:15:36.879 And she comes up to me, pulls a sticker off, and she puts it on my chest, and she just rubs it in. 00:15:37.679 --> 00:15:39.360 She's rubbing it in. 00:15:39.759 --> 00:15:45.279 And I just look at her in her face, and it was like I was looking at God. 00:15:46.159 --> 00:15:51.039 It was like God Himself said, I see you. 00:15:52.000 --> 00:15:52.480 Smile. 00:15:53.519 --> 00:15:54.799 It's okay. 00:15:55.360 --> 00:16:01.039 Now, in my life, my parents were still going to divorce. 00:16:01.200 --> 00:16:04.240 It was still happening in front of me. 00:16:04.480 --> 00:16:07.200 Darkness had still happened. 00:16:08.159 --> 00:16:13.759 But God himself saw it fit to bring a little girl to say, I see you. 00:16:14.480 --> 00:16:15.200 It's okay. 00:16:15.360 --> 00:16:16.159 It's alright. 00:16:16.399 --> 00:16:17.840 You're you're good. 00:16:18.399 --> 00:16:27.039 And I just felt that darkness lift by the power of a little blonde-headed girl with a Walmart smiley face sticker. 00:16:27.759 --> 00:16:30.480 In that time, God kept giving me this word. 00:16:31.039 --> 00:16:34.399 They that wait upon the Lord will renew their strength. 00:16:34.639 --> 00:16:41.679 They will mount up with wings like eagles, they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and they will not grow faint. 00:16:42.080 --> 00:16:47.840 And I would feel literal panic come over me in this dark season. 00:16:48.000 --> 00:16:50.639 I don't know how to make it make sense, but it was a depression. 00:16:50.720 --> 00:16:51.600 I would cry. 00:16:51.759 --> 00:16:53.039 It was hard. 00:16:53.679 --> 00:17:02.799 And I remember I was a youth pastor at the time, and we were driving up toward towards West Virginia from North Carolina. 00:17:02.960 --> 00:17:05.359 It was me and another youth leader. 00:17:05.599 --> 00:17:11.039 We were going to uh scout out some um youth camp opportunities. 00:17:11.440 --> 00:17:17.759 Going up the road, and this youth leader says something that just triggers this panic. 00:17:18.079 --> 00:17:20.000 Doesn't even know they're saying it. 00:17:20.240 --> 00:17:24.799 But they just say something, it triggers this panic in me, and I start weeping. 00:17:25.119 --> 00:17:33.440 And I didn't want them to see me weep, so I turn my head and I look out the window because I just didn't want that to show. 00:17:33.599 --> 00:17:37.759 Nobody knew what I was going through, and I didn't want her to be like, why are you crying? 00:17:37.920 --> 00:17:39.759 What are you doing over there? 00:17:40.079 --> 00:17:44.960 So I turn my eyes, I look out the window, and I'm crying. 00:17:45.200 --> 00:17:47.759 And just at that time we had passed a church. 00:17:48.000 --> 00:17:49.839 And you know those signs back in the day? 00:17:49.920 --> 00:17:52.640 I don't think they do it as much anymore, but they do it sometimes. 00:17:52.880 --> 00:18:03.599 Stupid signs like uh we have we dunk better than donuts or something like that, you know, like stupid Jesus sayings, dumb Christian sayings, stuff they put on the signs. 00:18:03.839 --> 00:18:05.119 It's they try. 00:18:05.359 --> 00:18:18.319 So anyway, I turn my head and I look, and we're crossing a sign that says, they that wait upon the Lord Bobby. 00:18:18.480 --> 00:18:20.240 If I'm lying, I'm dying. 00:18:20.480 --> 00:18:27.599 It said, it said, they that wait upon the Lord Bobby. 00:18:28.480 --> 00:18:40.960 The best I can gather is that was the pastor's sermon, and his name was like Bobby Jones or something, and the guy, whoever was gonna do Joan, was gonna put in the last name, had to take a bathroom break. 00:18:41.200 --> 00:18:43.200 But it just said Bobby. 00:18:43.599 --> 00:18:50.240 And it was like the Lord saying, I see you, son, but I was still going through it. 00:18:50.880 --> 00:18:54.240 I think that's what this scripture is is telling us. 00:18:54.480 --> 00:18:58.960 I do think there is a promise of protection in this process. 00:18:59.200 --> 00:19:04.480 I am not trying to undo the fact that God can protect us, that God can cover us. 00:19:04.640 --> 00:19:09.200 I'm not trying to take away the supernatural ability of God to protect us. 00:19:09.359 --> 00:19:15.839 I'm just saying we don't have the ability to say, well, you let me down because. 00:19:16.559 --> 00:19:20.960 And everybody that I sat down and that I interviewed, I interviewed several people. 00:19:21.039 --> 00:19:26.799 I interviewed a person whose wife got cancer, they thought she was gonna die and she came through. 00:19:27.119 --> 00:19:32.799 I interviewed a person whose husband got cancer, they thought he was gonna come through and he died. 00:19:33.279 --> 00:19:38.000 I interviewed a person whose uh child died. 00:19:38.640 --> 00:19:44.720 I interviewed several people, and everybody said, no, no, this scripture, this is cornerstone for me. 00:19:44.799 --> 00:19:51.519 I I needed God, and in my darkest hour, God was there for me. 00:19:52.079 --> 00:19:57.279 And so as we go through this, my hope is that this is encouraging to you. 00:19:57.359 --> 00:19:58.559 Now, here's what I want you to do. 00:19:58.720 --> 00:20:02.319 The scripture says, He who dwells. 00:20:03.039 --> 00:20:06.799 What that is saying is there is a particular type of person. 00:20:07.759 --> 00:20:23.599 This scripture is talking about a particular type of person, and it is not a just Christian, it's not a person that prayed to just receive Christ, it is a person that dwells in the secret place. 00:20:23.920 --> 00:20:31.759 This is habit, this is daily, this is, I'm coining a new phrase in my life, and it's do the daily. 00:20:32.400 --> 00:20:35.039 It's because I get distracted all the time. 00:20:35.279 --> 00:20:38.960 At the end of the day, I ask myself, what did I actually do today? 00:20:39.279 --> 00:20:41.440 And did I get anything done? 00:20:41.680 --> 00:20:47.519 And so I'm starting to create lists, and what I first started doing was just making a list of all the things I have to do. 00:20:47.759 --> 00:20:56.160 And I was getting the list done, and I was feeling pretty good about myself, and then I started asking, wait, why am I doing all of this? 00:20:56.880 --> 00:21:01.759 Like, I kind of tried to mature to this. 00:21:02.319 --> 00:21:05.599 There's LeBron James, you guys familiar with LeBron James? 00:21:05.680 --> 00:21:08.319 For the most part, he's a very good basketball player. 00:21:08.799 --> 00:21:16.400 If he gets up every morning and he shoots 500 free throws, pretty smart. 00:21:16.640 --> 00:21:18.400 Seems like that would make sense, right? 00:21:18.640 --> 00:21:20.960 Every day, just shoot 500 free throws. 00:21:21.039 --> 00:21:27.200 Now, if I get up every morning and shoot 500 free throws, it's like, dude, grow up, what are you doing with your life? 00:21:27.359 --> 00:21:30.480 Why are you out there shooting trying to get better at free throws? 00:21:30.559 --> 00:21:33.839 There's bills to be paid, there's a kingdom of God to be ministered to. 00:21:33.920 --> 00:21:36.240 What are you doing spending that much time of your life? 00:21:36.400 --> 00:21:48.640 So what I had to start doing was saying, What do I need to do daily to become the person God made me to be daily? 00:21:50.160 --> 00:21:56.640 And so when you dwell in a place, you don't just visit it, you dwell, you live there. 00:21:56.720 --> 00:21:57.599 So here's the deal. 00:21:58.880 --> 00:21:59.759 I want you to imagine. 00:22:00.160 --> 00:22:02.559 the most beautiful home you've ever seen. 00:22:02.720 --> 00:22:07.519 Not in your mind, but you've literally seen it before. 00:22:08.000 --> 00:22:51.200 I think for me, it is uh the Biltmore mansion in uh uh uh in Asheville North Carolina beautiful but for you imagine the most beautiful home you've ever laid eyes on what does it look like now for most of us we only have a view from the outside I'm not gonna pay the 75 bucks it takes to walk in that mansion unless there's a bed in there for me to lay on for the night you're not getting$75 from me I'll give you a thumbs up kudos to you you are way more successful than me and you don't need my$75. 00:22:52.160 --> 00:22:55.440 So I'm not paying$75 to walk in your house. 00:22:55.759 --> 00:22:59.200 So all I have of the Biltmore mansion is the outside. 00:22:59.440 --> 00:23:02.480 That's it what about you? 00:23:03.440 --> 00:23:20.880 Maybe you have a view of the inside but maybe you only know what the main floor bathroom looks like what the main floor living and guest room looks like and maybe even what the kitchen looks like because someone has invited you into that home. 00:23:21.839 --> 00:23:44.720 But if you dwell in that home you know where the closets are you know where they keep the iron you know where the vacuum cleaners are you know where the toilets are you know where the toilet cleaning stuff is I stayed at someone's house this week it took me a half hour just to find a uh a fork I'm like which because they have like a million drawers and you're like which one? 00:23:44.880 --> 00:23:45.440 Which one? 00:23:45.519 --> 00:23:48.079 No well no not that drawer not that drawer. 00:23:48.240 --> 00:23:50.640 Okay and then you eventually find the fork. 00:23:50.720 --> 00:23:54.400 It's because I don't dwell there I just visited there. 00:23:54.559 --> 00:24:07.519 And there's a lot of us who just visit where God lives and we're upset because well it didn't work out that that way for me and it's like well but God's inviting you to come dwell here. 00:24:08.240 --> 00:24:19.519 And if God invites you to come dwell here then you have an intimate understanding of what it means to be in the presence of the Lord. 00:24:20.319 --> 00:26:07.119 He who dwells in the secret place that means it's not that easy to find what verse comes to mind is enter in through the narrow way because wide is the gate that leads to destruction broad is the road that leads to destruction but narrow is the way that leads to life it's just it's not that easy to find it's it's a particular way and so for us he says he who dwells in the secret place of the most high God you know what he's saying God lives here there is a house there is a place where you can go and as you open up that door and you hear a voice say come in and you come in and you sit down and there's a fire and there's a great there's a fireplace and there's a great seat and there's a I imagine a great rug where I can just sit down by the fire in this great Lord's house and I can just remain and I just go there and this God of great wisdom and compassion and love says how you doing today well my world's falling apart no it's not falling apart it's not let me show you it's not falling apart that's the beauty of being able to dwell and and be with God to actually be with him but it does that kind of experience doesn't come from just visiting him and so some people are like hey I went to church last Easter and none of this is true. 00:26:08.960 --> 00:29:43.599 It's a hidden place you have to trust the Lord and you have to come and you actually the Bible compares it to getting under his wing this is why I know that you can't take this literal literal because Jesus does God doesn't have feathers okay but he's trying to paint a picture here come get under my wing let me protect you there is a place in which you can do that it is the secret place of the Lord God most high do you know that the God that you serve you cannot serve a higher God you may serve another God but you cannot serve a higher God he is the most high there's not a more higher than the most high he is not a there's not a most high he is the most high and that's the God in which we serve my brother one time had conflict with another dad and this kid was picking on my brother's daughter and my brother went to that uh kid and said hey let's not do that anymore the dad found out about it and came to my brother and said you should be man enough to come to me my brother said man enough he said yeah he said okay he said kid you see this man right here the kid said yeah he said the next time you put your hands on my little girl I'm gonna kick his rear end and my brother's not saved okay he's not a believer but that man left that day my brother was the most high in that situation that's the God I serve the most high there's nothing out of his control or out of his ability he is my great protector so how do we do it quickly how do we get directions to this home where you can just open the door and you can just sit there this is what I want to do I want to go through that really quickly if you look in verse two he says I will say of the Lord I will say of the Lord he is my refuge and my fortress my God in whom I trust what comes out of your mouth what comes out of your mouth is it woe is me is it the world's falling apart is it a sense of despair or do you speak out how great God is somebody coined a phrase one time that just says if you say so if you say so if you say the world's falling apart then it is for you but if you say that God's in control of that same situation and the world's falling apart it's not what do you say of the Lord then look at verse 3 verse 3 says surely he shall deliver you from the snare of the fowler look at the confidence that he has it's gonna happen surely it's gonna happen and then I look down in verse 4. 00:29:43.680 --> 00:30:01.039 In verse 4 he says he covers you with his feathers and under his wings you shall take refuge his truth shall be your shield and your buckler a person that dwells in the secret place of the Lord God most high wears their Bible out. 00:30:02.160 --> 00:30:06.400 And now not everybody agrees with writing in writing in your Bible and that's fine. 00:30:06.640 --> 00:33:52.319 I do I write in I write in my Bible because I have a short memory and somebody one time said a short pen is better than the longest memory so I write in my Bible things that I can go back and remember and so I need this I need this Bible but I just want you to look at it it says his truth shall be your shield why do you need a shield if you're not in war why do you need a shield if you're not in battle we'd look weird if somebody walking through the mall with a shield in their hand wouldn't it wouldn't look weird if somebody was uh out at war with a shield in their hand but we are in a battle and we need his truth the whole counsel Paul would say of his truth to equip us for what we're going through sometimes and then he says he will be your shield and your buckler you guys ever tell your kids to buckle up what's the first thing you say when you're in a car to your kids buckle up you know what my kids say to me because I'm the worst at not buckling up they say Dad click it or candy it's a used to be click it or tick it but one time I saw I'm just full confession I didn't have my seatbelt on I saw a cop a little ways up the road I didn't want to like do this and there was a convenience store right here so I pulled in and my daughter said what are we doing I said we're going to get some candy and she said she said why I said because I don't have my seatbelt buckled and and it looks weird so we're just gonna go get some candy so now they say click it or candy but the reason why you click it is because you're going down the road at 75 miles an hour you come to a stop you're going through a windshield this is this is what we do in life guys we spend our days wanting to stop and we're not gonna stop life keeps going but he's your buckler in the middle of that and then look at verse nine verse nine says because you made the Lord who is my refuge even the most high your dwelling place give God that number one spot in your heart who do you go to when you have trouble you call people you get in the word you turn on the TV what do you do may God make God your most high and then verse 14 he says because he set his love upon me this is God himself talking because he has set his love upon me therefore I will deliver him if you're gonna do the daily you understand what that means get up and just be consistent in the small things here's what I want you to do today I want you to go home and say God I know how you love me how do I love you how do I set my love on you and make you my dwelling place how do I set my love upon you because I want to be a person that dwells with the most high you've been listening to the road we hope you have been blessed by today's message to connect with us further visit theroad.org if you are walking through a difficult time we want to pray for you go to theroad.org click on the Ministries tab and go to our prayer page to send us your prayer requests thanks again for tuning in today and be sure to listen to the next edition of The Road