Sitting on the fence…

is a common term/idiom that is used when people cannot make a decision one way or the other.

It’s a life choice that we must make when considering who we follow and serve and which kingdom we are a part of;

either the kingdom of darkness

or

the kingdom of light.

We cannot be in both and there is no grey,

it’s black OR white.

Making no choice is a choice in itself!

The question is, in which kingdom are we dwelling?

Many people are familiar with the sirens that sound a warning of an imminent tornado, or other life threatening situation… when we hear that sound there is no time to prepare ..it’s too late to get ready for whatever is about to happen. This is in a natural sense and everyone should have a plan for things that take us by surprise. If this is true in the natural, then how much more important is it to have an eternal plan already in place? In the natural, people can pick up the pieces and start over and make provision for being ready next time… With the things that pertain to life and godliness, there is no reset button once our days are complete according to His book.

Ps 139:16 Your eyes saw my unformed body; all my days were written in Your book and ordained for me before one of them came to be. 

Then we are called home and we need to know for sure which direction we are headed in for eternity.

We must make that decision that choice now, today is the day of salvation.

The stark truth is there is

NO fence

to sit on.

 

There is one Kingdom of Heaven where our Heavenly Father and His Messiah is, and another of darkness where He is NOT.

The alarm is sounding loud and clear to get ready

choose this day and choose life,

eternal life. Deut. 30:19

There is only

THE GATE … John 10:1-9

Then we are to live with the kingdom within us, awaiting the fullness of it when we move to His realm; then the physical body will no longer support us or if we are still here at His return.

Only the Father knows when that will be and only He knows when our race is complete…if we are still here then our race is not yet finished….

We are to encourage all those around us

to be ready,

be prepared,

to…

Wake up o sleeper!

Ephesians 5:14

This is why it is said: ‘Wake up, O sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.’

Often in the Scriptures believers are exhorted to awake. They are warned of the dangers of spiritual sleep, that such a slumber is like a coma that will result in death unless the believer awakens.

Right now each and every one of us is living/dwelling in a kingdom….   but which one?

There is NO fence…

so in which kingdom are we dwelling?

 

He who dwells…  the first 3 words of Psalm 91:1

The world is in crisis mode and Psalm 91 is one place we can go for help. 

Many conversations over the years have revealed that people feel out of place; like a square peg trying to fit into a round hole.

Our feelings, responses, beliefs, personality, core values never seem to find a perfect solution, and this feeling grows more than ever in our world today.

The words to many songs describe our position that we are just passin’ through, because this world is without doubt NOT our home. It’s true to say that if you feel comfortable in this world then you are probably dwelling in the wrong kingdom. This world and its systems belong to and have been formed by the prince of this world; the prince of the kingdom of darkness. Scripture says if we love the world the love of the Heavenly Father is not in us. And we cannot have two masters we love one and hate the other. So which one do we really love? Which one are we attached to? The fruit of our lives will reveal truth …

Our lives are a reflection of and summed up by our choices. We are indeed the sum of our choices. What we choose day by day reveals who we truly are. It doesn’t matter what we say who we are is in our choices. The place we cannot depart from is the place of our bondage and we defend the things that have been established in the flesh.

Everyone seems to spend their lives looking for somewhere to call home…

Psalm 91 is likely the home address for all believers and until we experience this psalm, we will forever searching.

We are no doubt familiar with Strong’s definitions, however here are some meanings from the Hebrew Alephbet.

As Proverbs 4:20-22 tells us, His Word is life to all who find it.

In the very first verse of Ps. 91 is a reference to the individual:

He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High. 

Dwells is not a word we hear everyday.

It may be used to encourage someone to stop focusing and thinking about a situation, however there is another angle revealed in the Hebrew meaning.

In Strong’s #3427, dwells is a primitive root: 

yashab

Phonetic Spelling: yaw-shab’

defined as: to dwell, to sit down, to remain, to settle, to marry, make to keep [house], and to return.

Dwell, is indicated as a permanent address by most of the words used to describe it; and not like a hotel, B&B, motel or a travel trailer used on holidays and vacations.

To dwell means: to set up a permanent household, settling down where a house/home can be established, to marry and set up housekeeping.

We may not have realized that all the promises of this Psalm hang on this first phrase…why? Because dwelling is an absolute condition if we want to experience the benefits that are listed in the rest of the Psalm.

We should ask ourselves what does dwell mean to us personally? Then we should find out what does it mean to our Heavenly Father?

We can do this by looking at the Hebrew letters

in the word dwell (remember to read from right to left.)

Bet Shin Yod –  yashab

Recall from previous posts that each Hebrew letter has a name, a picture, a number value, and a meaning.

We know that humans discoveries and knowledge called Science, only serves to confirm what believers already know as Truth and scientists have discovered that each letter also has a specific sound frequency when spoken out loud and is the only language known with all of these qualities.

 YOD – 10 = The outcome, the completion of something.

Picture:Hand, Right Arm,

Means: Power – Right hand of God’s power, a Deed Done, to Work, to Cover, Allow, Hollow, Open Hand, also refers to His Holy Spirit as the letter always hangs in the air, overseeing.

SHIN – 300 = Victory of good over evil, Holy Spirit. 

Picture: Teeth or Fire.

Means: Teeth, Fire, the Fiery zeal of God to consume all His enemies, Devour, Destroy, Something Sharp.

 BET 2 = Divide or Division.

Picture: House/floorplan of tent.

Means: House/Family; God’s word, God’s dwelling place

A deeper meaning behind the word dwell is:

He who Dwells is:

Bet…

one who has made the choice to live permanently in God’s house – trusting in God and honoring His Word.

Yod…

There he will experience the activation of God’s right hand of power covering him.

Shin…

And God in His fiery zeal will consume all that tries to keep or draw him away from Dwelling.

When we choose to trust and obey Him, we live secure in His Presence.

We are His dwelling place and He is ours. 

According to 1 Corinthians 3:16-17 Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If anyone defiles the temple/sanctuary of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are.

Colossians 2:9-10 For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily; and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power.

He is our house—our hiding place

In the Amplified Bible 2 Corinthians 12:9 reads: But He said to me, My grace (My favor and loving-kindness and mercy) is enough for you [sufficient against any danger and enables you to bear the trouble manfully]; for My strength and power are made perfect (fulfilled and completed) and show themselves most effective in [your] weakness. Therefore, I will all the more gladly glory in my weaknesses and infirmities, that the strength and power of Christ (the Messiah) may rest (yes, may pitch a tent over and dwell) upon me!

He will pitch a tent over us and DWELL

covering us with Himself!

In our drive through microwave Instagram, hashtag life, dwelling is not something we do very well we have become impatient, wanting everything immediately.

We need to take time with our Heavenly Father today and ask Him to show us how we can dwell more fully in His presence because it’s not just a Sunday/Wednesday attend meeting experience, it is a lifelong process.

Those who have ever remodeled a house know it takes time and longer than a weekend to complete, How much more is it so for Him to dwell in us and for us to dwell in Him; it is a total surrender and commitment of all that we are.

Where do we dwell?

The text says: He who dwells in the Secret Place…

What did he mean by: the Secret Place?

A Secret Place is a …hidden, concealed, private, safe. 

SECRET PLACE in Strong’s #5643

סֵ֣תֶר

Cether

Phonetic Spelling: say’-ther

is defined as:

a cover

secrecy

hiding place

protection

and the primitive root #5641 is defined as:

to hide (by covering)

keep close

conceal

to guard

Again reading from right to left, these are the letters that spell Secret in Hebrew:

RESH, TAV, and SAMEKH 

  SAMEKH  60 = Pride, Conceit, Earthly.

Picture: A Tree propped up by a piece of wood.

Meaning: To Lean Upon, a Prop or Aid, Hold, Assist or Support  – the heart of God.

TAV 400 = the Outcome of Trial and Testing. 

Picture: A Rough Cross. 

Meaning: Cross, Covenant, Seal, Mark, a Sign, Ownership, Finished or Complete.

RESH  200 = Insufficiency, Poverty.

Picture: Head

Meaning: Head, Chief, Beginning, Highest, Most Important, a Person, Human Reasoning vs. Obedience. 

When we allow human reasoning, sometimes referred to as common sense, to be our head or master, Spiritual poverty inevitably follows.

The Hebrew Sages see the circular form of the samekh as: the heart of God, which upholds and supports us, in the same way as a circle has no beginning or end, neither does our Heavenly Father. His love is from everlasting to everlasting, we can lean on His faithful love and support and as we do, we will be surrounded, supported, and kept in perfect peace/shalom in the heart of God.

Isaiah 26:3 says,

You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You.

The meaning of this word through Hebrew eyes when putting this understanding together with the other letters is:

The Secret Place is: living in the midst of our Heavenly Father’s heart, trusting fully in His Word that covers us with His covenant promises of protection, because He loves us and He is head over all.

In Psalm 32:7 David wrote:

You are my hiding place;

You shall preserve me from trouble;

You shall surround me with songs of deliverance.

Selah

And in Psalm 31:19-20

Oh, how great is Your goodness,

Which You have laid up for those who fear You,

Which You have prepared for those who trust in You

In the presence of the sons of men!

20 You shall hide them in the Secret Place of Your presence

From the plots of man;

You shall keep them secretly in a pavilion

From the strife of tongues.

The words

hiding place and the secret place

come from the same root word.

To dwell in the Secret Place is:

to live in the midst of our Heavenly Father’s heart /Samekh, trusting fully in His Covenant /Tav Word

and trusting that He is Head/ Resh over all.

His covenant covers us with promises of protection, because He loves us.

David wrote:

One thing I have desired of the Lord,

That will I 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 inquire in His temple.

5 For in the time of trouble

He shall hide me in His pavilion;

In the secret place of His tabernacle

He shall hide me;

He shall set me high upon a rock.  Psalm 27:4-5

Oh, how great is Your goodness,

Which You have laid up for those who fear You,

Which You have prepared for those who trust in You

In the presence of the sons of men!

You shall hide them in the Secret Place of Your presence

From the plots of man;

You shall keep them secretly in a pavilion

From the strife of tongues.  Psalm 31:19-20

Our Heavenly Father will keep us in the

secret place,

away from the strife of tongues. 

These days everywhere we turn there is a contention/strife stirred up by things that are spoken surely we need a secret place right now?

The secret place

is a place of quiet, inside our souls, a place to rest in Him completely.

A secret place

is not just a stopping place or a place to run to in times of chaos and danger,

but a place to live, to abide, to dwell.

The secret place is IN Him, where we are to live and move and have our being. Acts 17:28

Outside of this place is chaos, confusion, fear and dread. which is the opposite of shalom/peace.

The secret place is the place to be, whether we are running from the enemy or not; and we can live there ALL of the time It’s a personal choice to remain in Him.

By putting the two phrases together we see that: He who Dwells – is one who has made the choice to live permanently in our Heavenly Father’s house; trusting in Him and honoring His Word. There the individual will experience the reality of our Heavenly Father’s right hand of power covering them; and in His fiery zeal He will consume all that tries to keep or draw the individual away from dwelling.

So once more to recap.:

To dwell in the secret place is to

live in the midst of God’s heart, trusting fully in His Covenant Word and trusting that He is Head over all. 

His covenant covers us with promises of protection because He loves us.

If we haven’t found the secret place yet, we must spend time asking His Holy Spirit to help us and by reading this psalm and other psalms, we can feed on the attributes of our Heavenly Father. The more we know Him, the more we will dwell in the secret place.

There are countless messages and many teachings on the power of our words and how what we sow in words, we reap physically, emotionally and spiritually.

It is critical to remember that what we say about our Heavenly Father is of utmost importance. 

His word tells us that out of the abundance of our hearts our mouths speak, so, what we believe about our Heavenly Father is heard when we speak and it sets a course for our faith.

In Psalm 91:2 David writes: I will say of the LORD, He is my refuge and my fortress; my God, in Him I will trust. What David believed, out of the abundance of his heart, he said.

Proverbs 18:21 says that, Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit. David was living in the secret place and wanted others to enter in and enjoy the benefits.

He is declaring what he discovered about the Lord when he says, I will SAY of the Lord…

The word SAY in this verse is one of those familiar words:

I will say

is Strong’s #559.

omar

אֹמַ֗ר

Phonetic Spelling: aw-mar’

And it means:

to utter, to say, answer, consider, declare, publish, report, think.

What we say is what we get because there is power in our words, they are containers of life or death. Just as pebbles drop into water releasing ripples, our words release blessings or curses, freedom or bondage.

Why is it so important about saying or confessing something, isn’t it possible to just believe it inside without saying anything?

The Hebrew text points out that, in addition to vocalizing, the word say, refers to internal speech. 2 Samuel 13:32; Esther 6:6. and it also refers to what is being conveyed by a person’s actions along with their words.

Exodus 2:14; 2 Chronicles 28:13.

The Hebrew letters for the word

say are:

אֹמַ֗ר

aleph/alef mem resh.

  אֹ

ALEPH/ALEF 1 = God – Echad –

Unity, Unique – no other like it.

Picture: Ox head

Meaning: Strength or Leader, Most Important, First – The Strength and Power of the leader.

מַ֗

  MEM 40 = Trial, Testing, Tribulation. 

Picture: Water

Meaning: Womb, Water from the womb, Cleansing water, flowing water that brings life, Mighty, Massive Chaos, Humility, taking the low place, hidden relationship with God, Cleansing water, flowing water that brings life.

   Resh  200 = Insufficiency, Poverty.

 

Picture: Head

Meaning: Head, Chief, Beginning, Highest, Most Important, a Person, Human Reasoning vs. Obedience.  When we allow human reasoning/common sense, to be our master, our head, poverty of the Spirit results.

What we SAY, releases Aleph – God’s strength and power. In humility we are declaring our Mem- hidden relationship with Him. It transforms the circumstances of our testing, based on what we declare. What we say, reveals who, or what we believe to be the most important and worthy of our obedience – Resh.

In the secret place David discovered that Our Heavenly Father is Who He says He is, and by declaring Who He is, David consistently put himself in a position of trust. He kept his focus on the Lord God and he was not shaken by the circumstances around him, but instead he was rested, protected by Him, being free of stress and worry.

I will say of the LORD…

Our Heavenly Father wants to establish us in the secret place of His presence. He wants us to settle down and confidently trust in Him. Our focus and the choice of our words, what we say, can enable or disable our ability to dwell.

When we are praying with other people and the prayers are focused on needs and people are crying out to our Heavenly Father for help, let’s ask Him to reveal Who He is in the midst of this circumstance; and begin saying/declaring those things in spoken prayer.

We could say for example:

Dear Heavenly Father, thank You that You are our help and that nothing is impossible with You. Thank You that Your name is above every name and You are Lord/Adonai over everything and every circumstance. You are our provider and all that we need is found in You. Thank You that when we ask according to Your will, You hear us and answer us. Father, intervene in this situation by bring about Your will and plan and purpose. You triumphed over the enemy at the calvary and You are exalted above all principalities and powers. Come now and show Yourself strong on our behalf because we place our trust in You in the wonderful Name of our Messiah Jesus Christ, Yeshua haMashiach.

These words redirect the focus of the prayer meeting from the problems to being centered on our Heavenly Father. Answers of salvation and deliverance will be released, not only for the specific situation being lifted up in prayer, but also for those seeking help, as It will build our faith and trust in Who He is.

Who do we Say the LORD God is? What is the declaration coming from the abundance of our hearts? Is He truly on the throne of our lives and hearts? Is He known to us as our Heavenly Father, or is He still some far off untouchable, unreachable religious deity?

He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High, shall abide…”

Psalm 91:1

Abide is not really a common word we use today unless we are studying the Bible.

In John 15:4

Jesus/Yeshua gave a clear message:

Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.

The word abide here seems to indicate an invitation to stay.  In Psalm 91:

ABIDE is

 

Strong’s #3885 and it is a primitive root.

In Hebrew, ABIDE is:

לוּן

luwn –

pronounced: loon;

or liyn –

pronounced: leen/luwn
Phonetic Spelling: (loon)

ABIDE is defined as:

to stop (usually over night), to stay permanently, lie all night, (cause to) lodge (all night, in, -ing, this night), remain, or tarry.

The individual letters reveal more…

ל

LAMED

Numerical value: 30

Number 30 =  Blood of Messiah, Dedication to a task. 

Picture: Staff, Goad or Stick,

Meaning: to Teach or Instruct, Authority, to Control, Urge Forward, a Tongue

וּ

VAV

Numerical value: 6

Number 6 =  Man. 

Picture: Nail or Hook,

Meaning: to Secure, Pin together, Connect -Yeshua

FINAL NUN

Numerical value: 700

Number 700 = Restoration, Holy Spirit, Jubilee.

Meaning: Life or Action

The meaning of

To ABIDE is:

to permanently stay under God’s instruction and Authority, moving forward as He direct and when we do, our Father connects us with heaven, and manifests His life in and through us on earth.

Recall that He who dwells, is:

one who moves in permanently – trusting in God and obeying Him.

When he does, he will experience the activation of the Father’s hand of power, His Holy Spirit, consuming with His fire all that destroys or tries to invade, or keep us from His house.

To ABIDE promises even more, by promising that He will teach us how to overcome our enemies by His power, and to keep them from invading our lives.

Build faith by reading John 15:4-6 again:

Abide in Me, and I in you.

As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine,

neither can you, unless you abide in Me.

I am the vine, you are the branches.

He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit;

for without Me you can do nothing.

If anyone does not abide in Me,

he is cast out as a branch and is withered;

and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned.

To abide, like the word dwell, means: we have to stay put in order to receive the full impact of the secret place.

Instead of going from conference to conference and from teaching to teaching in search of spiritual refreshment; we can settle down in the secret place, spend time with Him and allow Him to uncap the well of living water that will never dry up.

All that is needed is for us to make Him our priority and put time with Him first place in our day because to remain fruitful, we must abide, stay close to the source of that living water.

In John 15:7 Jesus promised that, if you abide in Me and My Words abide in you, you shall ask what you will and it shall be done for you.

He will answer in accordance with His will and His plan for us, because He knows what we need better than we do. During times of trial and the testing of our faith, the thing we most often need is to know is that He is with us, and that His perspective on our situation is the best for us. Instead of complaining and questioning why things are happening to us, we should ask how can we cooperate with You Father, for Your Will to be established in this situation?

The answer may come quickly, however it’s more likely to unfold as a step by step process as we continue to wait, are willing to listen, and obedient to apply His counsel and instructions.

In a world where the media can be overwhelming with reports of danger and cause fear, we can choose to listen and allow worry and panic to rule us, or we can go to the secret place of the Most High and learn to abide, trusting in His direction where we can dwell, abiding in peace/shalom. The choice is ours and Psalm 131:2 is another beautiful picture of this abiding: Surely I have calmed and quieted my soul, Like a weaned child with his mother; Like a weaned child is my soul within me.

Our souls include our minds, our will and our emotions…and in Hebrew thought, our bodies are also included so in abiding/dwelling, we will find complete peace/shalom.

When we choose to move into and remain in the secret place of the Most High, we become acquainted with the One Who is the source of every breath we breathe.

It won’t take us long to find out that only IN HIM do we live and move and have our being. If we are outside of Him and have not completely surrendered to Him, we are simply functioning on our own power, which is not going to have a happy ending.

The alarm is sounding and we all need to move in now and while there is still time, get to know the One who loves us more than His very life. In Him we have the source of all power, because all that is good is Him living in us.

Seek the lord while He may be found

and make certain the kingdom

in which you are dwelling is His…

because

…there is NO fence

only THE GATE!

Shalom, shalom mishpachah/family

and cheverim/friends!

It’s all about Life and Relationship,

NOT Religion.

You are greatly loved and precious in His sight.

NOT SURE?

YOU CAN BE..

SAY THE FOLLOWING FROM YOUR HEART RIGHT NOW…

Heavenly Father I come to you in the Name of Jesus/Yeshua asking for forgiveness of my sins for which I am truly sorry. I repent of them all and turn away from my past.

I believe with my heart and confess with my mouth that Jesus/Yeshua is your Son and that He died on the cross at calvary to pay the price for my sin, so that I might be forgiven and have eternal life in the kingdom of Heaven. Father I believe that Jesus/Yeshua rose from the dead and I ask you to come into my life right now and be my personal Savior and Lord and I will worship you all the days of my life. Because your word is truth I say that I am now forgiven and born again and by faith I am washed clean with the blood of Jesus/Yeshua. Thank you that you have accepted me into your family in Jesus’/Yeshua’s name. Amen.