Don't Visit - Dwell

Nichole Bache: Going to move into our morning message this morning.

Nichole Bache: It's titled don't Visit Dwell.

Nichole Bache: And our main scripture is going to be from Psalm ninety one,

Nichole Bache: verse one and two.

Nichole Bache: Excuse me if you'd like to turn there.

Nichole Bache: That's where we're going to kind of start from.

Nichole Bache: I do have other scriptures that

Nichole Bache: will be sprinkled in throughout

Nichole Bache: the sermon.

Nichole Bache: There are some scriptures that

Nichole Bache: people run to when their life

Nichole Bache: feels uncertain.

Nichole Bache: Some passages we quote when fear creeps in.

Nichole Bache: Some verses we hold on to when things feel out of control.

Nichole Bache: And one of the most quoted, most loved passages in Scripture Is

Nichole Bache: Psalm ninety one.

Nichole Bache: But here's the problem.

Nichole Bache: Most people treat Psalm ninety one like a slogan.

Nichole Bache: When it was meant to be a

Nichole Bache: lifestyle, we quote it when

Nichole Bache: we're scared.

Nichole Bache: We read it when we're anxious.

Nichole Bache: We declare it when things feel unstable.

Nichole Bache: But Psalm ninety one was never meant to be occasional.

Nichole Bache: It's positional.

Nichole Bache: Listen to how it begins.

Nichole Bache: Whosoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in

Nichole Bache: the shadow of the Almighty.

Nichole Bache: The key word is dwells.

Nichole Bache: Not visits, not occasionally shows up.

Nichole Bache: not runs there in a crisis, but dwells.

Nichole Bache: My first point today is that the promise is positional.

Nichole Bache: The promise in Psalms ninety one are powerful.

Nichole Bache: They offer protection,

Nichole Bache: deliverance, peace, security,

Nichole Bache: and covering.

Nichole Bache: But those promises are not random.

Nichole Bache: They're connected to your position.

Nichole Bache: Whoever dwells.

Nichole Bache: That means there's a condition before the promise, not a

Nichole Bache: condition of earning, but a condition of proximity.

Nichole Bache: You don't accidentally live covered.

Nichole Bache: You choose to stay close if you stand in the rain without an

Nichole Bache: umbrella, you will get wet.

Nichole Bache: But if you step under a shelter, the rain will still fall, but it

Nichole Bache: doesn't touch you the same way.

Nichole Bache: The shelter didn't stop the storm.

Nichole Bache: It changed your experience in the storm.

Nichole Bache: That's what Psalm ninety one is saying.

Nichole Bache: Come near to God and he will come near to you.

Nichole Bache: James four eight.

Nichole Bache: God is not distant, but closeness requires intention.

Nichole Bache: Which brings us to our second point.

Nichole Bache: The secret place is built daily.

Nichole Bache: Psalm ninety one talks about the shelter of the Most High and the

Nichole Bache: shadow of the Almighty.

Nichole Bache: This is often called the secret place, not because it's hidden

Nichole Bache: from God, but because it's hidden from distraction.

Nichole Bache: It's a daily place.

Nichole Bache: The quiet place, the consistent place, the place where you meet

Nichole Bache: God when nothing is urgent but everything is being built.

Nichole Bache: Jesus modeled this this for us in Mark one thirty five.

Nichole Bache: Very early in the morning, while

Nichole Bache: it was still dark, Jesus got up,

Nichole Bache: left the house, and went off to

Nichole Bache: a solitary place where he

Nichole Bache: prayed.

Nichole Bache: If Jesus needed this secret

Nichole Bache: place, how much more do we need

Nichole Bache: it?

Nichole Bache: But here's the problem that we run into today.

Nichole Bache: The enemy doesn't always try to destroy you.

Nichole Bache: He distracts you.

Nichole Bache: Busyness, noise, constant

Nichole Bache: activity, and spiritual

Nichole Bache: complacency.

Nichole Bache: He does this because if he can

Nichole Bache: keep you out of that secret

Nichole Bache: place, he can keep you

Nichole Bache: spiritually weak.

Nichole Bache: So the truth you need to take

Nichole Bache: from this point is that if you

Nichole Bache: is that you don't drift into

Nichole Bache: God's presence.

Nichole Bache: You decide to dwell there.

Nichole Bache: My next point is that refuge and

Nichole Bache: forgiveness or refuge and

Nichole Bache: fortress are experienced, not

Nichole Bache: just declared.

Nichole Bache: If we turn back to our main

Nichole Bache: text, Psalm ninety one, Verse

Nichole Bache: two tells us, I will say to the

Nichole Bache: Lord, he is my refuge and my

Nichole Bache: fortress, my God, in whom I

Nichole Bache: trust.

Nichole Bache: Let's break that down here for a moment.

Nichole Bache: What is a refuge?

Nichole Bache: It's a shelter.

Nichole Bache: Protection.

Nichole Bache: Safety from danger, distress or trouble.

Nichole Bache: It can't touch you there.

Nichole Bache: It's a place that you run to.

Nichole Bache: A fortress is a heavily

Nichole Bache: fortified or strategically

Nichole Bache: designed area.

Nichole Bache: It's a place where you are protected and not exposed.

Nichole Bache: But here's the key.

Nichole Bache: You can't experience God as a fortress if you keep living

Nichole Bache: outside the walls.

Nichole Bache: You can't claim refuge if you only visit occasionally.

Nichole Bache: Imagine someone standing in their driveway in the middle of

Nichole Bache: a horrendous storm and saying, this house will protect me.

Nichole Bache: The protection is real, but it

Nichole Bache: only works if you stand inside

Nichole Bache: the house.

Nichole Bache: Proverbs eighteen ten tells us, the name of the Lord is a

Nichole Bache: fortress, is a fortified tower.

Nichole Bache: The righteous run to it and are safe.

Nichole Bache: Notice.

Nichole Bache: Run to it.

Nichole Bache: But Psalm ninety one takes it further.

Nichole Bache: Not just run.

Nichole Bache: Remain.

Nichole Bache: Now if we look on to point four

Nichole Bache: today, the enemy fights your

Nichole Bache: dwelling.

Nichole Bache: The enemy understands something that many believers forget a

Nichole Bache: believer who lives in God's presence is not easily shaken.

Nichole Bache: So what does the enemy do?

Nichole Bache: He tries to pull you out of that presence, out of that place,

Nichole Bache: that secret place that you go to be with God.

Nichole Bache: Not always through obvious sin, but through subtle shifts.

Nichole Bache: You're too busy today.

Nichole Bache: You'll pray later.

Nichole Bache: You don't need to do that.

Nichole Bache: You can get to it tomorrow.

Nichole Bache: That devotional.

Nichole Bache: It'll be there next week.

Nichole Bache: And suddenly days pass.

Nichole Bache: Distance grows and you feel exposed.

Nichole Bache: We can read in First Peter five eight.

Nichole Bache: Be alert and of sober mind.

Nichole Bache: Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion.

Nichole Bache: He is not just attacking your

Nichole Bache: life, he's targeting your

Nichole Bache: connection.

Nichole Bache: Because if he can disconnect you

Nichole Bache: from God, he can destabilize

Nichole Bache: you.

Nichole Bache: My final point that I want to

Nichole Bache: bring out from this today is a

Nichole Bache: life that dwells is a life that

Nichole Bache: anchors.

Nichole Bache: When you dwell in God's

Nichole Bache: presence, you're not easily

Nichole Bache: shaken.

Nichole Bache: You're not easily overwhelmed.

Nichole Bache: You're not easily led by fear,

Nichole Bache: not because life is easy, but

Nichole Bache: because you are anchored in your

Nichole Bache: faith.

Nichole Bache: We can look to Psalms forty six one and two.

Nichole Bache: God is our refuge and our

Nichole Bache: strength, an ever present help

Nichole Bache: in trouble.

Nichole Bache: Therefore we will not fear.

Nichole Bache: Notice there ever present God is constant.

Nichole Bache: The question is, are we.

Nichole Bache: So to bring this all together this morning, we need to ask,

Nichole Bache: how do we dwell in the shelter of the Most High?

Nichole Bache: It isn't complicated, but it is intentional.

Nichole Bache: First, we need to return daily, not just when things go wrong.

Nichole Bache: We need to seek God out each and every day.

Nichole Bache: Take time to create that personal relationship with him.

Nichole Bache: Second, we need to create that quiet place.

Nichole Bache: Turn off the distractions.

Nichole Bache: Be still.

Nichole Bache: And I know this is hard.

Nichole Bache: There are so many things pulling our attention in ten different

Nichole Bache: directions at the same time.

Nichole Bache: But God commands us to do this.

Nichole Bache: In Psalm forty six ten, he says, be still and know that I am God.

Nichole Bache: Third, we need to stay consistent.

Nichole Bache: Consistency builds intimacy with the busy lives that everyone

Nichole Bache: seems to live today.

Nichole Bache: You may need to schedule time in your day as a non-negotiable,

Nichole Bache: just like you make time for important worldly relationships.

Nichole Bache: Make nurturing your relationship with God a priority.

Nichole Bache: Four.

Nichole Bache: Don't rush the presence.

Nichole Bache: God is not a checklist.

Nichole Bache: He is a relationship.

Nichole Bache: The more time you spend with him, the more time you will want

Nichole Bache: to spend with him.

Nichole Bache: So here's the challenge for you this week church.

Nichole Bache: Don't just visit God when you need something.

Nichole Bache: Live there.

Nichole Bache: Return daily.

Nichole Bache: Stay consistently.

Nichole Bache: Build your life in his presence.

Nichole Bache: Because Psalm ninety one is not just something you read.

Nichole Bache: It's somewhere you remain.

Nichole Bache: Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the

Nichole Bache: shelter of the Almighty.

Nichole Bache: Psalm ninety one one.

Nichole Bache: And when you dwell, you don't just survive the storm, you are

Nichole Bache: covered in it.

Nichole Bache: Amen.