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"Where Love Reigns!"

From Pastor Sheli's Weekly 'Prayer & Praise' email

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Good Evening Church Family, God is able and faithful! Pastor Steve read Psalm 91 last Sunday and parts of the verse have been resonating in my mind and heart this week. On Sunday, I shared that we all get so excited about the blessing part of that psalm that we forget that we have a part to play. The passage starts with "He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, "He is my Refuge and my Fortress, my God, in whom I trust." In order to receive the blessings that come in Psalm 91, there are things that we have to do. We have to dwell, rest and say! Let's look at this for a minute.

The first thing that David instructs is to 'dwell in the shelter of the Most High'. To dwell means "to sit, to remain, to inhabit; to sit down, settle, endure". This paints a picture of someone who is setting up camp and not going anywhere! So, David was saying, "The one who sits down, remains in that place, settles in and is not going anywhere but keeps on keeping on in the Lord's presence", this person is the one who will rest in the Lord's shadow. You can't find rest and without the dwelling! But it doesn't stop there. Resting is another thing that we are supposed to do in order to see the blessing included in Psalm 91. Rest... I think of the three this is the one that I find the hardest. I want to do and battle and go and take the land!!! But that isn't what the Lord lists here and later in the psalm it says a thousand may fall at my right hand but it won't come near me... because I'm resting!

This kind of rest means that I am purposely choosing to stay super close to the Lord. When He moves, I move. When He stays, I stay. We are resting... in the 'shadow' of the Almighty. When you are in someone's shadow, it means you are super close to them! That means He stays between us and the enemy! That's how devastation can come but it does not come near me. Because I am resting on the other side, close to the Lord in His shadow. When you look up the meaning in the Hebrew this word "rest" means abide, lodge, remain, stay all night, continue, endure and dwell! But isn't that what we do when we go on vacation to rest? We lodge somewhere and we remain there... staying all night and continuing to stay many days! This is the kind of rest we find in the Lord! It isn't a once and a while place... it is a place where we continue staying for a long time. So, we need to dwell and rest and finally, we 'say'.

What do we say? We say who our God is to us! He is our refuge! He is our fortress! He is our God! We trust in Him! Is this for God's benefit? No! It's for ours! When we are declaring who God is in our lives, the things we deal with fade away in the light of His glory. They go from being giants and mountains to things under our feet! The blessings that are listed in Psalm 91 deal with protection, deliverance, healing, long life, no fear... and we receive these blessings partly because of what we say out of our mouths. When you look at what David says, He is declaring that God is the place he dwells and rests in because he trusts in Him! He isn't talking to the problem. He isn't talking about the situation. He isn't dwelling on the facts or the issues or the overwhelming source that is coming against him. He is declaring out loud to himself, his enemy and anyone else who needs to hear... Hey! My God is the place I can go to for protection. I live in His presence daily because I have proved His faithfulness over and over again and I'm NOT moving!! When you dwell - camp out in His presence, and rest - lodge and remain for a long time, and say - speak about who your God is instead of what your problems are, you are going to live in the blessings of Psalm 91 in your life.

Take time this week to go over Psalm 91 in the light of your need to dwell, rest and say. Ask yourself, "Am I doing these three things so that I can live in the Psalm 91 blessings?" If you are great! If not, don't waste another minute! Get right with the Lord. Get back to dwelling with Him every day. Rest... lodge in His shadow and go wherever He goes. And then say, out of your own mouth who God is to you! Then stand back and "look what the Lord will do"! He is forever faithful to do His part, Church Family. Let's be faithful to dwell, rest and say. Have a blessed Sunday tomorrow. Know that you are being prayed for and we bless you and your family in the name of the Lord!

Enjoy your family time and don't forget to plug in somewhere tomorrow for a service. We will see everyone again next Sunday, September 7 !

Blessings, Pastors Sheli and Steve

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