The Secret Place _ Pastor Christine Miller.

In John 14 verse 27 it says Jesus says peace I leave with you my peace I give to you not as the world gives do I give to you let not your heart be troubled and neither let it be afraid. Now here's the thing that we brought out about this verse a few weeks ago there are two types of peace there's the peace that Jesus gives and then there's the false sense of peace that you can get from circumstances lining up in the world and what I said a few weeks ago was everybody likes a good report you know everybody wants a good doctor's report everybody wants a good financial report they want things to go well but all of these things are circumstances and as long as the circumstances are positive woohoo I feel great I feel peaceful I feel content but as soon as a circumstance changes in the negative that peace that you got from the circumstance goes with it that's the kind of peace the world gives but Jesus says the peace I give you is not as the world gives in other words his peace stays with us no matter what happens no matter what changes you stay in peace because you know God's word does not change and since his word doesn't change his word will change the circumstance every time if you'll stand on it. If you do not have peace you are not enjoying life that's what I said two weeks ago if you do not have peace you are not enjoying life I discovered this decades ago I would have rather been diagnosed with a terminal illness than have lost my peace you know I shared my story I don't know how many weeks ago now about how I was attacked with a panic attack I think this would have been about 1992ish so over 30 years ago now and I never expected something like that to happen to me I didn't have any unusual diagnosis or crazy report I just was overworking and over worrying and didn't even realize I was worrying and when that panic hit and I could sense the presence of it for up to two weeks it was very unpleasant I could not enjoy my life like I should have and so I know what I'm talking about I'm not just speaking from lack of experience I know how to get back into peace and I know how to stay in peace and so that's why we've been teaching along these lines because you know the world today has less peace than ever before there's so much craziness we have an all time record high of people suffering from anxiety depression all kinds of mental disorders and so it's important that we talk about what the word says peace is available for every believer if we'll contend for it we have to choose to yield to peace now we discussed the definition of the Greek word for peace which was to be one or to set at one again how many remember we talked about that how when you are in a situation where you're not in peace generally your mind is troubled and you're getting bombarded with racing thoughts and so because you have a bunch of conflicting thoughts going back and forth you know there's no oneness in that and so I love the Greek definition one of the Greek definitions of the word peace from that verse that we just read peace I leave with you is it is to be one or to set at one again that means one thought not many not many confusing or conflicting thoughts when you get that oneness where you're just thinking the way God thinks everything is fine you know one of my phrases that I've been telling people a lot lately is all will be well and one of the reasons I do that is because when I was in my season of feeling anxious and overwhelmed and troubled I just wanted one person to tell me Christine all will be well everything will be okay you need the assurance that everything's going to be all right and you know how I can say that to people because I've got God's Word on it all will be well amen now the way that the believers equipped to walk in the peace that Jesus has given is to abide in the secret place and tonight I want to talk about the secret place let's go to the next chapter in John John 15 and we're probably only going to get halfway through this but John 15 and verse 4 from the Amplified let's put the Amplified up so people can read that if they don't have it this is so good Jesus says here dwell in me and I will dwell in you now notice God's not the one sometimes we get this picture that God's way over there and we want to draw close to us but that's not his the side that he's seeing he's saying I'm always in a certain spot I haven't moved away from you what you need to do is draw near to him so we dwell in him and he'll dwell in us when we get close to him now we're he's right there he says live in me and I will live in you just as no branch can bear fruit of itself without abiding in being vitally united to the vine neither can you bear fruit unless you abide in me there are all kinds of things you can do in life as a believer but if you're not abiding in him everything you do will burn up in a big ash heap when you stand before the throne there'll be nothing there you'll get in thank God for that as long as you stay the course but we want to bear fruit that comes from abiding in him and he said I am the vine you are the branches whoever lives in me and I in him bears much abundant fruit however apart from me cut off from vital union with me you can do nothing nothing that's of lasting or eternal value and you know I'm all about bearing fruit every day when I read Psalm 91 I get towards the end and I just say thank you Lord you're satisfying me with long life where I'm gonna bear a lot of fruit so I'm all about it but you can want it you can wish for it you can hope for it but you won't have it without vitally abiding in him being vitally united verse 6 if a person does not dwell in me he is thrown out like a broken off branch and withers such branches are gathered up and thrown into the fire and they are burned if you live in me if you abide vitally united to me and my words remain in you and continue to live in your hearts ask whatever you will and it shall be done for you this is one of the benefits of walking with God closely when you pray you receive answers when you bear produce much fruit my father is honored and glorified and you show and prove yourselves to be true followers of me one of the signs of a true follower of Jesus is they bear fruit we've known of people over the years that thought they were called to the ministry and they weren't and they may be meant well but they never produce any fruit and that's how we know they're really not called to what they're doing because if you're called to something you're gonna have some fruit that follows so we want to make sure that we're actually staying connected with him in such a way where we're open for direction and correction and being in the right place at the right time that word abide in the Greek it means to stay stay stay put stay in a given place stay in a certain state or state of mind stay in relation or stay in expectancy some of the ways this is translated in the New Testament is abide continue dwell endure be present remain stand these are you know describing this word abide I like the part that says expectancy I taught on spiritual intimacy on Sunday and if you didn't get to hear that message I would encourage you to go ahead on Facebook I don't believe it's on YouTube because you know we got censored you know the United States is supposed to have freedom of speech and they blocked us for a whole week as a punishment for well from something that our wonderful friend Joel Baker said which wasn't terrible at all but they deem it conspiracy theory apparently and so anyway you can go back to the Facebook page if you want to see it and I believe it's also on podcast but I brought out the comparison of the relationship between a husband and a wife to the relationship with the body of Christ to the Lord Jesus from Ephesians chapter 5 and it was one of those messages you know you don't rah-rah-rah an intimacy rest message you know can you you don't rah-rah-rah when you're being intimate with your spouse I mean maybe you some people do I don't know but anyway that's between you and them but you know when you're in a quiet solitude place it's not usually rah-rah you know and I'm trying what I was well there was an anointing whether you sensed it or not I was in the presence of a strong anointing when I was ministering and I was trying to just walk carefully before God as I was saying what I was about to say but the thing that I was trying to bring out was that there's a strong comparison and if you want to know how to dwell with God how to spend intimate time with God you have to look at the natural picture of the marriage which God created and instituted in the Garden of Eden and so many people they're wanting to relate to God they're wanting to have a relationship with him but they don't know where to begin you know I've always just considered him my closest friend I love him dearly you know Jesus is the love of my life but some people don't understand that about him so I wanted to read at least one scripture to show you that but any of you who have been married or are still married can you remember the expectancy that you had when you were first dating that person now you know hopefully it was positive okay you couldn't wait to see each other you couldn't wait to spend time together I remember when Caitlin was coming home from Bible school and my husband went to get her and we just he just wanted to get home but she didn't want to come home until she first stopped in Dodge City because Cameron was back home in Dodge City so you know that expectancy like it's just been too long since I've seen you I need to stop and see you again when you have a distance relationship that's a little more challenging right but there's an expectancy you can't wait for the next phone call you can't wait for them the next endearing words that you're going to hear out of their mouths hopefully you still have this going on you're you're waiting with expectancy and anticipation for your wedding date and how you're gonna spend your future together and on Valentine's Day my husband actually drove an hour and a half before we were married to my house just to bring me flowers and chocolates one year we actually we we started our first date was in August of 84 and we were engaged by November and then we were married by April it was pretty short not as short as some people we wanted to get married in January but my aunt said if you'll wait until April you can have my condo in Pompano Beach for your honeymoon she you know she had the wisdom of age and but we were in a rush mainly our past our pastor was putting yes I went to Israel in November and our pastor actually wanted to marry us there but he wasn't in Israel so that couldn't work he didn't have the money to go to Israel and frankly I didn't either but my mom gave it to me so I got to go I was hey I was 22 years old my mother I still lived at home and she still pampered me I guess but I'm thankful that I got to go so here's the thing I knew that pastor well he was never pushing for anybody to get married like and so I'm thinking what is the big hurry here but anyway it was it was fast you know pastor Nancy talks about her fast courting hers is really fast that's not normal but you know you're thinking about your wedding day their home there's a whole lot of planning involved there should be expectancy there should be excitement and hopefully you haven't lost the excitement of spending time together in your marriage after all these years you know if you're still married because if so you should use your faith to restore it because like I said Sunday if you don't have a proper marriage or proper intimacy in your marriage you can't fully understand how to have intimacy with the Lord Jesus Christ and this is why that example in Ephesians 5 is in the Bible now if you're not married there is grace to have that intimate relationship without having had a marriage so don't be feeling like you're left out folks we're all in the body of Christ and Jesus is the bridegroom and we're the bride a healthy marriage is going to have expectancy in it for decades but let me say this it will take effort now you ever notice that when you make a covenant the devil always come to try to mess up that covenant you know when you made a covenant with Jesus that he's going to be your Lord and Savior it was not a difficult thing to make him your Lord and Savior but the devil will come and he'll try to do everything he can to break that relationship off to try to pull you away from walking with him when you make a commitment to a local church the same thing happens you have a covenant with that local church and the devil will try to pull you out after a while he's always going to challenge covenants you get a marriage covenant everything's bliss in the beginning but then the very thing like before you're married everything in your power you're trying to just away from each other so you don't cross the line because you want to be together but then after you're married the devil tries to keep you apart that this is you know covenants are challenged and so you have to work at these these covenants you have to work at it but in the same way abiding vitally united to Jesus is going to call for continual expectancy and looking forward to time together with him but it's going to require effort to stay hot for Jesus you know think of the very nature of the term hot hot means passion for your first love it's a passion I'm gonna read Revelation chapter 2 verses 4 & 5 from the Amplified Classic Jesus is talking to one of the churches here I believe the Ephesians Church and he says but I have this one charge to make against you Amplified I have this one charge to make against you that you have left abandoned the love that you had at first you have deserted me your first love remember then what heights you have fallen from from what heights you have fallen repent change the inner man to meet God's will and I have this underlined and do the works you did previously when you first knew the Lord you know it works this way in a marriage it works this way in your relationship with Jesus you need to do the works you did when you first knew him when you first got saved you know we talk about the joy of our salvation and sometimes we just need to be restored in that area where remember what it was like when you first got saved I don't know about you but for me I thought I found a utopia that I only dreamed could exist and I couldn't wait to get to church when the doors were open and I didn't have my parents dragging me there I wanted to be there I couldn't wait for the next worship service and the next message to be taught and if you've lost that excitement about coming to church then you need to come back to your first love the love that you had at first repent change the inner man to meet God's will and do the works you did previously when first you knew the Lord so how do we abide vitally united to Jesus well through his word because he is the Word made flesh and through prayer we've got to spend intimate time with Jesus talking to him and letting him talk to us and that's why I talked about that quiet time where you get somewhere where you're not doing all the talking and where there's not a bunch of noise all around you and even just in the morning laying there quiet you know we wake up pretty early in our home because my dog sees to that generally but then once you know I pet her and calm her down then I can just lay there and there's no traffic out yet there isn't any noise and you can just listen on the inside and the Lord wants to talk to you he wants to show you great and mighty things so I I just wanted to go through Psalm 91 tonight and talk about the secret place Psalm 91 we're gonna look at this also from the Amplified Classic this is something I read almost daily and I would highly recommend that you do the same thing because there is so much in here and if you meditate in this psalm every day it'll keep you mindful of his presence it'll keep angels activated in your life it will keep you in a place where you are protected under the shadow of his wings so in verse 1 it says he who dwells in the secret place of the Most High the Most High has a secret place shall remain stable and fixed under the shadow of the Almighty whose power no foe or no enemy can withstand that word dwell means to remain or to settle or even it's sometimes translated to marry now I thought that was a good word because dwelling it's like the same thing in a marriage you're dwelling together with Jesus we're dwelling together it's a spiritual marriage I will say of the Lord he is my refuge and my fortress my God on him I lean and rely and in him I confidently trust I am confident and sure of his care and his provision on him I lean and rely in him I confidently trust in a good marriage you should be able to lean and rely on one another you should be able to confidently trust so you see Old Testament knew it's the same thing verse 3 for then he will deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the deadly pestilence you see when you're in this secret place there's deliverance and I just say this I'm delivered from every trap of Satan I'm delivered from every deadly and devastating thing including disease another thing that word pestilence well it says deadly pestilence in the Amplified in the King James I think it says noisome pestilence and that word noisome can be translated from the Hebrew as calamity naughtiness perverse thing or wickedness so this is not just talking about disease but anything wicked or perverse if you're in the secret place you will be delivered from it verse 4 then he will cover you with his pinions and under his wings shall you trust and find refuge his truth and his faithfulness are a shield and a buckler and I say this Lord your word and your faithfulness to watch over your word to perform it are my shield and my buckler he is faithful to watch over that word aren't you glad verse 5 you shall not be afraid excuse me of the terror of the night nor of the arrow the evil plots and slanders of the wicked that fly by day you could say this I will not dread or fear anything you know this this psalm is wonderful if you're wanting to maintain peace nor of the pestilence that stalks in darkness nor of the destruction and sudden death that surprise and lay waste at noonday this is a good song for people serving in the military and in living in the inner city we've had a lot of chaos in our country verse 7 a thousand may fall at your side and ten thousand at your right hand but it shall not come near you now there this word fall has many implications here it could mean cast out or die or fail a thousand may fail at my side ten thousand may fail at my right hand but I'm not failing it has the word it can be translated lost many may be lost on my at this hand and at this hand but I'm not lost or perishing I know when I was having problems with anxiety and the devil kept telling me you're gonna have to live with this the rest of your life you're gonna have to live with this the rest of your life everybody you know that's ever had this had to live with this the rest of their life and I would stand on that scripture I'd say nope I don't care if a thousand on this side half it the rest of their life or 10,000 on this hand have it the rest of their life I'm not having it here you have to stand up boldly for what belongs to you because the devil he plays for keeps and if you don't put your foot down and fight hard by the spirit though then he'll continue to trample on you now I like this verse 8 only a spectator shall you be yourself inaccessible in the secret place of the most high as you witness the reward of the wicked and I thank him every day that me and my family and my church family are inaccessible to Satan and I just always picture in a baseball field like Cub Stadium if you got the best seats you're behind the home plate and you've got a really good view but you're in a secret place you're inaccessible the ball can't hit you of course you can't catch one either but but you're inaccessible you're in a place where you can see everything going on around you you're the spectator watching other people suffer and go through hardship but not you you're in the secret place verse 9 because you have made the Lord your refuge in the most high your dwelling place notice these are conditional words here there shall no evil befall you nor any plague or calamity come near your tent no evils also translated as adversity no adversity shall befall you no distress no grief shall befall you no harm no hurt no wickedness no wrong shall be full follow you nor any plague plague could be translated leprous to be stricken by something or a wound shall come near your tent for he will give his angels a special charge over you to accompany and defend and preserve you in all your ways of obedience and service you got to be obedient and you need to be serving the Lord he has appointed angels to guard and protect us to save us to observe us they're watching us and to preserve us they shall bear you up on their hands lest you dash your foot against a stone and I just say thank you Lord they lift me up above harm how many stories have we heard just watching TBN or CBN or you know different testimonials through Copeland's magazine or others like that where people were rescued from situations even on 9-11 Christians that for some reason that day they had a detour or they didn't make it to work this is the hand of God verse 13 you shall tread upon the lion and adder the young lion and the serpent shall you trample under your feet that word adder could also be translated asp so it's a type of a snake poisonous snake but here's something interesting that word serpent the young lion and the serpent you shall trample underfoot that word is also translated as dragon sea monster or whale so we're not talking about some skinny little serpent slithering on the ground we're talking about you're trampling a dragon under your feet that sounds like the devil to me anything that seems larger than life you can trample it under your feet now the counterpart to that verse is Luke chapter 10 in the New Testament Luke chapter 10 verses 19 and 20 and I have those particular scriptures I have marked with a tab because every time I read Psalm 91 then I immediately go to Luke 10 18 Lord I thank you that you've given me the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions and over all the power of the enemy all the power of the enemy and nothing shall by any means hurt me or my family or my church family and then that next verse Jesus says don't rejoice in this that the spirits are subject to you so we're not rejoicing in it but I do say this Lord I thank you that the devils are subject to me I'm not subject to them I'm not rejoicing but I'm stating I'm not subject to them they're subject to me based on that verse verse 14 because he has said his love upon me therefore I will deliver him to set your love upon him means to delight in him to love him to desire him and to long for him because we have said our love upon him therefore he will deliver us I will set him on high in an inaccessible place I will set him on high because he knows and understands my name he has a personal you could say intimate knowledge of my mercy love and kindness he trusts and relies on me knowing I will never forsake him no never you know God is not a forsaker he's good all the time he shall call upon me and I will answer him and so I go ahead here again I turn to 1st John 5 14 and 15 and the Amplified says this this is the confidence the assurance the privilege of boldness which we have in him we are sure that if we ask anything or make any request according to his will in agreement with his own plan that he listens to and hears us and since we positively know that he listens to us and whatever we ask we also know what's settled in absolute knowledge that we have granted us as our present possessions the requests made of him so I am you know every morning I spend a little time meditating on this granted as my present possession granted as my present possession I presently possess what I asked for I have it granted to me I'm I have it as my present possession you have to think about it for a that what you ask for he'll grant it to you and it's as good as done that's what happens when we call upon him he'll answer us and then he's with you when you're in trouble but he doesn't leave you there he delivers us out of all of the trouble and he honors us because we're honoring him and then the last verse with long life I will satisfy him and show him my salvation so I thank him that I'm going to have a long life to the full I thank you father for a minimum of 95 years that are satisfied with health and strength and wisdom and peace and joy prosperity protection and bearing much fruit and you can see that if you meditate on this psalm every day that's how you dwell in the secret place you're dwelling in the place of truth you're dwelling in a place of intimacy you're dwelling in a place where you're getting to know who he is and so that's our place of safety it's our place of peace our place of comfort amen why don't y'all stand up thank you father for the secret place thank you Lord for the place of intimacy in your presence Lord there are answers there there is calm there is joy we thank you father that you've given us such great places that we can spend our time in a troubled world and father I thank you that tonight peace was imparted people contained it in their spirit but I thank you that we've been we have been imparted to Lord and so as we leave tonight we leave with the peace that you've given to us we thank you for it we don't take it for granted and we protect it we protect it with all that is within us we love you Jesus and we thank you for what you've done for us in Jesus name amen okay don't forget to grab some postcards if you can we love you and we'll see you Sunday