New Wine for New Wineskins November 2013


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secretplace02The Secret Place

Psalm 91: 1

1 He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.

I have read and meditated on this psalm literally hundreds of times at least!  But some time ago as I was meditating on it I saw something that took my understanding to another dimension!  Jesus is the secret place of the Most High!  Jesus was God’s secret weapon to redeem us from the enemy and from every manifestation of the curse!

Psalm 110: 1

1 The LORD said to my Lord, “Sit at My right hand, till I make Your enemies Your footstool.”

Jesus is seated at the right hand of the Father under the shadow of the Almighty!  And so are we!

Ephesians 2: 4 – 7

4 But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5 even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), 6 and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.

We are in Christ Jesus!

Psalm 91: 2

2 I will say of the LORD, “He is my refuge and my fortress; My God, in Him I will trust.”

We are not just trusting in him – religion can claim to do that – we are IN HIM trusting!  There is a BIG difference!

The awesome reality of the New Covenant is that we are IN HIM where he is and that he is also IN US where we are!

Colossians 1: 24 – 27

24 I now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up in my flesh what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ, for the sake of His body, which is the church, 25 of which I became a minister according to the stewardship from God which was given to me for you, to fulfill the word of God, 26 the mystery which has been hidden from ages and from generations, but now has been revealed to His saints. 27 To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

We are in him and he is in us!  That is our guarantee of protection and provision!

Psalm 91 : 3

3 Surely He shall deliver you from the snare (a thing likely to lure or tempt someone into harm or error) of the fowler (hunter, trapper) and from the perilous pestilence (a fatal epidemic disease)

We are saved, healed, and delivered because we are IN HIM and HE IS in us!  Where HE IS salvation is, healing is, deliverance is, prosperity is!

Psalm 91: 4

4 He shall cover you with His feathers, and under His wings you shall take refuge; His truth shall be your shield and buckler (a small, round shield)

He is not just interested in the big stuff – he has all of the small things covered as well!  Remember – it is the little foxes that spoil the vine and hinder its fruitfulness but we have been armoured with the shield of faith that covers everything!  Don’t just focus on the big stuff – have faith for the small stuff!  Your adversary won’t bother bringing out the big guns if he can destroy you and render you ineffective with the little stuff!

Psalm 91: 5 – 7

5 You shall not be afraid of the terror by night…

Some of us know about this!  The enemy comes in the night because there is something about the dark that increases the fear factor!  But we have on the armour of light!

…nor of the arrow that flies by day,  6 Nor of the pestilence that walks in darkness, nor of the destruction that lays waste at noonday.  7 A thousand may fall at your side, and ten thousand at your right hand; but it shall not come near you.

It can’t come near us!  We are surrounded by a force-field of faith!  We are hiding in the secret place of the Most High!  We are not moved by what we see – we move what we see by what we say!  What are you mobilising with your words?

Psalm 91: 8

8 Only with your eyes shall you look, and see the reward of the wicked.

Who are the wicked?  Anyone who is not IN HIM trusting!

Psalm 91: 9 – 13

9 Because you have made the LORD, who is my refuge, even the Most High, your dwelling place, 10 No evil shall befall you, nor shall any plague come near your dwelling; 11 For He shall give His angels charge over you, to keep you in all your ways. 12 In their hands they shall bear you up, lest you dash your foot against a stone. 13 You shall tread upon the lion and the cobra, the young lion and the serpent you shall trample underfoot.

Remember – Jesus told us that he has given us authority to trample on serpents and scorpions and over all the power of the enemy so that nothing can in any way harm us.  Maybe we need to meditate on that statement until all of the protection and the provision contained in that one prophetic promise become a reality in our life experience.

Listen up!  This is now God talking direct in the first person!

Psalm 91: 14 – 16

14 “Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore I will deliver him; I will set him on high, because he has known My name.  15 He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him and honor him.  16 With long life I will satisfy him, and show him My salvation.”

Look at the basis of these blessings of protection and provision!  Because we love him!  Faith only works one way – through love!  We love him because he first loved us and demonstrated his love for us by giving himself for us!  The Old Covenant was a covenant of law but the New Covenant is a covenant of love!  You cannot mix the two or you will end up with a mixed message!  You will be double-minded and speak out of both sides of your mouth!  You will be unstable and will fall down either on the right or the left of the one who remains in the secret place!

Sadly, a lot of preaching and teaching still brings a mixed message and so a lot of people are left on shaky ground!  What makes the message shaky?  Basically, anything in the message that places dependence or responsibility upon us beyond what we have been asked to do, which is to simply  believe!  The more we love him the more we will believe him!  The more we will be found IN HIM – trusting!

John 15: 4 – 8

4 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. 5 “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. 6 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. 7 If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. 8 By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.

He isn’t saying “Abide by my LAW!” He is saying, “Abide in my LOVE!”

1 Corinthians 1: 26 – 31

26 For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called. 27 But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; 28 and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, 29 that no flesh should glory in His presence. 30 But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God—and righteousness and sanctification and redemption— 31 that, as it is written,  “He who glories, let him glory in the LORD.”

OF HIM – not of you or me or us – we ARE IN Christ Jesus!  WE ARE IN!  WE ARE IN the secret place of the Most High!

Everyone who is IN Jesus Christ has obtained an equal privilege of receiving whatever the Bible promises.  God invented equal opportunity. He is no respecter of persons and so the basis of his giving is not determined by a sliding scale of who is worthy, who is not worthy, or when one – through much effort – finally  becomes worthy of receiving what he has promised.  To God the Father a believer is worthy to receive simply because he or she is IN Jesus Christ – the Son in whom he is well pleased!  There is no longer any need to ever fall short of God’s glory!

Sometimes it would appear that the worst thing that you can do to a person is tell them that there is nothing left for them to do because Jesus has already done everything!  That can really hurt people’s religious tradition!

According to the scripture we just read we already have wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption!  All that is left for us to do is to glory in the LORD – to celebrate every day what he has done and testify of his glory in every place!

It is those who consistently glory in the LORD who are effective in reaching others!

Because we are IN HIM and he is IN US we have:

WISDOMsophia – practical wisdom, prudence, skill, comprehensive insight, a right application of knowledge, insight into the true nature of things.

The Holy Spirit communicates wisdom to us and if we think we lack wisdom in any situation all we have to do is ask! Why should we settle for less?

RIGHTEOUSNESSdikaiosune – just, the quality of being right, conformity to the will of God in all respects, right standing with God – the ability to stand in his presence without a sense of fear, guilt, or condemnation.  Why should we settle for less?

SANCTIFICATIONhagiadzo – hallowed, set apart, dedicated, consecrated, separated, a state of holiness, a manifestation of life produced by the indwelling Holy Spirit.  The Holy Spirit produces the fruit of the Spirit when we simply abide in Jesus!  WE ARE IN!  Why should we settle for less?

Sadly, many people stumble at sanctification being already theirs and so they fail to enter into the fullness of the next one!

REDEMPTIONapolutrosis – a release secured by the payment of a ransom, deliverance, setting free.  The word describes a conqueror releasing prisoners, a master ransoming a slave, and redemption from an alien yoke!  Why should we settle for less?

Many people in the church are waiting for what they call a “sovereign move of God” but the truth is that the sovereign move of God has already taken place when Jesus moved from heaven to earth and back to heaven via the cross where he picked us up and took us with him so that we could enter and dwell in the secret place of the Most High and abide under the shadow of the Almighty!

The GOOD NEWS is WE ARE IN!  We are IN LOVE!

1 John 4: 15 – 16

15 Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. 16 And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him.

Don’t ever come out of love!

Our heavenly Father loves us unconditionally and unreservedly and we must love him the same way!  The only thing we can do more in our relationship with the LORD is to LOVE HIM MORE!  That will cover everything!

Our relationship with him is never a LEGAL thing – it is always a LOVE thing!

WE ARE IN LOVE!  STAY IN LOVE!

If you want to dodge the devil then STAY IN LOVE – he just can’t understand it or figure it out!

Psalm 91: 1

1 He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.

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