What do you call the place where you have acceptance, belonging, comfort, satisfaction, and safety? How do you define home?
Home is the word we use to describe the place where we know we are accepted by those to whom we belong and with whom we are satisfied. Home is where you most experience comfort, where you take time to be nourished and rest. Home is where you settle in and feel safe.
To the LORD I’ll say, ‘My Refuge.’
In my God my trust abides.” ~ Psalm 91:2
You are not playing tricks with your mind when you remind yourself that God is with you always as you do the next right thing. It is because you have the mind of Christ that you know you are not alone in whatever trouble comes your way.
Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.” ~ 1 Peter 1:8-9
As you live by faith and not by sight, you know that you are sufficiently provided for, protected, and at peace even through death. In Christ, you are home.
Singing Psalm 91 you define home as provision
The Lord gives you faith to make himself your provision. You petition him first to bring about what he wills to meet your needs, the needs of all his people, and to give you what it takes to meet the needs of others as he gives you opportunities. As for anything else, if he doesn’t give it, you don’t want it.
“Since you made my LORD your refuge,
God Most High your dwelling place,
Nothing evil will befall you;
In your tent no scourge you’ll face.” ~ Psalm 91:9-10
You define home as God himself. Jesus took the scourging and died the death that was meant for you and me and paid in full our eternal debt. You make yourself at home with Jesus because in him you are abundantly, everlastingly provided for.
Singing Psalm 91 you define home as protection
The Lord gives you faith to make himself your protection, the one you run to first, the one you cry out to, the one you look to for comfort.
“Who with God Most High finds shelter;
In th’Almighty’s shadow hides.” ~ Psalm 91:1
You trust the Lord to protect you from and through every evil. Vipers, lions, and mountains are no match for him. You can expect that nothing will ultimately harm you. Formidable obstacles will obey your word spoken with faith in Jesus according to his will. Nothing will be impossible for you with God empowering you.
You overcome every trouble, sheltered and well-protected from every evil in the world: every tempting lure, every angry rejection, every anxious regret, every paralyzing fear, every devastating loss, every unfavorable comparison, every jealous reflex, every masked deception, every lingering doubt, every disordered desire, every paranoid worry, every spiteful slight, every prolonging of pain, every nightmarish memory, every self-centered dream, every delay of what’s good, every weakness in character, every hurt and infirmity, every lazy diversion, every senseless and unreasonable exposure, every misplaced identity, every false allegiance, every severance, neglect, and abandonment, every excess, every inadequacy, every manipulation, every awkward interaction, every missequenced priority, every prodding instigation, every impulsive action, every cruel misunderstanding, every careless mistake, every wrong motive, every unhappy ending, every proud retort, every unforgiving and unforgiven hour, every voiceless vulnerability, every twisted distortion or denial of truth, every hopeless disappointment, every wanderlust, every victimizing oppression, every tormenting trigger, every backstabbing betrayal, every unfaithful reliance, every rude awakening, every rogue rebellion, every complaining spirit, every discontented grumble, every burned bridge, every disloyal, self-seeking, mean, impatient, unkind, sinister, cross word you ever said or action you ever did against anyone, or that was ever said or done against you. Nothing and no one can separate you from the love of Christ. He covers you with outstretched pinions. You make his wings your confidence.
Indeed, every wrong listed above defines what is not home, what is unlike our perfect, holy, merciful God. Jesus supernaturally places each wrong in reverse, makes it right, and uses it as part of what brings you home. Jesus will restore everything and everyone that’s broken, all that he redeems. Every time you repent in thought, word, or deed, you move one step closer to home and experience a foretaste of the renewal that is in store for you. Wherever God has kept you stifled, bound up, and locked away, you will emerge from there with a confident voice and with faith purer and more precious than gold.
“And the ransomed of the LORD shall return
and come to Zion with singing;
everlasting joy shall be upon their heads;
they shall obtain gladness and joy,
and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.” ~ Isaiah 35:10
Even death cannot keep you down. You will laugh at the days to come as you follow Jesus, the preeminent firstborn from among the dead, and you will taunt death: “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?” You will defeat sin itself. It will have power over you no more. There will be no more convenient time for the devil to come back and tempt you. He cannot defy your resurrection and make you die a second death. That is reserved for Satan and those who follow him.
‘Son,’ he said, ‘ye cannot in your present state understand eternity: when Anodos looked through the door of the Timeless he brought no message back. But ye can get some likeness of it if ye say that both good and evil, when they are full grown, become retrospective. Not only this valley but all their earthly past will have been Heaven to those who are saved. Not only the twilight in that town, but all their life on Earth too, will then be seen by the damned to have been Hell. That is what mortals misunderstand. They say of some temporal suffering, “No future bliss can make up for it,” not knowing that Heaven, once attained, will work backwards and turn even that agony into a glory. And of some sinful pleasure they say “let me have but this and I’ll take the consequences”: little dreaming how damnation will spread back and back into their past and contaminate the pleasure of the sin. Both processes begin even before death. The good man’s past begins to change so that his forgiven sins and remembered sorrows take on the quality of Heaven: the bad man’s past already conforms to his badness and is filled only with dreariness. And that is why, at the end of all things, when the sun rises here and the twilight turns to blackness down there, the Blessed will say “We have never lived anywhere except in Heaven,” and the Lost, “We were always in Hell.” And both will speak truly.’ ~ C.S. Lewis, The Great Divorce
“He will angels charge to keep you,
Guard you well in all your ways.
In their hands they will uphold you
Lest your foot a stone should graze.” ~ Psalm 91:11-12
Singing Psalm 91 you define home as peace
The Lord gives you faith to make himself your peace. When you need to rest and relax, you run to him first for peace of mind and peace in your body. When you are on the move, you run to him first to be with you to accomplish everything that he has prepared for you to do. In this way, you are resting as you work. When you need to know when to rest, and when to work, you run to him first for discernment, and he helps you to avoid burnout and undue stress.
For thus said the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel,
“In returning and rest, you shall be saved;
In quietness and in trust shall be your strength.” ~ Isaiah 30:15
But Israel was unwilling to trust God and remained self-interested so “a thousand shall flee at the threat of one.” Yet, here is the Lord’s response:
“Therefore the LORD waits to be gracious to you,
and therefore he exalts himself to show mercy to you.
For the LORD is a God of justice;
blessed are all those who wait for him.” ~ Isaiah 30:18
Again, the Lord responds to complacency and rebellion in the face of disaster by pouring out his Spirit and restoring everything from barren to fruitful, with justice and righteousness.
“But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.” ~ 2 Peter 3:13
“And the effect of righteousness will be peace,
and the result of righteousness, quietness and trust forever.
My people will abide in a peaceful habitation,
in secure dwellings, and in quiet resting places.” ~ Isaiah 32:17-18
The Lord gives you faith to make himself your home. He’s the address where your trust lives. When you have made God your refuge, when he is your first love, when you know his name better than any other name and use it often, meaningfully, and not in vain, you have made God your home here and now. When you have a friend or two who will help you find strength in the Lord, when you no longer want others to sing your praises but only his praises, you have full assurance that you have made God your home here, and you know without a doubt that he will be your home forever. You define home as the provision, protection, and peace that comes to you before you are taken home because home is just another word for Jesus. “He who testifies to these things says, ‘Surely I am coming soon.’ Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!” ~ Revelation 22:20
But, as it is written,
“What no eye has seen, nor ear heard,
nor the heart of man imagined,
what God has prepared for those who love him”—
these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit.
For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. ~ 1 Corinthians 2:9-10
“But he who is joined to the Lord becomes one spirit with him.“ ~ 1 Corinthians 7:17
Singing Psalm 91, God has a most gracious solo finale that sends shivers down the spine and keeps you walking humbly with your God as he now becomes your everlasting home.
“For his love to Me I’ll save him,
Keep him, for My name he knows.
When he calls Me I will answer,
Save and honor him will I.
I will show him My salvation
With long life will satisfy.” ~ Psalm 91:14-16
August 23-30, 2024
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