My Refuge and My Fortress
“He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High
Will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.
I will say to the Lord, ‘My refuge and my fortress,
My God, in whom I trust!’” (Psalm 91:1-2 NASB1995)
If we, who believe in Jesus Christ to be Lord and Savior of
our lives, dwell in the shelter of the Most High, that means that we are
living, in practice, under his watch and care, in submission to his Lordship
over our lives, and in surrender of our wills to his will and purpose for our
lives, in walks of obedience to him and to his commands (New Covenant). And no
longer are we making sin our practice (deliberately and habitually).
So that also means that we have, by faith in Jesus Christ,
died with Christ to sin. And we have been raised with Christ (who rose from the
dead) to walk in newness of life in him, no longer to live as slaves to sin,
but now as slaves to God and to his righteousness. Our old lives of living in
sin and for self are to be done away with so that we can now live for the Lord
in doing the will of God that he has for our lives, and for his purposes and
for his glory.
Now if we abide in Christ, and him in us, it means that we
live in him and in his word, and that we follow him and in his ways, and we
comply with and adhere to and conform to and obey his commandments under the
New Covenant. We pay close attention to his word, and we take it to heart to
obey it, and we remain steadfast in our walks of faith, in obedience to our
Lord, in life practice. And we continue in Christ until the very end of time.
And if the Lord God – Father, Son Jesus Christ, and Holy
Spirit – is truly Lord (Owner-Master) of our lives, and if truly he is our
refuge and our fortress, and not the trappings of this sinful world, and if he
is the one in whom we, in truth, place our trust, then this should be obvious
by how we live. Our lives should now be surrendered to him to doing his will
and purpose for our lives, and we should be following him in the ways God has
for us to live.
For Jesus Christ taught that to come to him we must deny
self, take up our cross daily (die daily to sin), and follow (obey) him. For if
we hold on to living in sin and for self, we will lose our lives for eternity.
But if we deny self, die daily to sin, by the Spirit, and we walk in obedience
to our Lord and to his commands, in his power, then we have eternal life with
God. For not everyone who calls him “Lord” will enter the kingdom of heaven,
but the one DOING (obeying) the will of God (see Luke 9:23-26; Matthew
7:21-23).
Because He Has Loved Me
“Because he has loved Me, therefore I will deliver him;
I will set him securely on high, because he has known My name.
‘He will call upon Me, and I will answer him;
I will be with him in trouble;
I will rescue him and honor him.
With a long life I will satisfy him
And let him see My salvation.’” (Psalm 91:14-16 NASB1995)
And if we love God, in truth, we will obey him, in practice.
For if sin is our practice, and not obedience to God, we do not love God, and
we are not called according to his purpose, for we are still living to please
the flesh, and not God. So God delivers us from addiction to sin when, by
God-gifted and God-persuaded faith, we die with him to sin, and we now walk in
obedience to him and to his commands, which is a life-long process of
salvation.
[Matthew 10:22; John 8:31-32; John 15:1-12; Romans 8:24; Romans
11:17-24; Romans
13:11; 1 Corinthians 1:18; 1 Corinthians 15:1-2; Colossians 1:21-23; 2 Timothy 1:8-9; 2
Timothy 2:10-13; Hebrews 3:6,14-15; Hebrews 9:28; 1 Peter 1:5,9; 2
Peter 1:5-11; 1 John 2:3-6,24-25]
For to know God is to love him and to obey him. And to be in
fellowship with him is to forsake our sinful practices and for sin to no longer
be what we practice. Thus, when we call upon the Lord in prayer, and we seek
his face, he will answer us, and he will be with us in all times, including in
times of trouble and distress. And although he promises us that we will suffer
for the sake of righteousness, he will be with us to guide and to comfort us.
And so he may not always rescue us physically from our
troubles and distresses, since he said that suffering is part of the Christian
life. But he will be with us, and he will rescue us morally and spiritually and
emotionally from yielding to the flesh, in our suffering, so that we remain in
him and him in us in our walks of faith in obedience to him despite suffering
for the sake of righteousness, according to his will and purpose for our lives.
So, for us who love and obey our Lord, in practice, and for
whom sin is no longer our practice, we can count on the Lord to be with us and
to help us and to guide us through every circumstance in our lives, whether
good or bad. He will teach us his ways, and he will comfort us with his love,
and he will give us understanding as to his will and purpose for what we are
going through. And in the end, our salvation will be complete when he returns.
Seek the Lord
An Original Work / July 20, 2012
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love
Musical Instrumentation by Mark
Bradley
Based off Isaiah 55
“Come to Me all you
who thirst; come to waters.
Listen to Me, and
eat what’s good today,
And your soul will
delight in richest of fare.
Give ear to Me, and
you will live.
I have made an
eternal covenant with you.
Wash in the blood of
the Lamb.”
Seek the Lord while
He may be found; call on Him.
Let the wicked
forsake his way, in truth.
Let him turn to the
Lord, and he will receive mercy.
Freely, God pardons
him.
“For My thoughts are
not your thoughts,
Nor are your ways My
ways,”
declares the Lord,
our God.
“My word that goes
out of My mouth is truthful.
It will not return
to Me unfulfilled.
My word will
accomplish all that I desire,
And achieve the goal
I intend.
You will go in joy
and be led forth in peace.
The mountains will
burst into song… before you,
And all of the trees
clap their hands.”
My God, in Whom I
Trust
An Original Work / June 7, 2025
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