The Secret Place

In our world of upheaval, uncertainty, fear and torment, we have all at some point longed for true safety. As a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, you have access to true safety. The only thing is, you must development the discipline to be able to stay there.

I am sure we are familiar with Psalm 91, and if not, it really is a great chapter that speaks of the security available for those of us who choose to line our lives up with God’s word.

1 He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. 2 I will say of the LORD, “He is my refuge and my fortress; My God, in Him I will trust.” 3 Surely He shall deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the perilous pestilence. 4 He shall cover you with His feathers, And under His wings you shall take refuge; His truth shall be your shield and buckler. 5 You shall not be afraid of the terror by night, 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. 8 Only with your eyes shall you look, And see the reward of the wicked. 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.

Psalm 91:1–11 NKJV

Psalm 91 could be summed up to say, “stick with God with 100% of all you are, and you’ll be fine, regardless of what you see going on around you”. This sounds to me like a principle that we should understand, and abide by. So let’s look a little deeper…

Verse 1 has two fundamental words, that once we expound their meanings, they speak for themselves — “dwells” and “abide”.

• Dwells, is the Hebrew word “yasab” which means:

  • to sit down, to remain, to settle, to marry, to continue, to establish, to return.
    

• Abide, is the Hebrew word “lun” which means:

  • to stop (overnight), to stay permanently, to continue, to dwell, to endure, to lodge, to remain, to tarry.

Where, I may hear you ask, is the secret place though?

Abide In The Vine

The place where we need to abide, remain, settle and lodge is clearly explained by the Lord Himself in the book of John:

“I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. “Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every [branch] that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. “You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. “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. “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. “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. “If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. “By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples. “As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love. 10 “If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love.

John 15:1–10 NKJV

Here, the word “abide” in the Greek is “meno” and means to stay (in a given place, state, relation or expectancy), to continue, to dwell, to endure, to be present, to remain, to stand, to tarry. The place where believers are meant to dwell is in Christ, and I like the explanation that can be applied, meaning believers should stay in the given place in Christ; the given state in Christ, the given relation to Christ and the given expectancy in Christ.

Abiding in Christ speaks of our oneness with Him. We abide in Him and He abides in us. Read on to see how we are made perfect according to John 17:20–23.

Abide For Fruitfulness

As citizens of the kingdom of heaven, our mandate is to be fruitful within whichever area we’ve have been designated to operate in. In the parable of the sower, the seed that falls on the good ground, or if we use the interpretation, the word that is sown in a receptive heart, produces fruit. Of the 4 kinds of soil, only 1 type was classed as good soil, so that’s only 1/4 of the hearts of people that hear the word of God. Then within that, there are various levels of fruitfulness. 30 fold, 60 fold or 100 fold. I believe it is up to each individual to decide how much fruit they desire to produce, but be aware that there is actually only one way to produce fruit in the kingdom of God.

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.

John 15:4 NKJV

The topic of good works, bad works and dead works (Hebrews 6:1) is for another time but the verse above is clear that a believer can only produce good works, that is, they can only be fruitful, by abiding in Christ, His words, and His commandments.

Abide To Ask

A believer who abides in the word of God is a person who can ask for what they want and be confident that they will receive it.

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.

John 15:7 NKJV

For some, this seems a little too good to be true, but note that the decisive factor in this verse is “abiding”. Once a believer abides in the Lord, the believer will start to become more and more like the Lord. Therefore, once we loose more and more of ourselves and our selfish desires, what we ask will really be what the Lord wants for us anyway. It’ll be asking in unity with the Holy Spirit, and then you can always be guaranteed to have your request answered.

14 Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. 15 And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.

1 John 5:14–15 NKJV

3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures.

James 4:3 NKJV

Abide And Remain Confident

We know that the Lord’s return is imminent, where we, as His saints, will be caught up to meet Him in the air, leaving this current life behind (1 Thessalonians 4:17). The instruction given to us from the scripture below is that we must abide in Christ to remain confident when we stand before Him at His coming. Let none of us be found to be ashamed before Him. I encourage you to find yourself abiding in Him to ensure your confidence before Him.

28 And now, little children, abide in Him, that when He appears, we may have confidence and not be ashamed before Him at His coming.

1 John 2:28 NKJV

38 “For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him the Son of Man also will be ashamed when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels.”

Mark 8:38 NKJV

Abide In Him To Live By Him

The Lord Jesus is the express image of God the Father (Hebrews 1:1–4) and the Word is clear that Jehovah God is the Self-Existing one. All life comes from God the Father, who is Jehovah God, both mortal life and eternal life. God that Father has life in Himself, and so does the Lord Jesus Christ:

“For as the Father has life in Himself, so He has granted the Son to have life in Himself,”

John 5:26 NKJV

That said, we must abide in Christ to have His Life flowing through us. This life, and life abundant (John 10:10) is provided for believer, and by faith, you can experience the life of Christ today, within your mortal life, as well as the promised eternal life in age to come.

53 Then Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you. 54 “Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. 55 “For My flesh is food indeed, and My blood is drink indeed. 56 “He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him. 57 “As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who feeds on Me will live because of Me.

John 6:53–57 NKJV

Abide To Experience His Manifestation

It may be a surprise to many of you that the Bible’s version of true love is to keep the commandments of the Lord. True love has nothing to do with feelings but all to do with actions. Your actions first towards God and secondly, to your fellow man. John 14 confirms that once a believer lives a life of true love, the Father and the Son will make their home, that is their abode, with that person. Abide in the love of God by keeping the commandments of God and experience His Manifestation in your life.

21 “He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him.” 22 Judas (not Iscariot) said to Him, “Lord, how is it that You will manifest Yourself to us, and not to the world?” 23 Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him.

John 14:21–23 NKJV

Abide and Be Made Perfect

The Lord Jesus came to earth, died on the cross, and was resurrected to reconcile man, and the dominion man had been given, back to God. The ultimate realisation of this was to bring man back into perfect harmony and unity with God through the covenant that Jesus had made with His own blood. By abiding in Christ, this ultimate aim will be realised. We in Christ, Christ in us, Christ in God and all of us as one.

20 “I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; 21 “that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me. 22 “And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one: 23 “I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me.

John 17:20–23 NKJV