AVBS Day 2: Dwelling under the Shadow <3
Welcome back to Day 2!
I was so lengthy yesterday, that I will be a bit fewer on words…or at least I will try.
If you are just joining us, take some time to go back to Day 1 and read about the names and meanings of the names for God in Psalm 91:1-2
Today we are going to camp out on a thought found in our key verse for the week using a couple of different translations. Please read all three as together they give us richer picture of this passage of Scripture:
He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the LORD, “He is my fortress; My God, in Him I will trust.” NKJV
The one who lives under the protection of the Most High dwells in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say concerning the LORD, who is my refuge and my fortress, my God in whom I trust:… HCSB
and finally from Eugene Peterson
You who sit down in the High God’s presence, spend the night in Shaddai’s shadow, say this: “God, you’re my refuge. I trust in you and I’me safe!” MSG
The phrasing I am most familiar with in this passage is “the secret place of the Most High” and that wording draws me with great interest.
It speaks to me of a place of such solid security, a well-protected and private place.
Odd for one who has chosen to allow her soul to be bared so publicly isn’t it?
But those who know me know I am deeply protective of my inner thoughts and feelings.
I am choosy about who gets a glimpse of them and yet, so like God, He asks me to spread them wide open in a public way because He also speaks to other’s hearts through them.
And yet, there are hidden treasures He and I have shared that are safely kept secure deep in the wells of not only my heart, but His.
The summation of the translations above is, in my mind, a picture of a place so intimate and private between God and each individual, that it can only be found when we are in a place of brokenness and complete dependance on Him.
Or those times where joy is so intense that we are overcome by an ocean of the purest of lights and it is more than our human hearts were made to handle.
This is the secret place and the source of our life in Him, and in that fellowship with Him we learn to “dwell” so that the world around us increasingly loses its power over us as we choose to do what it takes to pursue His presence throughout the ordinary moments of our days.
Last night as Russ and I ended our evening walk, I saw a bright colored pillow under a grove of pine trees that line the walkway and form a natural fence for the adjacent home.
On closer inspection we could see a quilt spread over the pine needles, more colorful pillows and some paper with drawings hung along a wire.
I assume some little girls had set up a camp under that area and had tucked away there for a summer day of giggling and drawing and dreaming.
A secret place.
God has a secret place for you and for me.
He is inviting you to come and dwell under the shadow of His hand…His protecting and loving and guiding Hand.
It is scarred with the price of our sin, that Hand.
It is gentle and patient and kind.
Enter in, dear one.
Enter in <3
Oh my good and gracious Abba. Thank you for making a place for me in the deepest places of Your heart where we can meet and I can rest and live and dwell. Thank you that there is always room for more and that all are welcome to enter in. I am a refugee from this world. I had no home here because I wasn’t meant to dwell forever on earth. You have made a way for me to be where I belong and that is with You. Thank You for showing me the way <3
Today’s activity is to ask God to show you what the Secret Place looks like for you. Be open in your heart to recognize His Shadow and then choose to set up camp right there and rest in Him.
Today’s snack is a favorite in our home.
While I have found the recipe on the internet when I was at the grocery without the ingredient list, I credit our dear friend Peggy with giving it to us.
The copy in my recipe box includes a grade school picture of her sweet daughter because it was an entry in her class’s cookbook one year.
It makes me smile and thank God for friends who we have grown up and grown older with.
Tijuana Tidbits
4 cups tortilla chips broken into pieces
3 cups Crispix cereal
1 bag microwave (I pop regular or use bagged snack kind) popcorn
1 12 oz can mixed nuts
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 Tbsp chili powder
1/8 tsp cinnamon
1/3-1/4 tsp ground red pepper
Heat oven to 250. Combine the first four ingredients in a big roaster. Heat remaining ingredients to boiling in a saucepan. Pour over cereal mixture and stir. Bake 1 hour stirring every 20 minutes. Remove from oven and turn onto a sheet of waxed paper to cool – break apart. Store in an airtight container up to 2 weeks….don’t worry…it won’t last 2 days!!!