Because you have made the LORD, who is my refuge, even the most High, your habitation

From: September 26, to October 2, 2006 Study: # 463

TOPIC: “Because you have made the LORD, who is my refuge, even the most High, your habitation” Psalms 91:9 Those who do not know God tend to escape, but later they will see the consequences. We lose many things because we haven’t been wearing our shoes the way we are supposed to. We must be in the place where God wants us to be. In this way no stone will make us trip. Psalms 91:12 There is nothing worse for us than a fall. What makes us fall is the excess of confidence. If only we were capable of denying ourselves, to die to ourselves so that God can take control of our lives, then we wouldn’t be tripping so often. When we converted to Christ we told God: “Lord, guide me”. We must persevere in this so that when we die we will be able to say as Paul said: “I have fought a good battle, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith.” 2 Timothy 4:7 When we refuse to die to ourselves we begin to trip. No one better than ourselves to know that those bad stones we didn’t keep out will bring us bad days in the years to come. We must watch and take care of our walk because all of us will find stones in our path to make us fall, because the devil doesn’t want anyone to be saved. But those who live in God have many promises. It depends on us how many of those promises we will reach. In us there has to be the will of putting Jehovah as our habitation and our “me” in the past. If we accomplish this then God will be able to work in us. If God is our habitation and we are in Him, His face will be seen and not our face. Then the demons and our enemies will tremble. If we really want to progress in God we must examine our character, if we are impulsive, sentimental, etc. We will see if God has been forming us or not. We will be able to see if we have permitted God to form our lives. The best thing for us to do is to go in prayer before God so that He can transform our lives. God wants to form a new character in us as He transformed Paul’s life, in whips, watchfulness, afflictions, so that at the end we will be able to say as Paul did: “I have fought a good battle, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith.” Paul died to himself. Galatians 2:20 Whatever come to our lives we must confront it. After all, our daily conduct will show who we really are, what is really inside of us. We must stop tripping over stones. Our shelter, our dwelling, should be in Jehovah, the highest priest whom we serve, where the earth is the chamber of His feet and His throne is in the third Heaven. We should stop complaining about our struggles, stop being slack. This is why we can’t do much. We cannot make our habitation here on earth but in the Heavens. If our habitation is here on earth we will lose, but if our habitation is in God we will gain. If you are not able to sustain yourself in God’s promises you will continue struggling with your own strength and you will not be able to stand when things begin to get complicated as the days go by. So we must grab God’s promises right away. Jehovah will guard our homes and our loved ones. Of course it depends on how much we are willing to die to ourselves and let God guide our lives. If we do so, no plague will touch our home. (V.10), because touching us would be like touching the Almighty Lord. Because we have placed Jehovah the Almighty as our habitation and He will send His angels near us to guard us. (V.11). Jehovah will send them to guard our path so that we will not fall over. These are our personal guards and not everyone has them. Hebrews 1:7, 14 They have received God’s orders to guard our interests, they are sent each day so that no one will touch our homes. God delivers us from many things because He is powerful for those who believe in Him.

We must understand that the Word is pure, holy and real. The Word is for the benefit of those who are chosen. The promises of this Psalm are given to us so that we will not stumble and fall. When you put God as your habitation you will not stumble. We must be wise and recognize what we have done wrong. We must let God walk in front of us. We must not trust ourselves, we don’t have enough strength and our thoughts get confused. When we live trusting ourselves and not Jehovah then we will face problems. The angels come on our behalf because we are loved by God, to the point where He gave his son to die on the cross for us. The angels are sent by God and they take care of us even since we were in our mother’s womb until our last days so that we will not fall. If we abide in God no danger will destroy us, for the Word says that “You shall tread upon the lion and cobra, the young lion and the serpent you shall trample under foot.” (V.13) We abide in God and nothing can touch us. Even the worst fierce of evil is powerless for those who live in God. If we come in contact with our worse enemy, even with Satan himself, in Christ we have a sure hope that we are able to step on him. When God works with us we must not feel ashamed because He will never leave us of forsake us. The demons have to flee if we have the name of Christ in our mouths. Mark 16:17 There is no evil force no matter how powerful that can make us fall, but if we walk away from God, any stone will make us fall. We must attach to God, and not let anything steal what we feel for Him. If we see other things greater than God, then we will put God in a second level and this will disqualify anyone. Mark 12:30 This Psalm talks about invoking Jehovah. (V.15) When we invoke God He will respond to us. The problem is that when we stop praying we have nothing to gain. Those who pray will not walk away from God. When the righteous prays all his blessings will come through his prayer, God will be with him in his time of affliction. It is better for us to be embraced to God in our times of tribulation when we are going through the furnace of fire rather than to be without Him. Gold has to be tested with fire. Temptation and tribulations are like fire upon the righteous. The righteous is gold being tested with fire in the midst of his trials, but God will deliver us and will glorify in our lives. Those who have noble thoughts will have a long life. Jehovah will show us His salvation; will give us a long life and eternity with Him. (V.16). It’s worth going through the furnace of fire and being tested as gold. Have confidence in God because He will deliver us. The most important thing is our salvation. God will be revealed to us in eternity, in His fullness, and then we will know as we have been known. 1 Corinthians 13:12 If the stones make us stumble and fall we will not be able to conquer all that we need reach. What wants to make us stumble and fall is what is in us, not what is outside, for our struggle is not against blood and flesh, but against the devil and not against humans. For this reason we must be wise and make the Lord, the most Highest, our habitation. Amen