This multi-part series was originally published in 2008 by Alea under a strong urgency to point people, even His church, to Him and Him alone in the ever increasing times that further “fill, distort and distract” us from the only Source of Hope, Help and Salvation, Jesus Christ. He is coming soon and we need to be ready and prepared…
Father God, please open our eyes and ears, soften our hearts and minds, change and help us to choose wisely, to know Your ways and live them. In Jesus Name, Amen.
Shelter
Just the Facts
Finding shelter is considered the highest priority in survival situations by the military and most survivalists. The reason for this is because shelter provides protection from the elements and environment. Without shelter we are completely exposed. A shelter can afford comfort, a sense of center, boost morale and a feeling of having a home. Shelter offers protection against danger and safety during inclement weather, helping prevent hypothermia and assisting us in getting much needed rest. Examples of a shelter include caves, tents, branches, brick, stone, metal or wood structures.
Today we have many different shelters like those for the homeless, abused women, orphans, animals, weather, war, and disasters. We even have bus, train and plane shelters for people to be safe in during travel.
Shelter is highly desirable to every creature on the planet.
Revealed in the Source
Hebrews 3:4 “For every house is builded by some man; but He that built all things is God.” The word shelter is synonymous with sanctuary, refuge, safety, protection and a place to rest. When we observe life around us we see the tiniest of insects, birds, reptiles, beasts of the field, even the fish of the sea, looking for a place of safety just like we do. God shows us a bit more of Himself through these real life illustrations. He formed in us a desire for protection, the need for a place to call home, a place of rest.
Even as we need shelter physically, emotionally, mentally we also need it spiritually. Truly, Almighty God is the greatest shelter in every way fortitude, foundation, rest and defense. We may try to build or live in shelters apart from Him but none can compare to God. If we could choose to live in a shelter made of branches or one made of stone we would choose the more solid of the two. So it is with choosing the Lord as our home, our dwelling place. It says in Psalms 71:3, “Be Thou my strong habitation, whereunto I may continually resort: Thou hast given commandment to save me; for Thou art my rock and my fortress.” There’s no question of God’s provisional promise to be our shelter, He will even draw us right to Himself as He says in Exodus 15:17, “Thou shalt bring them in, and plant them in the mountain of Thine inheritance, in the place, O LORD, which Thou has made for Thee to dwell in, in the Sanctuary, O Lord, which Thy Hands have established.” His own hands have made for us a place of safety. God wants no one outside His shelter. Only those who won’t go with Him, reject His offer of Salvation through Christ Jesus or decide to leave His Shelter and not return, will be left outside. He is also a shelter for those who are enduring difficult times and are suffering as we read in Psalms 9:9, “The Lord also will be a refuge for the oppressed, a refuge in times of trouble.” All we have to do is come to Him. Jesus gave us a personal invitation in Matthew 11:28 when He said, “Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” When we come to Him, Jesus promises something amazing in John 14:23, “If a man love Me, he will keep My words: and my Father will love him, and We will come unto him, and make Our abode with him.”
Imagine the God of all creation making a home with us, that’s incredible. Revelation 3:20 says, “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear My voice and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with Me.” A passage in Hebrews 3:6 explains that the home He is referring to is our hearts, inside us. Christ is over all God’s shelters including our bodies, “But Christ as a son over his own house; whose house are we, if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end.” Once Jesus comes in we’re also filled with Holy Spirit because we are a house of the Lord as we learn from 1 Corinthians 6:19, “What? Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?”
The Shelter of all shelters wants to cover us from the outside and from within providing salvation, eternal life, comfort, safety, protection, peace, and rest. By choosing Him to be our Shelter we can know that, “For in Him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, ‘For we are also His offspring.”, Acts 17:28. Would you like to come to The Shelter and let Him make a home with you?
Let’s Ask Him
Father God, Mighty Refuge, I choose You, I run into Your protection. Lord Jesus I welcome You into my person, my house, You are my Rock and Shelter. Holy Spirit come into my temple and remove all shelters and coverings not of Your Spirit. Help me enter into Your rest and to be obedient wholly trusting only in You. Thank You for sheltering every area of me from within and without, in Jesus name. Amen.
Until next time...
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