Home at Last
"The eternal God is your refuge and dwelling place, and underneath are the everlasting arms…."
Deuteronomy 33: 27
Amplified Bible
EXPLORATION
"Home At Last"
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"If I stoop into the dark for a time; I press God's lamp close to my breast; Its splendour, soon or late, will pierce the gloom: I shall emerge one day."
Robert Browning
Have I invited the presence of the eternal God into my life to hold me in His everlasting arms?
"God is over all things, under all things; outside all; within but not enclosed; without but not excluded; above but not raised up; below but not depressed; wholly above, presiding; wholly beneath, embracing; wholly within, filling."
Hildebert of Lavardin
Epistles
INSPIRATION
"Never be afraid to trust an unknown future to a known God."
Carrie ten Boom
I just love the Bible. Here we are studying through the Old Testament. We're at the end of the book of Deuteronomy – a book with a weird name that's hard to pronounce, and yet, our text for today is like a big gold nugget.
The last few days, we have looked at what it takes to build a well-lived life, beginning with the foundation – the Rock of our salvation. We learned that there are three BEAMS that support a life well-lived. Today, we'll put a roof on our house.
Just when you believe you've gone through all the texts and read all the words of Moses, right at the end of his address to the children of Israel, he shared one of the most beautiful and encouraging passages found in the entire Bible: "The eternal God is your refuge and dwelling place, and underneath are the everlasting arms" (Deuteronomy 33: 27). Where do we find these words? In Deuteronomy, at the very end of the book, just before Moses died. At the end of a well-lived life, Moses says with confidence, in a God he knows: "He is my refuge. With whom I dwell. He is over me, underneath me, and all around me. He is the one in whom I trust. The one I can count on – always and forever, for He is eternal."
As I read these words I asked myself this question: "At the end of my life will I be able to give this same testimony about the God I rely on?" I pray I will, for it is the sheltering protection of our eternal God that gives me faith to go forward each day.
Years ago, a British pastor, Vernon John Charlesworth, penned these words:
"The Lord's our Rock, in Him we hide,
A shelter in the time of storm,
Secure whatever may betide,
A shelter in the time of storm.
A shade by day, defense by night,
A shelter in the time of storm,
No fears alarm, no foes affright,
A shelter in the time of storm.
The raging floods may round us beat,
A shelter in the time of storm,
We find in God a safe retreat,
A shelter in the time of storm."
This is the haven that Moses found in God throughout his life. When Pharaoh ordered all the male babies to be killed, God's shelter was given it to Moses through the lives of two midwives – life-givers – who stood up to the Egyptian ruler. When Moses was floating in a basket on the Nile, God's shelter was given by none other than Pharaoh's daughter – the princess of Egypt. When Moses needed the nurturing care of a mother, God sheltered him in the loving arms of his own mother, Jochebed. When Moses needed loving arms to give him comfort and care, God sent the kind-hearted Zipporah to shelter him. And when Moses needed the support of a joyous, uplifting prophetess of praise, God sent Miriam, his sister. Isn't it interesting how, in the life of Moses, God's shelter was given by six women!! Six women who had the presence of God working at the core of their lives.
Vittoria da Colonna penned these words in a poem:
"See that lovely juniper, pressed so hard,
angry winds swirl round her,
but she'll not let
her leaves fall or scatter,
clenched, branches held high,
she gathers strength, her refuge within."
If you and I, as daughters and sons of God long to have a life well-lived, as Moses did, then today, let us make the eternal God our refuge and our fortress, our strength within. For He is our God – and in Him, we can trust – forever!
"I would rather walk with God in the dark than go alone in the light."
Mary Gardiner Brainard
AFFIRMATIONS
"You are my hiding place; You shall preserve me from trouble; You shall surround me with songs of deliverance."
Psalm 32: 7
N.K.J.V.
'You are my hiding place,
You always fill my heart with songs of deliverance.
Whenever I am afraid, I will trust in You.
I will trust in you.
Let the weak say I am strong
In the strength of my Lord.
I will trust in You."
Michael Ledner
1981 Marantha Music
Your friend,
Dorothy Valcarcel
