"The Secret Place" Psalm 91 declares, “He that 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 refuge and my fortress; my God, in Him I will trust” (vs. 1-2).  The psalm continues, beautifully and powerfully depicting the protection and deliverance available to the child of God who inhabits the “secret place.”  What is the “secret place,” and how do we find it to continuously live and commune with our God?   The “secret place” is not a physical location, though we may pull apart from the distractions of this life to a private place to seek the face of God.  The mountains and the seashore have always been for me places conducive for introspection and hearing God’s voice.  There’s just something about the majesty of His unspoiled creation that evokes awe and reverence for the greatness of God.  The unseen location of the “secret place” is the spirit of man.  It is the deep place within us that no man can touch, and where the Holy Spirit resides within the redeemed soul.  It is where God “walks and talks” with us like He did with Adam in the Garden of Eden in the cool of the evening (Genesis 3:8).  It is a place that we can only reach by heeding God’s command to “Be still, and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10).    If you are a born again Christian whose sins have been washed away in the precious blood of the Lamb, the Bible states that “You are the temple of the living God.  As God has said, ‘I will dwell in them and walk with them.  I will be their God, and they shall be my people” (2 Corinthians 6: 16).  How amazing is that?  The King of the Universe, Creator of Heaven and Earth, has set up residence within our spirits and made us His holy tabernacle!  When we seek the Lord with the eyes of faith, and commune with Him in prayer, praise and worship, and reading His word, marvelous things occur.  One of the greatest outcomes from time spent with God in the secret place is that we become more like Him, taking on His holy character: “But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord”  (2 Corinthians 3: 18).   Another benefit of spending time with God in the secret place is that we get to know Him.  God used His prophet Jeremiah to pen His great promise; “And you will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all of your heart” (Jeremiah 29:13).  When we find the Lord, we find that He is “merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in mercy” (Psalm 103:8).  We also find that God “does not take pleasure in wickedness, nor shall evil dwell with You.  The boastful shall not stand in Your sight; You hate all workers of iniquity.  You shall destroy those who speak falsehood; the Lord abhors the bloodthirsty and deceitful man” (Psalm 5: 4-6).  We learn both the kindness and severity of the Lord, and the fear of the Lord preserves our soul from destruction.   It is because God is a just Judge that we can trust Him to deliver us from our enemies.  When all hell is breaking lose in the earth, as will happen in the last days before Jesus’ return, our hearts will not fear because our lives are “hid in Christ with God” in the secret place.  We can declare with the Psalmist, ‘Arise, O Lord, do not let man prevail; let the nations be judged in Your sight.  Put them in fear, O Lord, that the nations may know themselves to be but men” (Psalm 9: 19-20).   The greatest thing about living with the Lord in the secret place is that we become a friend of God.  O, to be a friend of God!  We will hear the Lord say to us: “Because he (or she) has set his love upon Me, therefore I will deliver him; I will set him on high, because he has known my name.  He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him and honor him.  With long life I will satisfy him and show him My salvation” (Psalm 91: 14-16).  If you want this awesome relationship with your God, and to hear the Creator of the Universe speak your name in the secret place, you must first confess and repent of your sins, and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ alone for your salvation.  Ask the Lord to fill you with His Holy Spirit, and to reveal Himself to you.  Like the Father running down the road to meet His returning, prodigal son, God will embrace you and kill the fatted calf in celebration of your redemption.  Cry out to Jesus.  He is waiting to meet you in the “Secret Place.” “In Your presence is fullness of joy; at Your right hand are pleasures forevermore” (Psalm 16: 11).