15 Days of Supernatural EncountersSample

Day 13: 3 Ways to Stay Under God’s Overshadowing

Know:

Every person who has ever lived has a deep, inner need to be covered. Including me and you.

See, humans were originally created to be covered by God. They didn’t need clothes or houses. They lived in a garden, and they were naked–but not ashamed. They didn’t feel naked.

But when Adam and Eve fell into sin, they lost their covering and suddenly felt ashamed. They felt the impact and exposure of their nakedness. So what’s the first thing they did? They ran and made clothes for themselves out of leaves.

Then, when God showed up, He killed an animal–shedding innocent blood–and made clothes for them out of animal skins so they would be covered.

Do you ever feel uncovered?

It doesn’t matter whether you have clothes on or not. You can feel naked and uncovered with or without clothes.

Uncovered … exposed to the world.

Uncovered … feeling the prying and judging eyes of those around you.

Uncovered … afraid of who is going to attack you next.

Uncovered. 

Exposed.

It’s not a pretty feeling. It’s awful, and it’s scary, and it’s an affront to the safety we innately know we should have.

But only Jesus can remedy it.

See, in the Garden of Eden, God shed innocent blood to provide a covering for Adam and Eve. That was a temporary covering that would only last until the leather wore out.

But on the cross of Calvary, our Father again shed innocent blood to provide a covering for us that would never wear out.

On Calvary, Father God shed the blood of His Son Jesus. Yes, it was His will. Yes, it was by His design. It pleased the Lord to bruise Him (Isaiah 53:10).

And because Jesus paid the price, we can now have a permanent covering that protects us:

• Protects us from the prying eyes of others.
• Protects us from caring about other people’s opinions.
• Protects us from physical harm and danger.
• Protects us from exposure to the world and feeling like we are at other people’s mercy.

The covering of Christ is available to protect you, right now and every moment … IF.

If you dwell under His covering. If you abide in Him. If you live permanently in the secret place with Him.

See, God’s promises are conditional. And in Psalm 91, God promises us absolutely immunity from danger. He promises that we will triumph over our enemies. He promises that we will be safe from harm of every kind, sheltered under His tabernacle.

What’s the pre-requisite? Simply this: that we dwell under His covering.

Psalm 91:1 says, “He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.”

In the original Hebrew, the word for “secret place” means “a cover, covering, or protection.” And the word “shadow” means “the shade; overshadowing; hovering; brooding.”

So we could translate it:

“He who dwells in the covering of the Most High shall abide under the shade, overshadowing, hovering, and brooding of the Almighty.”

That gives a whole different feel to this verse, doesn’t it?

I don’t know about you, but the literal translation above makes this promise come alive to my senses. If I dwell under His covering, I’ll sense and remain under His overshadowing and brooding.

That means:

• I’ll constantly feel the Holy Spirit brooding and hovering over me.
• I’ll never feel alone.
• I’ll feel safe and protected from the world.
• I’ll be shielded from harm and danger of every kind.

And so will you. If you dwell–live, remain–in the covering of the Most High, you’ll stay under His shade, overshadowing, hovering, and brooding too.

So how do you stay under God’s overshadowing?

Below are 3 ways I learned to do this. And remember, God’s covering is something Jesus already purchased for you on the cross. You just have to learn how to walk in it, the same way you have to learn to walk in freedom, joy, and every other good thing.

1. Engage your senses.

You can engage your sense of touch to feel God by simply realizing that He is everywhere. If you reach out your hand and wave it in the air in front of you, you just touched God. 

You can also engage your ears.

When I first started learning to dwell under God’s covering, I purchased a music CD by John Paul Jackson called “I AM: 365 Names of God.”

I played the CD constantly for months, imagining the sounds of Father God's heart beating. (The drum beat on the CD are meant to imitate a heartbeat, showing us God’s heart beating for us.) Engaging my ears like that helped me sense Father’s nearness.

Right away, I also noticed that the sounds of worship on this CD are actually replicated on the earth.

For example, there’s a metallic sound occasionally on the “I Am” CD. It’s very ethereal and worshipful. I was driving by a railroad yard one day as I was listening to the CD, and I heard the trains making the exact same noise.

When I heard that, I freaked out. I realized that earthly matter itself–the very atoms that made up the metal of the trains–was crying out in worship of God. And that wrecked me.

You can engage your sense of smell to notice God’s presence with you by smelling things that the Bible says Jesus smells like. For example, He’s the Rose of Sharon. Smell roses, and know this is His scent.

Just keep on doing this with all your senses. All of your senses were made to help you connect with God. Everything about you is His, so tune in and focus on Him always.

2. Learn to obey so we don’t grieve the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit is a Person. He has feelings. Actually, He's very sensitive! And when we disobey Him, not only is it sin (because He is God, so we’re disobeying God)–but it makes Him sad too.

And since He’s the One who is overshadowing us and brooding over us, we hinder His ability to do that when we’ve grieved Him with our own sin.

What’s the solution? Learn to honor Him above all else and obey Him.

As Bill Johnson, senior leader of Bethel Church in Redding, California, teaches, we should treat the Holy Spirit as if He were a literal dove sitting on our shoulder–and we don’t want to scare Him away. If we think of Him as a dove on our shoulder, every move we make will be made with the Dove in mind.

I haven’t perfected this yet, and I’m sure none of us have. But the more we grow in it, the closer we will be to God–and the closer we will stay to God!

How do we learn to obey Him? By focusing on Jesus, who is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. As we learn to focus our gaze on Jesus, sin becomes less and less of a temptation. We gain a magnificent obsession with the Son of God, and He removes sin from us.

3. Hide God’s Word in your heart.

People ask me sometimes how I sense God so much. It’s because I always hear Him talking–and I always hear Him talking because I have gone out of my way to hide His Word in my heart.

Hiding God’s Word in your heart is not an overnight process, but you can start overnight! You can start right now! It comes by reading, studying, remembering, and obeying one phrase at a time.

You don’t even have to do this by yourself. Just ask the Holy Spirit to help you.

Every time I open my Bible, I ask the Holy Spirit to help me understand and remember what I read. Without His help, I wouldn’t be able to concentrate or remember.

But as soon as I ask for His help, He focuses me in with laser precision and my time with Him just FLOWS. You can do the same thing.

If you will hide God’s Word in your heart, learn to obey, and engage your senses, you will find yourself dwelling in His secret place.

You won’t even have to wait until you’re perfect at these things.

And that’s a good thing, because none of us are perfect at these things! But every effort you make to bend your mind and senses toward His presence will bear fruit. You will find yourself dwelling in His presence more and more after every additional moment you spend focusing on Him.

Do you want this?

Pray with me:

“Heavenly Father, in Jesus’ name, I acknowledge Your Son Jesus as my Savior and the One who takes away my sin. Thank You for forgiving me and covering me with Your blood, Jesus.

Father God, I desire to dwell in Your secret place today. I choose to abide under Your shadow; under Your covering and overshadowing.

So Father, in Jesus’ name, please help me tune my senses in to You. Help me to hear Your voice and obey You. Help me to be aware of You at all times, honor You, and honor Your presence in everything I do. Thank You, Father. In Jesus’ name, amen.”

Listen:

If you are streaming your favorite music service today, listen to John Paul Jackson's "I AM: 365 Names of God" CD. As you listen, imagine Father's heart beating for you--and tune in all your senses to notice His presence with you!