1. "Some of you right now you're dwelling in the secret place and you feel like you're under a shadow and you've misunderstood the shadow. It's been God's angry at you and God's mad at you and you don't see the Sun and you don't see the light and you don't know why but let me tell you something it's because you've been hidden in him and he's protecting you he's leading you he's guiding you and as long as you stay under the shelter of the almighty he says I'm going to hide you." [26:58]

2. "There are sometimes God puts us in a dark place and it's not to punish us it's to produce in us it's not to punish you it's to protect you and some of you right now God is saying to you that because you have made me your Dwelling Place I have hidden you under the shadow of my Almighty wing and when the time is right I will lift up my wing and I will shoot you in launch you into your destiny." [27:32]

3. "Abiding in the presence of the Lord changes your language and it changes your focus no longer am I talking about and focusing on my troubles and my problems I'm talking about and focusing on who and what God is and my dependency to trust in him." [28:26]

4. "I don't always have things memorized I don't always sometimes I'm gonna hey hey I don't know the answer to that let me get into scripture let me ask the Lord let me don't don't don't throw stones at me because I don't have the whole Bible memorized okay I don't have that but what's more important is walking the walk instead of just having all the right answers if I know everything about the Bible but I don't know the author what good does it do me." [13:18]

5. "For a believer for a Christian death is not something to be feared I'm not ready to go before it's my time but I'm not afraid of death I'm not afraid and for a Christian and a Believer for those who are alive and remain we're going to be caught up with him in the air and let me tell you something that is not something to be feared that is something to look forward to." [14:35]

I'm going to preach a message that I've simply entitled "Abiding in Jesus."

Abiding in Jesus. Now, there was a song we used to sing back in the day. I thought about trying to play it, but I'm not going to torture you today. It simply says, "He abides, He abides, Hallelujah, He abides with me."

And it goes on, "I'm rejoicing night and day as I walk the narrow way." You know that song? "He abides, He abides, He abides with me." We used to talk about abiding; we used to sing about abiding. There are a couple of songs that we sing now about abiding in the presence of the Lord.

But I want to tell you that the heart of the Father today is that His children would abide with Him. He abides, and He wants to abide with you today.

Listen to this: John chapter 15, verses 1 through 8. I'm just going to give you a disclaimer: I'm not going to apologize, but I have a lot of scripture this morning. There's going to be a lot of scripture reading today, so hang with me. I promise you that I won't overwhelm you with scripture, but if you feel overwhelmed, I'm sorry. Take a break and circle back around, okay?

John chapter 15, beginning with verse 1. These are the red letters of Jesus Christ, and He says, "I am the True Vine, and my Father is the vine dresser."

Okay, He's painting a picture. "Every branch in me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes, that it may bear more fruit."

He says, "You are already clean because of the word." That word "word" right there is the Greek word "logos." It means the word of God. Now we know that Jesus is the Word, right? The Bible tells us that God sent His word and healed our disease. John 1:1 says, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God."

And we beheld His glory, the glory of the only begotten Son of the Father. We know that Jesus is the Word, and so Jesus was alive, fully God as the Word. He was fully man but also fully God.

And so He says, "You're already clean because of the word, the logos. God sent me, and my divine words, a divine utterance," is what "logos" means, "has already cleansed you."

Are you thankful for Jesus Christ, the Word today? That His word was sent to heal, His word was sent to deliver. His word was sent—Jesus is the Word.

So He says, "You are already clean because of the logos, the word, the divine utterance which I, the Living Word, have spoken to you."

Listen to what He says in verse 4: "Abide in me, and I in you." As the branch—He reiterates it—as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me.

Understand now what He's talking about: if you want to bear fruit, you’ve got to abide in Him.

Verse 5: "I am the vine; you are the branches." Thank God that He knows that sometimes Daniel Prince is dumb, that He's got to repeat Himself. Let me just reiterate it: He says, "I am the vine; you are the branches."

He who abides in me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without me, you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned.

Verse 7: "If you abide in me and my words"—this is a different Greek word—this is the word "Rhema." I don't know why I put that emphasis on the "Rhema," but it's "Rhema" word.

"Rhema" word is a spiritual hearing that goes with the divine in birthing of faith. It's not just a word; it's not, "Hey guys, how you doing?" It is a divine spiritual word that births faith in you—a spoken word made by the Living God, the living voice.

It's God communicating His specific will to you. It's God communicating His specific divine will to an individual. It's an inspired word birthed within your own spirit, a spirit from the Holy Spirit, a whisper from the Holy Spirit, like the still small voice of Elijah.

You remember when the voice of the Lord came to Elijah in a still small voice? God wants to declare His word and His will to you individually. Did you know that you don't have to come to me for a word?

I remember growing up, there were a couple of people that I knew had that gift, you know? And I would call them as I was growing up and say, "Hey, do you have a word from the Lord?" And that worked for a while.

But as I grew up, I kept going back to the same people saying, "Do you have a word? What is the Lord speaking to you about me?"

I'll never forget where I was in a little place in Missouri. I was sitting in a nursery for some reason—I don't know why I was in the nursery—and I called him. I had a notepad, and I was getting ready to get a word from the Lord.

I called him, and he was talking so fast I could barely write down. I'm like, "Well, hold on, man! Hold on, man! I'm writing, and I'm writing, and I'm writing."

And towards the end, he said, "Daniel, it's time. The Lord says that you grow up." I'm like, "No! Whoa, whoa! Hold up! It's about time that you learn to go to me for a word."

No, I didn't like that. No, back up! What did you just say? Did you know that you can have a relationship with God yourself? That God can communicate His will for your life to you?

Now, if God gives me a word for you, I'll give it. If God gives me a word for you, I'll give it. I come every Sunday to give you a Rhema word. I want to give you a word that's in season.

I don't want to just preach a message; I don't want to just make you happy and let you go home. I want a word from God because it's the word from God that transforms us, that challenges us, that increases our faith.

But this is a divine arrangement. He said, "If you abide in me and my Rhema word, my specific divine will for you—that's what that means."

Listen: "If you abide in me and my words, me communicating directly to you, abide in you, listen, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you."

Now, we love to dance and shout on that part: "I ask whatever I desire, and God said I will get it." But it doesn't come first; it goes back to, "If you abide in me and my Rhema divine will word for your life abides in you, then you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done."

That word right there, "shall be done for you," means properly to emerge, to become. It's a transitioning from one point or realm or condition to another. It means to become and signifies a change of condition or state or place.

When you abide in Him and His Rhema word to you abides in you, you will ask in accordance to His divine will for your life, and He says it will be done.

It will be done! If I abide in Him and I allow Him to speak His Rhema word over me, it becomes a part of who I am. And then what I desire is His will for my life.

And when I say, "Father, I want Your will for my life," He says, "Boom! Now I'm ready to do it. You will get what you asked for."

Verse 8: "By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be my disciples." The Father is glorified when you bear much fruit.

How do you bear fruit? You abide in Him. You can't have fruit unless you learn to abide in Him. And it's more than just a song: "He abides, He abides, Hallelujah, He abides with me."

It's more than just singing a song; it's more than just coming to church; it's more than just hearing me preach; it's more than just podcasts. It's more than just that.

It's a lifestyle of day in, day out, learning to abide in the presence of the Lord. That word "abide" there in the Greek is "minnow."

Now, I know you fishermen are like, "I'm ready to go fishing." That's not what He's talking about, okay? Earl got excited; he said, "Minnow, that's what I use for bait."

It means to stay, abide, remain. I remain, I abide, I stay, I wait. I wait for it. He's talking about abiding; He's talking about waiting; He's talking about staying; He's talking about being faithful where you're at, being faithful where you're planted.

1 John chapter 2, verses 3 through 6 says this: "When you abide in Him, it changes your walk."

Okay? When you abide in Him, it changes your walk. "Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments."

Okay, how can you know Him if you don't know His word? If you don't know His commandments, it's important for you to have a Bible.

It's important for you to read His Bible. It's important for you to know the written word because Jesus Christ, the Living Word, gave us the written word.

It's the same thing: you can't know Him unless you know His word, unless you know His commandments. "He who says, 'I know Him,' and does not keep His commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him."

But whoever keeps His word, truly the love of God is perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him.

Are you ready? Verse 6: "He who says he abides in Him ought also to walk just as He walked."

If you say you abide with Him, if you say you know His word, if you say you know His commandments, then you ought to walk like He walks.

It's not enough just to talk the talk. I know people who know scripture inside out. I know people who can wow you with quoting scripture, but their walk doesn't match up to it.

I don't care if you can quote scripture left and right, but if you know the word and you walk the walk, that's more important than just talking the talk.

I don't always have the whole Bible memorized. Let me just be honest with you. There are times somebody asks me about a scripture, and I say, "Hold on, let me Google it real quick."

I was on the phone the other day; I had someone in my office—I'm not going to tell you who it was—but I had someone in my office, and my phone rang.

And you know me; I'm not a big talker, so I don't like talking on the phone much. I will, okay? Don't hesitate to call me, but I put in an AirPod.

Okay, if you don't know what that is, it's a little headphone that I can talk through. And so my phone rang, and I was like, "Before I answer, I got to put an AirPod in."

So I put an AirPod in. I said, "Hello, how are you today?" And I was talking to whomever I was talking to, and they asked me a question.

And so while they were asking me a question, I got on my phone, and I was Googling it, and I was looking at it so that I could visually see what this person was talking about.

They were in a specific place in Richardson, I think, and they were asking me about a church and had I ever seen it, ever been there. And I said, "No."

And I pulled it up, and I said, "Oh yeah, I can see what you're talking about. I can see it and everything."

And when I got off the phone, that person in my office said, "You can do all that stuff while you're talking on the phone?"

I don't always have things memorized. I don't always—sometimes I'm going to say, "Hey, I don't know the answer to that. Let me get into scripture. Let me ask the Lord."

Don't throw stones at me because I don't have the whole Bible memorized, okay? I don't have that.

But what's more important is walking the walk instead of just having all the right answers. If I know everything about the Bible but I don't know the Author, what good does it do me?

So He said, "This is how you know: if you say you abide with me, then you better walk the walk. Your walk better back it up."

That's how people are going to know. Remember what I said last week: don't take the name of the Lord in vain. Don't say, "I'm a Christian." Don't say it if you're not going to walk it.

God would rather you not say it if you're not going to walk it. Don't take the name of the Lord in vain. Don't declare to be an ambassador for Jesus Christ if you're not going to represent Him well.

Don't be a fair-weather fan. Abiding in Him gives us the confidence at His second coming.

Let me tell you something: He's coming back again. He's coming back again. And if you abide in Him, the Bible tells us that it gives us confidence at His second coming.

1 John chapter 2, verse 28: "And now, little children, abide in Him, that when He appears, we may have confidence and not be ashamed before Him at His coming."

For a believer, for a Christian, death is not something to be feared. I'm not ready to go before it's my time, but I'm not afraid of death.

I'm not afraid. And for a Christian and a believer, for those who are alive and remain, we're going to be caught up with Him in the air.

And let me tell you something: that is not something to be feared; that is something to look forward to.

We used to sing a song, "Beulah Land." Do you know what that means? It means "married." Beulah means "married."

I can't wait! I'm married to Him! I can't wait! And I never understood it as a kid. I never understood it.

And the older that I get, the deeper I get in my relationship with the Lord, I’m homesick for a land I've never been.

And I thought, "That's crazy! How can you be homesick for a place you've never been?"

Oh, but the sweeter and the more I get into the presence of the Lord—I was going to say, "It gets sweeter and sweeter as the days go by."

The more I get into the presence of the Lord, the more I begin to understand that this world is not my home; I'm only passing through.

That my treasures are laid up somewhere beyond the blue, and that heaven is my home. Heaven is where I long to be.

And I'll be honest with you: there are days that tears come to my eyes, and my heart and my stomach begin to yearn for a place I've never been.

Oh, I just want to abide with You, Lord! I just want to be in Your presence! Beulah Land, I can't wait to be with You!

Beulah Land, I look forward to the second coming. Oh yeah, there are things I want to accomplish on Earth; there are things I want to do.

I'm thinking in my head, "I got some bills that get paid off in two years," right? So I got a two-year mark, and I'm like, "Thank God that hospital bill will be gone! If I can just keep my kids out of the hospital for the next two years, I will stop paying on that."

And I'm looking forward to some of these things that are going to drop off. And I'll think, "You'll be like a raise in two years! Emma goes from daycare to school; that's like a raise to me!"

And I'm thinking, "Well, I get the hospital bill paid off; I ain't got to pay for daycare no more. And now, man, I'm going to go on a cruise every day! I'm going to buy that Corvette I've been looking at!"

No, no, not really. Melanie won't let me. It's going to go to more bills. If I ever won the lottery, you know what I'd do with it? Pay off my bills as much as I could.

Abiding in Him gives us the confidence at His second coming. I started to tell you that I'm planning for two years, but I don't know if He's going to tarry. I don't know if He's going to wait for two years.

I live like He's coming today, but I plan like He's not going to be here forever. That way my kids are taken care of, and that way everything's taken care of.

But I look forward; I have confidence in the second coming.

Y'all remember that movie "Elf" when they say, "Santa's coming!" And he said, "Santa, I know him!" He's coming, and he gets all excited.

And he said, "Santa's my favorite!" And he says, "Make work your favorite because right now you're working."

That ought to be our response: "Jesus! Jesus, I know Him! Oh, I can't wait till He gets here! I'm so excited! I know Him! I know in whom I have believed! I know Him! I abide with Him! I know Him, and He knows me!"

He knows me! If you don't abide with Him, He doesn't know you. You may know about Him, but you don't know Him unless you abide with Him.

The Holy Spirit—God gave us the Holy Spirit, and it helps us to know we abide in Christ.

1 John chapter 3, verse 24: "Now he who keeps His commandments abides in Him."

Do you understand and realize that every scripture so far that I've read has talked about keeping His commandments? Every single one of them has said, "If you keep His commandments."

That's important, wouldn't you think? That if He says that over and over and over again, that that would be important?

"He who keeps His commandments abides in Him." There's no shortcut; there's no other way. You can't do what you want to do and abide with Him. You've got to do it His way.

"And He in him, and by this we know that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us."

That word "Spirit" there is the Greek word "pneuma." It's the same Hebrew word "ruach."

It's when God created Adam, and Adam was formed, but he wasn't alive yet until God breathed life into him.

It's the same word that when they're in the valley of dry bones, that he prophesies to the bones, and he prophesies for everything, and those bones come back together.

They stand up; they have the appearance of life, but they're not alive yet. And then he says, "Prophesy to the wind," and he says, "From the north, the South, the East, and the West, blow!"

And the "ruach," the "pneuma," the Spirit of God blew, and they became alive.

Without Him, you're dead. You may have the appearance of life, but if He has not breathed His life into you, you are dead.

He says, "How do we know? If I keep His commandments, I abide in Him, and He in me, and I know that I abide in Him and He in us by the breath of God, the pneuma, the Spirit of God whom He has given us."

Do you have the Spirit of God in you today? Has He breathed His life inside of you today? That's a good test; that's a good indicator.

Am I spiritually alive, or am I dead? Do I have the breath of God in my life or not? He gives us the Spirit, the breath, the breath of God, and we know I'm alive in Christ.

But why is abiding in Christ so important? I get it; He wants me to abide in Him, but why is it so important?

I mean, hopefully, you've already started to see some of the importance because if you don't abide in Him, you're not really alive. You're not; you're dead.

Remember the great philosopher—now I can't think of his name. I just drew a blank. Shakespeare! Thank you!

Nobody said that; I'm just saying thank you. Remember the great philosopher Shakespeare: "To be or not to be, that is the question."

"To abide or not to abide, that is the question."

2 John chapter 1, verse 9: "Whoever transgresses—and we've all transgressed—and does not abide in the doctrine of Christ does not have God."

He who abides in the doctrine of Christ has both the Father and the Son.

If you do not abide in Christ, you don't have God. If you do not abide in Christ, you do not have God. If you do abide in Christ, you get God the Father and God the Son.

You get the Father and the Son; you get them both.

John chapter 14, verse 6: These are the red letters of Jesus. Jesus said to him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one goes to the Father except through me."

You can only get to the Father through Jesus. You've got to abide in Jesus Christ in the doctrine of Christ.

If you do not abide in Jesus, you do not know the Father. You do not know the Father if you don't know Jesus.

Jesus is the only way. There are no other ways. There is not this mountain called religion, and there are many ways, and you get to the top, and they all go the same way.

That is a lie from the enemy. There is only one way, and His name is Jesus Christ. And if you don't enter that way, you're a thief and a robber.

There's only one way. Jesus made it abundantly clear: "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one goes to the Father except through me."

Turn with me, if you have your Bibles, to Psalm 91. Now we're going to read a lot again. Psalm 91 actually says in there the safety of abiding in the presence of God.

It's what we call the security chapter, the safety chapter. You go to Psalm 91, you realize and you understand that God wants us to abide in Him.

Listen to this: Psalm 91, verse 1: "He who dwells in the secret place."

He who dwells in the secret place—what does "dwells" mean? It means lives there. It means abides there. It means that you spend a lot of time there, right?

Your home that you go home to—what is it called? It's called your dwelling. That's the place you reside; that's the place you go home; that's the place you find safety and a refuge.

That's the place you've invested in; that's the place you go to. That is your dwelling.

He says, "He who dwells in the secret place." Well, what is the secret place?

Matthew chapter 6, verse 6: When the disciples came to Jesus and they said, "Teach us to pray," I want you to teach us to pray.

And Jesus said, "Don't pray like the Pharisees that are out there praying in front of everybody, and they've got their noses as the prince—Amplified version—so high up in the air that if it rained, they would drown.

And they want everybody to know how many words they speak, and they try to wow people with their words and with how much scripture they have and how much knowledge they have.

And they pray, "Oh God, I thank You that I'm not like them," and "Oh God, I say," and all these things.

He said, "But don't do it like them. When you pray," He says in verse 6, "go to your room, and when you have shut the door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place.

And your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly."

He who dwells in the secret place—who doesn't care about public opinion and if you think I'm religious and spiritual and super spiritual or not—I don't care if you think I know every scripture or I don't know scripture at all.

I don't really care because my dwelling place is in the secret place, where I go is in the presence of the Lord God Almighty.

I can't come out here and deliver a word to you if I don't spend time in there, on my face and on my knees in prayer with Him.

Then I'm no better than just a life coach. And let me just give you a pep talk; let me just give you a kick in the rear and let you go on your way.

No, I'm here to deliver what thus saith the word of the Living God. And if I don't get alone in the secret place, I have no right being right here.

I'll be honest with you: you don't have any right to be behind a pulpit anywhere in any church if you don't know how to get in a secret place.

If you don't know how to dwell in the presence of the Lord, you don't have a right to tell other people how to do their life.

He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall do what? Abide!

I feel Your presence under the shadow of the Almighty.

Oh, I'm going to take a break here because I feel the presence of the Lord. Some of you right now, you're dwelling in the secret place, and you feel like you're under a shadow.

And you've misunderstood the shadow. It's been God's angry at you, and God's mad at you, and you don't see the sun, and you don't see the light, and you don't know why.

But let me tell you something: it's because you've been hidden in Him, and He's protecting you. He's leading you; He's guiding you.

And as long as you stay under the shelter of the Almighty, He says, "I'm going to hide you, and you're not going to see the sun; you're not going to see all that.

But I've got you secretly hidden under the shadow of the Almighty."

There are times God puts us in a dark place, and it's not to punish us; it's to produce in us. It's not to punish you; it's to protect you.

And some of you right now, God is saying to you that because you have made me your dwelling place, I have hidden you under the shadow of my Almighty wing.

And when the time is right, I will lift up my wing, and I will shoot you and launch you into your destiny.

Oh God, help me!

He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide in the shadow of my wing.

Verse 2: "I will say of the Lord, 'He is my refuge and my fortress, my God; in Him will I trust.'"

Let me tell you something, church: abiding in the presence of the Lord changes your language, and it changes your focus.

No longer am I talking about and focusing on my troubles and my problems; I'm talking about and focusing on who and what God is and my dependency to trust in Him.

You know somebody who's always talking about problems? They're always talking about, "Oh, I got this mountain, and I got this mountain, and I got this, and I got that."

And then you know people who are always talking about how big their God is.

Let me tell you something: perspective is everything. And there are some people who talk about the glass half empty, and there are some people talking about the glass half full.

There are some people who just thank God they have a glass. And I'm telling you that he who dwells in the shadow of the Almighty—when they come out of that place, when they come out of that place, it doesn't mean that the reality is not real.

It doesn't mean, like David, that I walk through the valley of the shadow of death. He says, "I will fear no evil because You are with me."

You're there in the presence with me. And I'm telling you that you will come out saying, "I will say of the Lord."

And some of you, it's about time that your words match up with what you've been doing in the secret place.

You begin to declare over your kids; you begin to declare over your finances. You begin to speak not about how big my problem is but how big my God is and how He's going to solve it, how He's going to do it.

I'm telling you, I don't know how, but I know my God will show up, and He will do it again.

He's never lost a battle; He has never let you down; He's never failed, and He never ever will.

The blood has never lost its power; it never will. No matter what happens in 2023 or 2024 or 2025, no matter what happens, no matter what hell comes, there is still power in the name and the blood of Jesus Christ.

And I don't care what's happening in the world; your dependency on Him comes from the secret place.

He says, "I will say of the Lord, 'He is my refuge and my strength, my God; in Him will I trust.'"

"Surely He shall deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the perilous pestilence."

When your language changes, God sends the deliverance. When your words come in alignment with what He says about you and over you, it comes in alignment, and He said, "I will do it."

Verse 4: "He shall cover you with His feathers, and under His wings you shall take refuge."

That word "refuge" is rest.

Anybody need rest today? I'm not talking about a nap; I'm not talking about putting your head on the pillow because you're sleepy and you're tired.

I'm talking about rest for your heart, rest in your mind, rest in your body. I'm telling you, He said, "You need a rest; you'll find it under the shadow of His wings."

You will take refuge and have rest. "His truth shall be your shield and buckler."

"You shall not be afraid of the terror by night nor of the arrow that flies by day."

Verse 2 Timothy 1 and 7 says this: "For God has not given us a spirit of fear but of power and love and a sound mind."

Some of y'all are afraid today, and you're afraid of the enemy, and you're afraid of the terror, and you're afraid of the things.

You're afraid of flipping a light switch off because of the darkness. But let me tell you something: when God is before you, and God is behind you, and God is all around you, He says, "I encamp around about those—the angels of the Lord encamp around about those who fear Him, who trust Him, who have made Him their God."

And I'm telling you today, you don't have to be afraid. God has not given you a spirit of fear but of power and love and a sound mind today.

And you need to come in agreement with Him. He says, "Nor the pestilence that walks in the darkness, nor the destruction that lays waste at noonday."

"A thousand may fall at your side, and ten thousand at your right hand, but it shall not come near you."

"Only with your eyes shall you look and see the reward of the wicked."

Verse 9: "Because you have made the Lord"—oh, come on, somebody! Why is that not going to happen to me?

"Because you have made the Lord"—who is? That's His character; that's who He is. He does not change.

He's the same God yesterday, today, and forever. He will always be. Circumstances don't change who He is.

"Because you have made the Lord, who is my refuge, even the Most High, your dwelling place."

"No evil shall befall you, nor shall any plague come near your dwelling."

"For He shall give His angels charge over you to keep you in all your ways."

"In their hands they bear you up, lest you dash your foot against the stone."

"You shall tread upon the lion and the cobra, the young lion and the serpent shall trample under your foot."

Listen to this right here: "For because He has set His love on me, therefore I will deliver him."

Do you get that? Because He—little "h"—because I put your name in there—because you have set your love on Him, therefore He will deliver you.

If you'll just set your love on Him, He will deliver you. God delivers those who set their love on Him.

He says, "I will set him on high." Did you know that God is the one who elevates us to high places?

You can work and claw your way, and God can just give promotion just like that. God can give favor just like that. God can open doors just like that.

He says, "Because you love me and you've made me your dwelling place, I will set you on high."

"Because he has known my name." Known as intimate. Because I intimately know Him, "He shall call upon me."

Let me ask you this: who do you call when you're in trouble? Who do you call? Where do you run when you're in trouble and when you're in need?

He says, "He will call upon me, and I will answer him. I will be with him in trouble."

Now, I was shouting in my home office when I was typing this up. It doesn't say, "I will keep him from trouble."

It doesn't say, "I'll keep him out of trouble." It doesn't say, "I'll make sure there's no trouble."

He says, "I will be with him in trouble." Not absent from trouble, but He said, "I'll be with you in it."

God's not going to keep you from the lion's den. He said, "But I'm going to shut the mouth of a lion."

I'm not going to keep you from the fire, but I'll be there with you.

How would I know that God's a healer unless I get sick? How would I know that God's a provider unless I needed Him to provide?

How would I know? Sometimes He allows us to get in trouble just to remind us that I'm the one with you.

I've never forsaken you; I've never abandoned you; I'll never leave you. But let me just show you and remind you how big I am, how awesome I am.

I'm the God who walks with you in the valley of the shadow of death. I'm the one who prepares a table in the midst of your enemies just to show them, "You think that you have your eyes set on him, but he is mine.

And as long as he's dwelling in me, as long as he's hidden in me, you cannot touch him."

How many of y'all would like that today? If the Lord just said, "Devil, you can't touch them; they're mine; they're hidden in me; they dwell in me."

I want to be so close to Jesus that the enemy wouldn't even dare come after me. Why? Because he's afraid he's getting too close to Jesus.

He's not afraid of Daniel Prince, but he's afraid of the God that lives inside of me. Greater is He that is in me than he that is in this world.

He shall call upon me, and I will answer him. I will be with him in trouble, and I will deliver him and honor him.

May God promises deliverance and honor to those who trust in Him and call upon Him.

Verse 16: "With long life, I will satisfy him and show him my salvation."

I'm almost done; I only have three more pages left. Judy, will you come?

That's a joke; I'm really almost done.

In a world of instant gratification, in a world of Amazon Prime, overnight and two-day shipping guaranteed, and a day of instant microwave—it absolutely positively has to be there overnight—in the age of a fast-food drive-through, the world that's not good at waiting, waiting, tarrying, remaining—abiding has a lot to do with waiting.

Let me tell you something: the older I get...