The Bryce Crawford Podcast - Episode 7: The Secret Place

Episode Date: April 17, 2023

In this episode, Bryce brings back the podcast with the most crucial ingredient to the Christian faith: the secret place. Bryce explains the details of the Secret Place, the importance, and why Christians should run to secrecy with Jesus.

All right, what's going on, guys. Welcome back to the Bryce Crawford podcast. My name is Bryce Crawford, and today I'm super excited. I've been itching at the neck to create. I don't think I've uploaded a podcast episode in almost two years, or maybe it's been a little over a year. I could be wrong. But I'm excited to be back.

I'm settled in in Los Angeles. Basically, before we get into the episode, we're going to talk about the secret place today, but I figured I'd just give you guys a quick update as to what I've been doing. I'm a full-time missionary in Los Angeles. I moved out here in late September to join and be a part of a house church on Sundays. I'm a part of leadership on house church on Sundays. And then I pioneered and continue to lead a Wednesday night's house church as well. And then we just share the gospel.

We came out here with a mission to see everyone that breathes oxygen to come and know the Lord. And so that's basically what I'm doing in L.A. is I solely live in Los Angeles to see people know Jesus. Because if I were to have the cure to cancer and I didn't tell anyone, people would get very frustrated and upset. And here's the reality. I've got something better than the cure to cancer. I have the good news. I have life and life abundantly, living water, the bread of life.

And so if I were to gatekeep that, how awful of me to gatekeep that and not share it with the world. And so we're going to shout it from the mountaintops here in Los Angeles continually. But I really, today's episode, I really wanted to talk about the secret place because I feel like a lot of us, we have this mistake where we have this corporate life with Jesus, but we actually don't have a private. life with Jesus. And if we have this corporate life with Jesus, but not a private life with Jesus, then we've missed the point. And all we're doing is tricking people into believing that we have a

relationship with Jesus, but we can't trick God himself. And that's why when you see the letters to the churches that are written when they write to the Church of Ephesus, they acknowledge all the great ministry that the Church of Ephesus is doing. But they say, hey, listen, if I could separate and only choose one between the big and great ministry that you guys are doing and your heart and intimacy with the Lord, I would remove the great big ministry that you are doing just to capture your heart again. And so there's this importance of knowing God in secret and having this personal relationship with him. Because when we have this personal relationship with Jesus and it's intimate and it's detailed, then we kind of just naturally glow. And I don't know how to explain it. It's like this heavenly glow.

You know, everything's like colorful. Without Jesus, everything is a little black, white, and gray, and gloomy, but with Jesus, we have color now. And so when we have this private, intimate life with Jesus, we don't have to do convincing with anyone that we have a relationship with Jesus. Because when we meet with the Lord in secret, we understand that we don't have to explain our anointing to anyone. We don't. And that's why a lot of times when people come under accusation and they're not spending time with the Lord, they tend to feel like that they have to defend themselves. and they tend to feel like that they have to explain themselves to everyone. But when you have this intimate life with the Lord, you only hold to the things that he says about you.

And you hold to the things that the word says about you. And so when accusation comes across your way or people come your way, you kind of float above all of those things because you realize you don't have to explain your anointing to anyone. So we're going to dive into it. We're going to jump around in between the Psalms and see what Jesus says in Matthew 6, actually, about the secret place. But I want to emphasize something here real quick. before we get into Psalm 91, is that the secret place is actually a position in which Jesus was in quite frequently. I mean, if you look, he didn't start his ministry until he was around 30 years old scholars and theologians say.

And before and after major events in the New Testament, Jesus actually sits with the Lord in secret. After he fed the 5,000, he goes away by himself right before the transfiguration, which is just Jesus glowing on a mountain or Jesus being basically being shown as holy. He goes off in secret by himself to sit with the Lord. And obviously the Garden of Gathrimony, he sits there and actually asks in his human form saying, is there another way? And so you see oftentimes before and after major events throughout the Bible. And there's many more instances, Jesus goes away to be in secret with the Father because there's something huge about going and being in secret with the Father. But Psalm 91 talks about God being our refuge and our fortress. and verses one and two are crucial because it says,

He who dwells in the shelter of the most high will abide in the shadow of the almighty. I will say to the Lord my refuge and my fortress, my God, and whom I trust. When I read this, the first thing I think about is Moses crying out to God saying, hey, God, show me your face, show me your face. And God's like, if I show you my face, you'll literally die. So he says, I'll show you my back. and he sees the backside of God, and they had to put a bag over his face. The people had to put a bag over his face because the glory had changed,

and it physically changed his body so much that they couldn't look at him. They had to put a bag over his face. And so I'm sitting here wondering, we oftentimes cry out to God, can I see your face, do something physical, strike lightning down in front of me, but if we will just only abide in the shadow of the Almighty, then how much more will we know of him? How much more will we understand with him and how much more will we be able to do with him if we can just sit in the shadow of the almighty?

I mean, God dwells in secrecy. There's something special about God dwelling in secrecy. That's why Jesus, you know, goes away so much. And you build this foundation in the secret place. I think this is very important. When you're in the secret place with Jesus, you build a foundation with him. But if you tend to share things that you learn in the secret place immediately, you weaken the foundation, then it doesn't become a secret. And I think it's so awesome having this secret game with Jesus, you know, learn.

things and just kind of like you're kind of like gatekeeping with Jesus but you're really not gatekeeping because he will reveal those same things to other people when they meet with him but you're gatekeeping things here this is just so cool it's super cool but I love what he says because in verse three of psalm 91 he says for he will deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the deadly pestilence he will cover you with his pinions and under his wines you will find refuge and I love what he says because he's like hey listen when you sit here and find refuge in him every battle that comes against you actually it just kind of like comes off on a lint roller. It's like lint on your shoulders and it comes off on a lint roller because it's absolutely

nothing because you're holding to what he says about you. And I'm going to jump over to Psalm 27 because it says, the Lord is my light and my salvation. Whom shall I fear? It says, though an army encamp me down in verse of you, though an army in camp against me, my heart shall not fear. The war arise against me. I will be confident because you're in the house of the Lord.

And so like whenever the enemy wages war on you, it's actually waging war against the house of the Lord. And so it actually does no harm because you dwell in the house of the Lord. And he can't get in. And I imagine Satan coming up against the house of the Lord, like the big bad wolf coming up against the pig with the brick house. He can't get in. He actually fails. And so I just absolutely love this because we get this constant fear of like, uh-oh, this bad thing's going on. uh-oh, this thing's happening. Uh-oh, this person said this negative thing about me.

But when you actually sit with the Lord in the secret place and build history with him in the secret place, you're not only build longevity, but you're able to fly high above the lies of the enemy and the lies and accusations that people throw about you because you know what he says about you. And you're in the glory cloud, baby. Like, who doesn't want to be in the glory cloud? I just think it's so incredible. Now, I want to jump to Psalm 95 because I think it gives us an emphasis is how we should enter into the secret place. Because it says, oh, come, let us sing to the Lord. Let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation.

Let us come into his presence with Thanksgiving. I think this is crucial. I think oftentimes we come before the Lord just in prayer outside of the secret place, outside of prayer, just wanting something physical from him or only when we have an issue. And we forget to bring Thanksgiving and praise and sing to him. Like God, you are so awesome. In verse 6 of Psalm 95, it says, oh, come, let us worship and bow down. Let us kneel before the Lord, our maker for he is our God.

While God is both this personal, loving, relational father, he's also this holy, almighty, righteous being who sits on a throne of unapproachable light where the angels have to cover themselves with their wings to cry out, how holy God is. So we have to understand who we're coming before in the secret place. Yes, we're sitting with our beloved dad who loves us and cares about us, who is friendly and loving and gentle and kind, but we're also coming before a holy, almighty righteous being. And we just have to be very careful. I feel like we lose this reverence and respect for Jesus and we come to him willy-nilly. And that's why people would die back in the Old Testament when they would

partake in communion and they didn't take it seriously. It's because they're coming willy-nilly to communion. And so we're coming before the Lord Almighty. We can't come to him willy-nilly. We got to come to him with this reverence and respect. Because when we build history in the secret place with Jesus, we come to have this fear of the Lord. And a fear of the Lord isn't like, this all like scared i'm not scared of my dad it's just this reverence and respect for my dad and so when we spend time in the secret place you're building history with him but we need to come before him with this thanksgiving and joyful singing and praise because we forget that we come selfishly but we need to come before him ready to have our hearts changed and have our hearts

continually sanctified because sanctification isn't just a one-time thing it is a process of being made holy. So you are being sanctified. Roman 6 talks about it, being sanctified, dead to sin and alive to God. We're slaves to something. We're either slaves to obedience to sin or we're slaves to righteousness. Now Matthew 6, if you want to flip there with me, is very crucial because Jesus actually says, he gives the Lord's prayer. But he says, and when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites, for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners that they may be seen by others. He's saying, hey, listen, there's a lot of religious people that come in and they just try to flaunt how religious they are. And when you build history with the Lord in the

secret place, you don't have to prove yourself to anyone because the only approval you submit to is gods. And you learn that in the secret place because you're just spending time with him. You're building friendship with him. You're building longevity with him. And so that lie, I just want to emphasize this before I continue, that lie that you're going to fall away kind of dissipates when You're building longevity in the secret place. Because when you dwell in the secret place, the lies of the enemy fizzle out. And that calm, still, gentle water's voice of the Lord is here. And you hear it and you know it.

And so that lie of falling away kind of fizzles away because if you were actively sitting with the Lord in the secret place, then it kind of fizzles away. So that lie that you're going to fall away is the enemy attacking you. And so that lie is not from God. God's not going to say, hey, you're falling away. God wants to captivate your heart and take your heart. And so if you're believing that lie, I rebuke that in Jesus' name. Stop believing the lie that you're going to fall away and build longevity with the Lord and

Seeker Place. Now, back to Matthew 6, Jesus says, after he says that thing about the religious people, like, hey, don't flaunt religion. Stop praying like you know me intimately. Just come to me intimately. It says, truly I say to you, they have received their reward. Their reward that they have received is people going, oh, you're religious. and it's really not a reward.

It's just, hey, oh, you're religious. Their reward that they're wanting is people to acknowledge them. They want the acknowledgement of people, but I want to be acknowledged before the father. I want to be acknowledged for that before the father. I want the father to know who I am. I don't want to get to heaven and be shocked at who Jesus is. I want to get to heaven and be like, holy smokes.

I've known you this entire time, and you're everything and more than I imagined. But I don't want to get to heaven and kind of be shocked at who he is. I want to know him now. heaven yes in a sense is a place that we get to but we can have heaven on earth now with jesus personal relationship with him verse six but when you pray go into your room and shut the door and pray to your father who is in secret and your father who sees in secret will reward you the father dwells in secrecy and so jesus is saying here hey listen when you pray when it's down to your intimate relationship with

the lord the personal relationship with the lord that you have you don't have to flaunt it to everyone go into your room shut the door and just be with him i know at least for me my ADHD goes nuts when i'm in a crowded room full of people because i just i go nuke i feel like i have to tend to everybody and i i just kind of lose side of everything and so you know if you're distracting yourself in the secret place if there are distractions whether you're with people or you're that's not the you know get in secret if you're with people that are distracting you from being intimate with the father go shut your door be alone go in your closet You know, if your phone's distracting you, leave it outside. Put it on airplane mode.

Play some music. Put it on airplane mode. You know? I mean, there's something, like, we have to build longevity with the Lord. There's personal relationship with him. And I feel like we just willy-nilly gloss over the secret place, and we forget, we forget to build this history with Jesus. And if we're not building history with Jesus, then how can we know him and how can we have a sharp weapon? The secret place allows me to sharpen my weapon against the enemy. And whenever I'm not in the secret place with the Lord, I live off of old bread. And that's what you see. When the 5,000 are fed, Jesus goes away into the secret place.

And that same group actually follows him across the waters into the next land. And they come to him and they say, hey, listen, feed us again, feed us again. And Jesus is like, you just want physical bread. And you know what their response is? Well, you fed our ancestors mana, talking about the Old Testament. and you gave them manna. And Jesus goes, yeah, and they died. I'm the living, I'm the bread of life.

I'm the living water that you need. You can hunger and thirst no more if you just come to me, all who are weary. That's what he gives to the woman at the well as well in John 4. And so it's like, hey, we've got to do something about this. We have to stop just coming before the Lord, willy-nilly and living off of old bread. Spending intimate time with the Lord once a week is awful.

Spending time with the Lord every three days. good. We're living off of old bread. There's new mercies and new revelations to be shown with us by the power of the Holy Spirit, our helper through the Word, if we can sit with Him. And I'm going to be honest, if you don't have a personal relationship with the Lord, it's going to be teeth-wrenching at first because your spirit is starved and your flesh has been fed. And so when you're starving your flesh and feeding your spirit, it kind of feels a little weird. But the more and more you do it and make it a habit, your spirit starts to become healthy and strong and you're starving your flesh, but your flesh is going to fight back. And so I want to encourage you guys to make it a

habit every day to separate time, schedule time, multiple times throughout the day where Jesus is your only look, where Jesus is with you. Because I'm going to be honest, that's how ministry leaders and people fall out, is they don't have a personal relationship with Jesus. And I don't have to be a 50-year-old pastor to understand that to see pastors and young people who are Christians fall away because they don't build personal relationship with the Lord so they get confused about which voice they're listening to. And so if you can start scheduling time multiple times a day, setting aside multiple times a day every day to spend with the Lord and resting, taking a Sabbath day during your week to rest and be with the Lord is detrimental to your faith.

It's the medicine to your spirit. When the flesh is weak, the soul. The spirit is willing, but the spirit is definitely willing when it knows what God says about you and what God says about the lies that are being thrown your way. And so I'm just going to close us out with this encouragement here. The secret place has ultimately changed my life. And there is not a single thing. If there is a, if there is a New Year's resolution that you can have for the rest of the year that you can start now, it is, and it should be every year, is to build, longevity with Jesus Christ in the secret place. That should be your New Year's resolution.

Because if we aren't building personal, intimate relationship with the dad that we love daily, then we are missing the point. We're missing the point. And so thank you guys so much for listening to the Bryce Crawford podcast. I appreciate you guys. I'm going to try to release an episode once a week. If you guys want to support my ministry and so on my ministry monthly or one time, check out my missions link.

Go to equipnet. backslash missionaries, backslash B Crawford, where you can support me monthly or check out our Instagram, Bryce Crawford podcast, click the link at my bio, and you can check it out. It's tax deductible if you want to sew into my ministry and what we're doing in Los Angeles. I love you guys, and I'll see you guys for the next episode. Peace.