My Dwelling Place by Rocky Fleming
“He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High
will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.” Psalms 91:1 (ESV)
Dwelling: “a shelter (such as a house) in which people live” - Merriam Webster
Abide: “to remain stable or fixed in a state” – Merriam Webster
I’ve been on a quest to understand more deeply the concept of abiding with Christ. Note I said, “with Christ,” for I believe He abides in me from the point of His entry into my life where I was, and will be, eternally secured as His own, through His grace to me. However, I believe that I must alter my life to abide in Him as He desires and instructs. This is the discipleship process of surrender and Lordship. It is an ever challenging, deepening passage and it doesn’t come all at once. It is a continuous commitment to a deeper connection with the Vine, which Jesus used as a metaphor for Himself. To abide with Christ is the healthy connection where His children are constantly relating with Him, and it is there that His sons and daughters become the men and women that He wants to transform us to. This is His plan. To make us more like Him.
In the early Church the term Christian was used to describe people who followed Jesus Christ. The term was meant to be slanderous at first, meaning, “belonging to Christ or slaves of Christ.” The non-believers around them couldn’t grasp that followers of Christ could have such a powerful, life changing relationship with God through their surrender to Jesus Christ’s Lordship. But those who belonged to Christ gladly accepted that identity, though slanderous, for they wanted to be identified with Christ in such a way.
As you might know Influencers was established over twenty years ago to help followers of Christ to learn how to abide with Christ and be identified with Him in such a manner. The Journey process has a vertical orientation with this target alone in our hearts and as our mission. As we introduce the process, we have to overcome many misconceptions about it. It is a process and not a program, for it is not about checking off a completion schedule or lessons. It is more fluid than that. It is about the delivery of a message that God has given to us about teaching people how to abide in Him, and then helping them go through a process to do so. This is a process where information goes to the mind with the theology, and then is understood on a heart level. This is where the love connection with Christ is established and maintained, and that is what abiding with Christ looks like.
As I continue to pursue my own understanding of abiding in Christ, I was reading Psalms 91:1 and the word “dwell” jumped out at me, and in the same passage the word “abide” was connected with it. Then I immediately thought of the following verse, and dots in my understanding with how the scriptures connect helped me understand what abiding really means. Let’s connect those dots with this next verse:
"Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself.” 1 Corinthians 6:19 (NLT)
Connecting these dots in scripture I see how my spiritual dwelling place (my life) is more like a home (residence) where I live with Jesus. It is not just to visit with Him from time to time, as some do. It’s not just a good quiet time or a spiritual retreat that refreshes us. Those are events, or vacations from reality. But they are not a state of permanency, as a home or dwelling place is. To dwell with Jesus in an abiding relationship is what we’ve been invited to, and it is in this spiritual home within us that will change our life as nothing else will. It is not to be a temporary change. It is a permanent, sustaining change that will continue to deepen our connection with Him the longer we live … with Him … the longer we dwell with Him in an abiding relationship.
Some of you might ask, “Why do I have these periods of understanding abiding and maintaining a special connection with Him for a while, but then I see it cool? What’s going on?” My initial response is to ask if you are visiting Him, or have you established your residence with Him? There is a big difference and is often why there are ups and downs with our intimacy with Him. Consider these questions:
Can we live with our wife or husband and not have affection, kindness or intimacy? Sure, we can, and it is a miserable marriage until mutual respect and communication is restored, then those things can return. Those are two essential needs to have a close relationship as God intends our marriage to have. Here’s another question. Can we really maintain a deep emotional and intimate relationship with our spouse if we are apart? Of course not. We adapt to make it work somehow. But there is something missing, which is our familiar presence with one another.
In many ways we must also “enter” into a permanent, live in connection with Christ to abide with Him as He desires, and just like a healthy marriage, it requires that we establish residence together. Other metaphors Jesus has used to describe Himself and the Church is Him being the bridegroom, and the Church being His bride. Can there be more loving, affectionate, and intimate terminology to describe His desire for His family to come close to Him and make our residence with Him than these metaphors? Some say that this only happens when we get to heaven. I say it begins to happen in this life, and it gets better for eternity. He wants us to understand that it can begin now when we alter our life to abide with Him. But, abiding like He wants means that we must move into the home in our hearts with Him that He has established, to understand and benefit from what He wants to give to us. Connect the dots?