Are we visiting Christians or dwelling Christians?

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He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. - Psalm 91: 1 (KJV)   

The secret place. What a place to be! Noted preacher Smith Wigglesworth once said in a sermon describing the secret place, "Oh, to dwell in the secret place, His presence! What will this presence do? It will dare us to believe all God says, assisting us to lay hold of the promises. We will have God so indwelling us that we will become a force, a power of God's abiding, until death is swallowed up in victory!" What Wigglesworth defined is still true today for God's believers. The secret place so often spoken about is the presence of God Himself. We often put worldly terms upon it in order to define it. We speak about going into one's "prayer closet", as if there is an actual place in the exterior world we need to go. The prayer closet, or the secret place, is within each one of us.

"To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory." - Colossians 1:27 (NIV)

Besides the correlation between "mystery" and "secret place", do not overlook the phrase, "which is Christ in you." The secret place, the mystery, is Christ in us. Your prayer closet is within you. The secret place, is within you. It is the presence of God through the indwelling of His Holy Spirit!

Knowing this though is not enough. We need to not only know where the secret place is, but we must dwell in it. The dictionary defines dwell as follows:

1) To live or stay as a permanent resident; reside.

2) To live or continue in a given condition or state: to dwell in happiness.

3) To linger over, emphasize, or ponder in thought, speech, or writing

It is not enough to merely go into the prayer closet or the secret place in our times of strife and trouble. The Psalmist declares that we must dwell in the secret place. We must dwell in the presence of God. We must become a permanent resident in the presence of God. We must reside. We need our permanent state and condition to be one with God. We need to linger over, emphasize, and ponder in thought, our presence with God. We need to dwell on Him, as well as in Him. This requires a change in mindset for Christians. God is too often an abstract thought or an entity thought of as external to ourselves. We go through our days and do not carry that secret place with us, even though it is within us. We wake up and rush off to work. Raise the kids, balance the checkbook, and fill up our free time with entertainment, without the consideration of God within us. Perhaps we have designated prayer time, or sadly, only set aside the hour and a half each week we spend at church, as God's time. Then we wonder why we do not feel His presence in our day-to-day lives. We ponder where God is during the very details we have left Him out of. I would venture to say that if God gets an hour and a half each week, you are not walking in the full extent of the power He has for your life! God doesn't want to be scheduled into our lives beloved. God is not content with our pre-determined times to involve Him. Today we have not enough dwelling Christians and too many visiting Christians. We visit God on Sundays at church, maybe on prayer night or a ministry event. We visit Him in the mornings or at meal times but the rest of the day we do not consider Him. That is not dwelling.  

In that same sermon, Wigglesworth added, "We have a great salvation filled with inspiration. It has no limitations; it makes known the immeasurable wonders of God." The key to these immeasurable wonders is through dwelling in the secret place. The living of your life in the presence of God. Psalm 91 assures us that God is our shade upon our right hand, yet we often feel as if we need to "go to Him" with our concerns. As if He is not already within us. Prayer, as defined in the dictionary as, "a spiritual communion with God, as in supplication, thanksgiving, adoration, or confession." Unfortunately, we too often choose to make the communion with God at our discretion, instead of the dwelling the Psalmist talks about in the opening verse of Psalm 91. Prayer then becomes an almost-ritual; an event if you will, instead of what it was meant to be; a communion. 1Chronicles 16:11 tells us to, "Look to the LORD and his strength; seek his face always." Is your prayer life currently consisting of a set time, or is it a continuous conversation? Are you seeking His face always, or only at specific times, or when things get difficult? Do you dwell in your secret place, or do you find yourself having to go to it in times of need?    

And what is the stated promise of God if we are to dwell within the secret place? That we shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty! Check out your shadow next time you see it. Wherever you go, it is there. Wherever you are, so is it. That is the reward for those who choose to dwell with God. By doing so, we will be abiding under the shadow of God Himself! Wherever He goes, so will we. Wherever God is, so shall we be. It is the promise of perfect communion with God. Perfect fellowship with our creator. There is so much pain and hate in this world. There are so many people who are still lost in that darkness. Stumbling around trying to find their meaning, their purpose. I do not want to abide in the promises of the world. Their promises are empty and despairing. They lead to a fellowship that eventually fades away. No, I want the fellowship John spoke about  

We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. -- 1John 1: 3 (NIV)  

I want to be so close to my God that I am literally abiding under His shadow. I want to be living in my prayer closet because my prayer closet is within me. I want to walk in the secret place knowing that the secret place is within me. I want to walk with Christ daily, in everything I do, because I know that He lives within me. I want to dwell in the presence of God, so that I may abide under His glorious shadow.

 

Rev. Anthony.

Authors Bio:
Credentialed Minister of the Gospel for the Assemblies of God. Owner and founder of 828 ministries. Vice President for Goodwill Industries. Always remember that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose.