Dwelling And Abiding With God (Psalm 91:1)

I chuckle as I remember back to the days when I was dating my wife.  It seemed that I tried to spend every free waking moment with her.  The more time I spent with her, the more time I wanted and the more time we spent together, the more we came to understand each other.  However that understanding of each other was a bit elusive.  It was not until we were married that I learned about the deeper aspects of her person.  Because of this we have clung together through the years and my heart has longed for and loved her in a greater measure than I could have ever imagined. 

To grow in Christ is much like the relationship with my wife.  Growing in Christ is to go to another place with him in your relationship.  It is not accomplished through observances or the keeping of more regulations.  We grow in Christ as we abide in and dwell with him .  It seems that one of the greatest difficulties for believers is to understand how to dwell or abide.  The problem they are experiencing is caused by them trying to perform something that is "abiding" or "dwelling".  Abiding and dwelling are the results of something greater than an act.  What The Lord wants is for us to love him and to know his name (Psalm 91:14).  When we love him, our hearts are clinging to him.  We are finding our heart's delight in him, which causes us to desire him even more. We dwell in Christ as the result of coming to understand him.  We know God's name, Peace, because we have experienced his peace.  We know his name as Deliverer because we experienced deliverance by his hand.  This love for and understanding of God are essential for growth and victory.  Take them away and all you have is a legalistic performance based duty towards a very unfamiliar entity.

It is only when we love him and know his name that we can experience the dwelling in the secret place with God and when we do, all the blessings of his protection and provision will be upon us.  So instead of trying to perform more for God, trying getting to know him better and set your affect on him who is above (Colossians 3:2).