Am I A Dweller?

First posted on Friday, June 23, 2006



Am I a Dweller?
Eph 3:14-19

For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom his whole family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge-that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

Dwell….(katoikea from kato-down and oikeo-to dwell…has the idea of settling down or dwelling inside.)

How many times have I said to my husband, “I want to settle…I don’t like this endless roaming around….I NEED to settle…” ;> He cringes when he hears me say it. Then you can imagine how this makes me feel…. Guilt…I’m not trusting enough…. Or Anger…he’s expecting too much (God is too!) However, it’s not me that needs to settle. It’s God who needs to “settle down inside me,” so that I may comprehend (katalambano-mentally laying hold of God’s love—a full understanding of it)

“And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him. “ This love is the foundation of all we do….as he dwells, we become rooted and grounded in love….as we know this love…we are filled to the measure of all the fullness of God…or another translation says, “then you will be filled with the fullness of life and power that comes from God.”

How I long to be filled with the fullness of life and power that comes from God.

So, it’s Christ that does the dwelling. However….

1 John 4:15-16
15 If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives (dwells) in him and he in God. 16 And so we know and rely on the love God has for us.

Ps 90:1
Lord, you have been our dwelling place
throughout all generations.

Our refuge…our fortress…our settling down place.

In the Old Testament when it talks about the time of peace under King Solomon, “ During Solomon's lifetime Judah and Israel, from Dan to Beersheba, lived in safety,(dwelt) each man under his own vine and fig tree.” (I Kings 4:25) The phrase “under his own vine and fig tree,” expresses a time of quiet and security (Barnes). They were at peace….not under any apprehension or danger from enemies. They were happy…”safe and willing to think themselves so…” Able to dwell safely under the shadow of the vines by the sides of their house.

Wonder how long it took a vine to grow up by the side of their house??? (for more info re vines go to http://www.clemson.edu/extension/hgic/plants/landscape/groundcovers/hgic1101.html)

Not only were they safe but they were “willing to think themselves so.” This is the dwelling I long for.

Recently I was at a bible study and one of the ladies was sharing about being sooo homesick. The ironic thing about it is that she is Thai and had been with her parents the previous week. And then she said…” I realized I was homesick but it wasn’t my earthly home that I was homesick for, but my heavenly home.”

So many times I feel homesick….yearning for my heavenly home…in my dwelling….with vines growing up along the side of the house that I planted.