The word translated "dwell" in the KJV has as a meaning the following: dwell down in, inhabit, continue, tarry in and remain. In the 1960’s bean bags were very popular. I had one and you could manipulate a bag into any shape that was comfortable for you. Oh, it was so relaxing when you created the perfect fit. Well, to "dwell down in" has such a connotation to it. Some might use that old expression "hunkering down" or to be totally relaxed in the arms of God, even as a baby bird settles down in the nest filled with soft feathers, or as a newborn child upon leaving the womb seeks a place of refuge and is placed on the mother’s bosom. What a refuge our God is when we dwell down in His nature rather than the fallen Adamic nature with which we were birthed. If you struggle with that old, dead Adamic nature, dial 911. To dwell down in the secret place of God is to dwell in the nature of Christ and not identify with the fallen Adamic nature. Adam was destroyed by the cross. Only the new creation man lives. Dwelling in Him creates an opportunity for the saint to give life. Dwelling in the Adamic nature only causes death to be manifested. Jesus told the disciples to give the crowd that followed them something to eat. They gave of what was available, that is, they drew from where they were dwelling. It matters not how much you have, because it will be enough for the situation. As you give what you have, what you have is enlarged. The disciples had a few loaves and ended with 12 bushel baskets left over. Dwelling down in God means that you draw the life of that place out of you, as you draw water out of a well, a spiritual well that never runs dry. How a small child will easily give of what he has to another. It matters not what the child has. The child gives out of what he is. Adults many times give out because it is expected, or if they come from the faith move they sometimes give by faith believing more will given. Adults sometimes do not give because they see themselves empty with nothing to give. But when you are in Christ, even as a babe, you give out of where your heart dwells, even as a small child does. To dwell down in God implies you understand His heart and are motivated by His heart not by your own understanding of spiritual principles nor by your physical situation. The disciples, when told to feed the multitude, did as Jesus asked, not concerned whether or not the loaves and fishes would be enough. They had dwelt long enough with Jesus to dwell down in His being and just do what the Master asked.

    "To dwell" also means to "inhabit". Scripture declares that our life is hid with God in Christ (Colossians 3:3). Inhabit has many synonyms one of which means to populate. Do you increase the Lord’s nature in you when you "inhabit" Him? I would think that you do. For the more time that you spend dwelling in Him, the more you put on His nature. The more of His nature you have, the enemy can’t touch you. Consider 1 John 5:18.

    I liken "inhabit" to this story. A friend came to the house and as he visited the man who owned the house, the man gave his friend the key for the front door. The homeowner told his friend that his house was now open to him at any time and he could feel free to come and relax, put his feet up, sip an iced tea and watch TV at his convenience. To dwell in the secret place of the Most High is to be in Him and to be comfortable in Him. This requires that you know your way around Him. After all, if the devil were chasing you and you didn’t know the way into the secret place, it would not do you much good would it? Yes, to inhabit the Lord requires a deep knowing of His nature so that you can feel comfortable residing in the secret place. Remember you have to know the phone number before you use it, and you also have to know how to use the phone. Better practice dialing 911, just like the children do.

    To "dwell" in also means to "continue in." This means that you never spiritually leave, but as your life goes on you move with the changes of the natural plane by being within the secret place. The changes of life are bearable as one "continues in" the Lord; however, the changes of life are unbearable if we dwell in the old fallen Adamic nature. Let us continue to go on and know the Lord. What a secret place this is because He ever enlarges Himself to us.

    The word "dwell" also has within it the word "tarry". This means to desire to stay even though there is a pull to go out from the secret place. Do not leave the secret place. There is no need to leave because all that He is is available to you from being in Him. For God’s SWAT force, the angels of God are around about you and the saints encompass us about. God is our armor (Ephesians 6) and He is even our rear-ward( "reargiuard" Isaiah 58:8). His glory shall cover us as we reside in Him.

    You dial 911 for the fire department. Our God calls us to hide in Him, in the fire which He is. The best way to fight a forest fire is with fire! Adam is burning in this day of the Lord (2 Peter 3:10-18), as the old nature is consumed by the brightness of His coming in us. Dwell in God, call 911, and the fire will not consume you but will cause Him to be revealed in you even as in Daniel 3:25. Fire cannot hurt you if you dwell in Him, but some saints squeal just a little at the fire. Why? Because the Adamic nature is alive since the saint did not fully dwell in the Lord. But the Lord knew that and that is why He gave the fire - to drive the saint into Him. God is our rescuer as well as the person causing the flame. His Love constrains Him to cause us to become like Him.

    The first time the word "dwell" is used in the Bible is found in Genesis 4:16 where Cain fled from home and dwelt in the land of Nod which means a place of exile or wandering. So, Cain dwelt in the state of exile and wandered all of his life. Just the opposite is found in our Lord and Savior. We can snuggle up to Him and He will draw nigh to us with the warmth of a mother. He will sit with us, as it were with facing the warmth of a fireplace with His arms around us, His bride, as we dwell in Him. But the exiled person never feels at home and is always looking to return to the homeland. But the saint who dwells in God has been translated from darkness (Colossians 1:16) into the kingdom of the Son who is the light of men. The exiled person is never happy. Have you ever found an unsaved person who is truly happy? Yet, many are the Christians who live outside the secret place and are unhappy because they have not entered into Him to dwell in Him. Oh, to dwell in Him! What a joyous experience.

    "For in the time of trouble, He shall hide me in His pavilion; in the secret of His tabernacle shall He hide me; He shall set me up upon a rock" (Psalm 27:5). Here the word "tabernacle" in the root stem means to shine. Perhaps we could say: "in the secret of His shining shall He hide me..." You see to dwell in God means to dwell in the Light in which there is no darkness at all. So, the shining is the glory of God, that beautiful light of life in which there is no death. To be set up upon the rock means that He has lifted you out of the miry clay and placed you on the sure foundation who is none other than Christ Jesus. The Spirit of God places us in Christ so that no man can glory, and God is lifted up.

    The placing of us in the light, removed from the Adamic which is in death and darkness, is done at the time of salvation. But the newborn saint weak in Christ but strong in the carnal mind still walks in darkness not realizing the fullness has come (John 1:16, Ephesians 1:23, Colossians 1:19, 2:9). The time of trouble is the struggle to recognize that we were crucified with Him and now are alive in Him. Paul writes of the struggle in Romans 7. God hides us in His pavilion, His tent, which we are since we were purchased, redeemed by the blood of our kinsman. Our bodies are no longer our own but His. He resides in heaven and makes His abode there (John 14:23). That place is in us (Luke 17:21). To think that He dwells in us as we dwell in Him. There is a statement of unity.

    The word "dwell" is a verb. It is an action verb, not a passive verb. Something that is passive can have something done to it. But the opposite is that which is active. If something is active, it means that it causes something to be done. "Dwell" represents an action. Yet, it goes further than that. The verb is present tense which indicates a continuous abiding, an unbroken dwelling. "To dwell" in the secret place of the Most High means that the new creation man never leaves that realm of living. Now, the Christian might question that but the reason the question arises is that the Christian is not living in His inheritance - who is God. The lie of the Adamic nature colors the understanding of the saint. We must remove the rose colored glasses from our eyes and enter into the marvelous light of the Christ life.

    In Revelation 12:12 the KJV states: "Therefore rejoice ye heavens, and ye that dwell therein..." Here again the word expresses that some live (active sense, present tense) in heaven which is not a literal place somewhere in the sky but the realm of the Spirit, a place of spiritual habitation. Thayer’s Lexicon brings out that the word "dwell" in the Greek means: "to fix one's tabernacle, have one's tabernacle, abide or live in." The verb is present tense which indicates a statement of fact, an ongoing reality that is occurring. It is in the active voice which represents the subject as the doer of it. This indicates that "dwelling" has in it that one creates (fixes) a house which would correspond with John 14:2 where Jesus said that He was leaving to "prepare" a place that where He was we could also be. He, Jesus, is building us a house, whereas in times past David built Him one. As we make our life in God, the two become one even as in a marriage, and we help Him build the corporate house ( in my Father’s house are many mansions).

    Not only does this New Testament word in Revelation 12:12 mean to "fix" it also means to "have one’s tabernacle." The concept here is that the individual possesses the tabernacle. Psalm 139:13 states that God has possessed the reins of David. The word "reins" in the KJV has the connotation of the natural genital area, but the NAS generally translate the word "reins" as "mind". Since most of our actions are produced out of the mind, God has even possessed that. So, to have "one’s tabernacle" is to possess it, allowing God to produce the life out of your vessel that He might be glorified. "To dwell" in the secret place is to be in union with God permitting Him to produce out of you the very revelation of Himself while you rest in the work that He is doing within you.

    In Psalm 27:4 we find that David had one desire - to dwell in the house of the Lord. While David sought to build a house for the Lord, Jesus sought to destroy such a house concept(Mark 14:58-59) by revealing that He was the house. David looked with the natural eye, but yearned in the Spirit for the truth. Today we have the truth of the dwelling revealed and many seek the natural, being carnally minded. How David wished to spend all his days in the presence of God. We can spend all our days in His presence by fulfilling Romans 8:1, and yet many fail to appropriate what is their inheritance. If you would have only the desire of the Lord, then you will experience such a presence - dwelling in the House of the Lord.

    But who is the house of the Lord? God is preparing a place there (John 14:2). While we know it is in each individual, we need not to be selfish and only appropriate it for ourselves. Rather the picture is enormously larger than that. God is creating a corporate house - made up of many mansions. Dwelling is far greater than when we first believed. Luke 1:17 states that John the Baptist went out in the power of the spirit of Elijah. People who believe in reincarnation use that as a biblical proof, which it is not. But there is a truth there to be seen. When we dwell in Him, since He is the God of the living, all time is done away in Him. Within Him who is within us are the spirits of the brethren on both sides of the river of life (Revelation 22:1-2). When God created John the Baptist, He gave him the spirit of Elijah, not Elijah the man. Beloved, when we possess our tabernacle we are empowered by a cloud of witnesses who encourage us to manifest Him in the tabernacle, the dwelling.

    Revelation 21:3 the tabernacle of God is "with" men and He will dwell with them. Note also that He will dwell with them. The same word used in Revelation 12:12. Again the idea is that all are one in Him. He not only prepares the dwelling, but is He the dwelling and makes each individual a part of the whole dwelling through the corporate body of Christ. I have written all this so far just to come to the next few points.

    Our dwelling place is in the other brethren. The dwelling place of the brethren is in you. How well do you dwell in someone else without bringing discomfort to them? Do they let you in? They should because they are in Him, but if they do not open themselves up for you to enter into them, then their perception is with a jaundiced eye of the carnal nature. Are you ‘bean bag living’ in the brethren? Are they willing to accommodate your desires as well as you theirs? As we dwell in Him who is in us on an individual basis, so also is the truth of the corporate expression.

    As we dwell in Him, He hides us in the "secret of His presence" (Psalm 31:20). The word here in Hebrew means the "face of" or the "countenance." The verse goes on to say that He hides us "From the pride of man." This has great importance to us. The word pride means; "snares, plots". As we stand before His presence, beholding Him face to face, dwelling before Him, the snares and plots of man have no effect on us. In fact, as we dwell in His pavilion, which we are, quarrels, strife, etc. will not be seen because there is a harmony of purpose and a similar vision. This then is the life of a happy God, that we should dwell before Him.

    The idea of it being a "secret place" has within the definition of the word a hiding place. When the tongue is not a slanderous vehicle it is well able to keep a secret. This secret place then is not a physical location but again a spiritual realm. For the carnal man, that Adamic man will slander someone at every opportunity. But the secret place of the Christ nature, although it may know something about someone, holds that back in secret and does not divulge it. The saint in the secret place of the Most High keeps secret the nature that is not in Christ of another person and allows that person to be what Christ sees them as. What a secret place! This place covers sins with love. Just as Christ has known our sins, died for our sins and redeemed us from our sins, so too the saint in the secret place knows our sins but sees them not, like Christ forgives us our sins (Matthew 6:14) and releases us from our sins. There is power in the secret place.

    The word "abide" means to be in a process or action or condition that is incomplete and is a stop-over place of a larger plan. In other words, one remains until the finished product is produced. He that abides in the secret place is changed from glory to glory. As we dwell in the Lord He changes us into His image. When the fruition of that occurs we are cast forth from the womb (shelter) as sons. But the "stop over" is not just to cause the "sons" (Romans 8:19) to rejoice that they have come into Christ’s image but rather to rejoice in being a part of the process to bring about the release of all creation. The abiding place is merely a station of preparation to develop the life of Christ in the individual to the maximum potential.

    Because "abide" is a temporary situation, we must also realize that a shadow is a temporary event. A shadow is a temporary protection from the sun. It is a time of refreshing which goes along with the word "Almighty" which is the Hebrew "Shaddai." Almighty means the powerful one. We dwell in the shadow of the Almighty. His power, His strength, His ability and all His other attributes are so large that they cast a shadow over each of us. We have no abilities when we see Him as He truly is! We are content to be in His shadow as He goes before us. It was the shadow of Peter that healed a man. So, the shadow of God delivers us from the fallen nature as we abide in Him.

    He now dwells in the hearts of his people (Eph 3:17-19). The Holy Spirit dwells in believers (1 Cor. 3:16 2 Tim. 1:14). The fullness of Him is within us (John 1:16, Eph. 1:23, Col. 1:19, 2:9). We dwell in the secret place of the Most High Psalm 91:1 states. The first recording of the "Most High" is found in Genesis 14:18 where Melchizedek gives bread and wine to Abram. The wine and the bread represent the very life of God. The wine shows forth the spirit and the bread is representative of Christ Himself, as the staff of life.

    The importance of El Elyon is the word "high" which is from the root " 'alah" meaning to come up and is used as such 82% of the time in scripture. El Elyon then means to come up to the most high place. The place where the life and spirit of God are evident after the order of Melchizedek. To dwell in the secret place of the Most High means to reside in the realm of Tabernacles, the place of engathering, the place of union with Christ. Nothing can separate us from the love of God. All death is swallowed up into life as one dwells in the secret place of the Most High God.

    We are exhorted to "let the word of God dwell in us richly" (Col 3:16 Ps 119:11). We must leave the realm of the lowlands of Lot which are detrimental to our development in Christ, and like Abraham seek the high places where the rocks are. For we are the children of the snow, eating of the spirit. We find ourselves hid in the rock rather than being in the lowland and covered with the dust of Adam. For who aspires to leave the leeks of the lowland people for the crags of the rock? There is an appearance in the mountains that there is no life there. But He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High is at home on the mountain, not troubled by the flesh, nor by man.