Dwelling in God

       Psalms 
        84:1   How lovely are Your tabernacles, O Jehovah of hosts!

84:2   My soul longs, indeed even faints, For the courts of Jehovah; My heart and my flesh cry out To the living God.

84:3   At Your two altars even the sparrow has found a home; And the swallow, a nest for herself, Where she may lay her young, O Jehovah of hosts, my King and my God.

84:4   Blessed are those who dwell in Your house; They will yet be praising You. Selah

92:13  Planted in the house of Jehovah, They will flourish in the courts of our God.

92:14  They will still bring forth fruit in old age; They will be full of sap and green;

Ecclesiastes

12:1   Remember also your Creator in the days of your youth, before the evil days come and the years draw near when you will say, I have no pleasure in them;

12:8   Vanity of vanity, says the Preacher; all is vanity.

At least in three meetings this month, the Lord has reminded me again and again of the significance and blessings of dwelling in the house of Jehovah. 

First time I was not much impressed about the "two altars" which are in the tabernacle. Later, as I pray-read the verses in Psalms 84:3-4 over and over again, the Lord shone on me the importance of dwelling at the two altars, in the tabernacle, which is, dwelling in the house of God. The first altar which is the Bronze Altar of Burnt Offering at the outer court, typifying Christ's complete and full judicial redemption accomplished at the cross, ushers the redeemed believers into the Golden Incense Altar at Holy Place which is spiritually in the Holy of Holies, signifying the resurrection of Christ in His interceding life from which God executes His heavenly administration. So having experienced the frist altar, one must go on to experience the second too, this not for himself for an experience sake, but for God to accomplish His eternal economy on the earth. These are the genuine experiences of dwelling in the two altars. I would pay any price for such precious experiences.

Last Friday night as I ministered on these verses in a home meeting, the Lord supplied us richly again ushering us to the experiences of the two altars, this I contrasted with the religious and ritualistic celebration of the outward forms. It was a blessing to see these matters spiritually and experience them as well.

In another meeting too, a brother pointed out the same verses for pray-reading and the issue of dwelling in the house of Jehovah. "Planted in the house of Jehovah, They will flourish in the courts of our God. They will still bring forth fruit in old age; They will be full of sap and green;" Psalms 92:13-14.  

I was so encouraged to see the blessings of dwelling in God; to bring forth fruit in old age. My hair may not be grey as yet, but if the Lord gives me long life and He tarries His return, and I become physically old too one day, by ever dwelling in the house of God, I desire to bring forth much fruit-abundant and remaining fruits. Yes, even more, be full of sap and green, to supply Christ as life to others, especially to the younger generation. How I pray and hope that not only me but all the elder saints bear such a testimony. In fact, for this blessing I have been praying for my dad and mom and in-laws, and all the other older saints. 

What a testimony this would be! Even in old age, not a burdensome nor a botheration, but blessings and blossoming, bringing forth fruits and full of sap and green.

On the flip side, I was also warned of the result of not dwelling in the house of Jehovah. Ecclesiastes 12 2- 8 describes such a pathetic living, finally ending in "vanity of vanities". The very thought of this, dreaded me, yet positively encouraging me to live a life in the house of God, in the normal church-life, in the Body of Christ.

Lord, preserve me in Your tabernacle, all the days of my life. And even when I am physically old, I may be full of sap and green, and bring forth fruits in abundance.