HE’S
BUILDING A HOUSE
This is probably
the greatest time in history to be alive! I believe in the same way
God is preparing His
Bride for the fourth quarter, and He's getting ready to hand her the
ball!
If you’re like me, you've
probably been guilty of praying stupid prayers over the years:
¨ "Lord, whatever it
takes to get me into destiny, do it!"
¨ "Refine me with
heavens fire!"
¨ “Purge my mind and
my heart!"
¨ ”Help me to understand
the sufferings of
STUPID, STUPID, and
again I say STUPID! Oh well, He planned on doing all that stuff
anyway. What is amazing is that we pray it, He does it, and we
are surprised when it happens!
Of course He's
refining us, shaping us, molding us - into the image of
His Son! It's right at the top His "things to do"
list.
Let me give you a
verse:
I Kings 6:7 "And the
house, when it was in building, was built of stone made ready before it was
brought thither: so that there was neither hammer nor ax nor any tool of iron
heard in the house, while it was in building."
I'm not going to take a
long time here but I want to use this verse to paint a picture for us
today. This house that is under construction is the same house in I Kings
8. It's the house that the glory of God fell on with such power that no
priest could stand - to minister to the Lord. Now, I don't know about you
but that sounds like havin' church to me!
When the presence of the
Almighty God is so thick that the preacher can't preach, the worship leader
can't lead, and the only place the congregation can congregate is on their
face… THAT'S CHURCH YA'LL!
In order to build this
house - the materials were being prepared in the wilderness. That's
where the Father has us today. We are in the wilderness being prepared as
living stones; (I
Now, because the beams
and timbers were being prepared as well, I have to conclude that it was the
same type of preparation for them.
In the Hebrew language
the words "made ready" mean:
§
complete,
§
perfect,
§
whole.
The wilderness time, and
the wilderness preparation were essential. The stone and timber had to be
prepared just right – for them to properly fit into the house that the KING was
building.
Now, there is a King who
is building a house today; He intends to overwhelm this house with His
Glory. In the same way, there is preparation going on – in us.
God longs to use
you. He longs to fit you into this house that He's building. The
materials, stone and timber, were so perfectly prepared in the wilderness,
that the Bible says they were taken out of the wilderness of
The workers didn't have
to force them, and there was no struggle to get them to fit. Why?
The materials didn't know it, they had no understanding of it – but the King
held a blueprint in his hand.
The blueprint knew the
purpose of the house. The blueprint knew where every board and stone and timber
would fit. They were cut, chipped, sawed, ripped and hewn to fit
perfectly into the house, and it took no effort for them
to fit. They were properly prepared in the wilderness.
Two thoughts: As I
said earlier. These materials didn't know that the King held the blue
prints of where every piece needed to fit. You know why? Because
they were stone and timber!!!!
They don't think or
feel! But we do! Put yourself in the position that these materials
were in: Cut, ripped, hewn, chipped, sawed etc. The materials may
not have felt it, but we sure do! It's OK to put yourselves into
that position, that's where you are! In the wilderness, isolated, going
through what is very clearly painful and uncomfortable, being cut on, and maybe
not knowing what it's for or where you'll end up.
Here is the kicker:
Feeling separated from the King, and the joy of the kingdom! While all this
preparation was going on in the wilderness, there was great joy and expectation
going on in the kingdom. People excited and expectant about what was
happening in the wilderness!
I suspect that there is
today a great cloud of witnesses excited and expectant about what they are
seeing happening in the world today! However, while we go through this
process, OFTEN it's difficult to feel the joy of the kingdom. What's more,
this time can seem so heavy, and so weighty, that we even feel separated from
the King Himself.
It's tempting to ask
"
In the midst of this
process you can live in peace knowing that the Great-Architect knows exactly
where you fit, and exactly how to get you there.
Heaven looks at your
life, the trials, and the hour at hand, and rejoices. They know what the
master builder is about to do! So, walk through this season in
peace. Yes, you can! Isa. 26:3.
The second thing you gotta' know is this: These materials, for the most part,
came from the
WHITE, OR PURE HEART!
That's where God is going; that’s what is essential to build His
house. He's pulling materials from the purity of hearts. It's where
true life comes from.
Proverbs
Bride of
