Building God's House

The Church is being formed into a house, a spiritual house, where God can call His home. True, the fullness of the Godhead already lives within each of us. However, God is working on something even more magnificent. He wants the Church as a whole to be a place He can inhabit, not just a bunch of individuals.

God wants a house.

“You also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” 1 Peter 2:5

We are the living stones He is using to build that house. As He fits each piece into place we will see that much more of His glory among us collectively. Many of us seek to experience God in church meetings in a greater way, but aren’t willing to be connected to the Body as fully functioning parts. We may “attend” church our whole lives, know Jesus, but never make a real connection to the Body. (It is impossible to be properly connected to the Head, Christ, until you are properly connected to the Body.) Our lives are not intertwined with other people. Either we do not see the importance in being connected, or we do not see the difference. We may even be too afraid to be vulnerable about ourselves, and our shortcomings, but we must pursue depth of relationship with other members of the Body if we want to see Jesus live among us. He will meet us to a certain degree as we seek Him alone. But if we want the fullness of God in our lives, it won’t be experienced in our living room. We will experience God’s glory “among us.”

Bending My Will

I heard a story once about a young boy. His mother told him, “I want you to sit down right now!” He complied saying, “Okay, I’ll sit down. But I’m standing up on the inside”.

It may sound kind of funny, but how many times have we responded to Jesus that same way. Obedience is better than sacrifice. But we don’t want to offer Him a reluctant obedience. It’s almost like telling one child to say to the other, “I’m sorry”, knowing completely that they are not. “I’m sorry” is said with the same vehemence as “You’re dead meat” or “You won this time”.

But what about us? Jeremiah tells us that God has good plans for us, to give us a future and a hope. (Jer. 29:11) But He has a path for us to walk, and decisions we have to make. How often do we find ourselves upset at God for the path He’s got us on? Thankfully, we have Jesus as our example.

Look at Jesus in John 4. He just finished talking to a woman at a well, and His disciples question him about lunch. Look at His response:

Jesus said to them, "My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to accomplish His work. (John 4:34)

Or here we see what Jesus is going after:

" I can do nothing on My own initiative As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is just, because I do not seek My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. (John 5:30)

Jesus is actively seeking what His Father’s will is for Him. For Jesus, His Father’s will took him to a cross. But we know that it was for the joy that was set before Him that He endured the cross”. (Heb. 12:2)

Finally, we see this:

"For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. (John 6:38)

Doing the Father’s will was not only something Jesus did and enjoyed, not only was it the thing that brought Him sustenance, but He saw doing the Father’s will as His entire reason for being on the earth.

We, too, have a mission. Jesus Himself passed it onto us. We are to disciple nations. But each time His will and our wills clash, we will have to deny ourselves, take up our cross, and follow Him, bending our will to His.

The Guillotine

Up and out I stretch my neck
On the guillotine
Exposing my spleen
Grab the wrist straps - panting starting
Lay down my head for its daily parting
A humble offering
A sacred marching up the long hill
Towards the cross
I take my place
O sacred space
Lift up my face with no disgrace
Shame removed
Unmoved and unwavering
I stand my ground on a rock that I found
My name is called
Enthralled I respond
To carry a cross
And stretch my neck to One unseen
Across the old guillotine

New Lenses

I have been wearing glasses since I was about 16 years old. Every time I get a new prescription (which is sometimes very long in between) I am shocked to see how much more clear my vision has become. Not only are the new lenses not scratched, but they provide clarity on everything else I am looking at. What is interesting is that when it comes to seeing the truths of God’s Word and walking in them, many in the Church are still looking at them through old lenses. This of course causes a somewhat twisted version of their expression.

For instance, the mentality that everyone can (and should) prophesy is an amazing, transformational building tool for the Kingdom. However, not understanding that “the spirit of the prophets is subject to the prophets” leaves many people jumping up in a church meeting and screaming at the top of their lungs. Usually, this is done without any time taken to receive the interpretation, and time is almost never given to receive an application (strategy) for implementation. So, what we’re often times left with is a general word about blessing that we don’t really don’t know what to do with.

Prophecy is really a phenomenal tool the Lord has given us to build each other up. However, it is not something that is outside the Lord, but is rather a function of the Holy Spirit to help us see Jesus for who He truly is. When we see Jesus we see ourselves. He is the firstborn among many brothers. When God gives us His thoughts about people they should always point back to Jesus. Prophecy is the Holy Spirit highlighting something about Jesus that is true of others. When we see Him we will be like him. We become what we behold. It is so important to know each other after the spirit, and not after the flesh. If we know people after the flesh we’ll get hung up on their hang-ups. If after the spirit, we will see Jesus and be encouraged by what the Lord is doing in them.

All About Jesus

Jesus – I remember at some point while growing up and learning about God, that it finally clicked. Jesus – this whole thing is really all about Him. It’s not about my denomination. It’s not about learning all the right doctrines even though doctrine is important. It’s not about being good, or trying to not be bad anymore. It’s not even just about heaven. It’s all about Jesus. In Him we live, and move, and have our being. For some reason we have complicated Christianity, and made it more about services than family. More about winning the lost than serving people. More about saying a sinner’s prayer, than teaching sinners how to pray.


Jesus is trying to build us into a spiritual house, a community of God’s children, His family, that He may fill it with His glory in a way we’ve never before experienced. Jesus is the blueprint, our pattern for what God is building, and we must look to Him to see it realized in our lives, families, and nations.