Fighting to build Him a house!!

Over the last few days I have experienced a number of emotions. Joy, happiness, hurt, sadness, disappointment and then joy again! Praise God for that joy. A few days ago (Sunday) a beautiful lady in my church approached me to tell me that she had been up all night wrestling with God and that she and her husband were going to give me a loan for the rest of my money to get to Botswana. No pressure to pay it back...just whenever I can. It was a complete answer to prayer. But, as quickly as my joy came, satan came to take it away again. That night I was hit with a couple of things and I was really hurt and disappointed and to be honest, felt completely let down. I tried to push it aside and I had fun catching up with some mates, but I couldn't get rid of that sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach. BUT...bring on the JOY!!

On Monday I had a study day...not a very productive time of study I must say...but productive in other ways. My mind was completely scattered with thoughts of other things and I couldn't focus, so I decided that I needed to deal with it then and there and not let it fester in my heart. I prayed and asked that God would speak to me and that He would show me what to do and He gave me a whole chapter...now, I'm still unwrapping the rest, but I just took time yesterday to discover and understand just one part of the chapter...the rest I am going to spend time unwrapping a bit at a time...it's pretty full on! But here's what I discovered from Isaiah 66:1-2

'This is what the Lord says: "Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. Where is the house you will build for me? Where will my resting place be? Has not my hand made all these things, and so they came into being?" declares the LORD. "This is the one I esteem: he who is humble and contrite in spirit, and trembles at my word.'

WOW! Think about that for a minute. Take time to really meditate on that piece by piece. This is what the LORD says...ok brace yourself...cause this is the LORD speaking!! It's gonna be awesome! It's gonna be mind boggling. Do you ever feel excited when you open the Word and read 'This is what the LORD says'? I have to admit, I don't always feel excited...cause I often just don't think about or grasp the significance behind it. This is not just Paul or John writing something. This isn't just Moses or Abraham speaking. This is the LORD speaking. And I don't know about you, but right now I'm excited. I want to KNOW what the LORD has to say to me! I want to KNOW what the LORD has in store for ME in this small part of His Word. The LORD is taking time to speak to us here. I want to KNOW what He wants me to know! So, this is what the LORD says...

Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool

WOAH!! Picture that! The earth is His FOOTSTOOL! Do you have that image in your head? God resting His feet on the earth? Think about the size of a footstool you have at home, or you've seen in someone elses home. Seems small. The EARTH is God's footstool! Doesn't that completely BLOW YOUR MIND!! Do you realise how BIG God is and how insignificant we are? Do you realise that He could squash us at any given moment? Do you realise just how mighty He is? And yet, despite our insignificance in His eyes we are SO significant! In His eyes we are amazing. In His eyes we are beautiful. In His eyes we are worth more than gold or silver. In His eyes we are worth sending His Son as a living sacrifice for us...so that we could live! That would be like us caring for a bunch of ants. Taking time to talk to them and care for them and make sure that they don't get in the way of any big feet. Giving up one of our own to save the life of an ant. Sounds a bit silly doesn't it? But, friends, that's how God is with us. He takes the time to care for us and love us and make sure that we aren't being crushed by satan. Heaven is His throne and the earth is His footstool! He has the power to do anything!! And He puts all that power into US! Into loving us and protecting us! What an awesome God!!

Where is the house you will build for me? Where will my resting place be?

Well, here's a challenge. Heaven is His throne and the earth is His footstool. How could we build Him a house or a dwelling or resting place that would be fit for Him? I mean, think about what He's worth for a minute!....You can't! Cause He's worth far more than we can humanly imagine or give. So how do we build a house that He can dwell in? A house that's fit for Him? How do we build something that's of worth to Him? Well, the thing is, we can't! BUT...we CAN give ALL that we've got to Him! Don't hold back...make a dwelling place for Him in your heart! No matter what it looks like...if it's all you have to give then give it and He will know what the cost was for you to give that to Him. If it cost you everything, then it's good enough for Him. If you're still holding back, well, He still loves you, but He's asking for MORE! He wants your ALL!! Have you done that? Before you go any further...have YOU made a dwelling place in your heart for the Lord? Is He asking you, 'Where's my house? Where will I rest with you?' Do you have a place in your heart for the KING OF KINGS?? Have you built Him a house?

Has not my hand made all these things, and so they came into being?" declares the LORD.

Oh, Katie you are SO right!! I LOVE that word: DECLARES!! It's so much more than just, 'My Lord SAID...' or 'My Lord told me...' My Lord DECLARES!! WOW!! Here He is DECLARING...making a BOLD statement! Here's a few other words found in the thesaurus for DECLARES...PROCLAIM...PROFESS...STATE...AFFIRM...and the list goes on...The Lord DECLARES...He professes...that His hand has made ALL things and that He is King over ALL!! He affirms us!! What an AWESOME GOD!! It's funny, isn't it, that we forget about the awesome POWER of God? We forget that by His HAND ALL things came into being!! By His hand He can do all things!! I could point you to all the scripture that restates that...but I want to encourage you to get in and find it yourself...discover that God!! Read His Word and unwrap what He has done! Find out about our AWESOME God who made ALL things...who clicked His fingers and designed the universe!! Pretty amazing huh?!

This is the one I esteem: he who is humble and contrite in spirit, and trembles at my word.

WOW...what a challenge! To be HUMBLE and CONTRITE in spirit...Man, we could all learn such a lesson from that. How to practice humility...The only example I can lead you to is Jesus! In John 13 Jesus washes His disciples feet. He gets down and humbles Himself (although, He was ALREADY humble!) and He washed His disciples feet! What an honour that would have been! Man, I'd never wash my feet again!! And then Jesus turned and said to His disciples...

I have set you an example that you should do as I have done

Now, if JESUS can get on His hands and knees and wash the disciples feet when it should have been the other way around, then we can get off our butts and do the same for our fellow brothers and sisters! We need to GET OVER OURSELVES!! We need to STOP thinking we're better than other people or holier than thou...REALITY CHECK!! You are a SERVANT...that's right...you're NOT the King! You're His SERVANT!! Don't expect everyone to serve you! YOU should be serving THEM! There's nothing that frustrates me more than people who think they've got it all together and they don't need to grow anymore! People who think they've learnt it all and that they don't need to learn anymore! MAN...all I have to say to you if that's you is...GET OVER YOURSELF!! It's NOT about you!!! We're not here for OURSELVES...we're here to serve the LIVING KING!! So get down on the floor and start serving...start washing feet! Jesus has set us an example. So FOLLOW THAT EXAMPLE!

What does it mean to be 'contrite in spirit'? Lets look at the thesaurus again...other words for contrite...APOLOGETIC...CONSCIENCE-STRICKEN...HUMBLE...SORRY...get the point? Is that your spirit? Do you look at your life and think you never sin and that you have it all figured out? Do you think that you have reached perfection? Well, you need to be contrite in spirit just for having such a stupid thought!! Im sorry if you think I'm being a little harsh, but it just annoys me more than anything when people think they have it all worked out and they don't need work! They couldn't be MORE wrong!! EVERY DAY we sin!! EVERY DAY!! We need to humbly ask God for forgiveness EVERYDAY!! Because we AREN'T perfect! And I'm the first to admit it! That doesn't make me special or great cause I can admit that...it just means that I am a BIG sinner...saved by grace...and in need of MORE work!!

Read God's Word and take it in! Look at it and read it and let it all sink into your heart and spirit! Let the words maranate, if you like. Understand them! You will know when you fully start to understand them because you will start to TREMBLE and FEAR Him! Not a BAD fear...but a fear that says you are in AWE of Him and you know what His power means! You know that you better start taking Him seriously cause otherwise you're in trouble! This is not a 'Get right with God or you're going to HELL' message...this is a 'GET RIGHT WITH GOD' message! Plain and simple! I'm not telling you your judgement cause I don't know it and it's not my judgement to pass...so it's up to you to take the risk or not! He says that He will ESTEEM those who are HUMBLE and CONTRITE IN SPIRIT!! Does He esteem you? Another word for esteem is CHERISH...LOVE...ADMIRE! Isn't that beautiful? YES...God LOVES and CHERISHES you...but at the end of the day, do YOU leave Him room to do that! Are you living up to it?

We serve an awesome God. This is my challenge...have you built Him a house? Does He live in your heart? Where is His dwelling place? Are you humble and contrite in spirit? Do you TRULY know God as the awesome and mighty creator of all things? Get to know Him and get right with Him! However that might be!