"Now it came to pass when the king was dwelling in his house, and the LORD had given him rest from all his enemies all around, that the king said to Nathan the prophet, 'See now, I dwell in a house of cedar, but the ark of God dwells inside tent curtains.' Then Nathan said to the king, 'Go, do all that is in your heart, for the LORD is with you.'
"But it happened that night that the word of the LORD came to Nathan, saying, 'Go and tell My servant David, "Thus says the LORD: 'Would you build a house for Me to dwell in? For I have not dwelt in a house since the time that I brought the children of Israel up from Egypt, even to this day, but have moved about in a tent and in a tabernacle. Wherever I have moved about with all the children of Israel, have I ever spoken a word to anyone from the tribes of Israel, whom I commanded to shepherd My people Israel, saying, "Why have you not built Me a house of cedar?"... Also the LORD tells you that He will make you a house.'"'" (2 Samuel 7:1-7, 11)
This chapter begins with David wanting to build God a house, but God ends with telling David, "I will make you a house." This happened because David partnered with the purposes of Heaven and wanted what God wanted. Like David, sometimes we all need to abandon our plans and agendas, reexamine what we are doing for the Lord and receive God's instructions through His prophets.
A Collection of Living Stones
The house God is building today is a temple not made with human hands, but a collection of living stones. Yet today, we see the Church collectively drowning in a flood of human ideas, programs and new initiatives to help build God's house. Not to diminish anything that God has done elsewhere or in the past, but over the years, many well-meaning people have borrowed 'bricks' from Toronto, Brownsville, the Voice of Healing, the Latter Rain, the Pentecostal movement and various other movements trying to build God a house. But what worked in one place does not work everywhere, and what God did in the past may not be the new thing God is doing today.
Moves of God cannot be manufactured. They come by prophetic revelation, by catching a vision for what God is doing and by partnering with the purposes of Heaven.
When John the Baptist preached repentance and the Kingdom of God, he addressed a religious people set in their ways. They had perverted what God had done through previous generations by adding toys, trinkets, rules, regulations and man-made ideas. John commanded them to repent and change how they saw the Kingdom of Heaven. God shook everything that could be shaken, so His Kingdom would remain pure. God does this in every generation.
We can no more borrow bricks from other movements than David could fight Goliath with Saul's armor. That may have worked for Saul, but Saul wasn't facing Goliath. Before we initiate anything, we must evaluate whether it is needed or simply dead weight.
Likewise, when we assemble bricks to build God's house, we must evaluate whether we are building God a habitation or someone else's graven image of the past. Sure, we can glean from and learn from others, but we cannot take others' ideas and expect God to bless us as He did them. (Photo via PxHere)
Big box home improvement stores have many prefabricated items to build your house, but that doesn't work for God's house. (It was forbidden for a hammer or chisel to be used, and were not even heard, when building God's house; see 1 Kings 6:7.) Instead, we must want the spiritual change, reformation and transformation God is doing in each of us, as His predestined living stones to build His house.
The political and economic shaking we see happening in the earth right now is merely a reflection of the shaking that's happening in God's Church. Judgment begins at the house of God. So, whatever we see happening in the world, began in the Church. God is shaking our Church systems and will continue to shake them until all that remains is the pure Kingdom of God. We are now entering a third great reformation in which God is stripping away everything He never told us to do.
What if God Wants to Build Us Something?
2 Samuel 7 represents an incredible dialogue between God, David and Nathan. David wanted to build God a house. God wanted to build David's house and wanted His house built in His timing and order, not David's. David's blueprint, strategy and business plan was not the Lord's.
It's easy to build God's house with good intentions, but our good intentions just become dead, formal religion when added to God's simple plan. Like Martha, we can become so encumbered with serving, troubles and anxieties that we miss God's opportunity to do so much more, simply by sitting at His feet.
God wants to change our thinking. Instead of us trying to build God something, what if God wants to build us something? Instead of giving God our contrived systems, laying them at the altar and saying, "Bless this mess," what if God wants to change our systems? Instead of asking God to "bless this mess," ask, "Lord, what are Your blueprints; what are You building?"
The Key to Kingdom Multiplication
Spiritual relationships are key. Most churches have kept Saul and discarded David whom God is using in this hour. David had a spiritual relationship with God. Spiritual relationships are important to Kingdom multiplication, which is what we ultimately want. When healthy men and women come together in healthy marriage relationships, children are born. Kingdom multiplication happens when Christ (the Bridegroom) and the Church (the Bride) have healthy relationships. Souls get saved, the Kingdom progresses and people get trained and equipped without agendas.
The Ten Commandments are all about relationships. The first four are about our relationship with God; the last six are about our relationships with others. The first and second greatest commandments are the same – love God and love your neighbor. This is God's order for the house He is building.
God Is Moving
David felt bad for living in a house of cedar while God lived in a tent, but God cannot be confined to one place. He cannot be put in a box and kept there because God is always moving and wants to be with His people. In some of the first and last mentions of God in Scripture, He is moving: "...and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters" (Genesis 1:2), and "...'Surely I am coming quickly'..." (Revelation 22:20).
Between the moving of the Spirit in Genesis and the coming of Jesus in Revelation, Romans 8:14 says, "[F]or as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God." We also want to be moving behind God and following Him. Each morning, ask Him: "Who are You speaking to and where are You moving today?" Then plan your day around that. (Photo via Unsplash)
Don't Forget to Celebrate the Victories
David and God could have a conversation because David was in a place of freedom and rest from his enemies, not in a distracted place of personal warfare. David could not even build God a temple because he had bloody hands. Likewise, many today cannot receive clear direction from God because they're engaged in never-ending spiritual warfare. Bloody hands can prevent you from building something from God, for God.
Those in a constant state of spiritual warfare, or inner turmoil, fail to make spiritual gains because they fail to take captive their thoughts to the obedience of Christ (see 2 Corinthians 10:5). Yes, put on the armor of God; yes, do spiritual warfare, but don't get so obsessed with warfare that you forget to celebrate the victories.
Remember, in God's presence there is "fullness of joy," and at His right hand are "pleasures forevermore" (see Psalm 16:11). God commanded His people to keep seven annual holidays to take a break from warfare and to feast, celebrate and share God's redemptive story.
When we get so discouraged or depressed that we lose our joy, peace, zeal and passion and want to throw in the towel, the devil is the one taking ground, not us. But it's more than just taking a break from warfare. Remember, God never led the Israelites into battle using normal methods. He first sent the worshipers, which we can do when we know God is fighting with and for us.
God Wants You to Work WITH Him, not for Him
God responded through Nathan the prophet to David's pure and lofty goals of building God a house, saying, "...'Would you build a house for Me to dwell in?'" (see 2 Samuel 7:5). God is not impressed with our good intentions, but by our desire to partner with Him. David wanted to build God a house; God wanted to build David's house for the coming Messiah.
And when the Messiah came, He said, "...I [not you] will build My Church; and the gates of Hell shall not prevail against it" (Matthew 16:18, emphasis added), and, "For My yoke is easy and My burden is light" (Matthew 11:30). God doesn't want us to work for Him but with Him. "Unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain who build it..." (Psalm 127:1) now takes on a whole new meaning.
God will continually shape and mold us into His image so that we are not only positioned to become His habitation on Earth but also His New Jerusalem in the coming age. Never lose hope knowing you are part of the house God is building.
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Chris Reed
Lead Pastor at MorningStar Ministries
Email:Â Click here
Website:Â morningstarministries.org
Chris Reed first felt called to minister at the age of twelve. He started accepting invitations to minister on a regular basis at the age of fourteen, and after turning nineteen, he began serving as an assistant pastor. After turning twenty-five, he was elected senior pastor of The Revival Center in Peru, Indiana, where everyone present witnessed significant advancement in the kingdom of God. In July 2021, Chris, his wife Missy, and their children relocated to Fort Mill, South Carolina, where Chris now serves as Lead Pastor of MorningStar Church. Chris is also
actively training to become President of MorningStar Ministries as Rick Joyner's successor. Chris has a mandate to train, equip, and help believers step into their ministries and find their purpose and role in changing the world.
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I've come to know Chris Reed and the wisdom and revelation that he carries for the times and seasons in which we live. We've also enjoyed interviewing him on our Elijah Streams broadcast where he not only shared powerful prophetic revelation, but released fresh words of knowledge live to our viewers. He is a very gifted young man!
Those are some good questions from Chris that should make us all stop and ponder in this building season.
