The house is built
In 2022, I was sitting on my bed, reading the Bible. I was in a season of searching God and was longing for him more than anything else. Breaking and going low in pressure. Although being challenged from all sides, I kept faith. I used to be on fire, full of passion, and spend each day at God's house. But sometimes life leads you to a pad that treats you differently. Adversity as well as experiences that push you to mature and test your faith are each on purpose. I felt the Holy Spirit come all over me while reading my bible, like a heavy hand. All I could hear was the phrase "I am in a building mood." I didn't grasp what God was saying at the time,but I only knew it was about both inwardly and externally. I was reminded of Nehemiah's book, which described the state of Jerusalem after the people of Israel had been taken captive.
Then I said to them, “You see the bad situation that we are in—how Jerusalem is desolate and lies in ruins and its gates have been burned with fire. Come, and let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem, so that we will no longer be a disgrace.” Nehemiah 2:17
Right after that time, I had moments with both the Holy Spirit and people who affirmed what God was doing not just in me but also in others, but I was not fully conscious of how deeply God worked in me, in my character, and in my heart.
Today, as I was worshiping and praying in preparation for a meeting, a song began playing on my YouTube, and everything was inspired by the book of Ezra, and the Holy Spirit reminded me of a prophetic word I heard last year, which stated that I, like Ezra, am frustrated in convincing people to rebuild the temple. And again these days I find myself in the same pages and passages that talk about building and rebuilding. What made me start writing again was the Bible verse that God touched me with some days ago in the book of Hebrews, where Paul talks about how we are God's house, and this is a game-changer in the New Testament.
For every house is built by someone, but He who built all things is God. And Moses indeed was faithful in all His house as a servant, for a testimony of those things which would be spoken afterward, but Christ as a Son over His own house, whose house we are if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm to the end. Hebrew 3:4-6
We no longer seek the exterior temple or gaze north or west to worship God, but God has built us his own house to dwell in. Not made by human hands or things, but born and built by God. A holy place. We are his workmanship, a sacred nation created for his honor. There comes a time when you read a Bible scripture several times, and it hits you differently than the other days. We are the House of God! What Jesus was trying to convey to the religious leader was Christ's interior work in us.
Previously, the temple was built with human hands or earthly materials, but now Christ is in us, the hope of glory, and we are his house, a dwelling place and a sanctuary where we can always have communion with him. The veil is lifted, and we are invited inside his home, our hearts. It reminded me of Jesus' meeting with the women at the well. Jesus had a whole conversation with a woman from Samaria. She was looking for the earthly thirst to be satisfied in both body and soul, but Jesus brought the greatest revelation to a woman who was not counted as a Jew.
Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe Me, the hour is coming when you will neither on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, worship the Father. You worship what you do not know; we know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews. But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. John 4:21-23
As you see, Jesus tells her about the sanctuary that will be built, and that will be here in our body, soul, and spirit, instead of looking north, west, east, or south. In other words, he told her about the coming time, which is already here if you believe it: you will receive the spirit of God and he will make his home in you. Praise God! There are moments in life when you may not feel God, or you cannot hear him as you used to, but don't worry! God is working in you, and he is building you up and will lead you where you are supposed to be. Allow God to complete his perfect work in you and trust him, no matter how the journey may be hard for you.
