With great joy and delight I welcome you to the month of June, our month of Building The House of God. “After David was settled in his palace, he said to Nathan the prophet, "Here I am, living in a house of cedar, while the ark of the covenant of the LORD is under a tent. Nathan replied to David, "Whatever you have in mind, do it, for God is with you." 1 Chr 17: 1-2
Haggai says to Zerubbabel: “This is what the Lord Almighty says: “These people say, ‘The time has not yet come to rebuild the Lord’s house.’”3 Then the word of the Lord came through the prophet Haggai: 4 “Is it a time for you yourselves to be living in your paneled houses, while this house remains a ruin?” Haggai 1:2-4.
People of God there are always two sides to a coin. There are two kinds of people on earth, male and female, believers in Christ and non- believers in Christ, sinners and saints, builders of the house of God and reprimanded non builders.
David represents a generation of those who love God and want to build temples for God. The generation of Israelites in the time of Haggai are the opposite. God poured multidimensional blessings on David for even thinking of building a house for him, forbids him from building it and permits his son Solomon to build. When Solomon built the temple he asked - “But will God really dwell on earth? The heavens, even the highest heaven, cannot contain you. How much less this temple I have built!” 1 King 8:27.
That means building a house for God is more than physical building. It involves building his kingdom, building the people that build the nation, building homes, families, relationships, the body of Christ, churches, companies, schools, institutions, organizations, cities, provinces, nations, continents and more.
The question God is asking this month is are you building or loathing?
Permit me to speak like Prophet Haggai, examine why you are having poor results in life: “Now this is what the Lord Almighty says: “Give careful thought to your ways. 6 You have planted much but harvested little. You eat, but never have enough. You drink, but never have your fill. You put on clothes but are not warm. You earn wages, only to put them in a purse with holes in it. This is what the Lord Almighty says: “Give careful thought to your ways. 8 Go up into the mountains and bring down timber and build my house, so that I may take pleasure in it and be honored,” says the Lord.” Haggai 1: 5-8.
The LORD promised to build the house of David. This was more than a physical dwelling place. This referred to the legacy and posterity of David! The truth is, "except the LORD builds a house, the laborers will be building in vain." (Psalm 127:1) Do you want God to build your house? Then build His house first. Seek first His Kingdom and His righteousness and He will add all other things to you. (Matthew 6:33) He will build not just your physical home but your relationships, marriage, career, business and even your reputation long after you are gone from the earth.
This month repent from your sins, accept Jesus as your Lord and Saviour, build your spiritual life, help to build others to be strong in the Lord and for the rest of your life resolve to build the house of God, you will not only make heaven you would have written your name in gold on earth from generation to generation.
Happy New Month
What is the house of God?
Physically and biblically speaking the house of God is a house of worship, house of prayer, a building devoted to religious worship, a church, synagogue, temple, chapel, etc. The house of God is the dwelling place of God, the church, which is built by Christ growing in the believers and making His home in their hearts. "And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone;21 In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord:22 In whom ye also are built together for an habitation of God through the Spirit. (Eph. 2:20-22) Jesus defines the house of God “And said unto them, It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves. Matthew 21:13
Why build the house of God?
The necessity of building. The physical place of worship is an important part of the church of God worldwide. People need a place to stay, learn, minister, pray together. Although there is a visible growth of virtual and online services as a by-product of Covid-19, it cannot totally replace physical buildings in few years to come. Whether the physical house or the spiritual house of God it will take someone to build it, if not you who else, since there is a necessity to build. The young converts in the church are precious to God, any activity towards getting them established in Christ is a major reason for building. There must be continuity. Someone built you, you ought to build someone else. Someone built where you are worshipping, so build for the generation coming. There is a need for a physical place of worship. Angels will not build it, so do it.
To prevent losses. Prophet Haggai said we lose out on many things because we failed to build God’s house. Ye have sown much, and bring in little; ye eat, but ye have not enough; ye drink, but ye are not filled with drink; ye clothe you, but there is none warm; and he that earneth wages earneth wages to put it into a bag with holes Haggai 1:6. Malachai says we attract curses, invite devourers, prevent open windows and deny ourselves of becoming philanthropists 3:8-16
God has done great things for us. David said, “O taste and see that the Lord is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him.” Psalm 34:8- James said, “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.” Jas 1:17 God has done so much for us. Dele Dada says “God has given us life, health, the ability to work, called us to ministry and to enjoy our free time. He has given you your family, your freedom, your job, food to eat, and clean water to drink every day. On top of all this, God gave you the ultimate gift of His Son Jesus, who died for your sins (John 3:16). The Lord has done great things for us, which should lead us to want to do great things for Him”
Prevent people from going to hell.
Jesus said in John 10:10, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life and have it to the full.” And 1 Peter 5:8 describes the devil as a prowling, roaring lion who is looking for someone to devour. Satan is working overtime to destroy lives and spread darkness and send people to hell. We must work overtime and give extraordinarily to the gospel, preach on the streets, in the offices, neighbourhoods, on the trains, busses, aircrafts to save lives, get people born again, follow them up until they make heaven when they die. I will not forget Myles Mounroe in a hurry, we were at Azuza Street Centenary service in Los Angeles, California in 2006, he was called to take offering and he made reference to how the guards were given large sums of money as bribe (Matt 28:12-15) to say that Jesus did not resurrect! he said the body of Christ should give much more to spread the gospel and to uncover the lies of the devil. If the devil is doing everything to destroy people, we must do everything to save lives. We must keep building and working so that our lives and faith will glorify God and prevent people from going to hell. (Romans 4:18-21; 1 Peter 4:11).
How do you build the house of God?
There is the physical and spiritual house of God. In building the physical house we have precedents from the bible, the temporary, movable structure, called tent in the wilderness (Ex 25) and the series of temples in Jerusalem. There had been three temples on the same site. The first, Solomon's glorious temple, had been built in the tenth century B.C. and was destroyed in 586 B.C. when the Babylonians captured Jerusalem. The second, Zerubbabel's temple, was much smaller than Solomon's temple and had been built on the same site by the exiles that had returned from captivity in the sixth century B.C. The second temple, the one Jesus entered had been enlarged by Herod the Great. Construction on this magnificent structure, much larger and more elaborate than the others, was begun in 20 B.C. and may not have been finished before the Romans destroyed it in A.D. 70 in response to a Jewish revolt.
This physical structure template is what is carried over to our generation now known as ‘church buildings’. In the formation of the Acts of Apostles, it was more of little groups that moved from house to house. Today church buildings have different shapes, models and patters from simple to elaborate and sophisticated ones, from expensive to non expensive from small to mega. The mode of building is the same, materials are provided, money is made available, a design is sought and curious men like Bezaleel and Aholiab’s of Ex 36 fame are employed. David spoke of making materials available in 1Chr 29.
The spiritual house of God is more important than the physical. Paul says “Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst? David wanted to build a house for God, but God told David that his seed, Christ, would be the one to build His house. Christ is the seed of David in His humanity and the Son of God in His divinity (Rom. 1:3). He alone is qualified to build. God’s house. This is why Christ said, “I will build My church” (Matt. 16:18). Christ builds the church as the house of God (1 Tim. 3:15). We also build the church by engaging in various spiritual exercises, reading the word, prayer, fellowship with the brethren, fasting, evangelizing, soul winning, giving, prophesying, discipleship, mentoring and many more.
In addition, Nehemiah and Ezra teaches us some things about building the house of God when they were rebuilding the fallen gates of Jerusalem and the temple. Collaboration, unity, watchfulness focus, perseverance, prayer and fasting are necessary ingredients. Then I told them of the hand of my God which was good upon me; as also the king's words that he had spoken unto me. And they said, let us rise and build. So, they strengthened their hands for this good work. Nehemiah 1:18 “So we fasted and petitioned our God about this, and he answered our prayer” Ezra 8:23
Our Duty
God is not a "Taker"; God is a "Giver." Whatever we give to God, He will give it back to us "a good measure, pressed down shaken together and running over (Luke 6:38). When we give faithfully to him in our tithes and offerings, thanksgiving offerings, donation, vows, first fruits, talents, energy, resources, and others. He promises to open the windows of Heaven upon our lives and pour out so much blessing that we won't even have room to contain it (Malachi 3:10). Try it, it works because God is not a man that He should lie. If God were to lie for a moment, He would cease to be God, because He would have no basis of righteousness.
There is something very extraordinary about giving generously to God. I am perfectly aware that the subject of giving has been blatantly abused by some pastors who have taken undue advantage of God's children, even to the point of fleecing God's children and making merchandise of them. But this does not negate the evidence of Scripture that God looks down with great favor on generous givers. In fact, Scripture makes it clear that when we give generously to God, He will give generously back to us because God loves generous givers.
What are the benefits of building the house of God.
The envious blessings God released on David for contemplating (not actually building) and Solomon (who built) should be a great motivation for any Christian to desire to build physical buildings for God.
But that night the word of God came to Nathan, saying: “Go and tell my servant David, 'This is what the LORD says . . . ' "I took you from the pasture, from tending the flock, and appointed you ruler over my people Israel. I have been with you wherever you have gone, and I have cut off all your enemies from before you. Now I will make your name like all the names of the greatest men on earth. And I will provide a place for my people Israel . . . Wicked people will not oppress them anymore… I will also subdue all your enemies. " 'I declare to you that the LORD will build a house for you: When your days are over and you go to be with your ancestors, I will raise up your own offspring to succeed you, one of your own sons, and I will establish his kingdom. He is the one who will build a house for me, and I will establish his throne forever. . . I will never take away my love from him, as I took it away from your predecessor.....' " I Chronicles 17: 1-13. Wow! God will give you more if you can do more!
Conclusion: God promised that His love will never depart from David's house. Do you want a generational blessing of God's love? Then invest in building the house of God. King David was not God’s chosen vessel to build His temple. But in 1 Chronicles 29:1-5, we see the incredible contributions David gave for the building of God’s temple—gold, silver, bronze, precious stones, and more. Then he says in verse five, “Now, who is willing to consecrate themselves to the Lord today?” This challenges us to ask ourselves what we are willing to give back to God to build His house. Friends do whatever is within your power to build the house of God physically, spiritually and financially, stop giving excuses, rather partner with God and God’s people and I can assure you God will give and compensate you with bountiful earthly and heavenly rewards. Shalom
Postscript.
This year we celebrate 20th Anniversary of International Gathering of Eagles in Toronto September 14-17,2023, make all arrangement to be there, there shall be a festival of the Word of God!
Canada Return To Your Maker Prayer Summit is August 5, 2023 in Toronto. Be there.
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