WHEN GOD BUILDS

When God builds

Children of the Most High God, who seek His face and undying love,

We can be thankful that God is the God, not only of second chances, but many, many chances.  God is wise.  He “is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.”

He makes a straight path for us and beckons us to follow.  

Lord, we look to you to lead us where you would have us to go.  Yes, we will follow, Father.  Our soul says, yes, Lord.  Yes.  Lead us down the pathway to build us into a strong-house of holiness and righteousness.  Amen 

My brothers and sisters, know this that you may be a more effective vessel:  God does not build upward until the foundation has been firmly laid. 

“Be still” and allow Him to be the Foundation of your life.  Yet, understand that when He is your foundation, you must be able to stand upon Him in holiness, righteousness and fear of who He is.  You must...Be still and know that He is God. 

When God builds upon us, He only adds what the framework can support.  Many feel secure in their actions because they have placed God as their Foundation.  “The LORD of hosts is with us,” says the psalm, but as my Foundation, inside of me, God wants to build upon me.  

How strong am I?  God wants to strengthen me and build upon me so that my walls don’t come tumbling down again and again.  Ask yourself, have I allowed God to strengthen me and remove my weaknesses; not just patch me up or add support systems; but remove them from my life?  Have I allowed Him to build my house and not just trim my hedges?

When God says, “Be still, and know that I am God,” He is not simply giving a command.  He is painting a picture; constructing a bridge; and defining a relationship.  This is how I operate!  Watch me! Watch what I can do for you.  Watch my power.  Look at how the mountains and your foes tremble.  

Today, we see Christians that are not equipped to stand upon God. We are surrounded by Christians who have no true Foundation.  They lack humbleness, holiness, righteousness, and fear of God.  They would rather fear man.  They don’t know how to be still and know that He is God.  As a result, we prevent God from moving on our behalf.  We prevent God from building upon us; blessing us and transforming our environment.

Being still is not just a physical act or an act of obedience.  Being still is an act of faith, holiness,  vulnerability and fear of the Lord.  It removes the fear of what man can do to you.  Being still allows God to move things for you…to move you closer to Him and closer to His plan for you, because you have allowed Him to be your Foundation and construct your walls.  To know that He is God, you must remove self and trust in His power and His glory.

Psalm 46, is not just a song about what God can do.  He is trying to increase our faith.  He is trying to show us, like He showed Abraham.  If you fear me and withhold nothing from me, I will provide for you.  Look!  There’s a ram in the bush.  God is demanding a show of faith!  Watch and wait on the Lord and see what I can and will do for my children!  I will fight your battles!  It is Me the adversary defies!

Your faith tells you that only God can do the work in you and around you that needs to be done.  Being still for God is not a practice; nor is it a ritual.  To turn it on and then turn it off is unequivocally, by all definitions--a ritual.  You use it when you want to and feel that it is needed to appease your god.  Quite the contrary, being still is the outcome of bearing the fruits of His Holy Spirit; peace, long-suffering, faithfulness, self-control. 

Galatians 5:22-23  (NKJV)
²² But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³ gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.

BE STILL.  BE ANXIOUS FOR NOTHING

Philippians 4 (NKJV)
⁴ Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice!
⁵ Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand.
⁶ Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God;
 ⁷ and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

Obedience can lead to righteousness, but it does not always lead to holiness.  Holiness comes from change within; a transformation from the Holy Spirit.  Being still becomes an instance where the action does not bring about the change; the change brings about the ACTION of being still.  Yet, being still is not the final process that God is trying to achieve.  It is the beginning of things to come if you only have faith!  

BE STILL and KNOW WHERE YOUR HELP COMES FROM

The physical act can not change you if you haven’t allowed God to break down those barriers keeping Him from building upon your faith. And when God changes you, you walk in stillness and live in stillness.   Knowing where your help comes from; being anxious for nothing.   No one has to tell you to be still.  You might be driving, but you’re being still.  You might be running, but you’re being still.  Because you have peace of the Lord, that passes all understanding.

Being still comes through repentance, humility and complete dependence upon the Lord to take control of your life and guide your path.  You humble yourself, knowing you can do nothing without God. 

Learning how to be still comes with learning WHO God is and who you allow Him to be in your life.  We can not confuse discipline and conditioning with ‘being still’.   These are rituals within the church that did not put fear of the Lord in the hearts of Christians; it only added to their religion and false righteousness. 

We can not assume that being physically still demonstrates, instills or teaches reverence to God, nor is it the only way to hear His voice.  One demands obedience and one surrenders all to truly love God for who He is and become holy inside the Holy of Holies.  God can tell the difference. 

Some of us were taught that we must show reverence to God when we enter a church and there must be complete silence in the sanctuary.  We could not wait until we got out of church to release the tension and express ourselves, as if we left God in the church building.  Well, perhaps we did. This is not to say that we do not honor God within the sanctuary, but we must teach Christians to acknowledge the presence of God within them at all times; in everything we say, feel and do.  Not just to leave Him, in a building, or after allowing Him to have some of our time.

We are God's temple. Reverence for God does not begin or end inside of a church or during prayer.  Respect and reverence for God should be continual within our being; for we are One.  Hearing His voice becomes automatic, because we are One.

If you don’t see any change.  If you don’t see God moving after you have been still, it’s because of your expectations; your emotions; and your heart still belonging to you.  You expect that after you’ve held the stance of stillness, God will count it as righteousness and reverence; then, comply with your wishes.  Will He listen? Yes, He will listen for He is a compassionate God.  Will He answer? Yes, He will answer because He is a patient God.  He will tell you everything you need to hear.  However, He is still waiting on you to KNOW THAT HE IS GOD.

The chief priest of Israel could not go behind the veil and enter into the Holy of Holies unless He was consecrated and clothed in holiness—set apart from the world.  He lived in fear of the Lord.  If he did not do so, he knew that the holiness of God would destroy the filth and sin he carried, along with him. 

Jesus’ sacrifice for us ripped the veil to allow us, to not only get close, but to abide in our Father and He in us.  Yet, our Father, still requires holiness within us, upon us, and around us.  “…and you shall be holy; for I am holy.”  1 Peter 1:16 Leviticus 11:44, 45; 19:2; 20:7; Leviticus 20:26

Leviticus 11:44-45 (NKJV) ⁴⁴ For I am the Lord your God. You shall therefore consecrate yourselves, and you shall be holy; for I am holy. Neither shall you defile yourselves with any creeping thing that creeps on the earth. ⁴⁵ For I am the Lord who brings you up out of the land of Egypt, to be your God. You shall therefore be holy, for I am holy.

It is our relationship with Christ within us that gives us access to our Father.  He is the door.  It is Christ’s holiness and worthiness that creates in us a clean heart and a steadfast love.  Taking upon the character of Christ gives us a holy and righteous identity; wherein we share a relationship with God and He can say that, we are His child, and He knows us. 

When you know Him, you have a relationship of love; your fear and respect spring from the love of who He is as your Father; He is love; a love so powerful and wondrous that it demands to be respected and revered for its awesome magnificence.  Like a deer, you stand at attention, when you hear His voice; be it inwardly or outward…you are still.  You are still, because there is no other like Him.  You are His and He is yours.

Some people physically stand still, but their heart is still trying to race ahead of God.  However hard they try to resist, their heart and mind still tells them to keep going on in the direction they want to go.  Their mind is still in the world.  They’re holding their breath because of their expectations.  But, when God says, “Be Still,” He means, know that I am God, because I am the air you breathe!  I give you life! …and without Me there is no race to run!

So, what does all of this have to do with God building upon us?  Everything.  We want to choose the times that we are still, so God can not build upon us and show us what He can do.  This is our weakness.  We relate being still to the physical, when it is the spiritual.  We can not equate obedience to holiness.  As Jesus would say, we "still lack one thing."  We do not know who God is because we have not given ourselves completely to Him.  We have made Him a part of us.  We are not One.

 

We use God as a stepping stool when we want to reach something.  We step on and off of our Foundation.  God can’t build on us if we aren’t rooted, grounded, and anchored.  And what He does build, is torn down or falls down because our frame is too weak; then, we want to blame others for our ruin. 

We don’t know how to truly be still and allow Him to take control of our lives.  He can not increase our faith because we’re holding on to self.  We don’t want to be truly vulnerable to have a complete relationship with Him.  We still want to keep ties and a relationship with the world. Most often, it is because it helps us relate to others who are still of the world. We fall to temptation and fear because we allow things and people to come between us and God.  We are still looking for gifts in the world, instead of the gift God put inside of us, His Holy Spirit.

 Father, teach us how to be still and know that You are God.  Reveal to us those areas in our lives in which we are still trying to control; that prevent you from building upon us; areas that have led to poor judgment in our lives; and poor judgment of areas, in the lives of others. 

Help us to move beyond simply obeying You into greatly loving You for who You are.  Help us to move beyond practicing reverence and rituals to living in fear of separation from your presence within us.   

Even so, Father, if we say we love and appreciate You for who You are; we must also love and appreciate how you have made us and what You have given us; accepting that you do not make mistakes, Father.   

Those fleshly sins, in which we struggle, Lord, are meant to separate us from You.  Through Jesus, You gave us a way to die to the flesh and conquer sin and temptation.  Jesus, help us to abide in you! 

Help us to accept and celebrate who you have made us to be.  May we accept the work you have put before us with joy and gladness; returning the love You are so worthy of, Father.  Be our Foundation.  Build upon us; removing our weaknesses; so that we may stand upon you rooted and grounded, with holiness and righteousness.  Amen

By the grace and mercy of God,

your servant,

mishael

STIRRING UP THE WATERS

STIRRING UP THE WATERS

My Brothers and Sisters,

I greet you in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, with love and encouragement.  Let us continue to grow closer to the Lord and walk in His Light.  I offer you these words to strengthen and unite the Body of Christ; that we may continue in discipleship, servants of our Lord, and ambassadors for the Kingdom of God.

Throughout the Bible it speaks of many things being stirred up.  Why did the waters at the Pool of Bethesda have to be stirred up (John 5)?  Couldn’t God have just performed miracles in calm water?  Why do spiritual gifts need to be stirred up? There has to be a “stirring up” in order for transformation to take place.  God wants us to see that something is about to happen; something is about to change.  It’s like stirring up ingredients to make a cake batter that will be transformed into a cake.   

Why have people through the ages danced around and around the fire? They believed they were stirring up something inside of themselves and something in the spiritual world. There has to be a stirring up to agitate; to shake things loose; and to free you from the physical; to transform the physical to the spiritual. 

God often sent His prophets to start this “stirring up.”  But, what were the people doing when the prophet was prophesying, praying and stirring up?  How did they feel about the prophet?  How did they feel about the prophecy?  At that time, did they even consider it prophecy?  Did everyone respect the prophets? 

Prophets have a dual purpose—they cut (root out) and they heal.  Their purpose is to bring the people back to God.  Most of the time the people aren’t aware or don’t care that they have strayed away from God.  So, stirring up must take place; troubling the waters to make the people aware that God is not pleased and things are about to change.  Repent and be healed or God will chastise you first.  God has shown us over and over again how He operates, but it still comes as a surprise to Christians.  They still react the same way God’s people reacted long ago, when He stirs things up—they respond with denial, accusations, hurt, rebellion, and outrage.

Jesus stirred things up to free us from bondage.  Elijah, Elisha, Isaiah, Hosea, Ezekiel, David and the rest of the prophets stirred things up; shook things to help the people break free from bondage.  They were called liars, mad men, hypocrites and everything else, but a child of God.

God had to toughen them up so they wouldn’t run and hide.  God had to toughen them up by changing the way they walked and talked; by changing the way they ate and dressed.  They had to get to the point where they weren’t worried about people believing them.  It wasn’t about them.  It was about God.  They couldn’t keep their mouths shut when they saw unrighteousness and ungodliness.  They told the people to listen to God, not man.  They had to focus on what God wanted them to do.

They knew it wasn’t about having a nice conversation with the people to explain where they were going wrong and where God wanted to take them.  Most people wouldn’t have listened to them.  God built them a different way to be His instrument; to dance His way and stir things up.  Some people think this is not needed today.  We have Jesus to follow.  However, people have not changed.  This is why Jesus continues to send messengers—His way.    

Long ago, people set traps for the prophets and tried to prove they weren’t men and women of God.  “See there, they are acting out of self.  They just want to see what they can get out of this.  They’re not trying to help you.  Their word is not from God.  They are no better than you or I.  They are false prophets…unhealthy prophets!”  God’s people hardened their hearts against them and tried to prove them wrong.  Yes, people hated to see them coming because they knew they had come to stir things up.

People say they want the gifts to be stirred up, but they forget that the gifts belong to God.  God determines what is said and what is done and how it is done.  Now, we Christians create false prophets.  We create in our own minds what a prophet should be.  We want nice words spoken to us.  We don’t want our toes stepped on because “OUCH!” it hurts.  Don’t ask a true prophet to pray if you don’t want to hear the truth, because the Holy Ghost will start stirring up and bust loose.  Then, the word of God will come forth like a sword to cut through the hardened heart.

We Christians have gotten so thin skinned we can’t take anything and God can’t change us.  We run to the safety of our house where we’re comfortable with our surroundings; where we’ve created our own image of God and how to worship Him.  We don’t want God to stir up the waters; it’s too uncomfortable; too radical; it doesn’t fit within our scheme of things and how we want to worship our God.  This is self and this is what caused and continues to cause division within the Body of Christ and proliferation of darkness.

When Christians invite God to change their lives and the lives of others, God has to stir things up.  As always, He starts in-house first.  He stirs things up inside His temple.  As Christians, we are His temple.  He gets things cleaned up inside of us and empowers us to empower others.  Our house must reflect the image of Him, so, transformation--demolition and reconstruction must take place.  We have to know what God’s image is.

I can not have a house, where in my house; I put only the things that reflect who I am and what I know.  When people come to my house, I tell them everything about what’s in my house and what I know; so, that when they come to my house they will conform to what is in my house and what I know.  I want things to go by the book I have compiled through my life experience.

I have a God and I tell people everything about my God through everything that is in my house and what I know about worshiping my God; so, that when they come to my house, they will conform to what I know about my God and worship my God like me.  I want them to worship by the book I have compiled through my life experience.  I believe I am following my God’s book, but the experience of relationship and worship has to conform to what is in my house and what I know.

I find fault when others can’t or won’t conform to my house rules.  I say that it must be because they practice religion; they’re still of the world; it’s because of their race, gender, culture or intellect. Perhaps they have insecurities, sins, jealousy, hatred, arrogance or mental illness.  The word ‘conform’ should give us some clue to the basis of our thinking.  Christianity is about a ‘relationship’ between God and one another.  There is no struggle in being one, but a celebration of a relationship of variety and harmony; a relationship that exists through the love, grace and mercy of God; not through any mutual respect that man can create for himself.  When we are One, we come to know and love God for all that He is.

Christians must have a heart to see God and to see God in others.  There is only one God and He is a God of many different houses that He made for many people who are very different from you, because He is showing you who He is.  If we are to worship Him and become like Him we must know who He is.  He says, this is me, in all colors, sizes, shapes, races, and cultures.  You can see me if your heart is not hardened.   

Now, you say, why should it matter that I want people to do things my way?  Who is it hurting as long as we’re worshiping the same God?  It is such a trivial thing.  There is nothing wrong with the way I worship my God and after all, it is my house.  People shouldn’t be so caught up in self and differences. 

Ah, but it was your God who took the time to make those differences so that people wouldn’t be so caught up in self and differences.  God said I will be who and what I will be.  “I Am.”  If we come out of self, we can truly learn about I Am; for He is a God of many differences, but yet the same.

If we allow ourselves to experience God in the many different ways He manifests Himself; then we learn to become One.  We don’t see things as being so different, trivial, incomprehensible, nonsense, and uncomfortable for us.  We don’t see people as being so foreign and alien.  We don’t look at their ways as being inferior to our ways; so, our ways must take precedent over theirs.  If we truly believe there is one Holy Spirit in us all, then we can not alienate His Holy Spirit in others.

My brothers and sisters, when we ask God to change us or change the world to conform to His image, what image are we referring too?  The image we see in ourselves?  The image we create of God?  Are we trying to transform others into our image, full of the same prejudices and insecurities that made us that way?  God can not send us to free others until we have been freed.  He can’t make others around us into His image until we have been made into His image.

Vulnerability produces feelings.  When we talk about vulnerability--an opening up of our feelings; what and who are we opening up to?  We open up not only to share with others, but to invite God in to transform those feelings.  There are feelings, prejudices and insecurities we may not even realize that we have.  But, we must examine those feelings which have surfaced from being stirred up to allow God to transform us.

Father, help us to see with Your eyes to see You in our brother.  Help us to see You in the many ways You have made us; in the many ways we celebrate You and our love for You.    Father, help us to be truly vulnerable; to see beyond ourselves and what we believe is right.  Help us to be pliable, moldable; able to bend to Your will and not ours, Lord. 

There are so many ways in which we create division and darkness and we are blinded to them.  Heal us Lord.  Stir us up to bring the dross to the top and remove it Lord. 

Make us wholly Thine.  Father, we say we hunger for holiness, but we fight growing up.  We don’t admit when we are wrong and see that there is another way.  But, Father, You are patient with us, yet, firm.   Take us through what we must go through to open our hearts and give us ears to hear.  Forgive us for the harm we have done to others, Lord, in trying to alienate them and conform them to our image and not Your image. 

Father, we know that there will be hurt.  We know that there will be pain. We know that there will be anger, denial and accusations. Yet, we know You will be with us through it all.  As always, You allow it for our benefit, because of Your love for us.  “Open the eyes of our heart, Lord.  Open the eyes of our heart.  We want to see You.  We want to see You.”

Most merciful Father, who holds our hearts; who alone is worthy of all praise, glory and honor; thank you for loving us so much.  Thank you for opening our eyes to those things that separate us from You and keep us from being One.  Thank you for helping us speak boldly, in love, as we should.  Heal us, Lord.  Have Your Way.  Amen

Through the grace and mercy of God,

Your servant,

mishael