*His dwelling place*
a few weeks ago i spoke about the dwelling place of God at sna (soon to be flight852), and i've recently just finished reading a book called "consumer or consumed?", based on psalm 69:9 ("zeal [passion] for your house consumes me...").
as we at the vine prepare to move into our new physical home in the chinachem building, i'm compelled to think more and more about what God's desire is for this house of his. the design of our new home has been inspired by many words pertaining to the tabernacle and Tent of Meetings of the old testament, and the character and footprint of God on this place. on a spiritual level, if we liken the House of God with any other house, with different rooms (ministries) for different functions, inhabited by a family with parents (pastors & leaders) and children who are all, hopefully, living their best and helping the rest of the family live their best... then maybe we can conceptualize God's house more. i told the sna-ers that we, as a group of people who choose to worship together, are the dwelling place of God. it has nothing to do with a physical building or room, but everything to do with the people. i tried to encourage them to start living like the dwelling place of God ought to live, and not wait for someone else to "fix" our problems before we feel like we can get on with the life God has for us.
i think this idea is the same among individuals within a particular ministry like sna, as in a bigger context like a church with various ministries and departments. we are all just trying to be the best the God has intended for us, aren't we? we shouldn't hold back or sell ourselves short because of things like feelings of inadequacy, inferiority, lack of direction, insurmountable odds, or even feelings of jealousy, bitterness, self-recognition, or tradition/legalism... because none of these things are reality within the House of God. NONE OF THESE THINGS ARE REALITY WITHIN THE HOUSE OF GOD. how sad it would be to come to the end our lives here, then realize we never experienced what God had prepared for us to the full!
but sometimes our house (in a general sense, not necessarily the vine) carries with it symptoms of dysfunction like any other family - symptoms of miscommunication, inconsideration, competition among siblings - and we need to go through some "family therapy" before we can move forward. sometimes the roots of these things run so deep it may take a long time, and a real commitment, to change. i think the theme for us as a church at this time is change. joyce meyer made it clear that pain (or struggles in life) is inevitable, but it's up to us whether we want to go through the pain of staying in the middle of our struggles or the pain of change to overcome them. 180's series 56 has made one point clear: change is also inevitable, and we can choose to change as God wants, or we can try and fight it.
so i'm committed to change. i'm committed to transformation. i want to have my mind renewed everyday. as cliche as it sounds, the bible is really such a how-to guide to life. so many people wallow in confusion as to what God wants them to do, how to make right choices etc, but it's all made so simple in this one verse:
don't copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. then you will know what God wants you to do, and you will know how good and pleasing and perfect his will really is. ~romans 12:2
a few weeks ago i spoke about the dwelling place of God at sna (soon to be flight852), and i've recently just finished reading a book called "consumer or consumed?", based on psalm 69:9 ("zeal [passion] for your house consumes me...").
as we at the vine prepare to move into our new physical home in the chinachem building, i'm compelled to think more and more about what God's desire is for this house of his. the design of our new home has been inspired by many words pertaining to the tabernacle and Tent of Meetings of the old testament, and the character and footprint of God on this place. on a spiritual level, if we liken the House of God with any other house, with different rooms (ministries) for different functions, inhabited by a family with parents (pastors & leaders) and children who are all, hopefully, living their best and helping the rest of the family live their best... then maybe we can conceptualize God's house more. i told the sna-ers that we, as a group of people who choose to worship together, are the dwelling place of God. it has nothing to do with a physical building or room, but everything to do with the people. i tried to encourage them to start living like the dwelling place of God ought to live, and not wait for someone else to "fix" our problems before we feel like we can get on with the life God has for us.
i think this idea is the same among individuals within a particular ministry like sna, as in a bigger context like a church with various ministries and departments. we are all just trying to be the best the God has intended for us, aren't we? we shouldn't hold back or sell ourselves short because of things like feelings of inadequacy, inferiority, lack of direction, insurmountable odds, or even feelings of jealousy, bitterness, self-recognition, or tradition/legalism... because none of these things are reality within the House of God. NONE OF THESE THINGS ARE REALITY WITHIN THE HOUSE OF GOD. how sad it would be to come to the end our lives here, then realize we never experienced what God had prepared for us to the full!
but sometimes our house (in a general sense, not necessarily the vine) carries with it symptoms of dysfunction like any other family - symptoms of miscommunication, inconsideration, competition among siblings - and we need to go through some "family therapy" before we can move forward. sometimes the roots of these things run so deep it may take a long time, and a real commitment, to change. i think the theme for us as a church at this time is change. joyce meyer made it clear that pain (or struggles in life) is inevitable, but it's up to us whether we want to go through the pain of staying in the middle of our struggles or the pain of change to overcome them. 180's series 56 has made one point clear: change is also inevitable, and we can choose to change as God wants, or we can try and fight it.
so i'm committed to change. i'm committed to transformation. i want to have my mind renewed everyday. as cliche as it sounds, the bible is really such a how-to guide to life. so many people wallow in confusion as to what God wants them to do, how to make right choices etc, but it's all made so simple in this one verse:
don't copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. then you will know what God wants you to do, and you will know how good and pleasing and perfect his will really is. ~romans 12:2
posted by jana* at 3:28 PM
