Image from thelake.church
Now when the king was settled in his house, and the Lord had given him rest from all his enemies around him, the king said to the prophet Nathan, ‘See now, I am living in a house of cedar, but the ark of God stays in a tent.’ Nathan said to the king, ‘Go, do all that you have in mind; for the Lord is with you.’ But that same night the word of the Lord came to Nathan: Go and tell my servant David: Thus says the Lord: Are you the one to build me a house to live in? I have not lived in a house since the day I brought up the people of Israel from Egypt to this day, but I have been moving about in a tent and a tabernacle. Wherever I have moved about among all the people of Israel, did I ever speak a word with any of the tribal leaders of Israel, whom I commanded to shepherd my people Israel, saying, ‘Why have you not built me a house of cedar?’ Now therefore thus you shall say to my servant David: Thus says the Lord of hosts: I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep to be prince over my people Israel; and I have been with you wherever you went, and have cut off all your enemies from before you; and I will make for you a great name, like the name of the great ones of the earth. And I will appoint a place for my people Israel and will plant them, so that they may live in their own place, and be disturbed no more; and evildoers shall afflict them no more, as formerly, from the time that I appointed judges over my people Israel; and I will give you rest from all your enemies. Moreover, the Lord declares to you that the Lord will make you a house. Your house and your kingdom shall be made sure for ever before me; your throne shall be established for ever. (2 Samuel 7:1-11)
Good day dear Friend! May this be a wonderful day in the Lord for you and yours. May you be a blessing to those who need one the most. I pray that time with the Lord in prayer and study will be the start of that blessing for you. As we pray, thank the Lord for a successful surgery in Rev. Virgilio Vasquez Garza's eye! What the procedure was meant to do worked! Pray for Cari Hornung who undergoes surgery this morning in Austin. Pray for a successful surgery and a wonderful recovery time. Pray for yourself, and for one another.
Years ago, two dreamy lovers, engaged and set to move forward in their relationship towards marriage, the woman turned to the man and said, "I don't care if I have to live under a mesquite tree with you; I'll be happy." Wonderful words that blessed the man's heart. And, yesterday after a long morning at the Social Security Administration office, the man was ready to say, "That mesquite tree is looking better and better! The way the gubment figures out how to give us OUR money back, that'll be all we can afford!" Okay, I made a joke of a very serious conversation many lovers make when they talk about the future. Having a home is an important matter; to be homeless and living on the street is something most of us can truly understand. Many say, "As long as I have a roof over my head..." and that's true too. A home is an important thing to God as well. And unless you want God to only consider your home for yard of the month, invite Him in! Let Him be a part of your family!" And as you will see in this story shared in the passage, invite God to build your home!
This is shared so that you can have an idea what King David was thinking. He had some down time between wars, and he was relaxing in his home. Netflix had nothing good on; he had written a couple of great psalms, was enjoying some iced tea, sweet of course, David's a true Southerner! It suddenly hit him. Here I have this nice home, but the ark of the Lord sits in a tent. (David was thinking that was maybe a step up from homeless.) I need to build God a home!" The prophet Nathan at first says, "Go head on; God's with you." But God appeared to Nate and said, "Hold on, Nate boy! Here's what you're going to tell the king..." And the plan was set aside by God. God's intention was even bigger and more personal for David. And this is the way God is; we set out to out-give God, and we discover we cannot. We plan something doable, and God blesses us with the unthinkable. We see that maybe we will be blessed and whoosh, God floods us with blessings. God said that He would build David a house. We're talking permanent residence. No more tents or RVs or mobile homes. This is your land, set down roots. And the house for David involved a lineage of kings to rule over Israel. The kingdom would be David's.
Reflect on David's life. From the pasture to the palace; from pastor to prince - God was with David and blessed him in incredible ways. God has done the same for me, for many, and quite possibly for you! If we invite God to come and be a part of the planning and process. Many a plan we have set out for ourselves that we did not run through the Planning and Prayer Dept get sided-track when God weighs in on our decisions. God wants the best for us and provides us the opportunities to take advantage of that; but we must be open to inviting and involving the Lord. The house God builds for you may not look anything like you planned; the co-occupants will all be blessings to you in their own way through faith. God is a God of surprises and joys. And God is a great strength when the not-so-good days arrive to visit (but only for a spell!).
PRAYER: Loving Father, build the home that we need. We've tried it our way; now have Your way. Many of us want houses protected from others; and we may realize you want our homes to involve others as we share the joy of faith with them. Grant us the vision and dream to bless You. This we pray in Christ Jesus' precious and powerful name. Amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord! Be the home-builder that blesses your family and so many others!
Eradio Valverde
