Part of my
roots are in the Charismatic movement. In that
experience, I was repeatedly encouraged to seek God for a"visitation" from heaven. As a result, I harbored the illusion that
if God visited our church, He was pleased with it. I later discovered that God
is not looking for a place to visit. He is looking for a place to dwell.
The pages of history are littered with the sobering fact
that God is no longer present in the places He once visited. Go to the
landmarks of past revivals, and you'll quickly discover that the crowds have
diminished. The joy is gone. The life has evaporated. In many cases, those
places are but hollow shells today. Why does the Lord leave?
For me the intriguing question is: Why does the Lord leave?
The answer is telling: because he was not completely welcomed.
He was allowed to visit, but He was not permitted to be
head. That is, He was not granted the right to make the decisions.
Visitations bless us for a short season. But a dwelling
place for God is something for His interest and His desire. Blessing is merely
a byproduct. It's not the prime product.
Contemplate this thought: If God "visits" a
church, it betrays the fact that it doesn't belong to Him. A homeowner doesn't
visit his own home. He lives in it. In a divine visitation, God will bless His
people. But He will eventually move on and search for a home that He can call
his own. Thus if the headship of Jesus Christ is not fully yielded to any given
place, the best of Lord can do is visit. He cannot take up residency.
Our Lord is in a quest for a place to lay His head, a place
where His headship is operative, a place where He does what He wishes, a place
where he can feel comfortable and find rest. This is the indelible mark that a
particular church is in fact His house. Anything else is but a layover for Him.
Like any homeowner, God builds His house in His own way. If
the home is His, He arranges the furniture the way He wishes, for He is the
master of His own home.
The Burning Intent of Your God is That All of His 0Living Stones Be Built Together With Other Living Stones to Form His House
In this connection, I want you to imagine countless living
stones scattered all over the earth. I want you to see innumerable living stones
living their own individual Christian lives. I want you to see scores of living
stones who loved God, but who are isolated and independent of other living
stones. Many attend religious services, but there is little to no
"building together" among the members.
That is precisely the situation we find ourselves in today.
And what is the net effect? God is still homeless.
The burning intent of your God is that all of His living
stones be built together with other living stones to form His house. Not for
themselves, but for their Lord. To be the house of God, by God and for God.
"Unless the Lord builds the house, its
builders labor in vain." (Psalm 127:1)
"From him the whole body, joined and held
together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as
each part does its work." (Ephesians 4:16)
Jesus Christ did not die and rise again just to forgive you
of your sins. He died in order that His father could obtain a home. The Lord
saved you and me for a high and holy purpose.
Without people who are being assembled together, God is a
wandering, homeless God. And we are wondering, homeless Christians. Your Lord
wishes to build Himself into a people, and He wishes to build a people into
Himself. He is after a building, not a rock quarry. He wants a house, not a
heap of stones nor group of scattered rocks. The Lord Jesus Christ is looking
for willing vessels who will abandon their Western-style individualism and live
a shared life with others under His exclusive headship. This is our high
calling.
This Week
Make a home for the Lord in your life. Each day, give Him
complete headship to arrange your life as He wishes. Then begin to connect with
other "living stones" by building relationships with fully committed believers.
Prayer
"Lord, take complete
control of my life. Dwell with me so that I can be yours. Be with me and be my
God. Amen"
By Frank Viola