The Lord Builds the House, but you Must Possess it

Psalm 127:1 - Unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain who build it. There is another scripture in Ecclesiastes 11:1, which says: “Cast your bread upon the waters, for you will find it after many days.” Many years ago now (before I met my wife and before I had the five children that now live in my house), I had a dream. It was actually an encounter that I had with heaven. I walked through the gate of heaven, which understates the actual weight of that encounter; because I could take two paragraphs to describe it, since the glory surrounding it has to be witnessed to understand heaven’s door itself. But when I went through the door, I began to feel the amazement of heaven. There was pure joy in the air. I felt like a child who had just walked into the most amazing roller coaster park that ever existed, and I was going to ride everything for free. There is much that I could share with you about that encounter, but today I want to focus on one store that I walked into: it was a Real Estate office. When I went through the door, I was terrified. I had this dream when I was about 33 years old. Up to that point in my life, I had never owned a house. My parents didn’t own a house. My dad built a house for us when we were young but because of divorce, we lost all of that when I was five years old. There was a trauma on me as a result of this experience. There was a lie that was ingrained inside of me. I believed that I would never own a house and I believed that if I did, I would probably lose it. These lies kept me from trying to own one. What I needed was a renewal of the mind. I needed to hear God say that I was going to own a house. When I walked through the door of that office, there was a big line-up and I was at the back of it. There were a couple of angels with me and they were pushing me forward toward the front desk. As we were inching closer I kept thinking, “What am I doing here? There is no way I can buy a house.” I was scared, I was anxious and I was far from belief. When I got to the head of the line, an angel held up a picture for me to see. It was the house of my dreams – a house in the mountains and I was stunned. I said to the angel over and over – that is my house – that is my house - that is my house. The angel gave me the picture and then told me, “Go plant it, it will grow.” I was bewildered by his words. I actually thought he wanted me to go out and plant a picture in the ground and it would grow. In fact not many days later I went into the woods with a picture of a house and planted it in the ground. It was a prophetic act declaring that I would receive what God intended me to receive. The Lord was actually teaching me about seed time and harvest. In that moment, I knew that if I was faithful to sow as the Lord asked me, then the house that he had in store for me would come to pass. This was an invitation from the Lord to be obedient, and from obedience great blessing would come upon my life. 2 Corinthians 9:10 says: “Now He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness.” I believe that the man who builds his house upon the rock will experience blessings in the land of the living. God will bless you and increase you and make his face shine upon you. God wants to give you more than you are willing to receive. As you sow you should expect to reap. What would the point be of serving a God who was not able to abundantly take care of you? Abundance is in his very nature. This year I am moving into a new house. This will be the third house that I have owned. The newest house is bigger and nicer than any house I have lived in before. We are having it built. I still don’t believe that this is the last house though. The house I saw in my dream will be mine one day. As I continue to do what God has called me to do, and sow as he has called me to sow, I know that house will come. Numbers 23:19 says, ““God is not a man, that He should lie, nor a son of man, that He should repent. Has He said, and will He not do? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?” When God speaks a thing, it will come to pass. When God opens a door for you, it will open. You just have to walk through it. Sometimes it takes great faith; because the door he wants you to walk through and that which He wants you to possess, might be greater than your natural ability to do. He is in charge and he will bring that to you which he wants you to have, but you will not be removed from your part of the exercise. When Joshua and Caleb entered the Promised Land, they had to march, they had to fight, and they had to face the giants and their fears; and yet, God strengthened them and they took possession of all that he had desired for them. You can do the same thing. Seek God for the promises that he has for your life. May he open your eyes to see and your ears to hear what he has in store and may he strengthen your faith to enter into it. God bless you all, Darren