Jesus Makes a House a Home

Welcome to this podcast by celebration and the life.

We believe this makes it will have power and equipment to live a life of breakfast.

Thanks for joining us.

Sophie and I, as you know, just uh last Sunday we celebrated our 40 years, 40 years uh wedding anniversary, which is good, thank you.

40 years, and we went to Ata Tucky uh for that, which was quite um uh well timed because we actually went to Atituke for our honeymoon.

And it was good to get away because if we had stayed in RARA, it would have been happy anniversary 40 back to work.

But we got to we got to uh reflect on those 40 years, and uh it was just Sophie and I.

And firstly, everyone will have the testimony that man, time goes fast.

Where did those 40 years go?

And uh, and we thought of the four decades and we just thought of the the hand of the Lord, how how good God has been.

Out of those 40 years, 26 of those were with the Lord, and um we had to it's taken us 26 years to repent for the 15 that we were in the world, but um but what I want to say is that God is God is so so faithful.

Uh yes, I really love those 40 years, and I'm looking forward to more.

Um, but what we're if you don't know, we're building a house in Natateki, and that's a story in itself.

So we're it took a while to clear the land and and find the pegs.

The funny thing is that Sophia took us ages and ages and ages to find the pegs, and we got so confused.

We had the map and everything, because as you know, if you live in the Cook Islands, you have to find the pegs.

We had an uncle in Atataki who built his house on the wrong section.

True story.

And when he went to his cousin, he said, Hey, cuz, I got it wrong.

Uh, can we swap this one and this one?

And the cuz said, Thanks for the house.

They don't talk today, obviously.

So we wanted to we wanted to make sure that didn't happen, and we got confused with the pegs.

We couldn't find them, and in the end, I we got David Cummings Jr., uh, the surveyor.

We put him on the plane.

Come on, you gotta come over.

And Sophie and I were looking at we were looking in completely the wrong direction.

We had the whole section out, we had it out so far that we cleared that section next door.

So I I think I think they're happy, but it's really important to know the boundaries and where they are.

But what I want to say that is that um uh the house is being built at the moment.

It's been built at a very, very fast pace, which is good.

But the unusual thing is that Sophie and I visited the house once last Sunday, and we won't go back again until it's finished.

And uh so it's really is uh trusting in the Lord.

And the guy that we're building with, I said to him, is that a contract?

And he says, Nah, you don't rip me off and I won't rip, you don't rip, I won't, you don't rip me off and I won't rip you off.

And we shook hands.

That was it.

Seriously, no contract, no contract, and uh and I just I just heard that uh James was saying that we've got to be good stewards of the Lord and Lord's money, so uh trust them anyway.

But anyway, I want to say that is that we're building we're building the house, and uh it was amazing to actually because we've seen it on plans, it's been a dream, but we were walking around the frame of the house and on the deck uh last week, and it was a really, really uh moving thing because something that was a dream that was thought became a reality.

And obviously, I mean we had the money in the bank, so what was a bank statement?

And and and you look at the the money in the bank, and it gives you a little bit of comfort because your security is around money, and then you decide to well, let's get that money down off the bank statement and to put it into wood and onto land, and something felt different.

It felt different, it felt so different.

Like, um, I mean, we're we're in our 60s now, and and that so this is a message for for the for the older people, but it's a real it's a message for the young people too who are building houses, and so it felt different, and I was holding the wood, the wood, and I said to Sophie, I can hold it, I can hold the house, I can feel it, it's here, it's on the land.

But if you know the story of the land, Sophie's grandmother, uh Mama Mene, was in Aitukian and Mum was born in Attituke.

So to get land in Attituke, you have to be Attitukian.

So there's a heritage of an or there's of inheritance.

So we're on the land, so there's there's there's a tie to land for that way, but we're actually holding it.

And so here's the uh today's message.

Because when I was holding it, I was saying, think I said to myself, what's the difference between a house and a home?

And this is the title that uh this is the title of today's message.

Jesus makes a house a home.

Jesus makes a house a home.

How does it go from just being wood from down the road from the hardware shop and it's just um very good quality Raramart roofing?

But you know, it's it's roofing, it's just it's just materials, it's just dirt.

But how does it become a home?

And uh so if you want to know that, you gotta go to the best building book that you can get.

And all the answers are in here.

So I want to take us to uh Isaiah 61, one 66.1.

I've got a few scriptures, but we'll just see where the Lord Lord takes us.

So follow me.

I think it's I think we're gonna it's gonna be good.

We're gonna benefit from this.

Um so Jesus makes a house a home.

That's the that's the title.

And my first point is heaven is my home.

This is from the Lord.

Heaven is my home, and earth is my house.

Heaven is my home.

And Isaiah 66, 1.

Thus the Lord says, so the Lord says this.

So if he says it, we can sort of take it to the bank, we we we believe it.

Heaven is my throne and earth is my footstool.

Listen to this.

Where is the house that you will build for me?

Nice, and where is the place of my rest?

Listen to that.

So the Lord says, Heaven is my throne and earth is my footstool, but I've changed that.

He says, Heaven is my home, earth is my house or houses.

But where is the house that you would build for me?

And where is the place of my rest?

So he's giving us a little insight there.

If you're gonna build the house, he wants to rest there, but he extends from heaven on his throne, and his rest is in the earth, but he says, Where is my house that you you you built for me?

That's and that we could that's a good question for us this morning.

Where is your house that you're building for the Lord?

But we're gonna unpack that, unpack that a little, and he says, Where's my place of rest?

In Psalms 127, uh, verses one and three, unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain who build it.

Here we go.

Unless the Lord builds a house, they labor in the vein.

Unless the Lord builds a house, unless the Lord builds a house.

I was talking to um uh Jamal, now that I can see you over there, and I was telling him about the the house build, and he said, Did you write scriptures and put it in the wall?

And I and I've heard people do that.

I know there's probably here who've who've built houses and put, and I said, No, I didn't, I forgot.

But what a good point when you're building a house, and he said to me, When I build my house, I'm gonna write scriptures and put them in the walls so that when they're sealed.

And the Lord's saying, So where's you if you're building a house, are you building it for me?

Where's my house that you're building for me?

And it was a good, it was it's a challenging question.

And there's verse three, we won't go to verse three, uh, we'll just move on.

So that's the first one.

Heaven is my home and earth is my house.

But the Lord says, Where's my house that you're building for me?

So that's that's a bit of a question, but we're gonna get we're gonna get through these ones.

And Psalms 128.

Psalms 128.

Family, I've titled this this one, Family Makes a Home, but the fear of the Lord is the foundation of the home.

And all these spiritual building tips, you might say, they're not from me, they're they're just inspired by the Lord.

Family makes a home, and the fear of the Lord is the foundation.

In Psalms 128, verse 1 blessed, blessed is everyone who fears the Lord who walks in his way.

Psalms 128:1

Blessed is everyone who fears the Lord.

And I want to tell you that uh we've done a lot of um teaching on the fear of the Lord, and it is a big uh subject, but fear of the Lord, if you're carrying the fear of the Lord, that's the foundation of building your house.

When the Lord says, Where is my house that you are building for me?

It's not just about dedicating the house to the Lord, and we have these ceremonies of dedications for all sorts of things here in the Cook Islands, and we dedicate the house for the Lord, and that's a dedication, but it's your heart.

It's your heart.

This is how a house becomes a home when the Lord's rest is there.

This is why the Lord is asking, Where is where is the house that you build for me?

He's saying it from his throne in heaven, where I can lay my rest.

And in Psalm 128, it says, Blessed is the man who fears the Lord.

But here's really interesting.

If we go down to verse 3 of 128, it says, Your wife shall be like fruitful vine, like a fruitful vine, in the very heart of your house.

I just stopped there, in the very heart of your house.

Your house has a heart.

We all know that the heart is a part of the body that pumps and and and and and is alive and living.

But I want to say when when God is living in your house and your family's in your house, your house has a heart.

And this is how a house becomes a home.

With when your family's in there, and and and um we're feeling that in Atataki, and I know you guys have built built and you you have your homes, but we'll what we're excited about in Atataki is that we're building the house, but there's gonna be Christmases there, there's gonna be the grandkids there, there's gonna be all sorts of stuff there.

When Sophie and I are are uh promoted to heaven, it's gonna go on, the kids will be there, great-grandkids, and it's it's just there's a heart of it, but it's not the heart of the world, it's the heart of God.

That's why God says, Where's my house that you're building for me?

Where can I lay my rest?

But in verse 3 it says, In every heart of your house, listen to the next one your children like olive plants, all around the table, family, your children like olive plants, and as you know, olives produce oil, and that's another whole message about oil of the Lord, sustenance, joy, provision.

But it says, your children like olive plants around your table.

Verse 4 Behold, thus shall the man be blessed who fears the Lord.

And I want to put it to you that to build a house into a home, it starts the foundation is the fear of God.

It's the fear of God, it's the fear of God, but not the I'm scared of God fear, it's the reverence and understanding of who God is.

He's God of God and King of kings, he's Lord of lords, he's welcome in our household.

But then the Lord says that in the very heart of your house, your children are gonna be there.

In the very heart of their house, your wife will be there and she'll be like a fruitful vine.

In the very heart of the house is a man who's blessed because he fears the Lord.

So the question for us this morning is what's the heart of our house currently?

Is it the heart of the Lord?

Are our children like olive uh trees around our thing, or are they like weeds, or are they like we just you know can't can't stand them?

I don't know.

No one's here is like that, of course.

It's an extreme example.

Or are your children like olive plants?

And I want to tell you, my children are like olive plants, and they've grown little olives, grandchildren, which are all around the house, and uh it's a beautiful noise, it's not um, it's not chaos, although it's chaotic, you know, it's not noisy, it's musical.

I love it, you know, and uh, but you know, blessed is the man who fears the Lord.

That's the foundation.

But family makes a home, and the fear of the Lord is the is the foundation, and your and your house has a heart.

Good question is what's the heart of my house this morning, honey?

What's the heart of our house this morning?

Heart.

I don't know, but you know what I mean?

What is the heart of the house?

And you know, you can tell the heart of the house, especially uh like for me, I I don't I don't work at home, I work at uh uh away from home at work, and the heart of work is something else, it's like the world.

But then when I come home, oh it's peace, it's joy, it's it's beautiful, you know.

The heart of the house.

How does a house become a home?

It's when it's got the heart of the heart of the Lord in there.

Okay, now we're gonna get into some um uh some uh an area which I think that we we have to talk about.

Um have you ever heard the term broken home?

Oh, I hear it a lot.

Every time you turn on the internet, you I hear the word broken home.

Oh, the troubled juveniles, what happened?

Oh, they come from a broken home.

Why did you turn out this way and do these things?

Oh, because I came from a broken home.

It's so common in 2026 and maybe you know, for those it's a common term.

Oh, they came from a broken home.

So homes can be united, can be full of the joy of the Lord, can have children like olive trees all around the table, and a wife that's fruitful, but there's also a home that can be broken.

And I want to put it to you this morning that a home that is broken, unfortunately, is a home without Jesus.

Unfortunately, just a reality.

It's a home that's broken, it's a home that's not that doesn't have the rest of the Lord, the Lord's rest, rest in there.

So this term broken home, and I want to say to you that homes unfortunately are broken, marriages are broken, and I want to put it to you that I said it to you that we've been married 40 years, and and we've been with the Lord for 26 of those 40 years, but if we didn't meet God, Jesus, face to face, myself in 1999, um, Bay Christians Fellowship, which is now City Impact Church, Browns Bay, on our holiday slash business trip in Auckland, and I gave my heart to the Lord, we would be a broken home today.

I guarantee it.

I guarantee it.

If I hadn't met the Lord that day, our home would be broken.

Jesus saved our household, the rest of the whole, we would have been one of those statistics of divorce, one of those statistics of of I don't know, things messed up.

That's a broken home.

And unfortunately, and in Mark 3, 24, 25, uh Mark explains this a house divided will not stand.

If a kingdom is divided against itself, the kingdom cannot stand.

But here's our scripture 25.

If a house is divided against itself, it can't stand.

If a house is divided against itself, it can't stand.

There's a devil, there's a dark, there's a kingdom.

Funny enough, the scripture is about the kingdom of Satan contesting with the kingdom of Satan.

But Satan has an assignment to every house to break it, to break it, to break it.

This is a reality to break your home, to break it, to break it, to break it.

And a house that's broken, it can't stand.

It can't stand.

This is just a reality.

If we move on to Matthew 12, there's quite a few scriptures, but I won't go through all of them.

Um it's Matthew 12, 43, 44, and 45.

I'll read it though.

When an unclean spirit goes out of a man and he goes through dry places seeking rest and finds none.

So this unclean spirit is seeking rest.

But isn't it interesting that in Isaiah 66, 1, God the Lord says, Heaven is my throne, earth is my footstool, where's my house that you built where I can lay my rest?

So isn't it interesting that the kingdom of God is looking for your house to lay through lay rest?

But this scripture clearly shows that there's a demonic realm and thus seeking rest as well.

It's right there in black and white.

Thus seeking rest.

So the question is, and we know that your your house has a heart, but my question for us all this morning who's resting in our home?

Is it the kingdom of God or is it the kingdom of darkness?

But there's good news.

He's seeking rest and finds none.

Then he says, I will return to my house which I came, and when he finds it empty and swept clean, and swept and put in order.

Then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits, more wicked than himself, and they enter and dwell there, and the last state of that man is worse than the first.

So shall it be with the wicked generation, demonic squatters.

Gotta evict them.

But I want to say that what happens is when the demons are confronted in your house.

I'll tell you, I'll tell you a story.

Who likes demon stories for Sunday, Sunday just for Sunday church?

Don't worry, all right.

Um there's a true story.

What happened when Sophie and I first gave our heart to the Lord, um, like we were brand new, and we were sitting in the uh in our sitting room, and I was praying, and I was saying, and I and uh I was praying against demons in the house, as you do when you're one week in the Lord.

I don't know, but I was sitting in the sitting room and I was praying, and we were sitting there, and then I felt this this this this presence or this thing come down the hallway past me, and our curtains in our house went straight up like this, on their own, like like this, and this thing went out the window now.

And I said, Don't come back, don't come back.

That's that's the nice story.

I won't tell you the other ones, I'll freak you out.

Um because you gotta understand that the house that we're living in was is 50 years old, and we were probably the at the moment um with my great grandchildren, my grandchildren, sorry, that's five generations who lived in the house.

Sophie's grandmother built the house, then Sophie's mother lived in the house, then we lived in the house, then our children lived in the house, and now our grandchildren in the house.

But they're living in a clean hole.

We we evicted all these uh demons.

But what I want to say is um, yeah, you've got to sweep the house clean.

You gotta sweep it clean.

And I like what uh Jamal said about putting uh scriptures behind the wall because that sends a message straight out to the demonic realm who's this house belongs to.

If you want to rest here, no vacancies, but it says that they're gonna look at they're gonna look around, and if they come back and it's not filled with the Holy Spirit, they're gonna bring some mates with them and it's gonna get worse.

That's scripture.

So it's important to fill your house with God, fill it with the Holy Spirit, fill it with the Holy Spirit, fill it with worship, fill it with praise.

This is how you make a house a home.

Just fill it with God.

But you have to but you have to understand it will be the Bible says that we're not ignorant of the devil's devices, we know what he's up to.

So it'll be ignorant of us to say that this doesn't exist, but um, it's written in the book of truth, and it does exist.

Demonic squatters, but there's no place for them in your house.

When Sophie and I uh in Aitataki, we uh we prayed over the whole house, we prayed over the house, we covered it in the blood of Jesus in prayer, and we prayed over.

Over the lentils, as you do, the doorways, and um and we dedicated it, or we you know prayed the the bloody we blessed the house.

So yeah, so let's just let's just say that what it what it is, but you gotta understand that there's an assignment for your house to be broken.

There's an assignment for your house for the demonic realm to rest there.

But they don't have to.

You just fill it with the Holy Spirit, rebuke them, send them packing, and uh wait for your curtains to go up like that, and they'll go out, go out screaming.

Um yeah, so that's good.

How are you guys?

You were you with me?

We're building this house.

How to make a house a home.

Family, uh, God's rest.

Kick out the devil.

We're nearly there.

Next scripture, and I've uh entitled this one.

I'm giving like little titles.

These are actually the points if you haven't picked it up, so there's no keys at the end.

These are it.

The Lord is at home in your home.

I love the scripture.

The Lord is at home, he's at home at your home.

Is the Lord at home at your home?

Is he relaxed?

Is he chilled?

Is he welcome?

And John 14, 2 and 3.

Oh, I like this one.

We might spend just a little bit longer here because I think this one's really good.

John 14, 2 and 3, it's coming up.

In my father's house.

There we go again.

In my father's house, my father has a house.

Nice.

In my father's house, there are many mansions.

If it were not so, I would not have told you.

I go and prepare a place for you.

Everyone say prepare.

Prepare.

Yeah, because the word prepare means work.

If mum goes and prepares some food, it doesn't mean I'm gonna open the cupboard and the food's there.

It means I gotta get out the ingredients, I gotta turn the oven, I've got to go down to the shop, and I gotta prepare this feast for you.

There's preparation, there's work involved.

So if you want the Lord to turn your house into a home, you have to prepare.

You gotta prepare the way for the Lord.

Even for us here at Celebration Church, we do a lot of prayer, but we're preparing.

We're preparing the way for the Lord.

We prepare the way for Him to come every Sunday.

Um we're we're in the uh the midst of negotiating and and for land and building a bigger uh church, but we're preparing for that in prayer, we're preparing for the Lord.

So one thing is that if you're building a, your if you're dedicating your house to a home, you've got to prepare.

But if my father's house are many mansions, if it were not so, I would not have told you.

I go and prepare a place for you, and if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to myself.

This is the part I like.

That where I am, there you may be also.

I had to read it like three, four times to kind of understand what he was saying, and then I said, Ah, what you're saying is the Lord is at home at my home.

Because he's saying that where I am, there you may be also.

So where you may be also in your home, the Lord says, I want to be there.

Where I am, you am, and where you am, I am.

That's why I am the I am.

Thus says the Lord.

But what I want to say is the Lord, He wants to live in your place.

He wants to live in your place.

He's not the He's not the uncle that's staying forever, not leaving.

You know, he's he's he doesn't overstay his welcome, he's not an uninvited guest.

But I want to tell you the Lord says, where I am, you am, and his in in that language of the day.

But that's so encouraging because the thing is you you build when a house becomes a home, the Lord wants to live there.

But even that it gets personal.

He says, I want to be where you are, I want to be where you're living, I want to be in your place.

And the thing is, it's different to the devil's version who comes to steal, kill, and destroy and comes to break the home apart.

God comes to mend the home, God comes to bring it together because God says, Where I am, you are, and he says, You did you know that heaven is my home?

Earth is my house.

Where is my house that you're building for me?

And where is the place that I can lay my rest?

And you say, Here it is, Lord, right here.

And he goes, Well, where you are, I want to be there too.

I want to come and live with you.

It's an amazing thing, and this is how a house becomes a home, not just wood, shadow clad, roofing.

And um, oh, I've taken some advice from Zach and I've got some Greek, some Greek translations for for the word mansion.

Um, I can't even pronounce the word, it's M-O-N-E, Moni, Monet.

But mansions in money, but mansion actually means the Greek means a dwelling place, an abode, a place to remain, a place to live, a home.

Because when we see mansions, we think of mansions, very expensive house, but in the Greek, it actually means it's a place of living, it's a it's a home.

So if we put the word home in there, my father's house are many homes.

Are many homes?

Is your home counted one of them this morning?

And I'm sure it is.

Maybe there's some tweaking and adjustments, but this is what this message is.

What we need to adjust, what we need to do to make the Lord feel welcome in our in our in our in our home.

In my father's house, there are many homes.

And we have to prepare a home, and it takes work.

I just want to go and just uh a little bit further and just some move away from the uh the physical house, the building, which we sort of got a bit of a mental picture on in the moment.

But if uh the uh ESV version says, In my father's house are many rooms, and we know the scripture that says my my body is a temple for the Holy Spirit.

So you can take away temple and say home.

My body is a home for the Holy Spirit, I've got to prepare it.

And so all these messages that I've been giving about a physical house, it actually applies to this house too.

So everything I've been saying about uh where is my house and uh building the picture of a physical home, that's all true.

But let's just take our mind off the physical for a moment and just put ourselves in place of that home.

Your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit.

Is the Lord welcome in your house, in you?

Is the Lord welcome?

Uh can he live with you in your house?

Is your is your house, is it a broken home?

Does it need healing?

Is there some eviction of demons to do in your house?

In you?

You can ask these questions, they're good questions to ask.

But when the Lord says that in my house there are many rooms, and I started thinking of a house with many rooms, and I thought, well, there's a waiting room.

So in your waiting room where you wait on the Lord, is the Lord there?

And I put there's a listening room, there's a doing room, there's a healing room, and then I started thinking about hey, my life is kind of made out of rooms as well.

There's my work room, uh, my health room, my wealth room, my humor room, my sports room, which I don't have.

Uh, you know, different things.

And then I thought spiritual, there's my prayer room, reading the word, fellowship room, worship room, ministry room, high room, and my thoughts, my thoughts room.

But what you're seeing is now I'm thinking in my father's house, if there's many rooms, is God in every room?

Is God the inhabitant not of every room?

Is the peace of God in every area of my life?

If I divided my life into rooms, is God in there?

In the same way that, and then then now I look at Isaiah 66, he says, Heaven is my throne, earth is my footstool, where is my house?

Now let's put that house, that's us.

What's the condition of your house now?

And the rooms in your house.

Is God living in every room?

Just a thought.

And I th and I started, you know, you do a little bit of a self-analysis.

Is God in every room?

Answer for me was no, he wasn't.

I I could come up here and say, Yes, God was in every room.

No, he wasn't.

But I have to make those adjustments.

I have to get the Holy Spirit in there.

I don't want seven times demons worse.

The one was enough.

You know, get the blood of Jesus going.

Man, oh, we're nearly there.

Yeah, you guys with me?

Yeah, it's it's quite it's quiet in here, but um sorry about that.

It's just just the way it is.

It's my thing.

It's just the way the Holy Spirit wants to move this morning.

Be still and know that I am God.

We're gonna go to Genesis now.

And this this one I could, I reckon I could, there's a whole message in this, but we'll just break it down to a bite-sized piece.

And I've entitled this little uh message, it's from Genesis 28, Jacob's Ladder.

How and I've entitled on How Awesome is this place.

So we've moved on, the Lord is living in our house, and we've done everything, and I just want to say, How awesome is this place.

When the Lord is living in your house, and your house is a home of the Lord, whether you're we're referring to your body or referring to your physical home.

Jacob says, How awesome is this place! How awesome is this place.

And we're gonna have a look, we're gonna have a have a look at the scripture and then you can pick it up.

Jacob's ladder is amazing.

Just before uh he had the Jacob had the had the vision of the ladder, he was blessed by Isaac.

And Isaac blessed him with the Abraham blessing.

And the Abraham blessing, as you know, is that your design your descendants will be as the stars in the sky.

But when you whenever you see the word descendants, put the word family.

Put the word family.

So when he blessed them with the Abrahamic uh blessing, um, there's a lot of things he says, but the main one is that your family, your family will just go on and on and on beyond.

It'll be it'll be it'll be as as the as the stars in the sky.

And I want to say that's the blessing for us, as family as in the stars of the sky, beyond our generation.

God works in generations, and generations, and I and it's such an encouragement.

So let's go to uh Jacob's ladder and in Genesis 28, verse 12.

Genesis 28:12

Then he dreamed he is Jacob, and behold, a ladder was set up on earth, and his top reached heaven, and there were angels of God were descend, ascending, and descending on it.

This was his dream.

And behold, the Lord stood above it and said, I am the Lord, God of Abraham your father, and God of Isaac.

The land which you lie, I will give to you and your descendants.

Family.

So picture this.

This was the dream was that he saw a ladder, and and and from the ladder, the ladder was up in heaven, extending to earth.

What does that remind you of?

Heaven is my throne, earth is my footstool.

The connection of an Isaiah.

And and the Lord stood at the top of the ladder, and as all that activity was going, he said, I am the Lord of God of Abraham.

But then he says, The land on which you lie I give to you and your descendants, your family.

Then Jacob woke from his sleep and said, Surely the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it.

And he was afraid of and said, How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.

Hallelujah and amen.

Is your house a gate of heaven?

Is your house a gate of heaven?

But he said, This is none other than the house of God, this is the gate of heaven.

So he had this this picture.

And I I I need for us to understand that that that um let's let's multitask.

When I say house, you can think of house, or you can think of house temple, you all at the same time.

I won't need to explain it.

But surely this is a place, this is a place, and I did not know it.

No, surely the Lord is in this place and I did not know it.

This is nothing other than the house of God, it's the gate of heaven.

And the great thing about the scripture that it paints a picture of the spiritual realm.

When your house is a gate of heaven, the Lord is up there and he's looking down and he said, This is this is this is this is I'm living in this place, my rest is here.

But it's not just for you, it's for all your family, it's for your descendants.

And the scripture in Psalm 128 says that family is like olive trees around the table.

And I want you to picture an olive tree plantation just going forever and ever and ever.

Isn't interesting that where did Jesus pray in the olive garden?

You know what I mean?

So the thing is that I would just want you to picture that when we say my my children are like olive trees, it's not just the ones in here, it's the fruit that they produce, it's the oil of the Lord upon them.

And the Lord says here, this is none other than the house of God, and the gate is heaven.

I think our prayer has to be, has to be that our house and our house is the gate of heaven.

Amen.

It's the gate of heaven, it has to be, and it brings us to the scripture, which um as it is in heaven, Matthew 6, 9.

We know this one, the Lord's Prayer.

Our Father in heaven, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

Heaven is my throne, and earth is my footstool.

Where is my house that you have built for me that I can lay my rest?

That's the question of the Lord this morning.

Man, I really enjoyed um uh James's uh tithing message this morning.

Um it's so true.

Tithing is like the it turns a lot of people off in church.

Like people go, tithing, oh you just want my money.

And and I and um uh James's uh message was exactly right on the point.

Sophie and I've never struggled with tithing, and actual fact we started tithing straight away, which is unusual for Catholic for people who come out of the Catholic Church.

Um, but anyway, we we we we got the revelation of tithing and been tithing ever since.

But this is still in the same scripture of uh Genesis 28, and I call this Jacob's Pillar, it could be the hidden pillar, I don't know.

Verse 20.

Then Jacob made a vow saying, If God be with me and keep me in this way, that I'm going to give, he's going to give me bread to eat and put clothing on, so that I come back to my father's it's gonna come up, house in peace, then the Lord shall be my God, and this stone which I have set as a pillar, a pillar, shall be God's house, and that all that I all that you give me, I will surely give a tenth to you.

You can't argue with the word of God.

He said, Surely I'll give a tenth to you.

So what he's saying is that the Lord is is providing for him, and this stone which I have set my pillar, and when I when a when I when I always see the word stone, and don't forget this is uh old uh sorry, uh Old Testament, uh Jesus, pre-Jesus.

But the New Testament says that Jesus is the cornerstone of the house, and he's also referred to as a rock, upon this rock, the revelation of Jesus Christ, who he is.

Who do you say I am?

Oh, they say I'm this, but you're the risen God.

And he said, Upon this rock, Paul, upon this rock, but upon the revelation of Jesus Christ, I would build my church.

And then we've got Jacob is talking about pillars.

You know, when we when we build our house, we had to put down pillars, uh piles are called now, piles.

Um, and on those piles, uh TNM poured concrete, and they build our house on those piles.

Any builder knows that, and in Atatucky, you put steel plates because sometimes big wind wants to come and take your house away.

But it says, he says, upon this revelation of this stone, which I have set as a pillar in God's house.

And I want to say this is a foundation pillar.

You can argue all you want.

Don't argue with the word carrier with the messenger.

You can take it up with God.

He said, and the stone which I've set is as a pillar in God's house, and all that I give, I will surely give a tenth of to you, one tenth the tithe.

Can I have an amen?

Amen.

And the thing is, is that if you want God to live in your house, and it's not, and don't get all uh money exchange, you know, all that weird teaching.

It's honor, it's honor that to the honor to the Lord.

This is a pillar to the house.

Honor your finances to God, just as James was saying, it's a pillar.

Jacob, who had the vision of the Lord, because what's gonna happen, and this is how religion always works.

Oh, I love Jacob's ladder, I love that bit about the heaven and that.

I love the things about what about the pillar, Arna?

I like the first part.

Don't tell me about the pillar of the tithe, but it's just a reality.

But what I like about Jacob, he says this is a pillar in God's house, it's a foundation.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Man.

You've got to be excited about building houses, I tell you for sure.

I got the revelation late.

Done a lot of rentos.

And here's another one for you.

A house needs a leader that makes decisions to serve the Lord.

Joshua 24, 15, Sophie's favorite scripture.

And if it seems evil to you to serve the Lord, choose for yourself this day whom you will serve.

I choose Jesus.

Whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the river, the gods of the Amorites and those whose land you dwell in.

But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.

Amen.

This is how a house becomes a home.

When dad gets up in the morning and says, I'm praying, I'm going to church, for as me in my house, we will serve the Lord.

When mom gets up and tells the kids, kids, for me and my house, this house we shall serve the Lord.

There has to be a godly leader in the house.

There has to be someone who's prepared to do the hard yards and the price to pay.

A house needs a leader who makes those decisions.

And the decision has to be as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.

If my people who call by my name, Christians will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sins and heal their land.

Now my eyes will be open, my ears, attentive to prayer made in this place.

For now I have chosen and sanctified this house.

If you walk with me, the Father David, I'll just leave it there.

But he's saying, He's saying, The Lord is saying, I want to sanctify this house.

I want to sanctify your house.

If you would just turn and pray, if you would turn from your wicked ways, I would hear from heaven.

The Lord says, Heaven is my throne, earth is my footstool.

Amen.

And he says, if you pray and turn from your wicked ways, if you allow me in, I will sanctify this house for all time.

You're gonna be the family member that sanctifies the house that your great-great and great great great grandchildren are gonna talk about.

My great-great-great-great granddaddy, grand mom, mama, sanctify the house.

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