The House of The Lord

“Praise the Lord!

Praise the name of the Lord,

    give praise, O servants of the Lord,

who stand in the house of the Lord,

    in the courts of the house of our God!

Praise the Lord, for the Lord is good;

    sing to his name, for it is pleasant!

For the Lord has chosen Jacob for himself,

    Israel as his own possession.” (Psalms 135:1-4 ESV)

What is the house of the Lord today? It is not a building. It is not a church denomination. It is not a business of human origin. It is not a corporation under the state. It is not a civic center. And it is not a social club. But this is what it is largely being turned into here in America. For so many people have altered the divine character of God/Christ and of his body, his church, and of his gospel message, and of his will, in order to attract the ungodly and the people of the world to the gatherings of what is called “church.”

But the house of the Lord is made up of people who have trusted in Jesus Christ to be Lord (Owner-Master) and Savior of their lives, who have been crucified with Christ in death to sin and raised with Christ to walk in newness of life in him, no longer as slaves to sin, but now as slaves to God and to his righteousness. We are the living stones in God’s building, his church, which is a spiritual building (house) and not a physical one. So the house of God is NOT a building called “church.” We who believe in Jesus are that house.

So, we cannot physically stand in the house of the Lord as though it is a physical structure. But we can take our stand for the Lord and for his gospel within the gatherings of his church, his body, his building, his house. And we can give true honor and praise and worship to our Lord as part of his house, his church, his body. But true worship of our Lord is not in lip service only, but in action, and in truth, and in walks of obedience to our Lord in surrender to his will and in submission to him as Lord (Owner-Master).

Now, when I was a child I learned a little rhyme which had hand motions that went along with it, and it said this: “Here’s the church and here’s the steeple. Open the doors and see all the people.” So we clasped our hands in a position that had our fingers from one hand side-by-side with the fingers of the other hand, with our thumbs crisscrossed in the front (the doors). So as we said the rhyme we then formed a steeple with two fingers and then we separated our thumbs as though we were opening the doors, and then we spread our hands apart and made the fingers represent the people inside.

Now a lot of us here in America grew up with that concept of what church is, for that tradition has been passed down to us from generation to generation, and it is not an easy concept to dismiss for a lot of people, even if they know that the building is not the church. And so many of them are still teaching that the building or the church denomination is the church and so church is something we go to and enter into when we get there, but that we, the people, are not the church. We are just those who “go to church.”

But that is something that is man-created, and is based in human tradition, and not in the word of God. It is not the biblical picture of God’s church, which is a spiritual, not a physical building. And we don’t “go to church,” for we are the church. But the church goes to locations where they meet together with the body of Christ. And those gatherings are also called “the church,” but they are only “the church” if they are gatherings of true followers of Christ and the gatherings are being led of the Spirit of God.

And the purpose of these gatherings is not to draw in large crowds of people from the world via entertaining them and making “the church” a fun place to go that is non-threatening and a place where the ungodly can “feel at home.” The purpose of these gatherings is so that followers of Jesus can encourage (exhort, urge) each other in our walks of faith and obedience to the Lord and away from living in sin. And it is to train and equip us to be servants and ministers of the Lord to one another and so that we are also those who are taking the true message of the gospel out to the world.

[Matt 5:13-16; Matt 28:18-20; Jn 4:31-38; Jn 13:13-17; Jn 14:12; Acts 1:8; Acts 2:14-18; Acts 26:18; Rom 10:14-15; Rom 12:1-8; Rom 15:14; 1 Co 12:1-31; 1 Co 14:1-5; Eph 4:1-16; Eph 5:17-27; Php 2:1-8; Col 3:16; Heb 3:13; Heb 10:23-25; 1 Pet 2:9,21; 1 Jn 2:6]  

You Loved Me

An Original Work / December 3, 2019

A song based off the poem by the same name

When I was lonely and afflicted,

You were there to pick me up.

You took me in Your arms,

And You held me tenderly.

Your love embraced me.

Your grace sustained me.

When my heart cried out to You

In my fear and my despair,

You never turned away,

But You let me know You loved me.

Your grace forgave me.

You did not shame me.

Then, when I answered the call,

“Here, Lord, send me.”

You sent me to where I must be.

Your mercy held me, did not fail me.

All this, You had planned, to use me.

And, when all trials and scorn

Came to test me.

You gave me all that I would need.

You strengthened me so I’d not fail You.

Your kindness blessed me, it touched me.

And, when I needed the church 

To lift up me,

To hearten me so I’d not fail,

You blessed me with folks who would love me.

Their presence with me, Your praise hailed!

And, when I walked through the valley

Of the shadow of the death,

And tears flowed from my eyes,

Still Your kindness was there for me.

Your touch, it healed me.

For I believed You.

When now I think about the ways,

Of the many, many ways

That You in Your great love

Show me that You’ll always care for me,

My heart, it thanks You,

And gladness fills me, fills me.

https://vimeo.com/377807796