Christian Living
Acts 15:16-17 'After this I will return and rebuild David's fallen tent. Its ruins I will rebuild, and I will restore it, that the remnant of men may seek the Lord, and all the Gentiles who bear my name,' says the Lord, who does these things,
Isaiah 53:5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.
Acts 3:26 Unto you first God, having raised up his Son Jesus, sent him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from his iniquities.
I find it rather ironic that our hearts are the Lord’s dwelling place, or “home,” and our hearts, like homes, physically have what is called “chambers.” Yes, this is a continuation, sort of, of “Caution -- Restoration Zone.” The revelations from that dream I had about my five-story home didn’t stop with realizing my “house” needed some restoration. In fact, last night, I had another dream.
I was walking around, alone, in the beautiful ground floor. In my mind, I knew that I was doing so to verify for myself that what others saw there was, in fact, quite extravagant. And it was. I’d never really taken the time to explore the ground floor. I walked through a wide passage that led to a kitchen area. I looked through the doorway and there, with His back turned to me, the Lord was preparing something to eat. I was a little surprised to find Him there.
I know full well that He is omnipresent... everywhere. I’m aware of the fact that He is Emmanuel... God WITH us. And yes, He walks with me and He talks with me and He tells me I am His own. So why is it that I fail to truly, truly understand that He resides IN me, in my heart, that my relationship with Him extends beyond Him being WITH me. Is it just me?
He looked at me and smiled. He didn’t say a word, but I felt like He probably thought “It’s about time you acknowledged that this is OUR house.” Rather, He just walked into the dining room, carrying along what He’d prepared. What a beautiful table He had laid out for us. The two of us sat alone at the big, finely crafted, candle lit table. I was so at awe. We sat close together, but I wanted to sit even closer.
Instead, as I moved toward Him, He held out His hand: “This is My body, broken for you.” Now, I’ve experienced some pretty meaningful communion commencements in my life. But I can’t even begin to tell you what that was like. I just don’t know what to tell you except that it is something you will have to experience for yourself.
He fed me bread. He gave me wine. It wasn't just any wine though. See, I told you in 'Caution -- Restoration Zone' that wine keeps showing up in my wine cellar. But this stuff, it's even better than "the good stuff." It's even better than new wine. It is aged to perfection. I'm not even worthy to drink it. None of us are.
Then, He told me to come with Him, that He wanted to show me something. He held my left hand with His right and I followed Him to the staircase, that same rotten staircase that I’d fallen through the night before. It was the same dilapidated staircase that I cannot personally restore.
Romans 4:6-8 Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works, Saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin.
He held His left hand out to grab hold of the banister. There was a bloodstained hole through the flesh between the back of His hand and His wrist. His hand was still for a second and I saw the dried, weather beaten, rotted wood directly under His hand turn to a highly polished cedar. The change spread upward like a painting being refinished, from bottom to top, from black and white to color, in fast forward. Then He put His foot on the first step, a bloodstained, torn foot. And the stairs also turned to a highly polished cedar.
The Truth in “This is My body, broken for you” brought me to such a state of humility that I could hardly look up. At the same time, I knew I had reached the true beginning of restoration. And the Master Carpenter was letting me watch His handiwork. More than just letting me watch, He was showing me something that I have a very hard time explaining with words. But I was even more awed by what followed.
We stopped at a door on what I believed was the second floor. He stood there still for a moment, with His hand on the doorknob. The door was not restored like the staircase, however. I didn’t want Him to open that door. I believed that my own personal bedchambers lay behind it. He held me close to Him and pushed the door open. I started crying. Even in my sleep, my face was physically soaked with tears.
The room was decorated in white and a very bright light shined in it. But everything was terribly stained. There was dried blood all over the covers, so much filth on the walls, on the floor. The room wasn’t trashed. It was just so extremely stained. It was grotesque to put it mildly. I nearly gagged on the smell of rotten flesh. Evil snickered somewhere within its closets. Death hung heavily in the air. I judged my own self and hung my head in shame. But I didn’t judge righteously. Those were not just my sins, so to speak. It was iniquity, that for which He was bruised. I couldn’t look up. I just couldn’t.
Psalm 90:8 Thou hast set our iniquities before thee, our secret sins in the light of thy countenance.
Psalm 130:7-8 Let Israel hope in the LORD: for with the LORD there is mercy, and with him is plenteous redemption. And he shall redeem Israel from all his iniquities.
I, myself, have had one bruise in particular that has taken years to even begin to heal. Bruises are deep and do not heal easily. They can’t be stitched up and doctored like cuts. Bruises are a lot like heartache. There’s only one medicine that I know of that will cure a heartache. And His touch doesn’t come in a bottle. Neither does His touch hurt a bruise the way another person’s touch tends to.
Iniquities, like bruises or a heartache, are sins so deeply imbedded in our innermost beings that we cannot of our own will repent and turn from them. We need the Great Physician for that kind of medicine. “Lord, if You are willing...” is enough. He is. He is willing to make us clean. And He is able besides.
First, He lifted my chin. Then, He stretched out His hand and waved His arm. “Be gone.” And it was gone... the entire room. Very quickly, He began to lay brick upon brick until the outer wall was completely closed off. Again, He waved His hand the length of the new wall and the bricks were covered in elegant, gold colored wall paper. I was somewhat confused by what He’d done. Why wasn’t the room restored to its original condition?
Well, it was. You see, that room was not a part of my original house. It was a room, like a nest, built on the outer wall by the enemy. Iniquities were its furnishings, and it was further built upon through the years by sin after sin, misplaced judgment, and shame. That particular area (not the room) of my house was restored to its exact original condition. That’s all it was in the beginning, just an outer wall.
Jeremiah 33:8 And I will cleanse them from all their iniquity, whereby they have sinned against me; and I will pardon all their iniquities, whereby they have sinned, and whereby they have transgressed against me.
I looked down over the edge of the staircase and there was no floor there. Rather, that area was opened to view the ground floor. I looked up then. The staircase ascended all the way to what I had thought was a fifth floor. But there are no second, third, or fourth floors in a lighthouse. There is only the ground floor, the upper room, and the very long staircase that connects them. Lots of open space between the ground floor and the upper room in a really big lighthouse, space that we would do well to have someone guarding. Ah... one moment please...
Lord, please post angels around about my walls to guard our home.
Still there, on the staircase, I asked the Lord where my bedchambers were, or whether or not they even exist, seeing as how that old room was apparently not supposed to have been there. He led me back down the stairs and into the very center of the foundation. There, He opened an intricately carved door to a large, very softly lit room that was rich with warm colors. It was clean, immaculately clean. He held me close to His side and led me to a mirrored bureau. There we were, the mirror image of Him and I, embracing. “One day, My Beloved, you shall see me face to face.”
I thought that perhaps I should kiss His feet and knelt to do so. But He sat on the edge of the bed and lay my head on His lap. He smoothed my hair and told me that I could always find Him there, anytime, day or night. I asked if I could dance for Him. He allowed me to do so, but only for a moment. Then, He stretched His hand out to me. “You honor Me. And yet, I would rather you dance with Me.”
I lay my head on His chest and closed my eyes. He led us, dancing ever so slowly, out of the room and onto the terrace overlooking the ocean. “Shine, Beloved. Shine.”
The light from the upper room shown so brightly that my eyes could hardly stand it. But I saw, out there, a small ship being tossed. And I woke from my dream.
I read something interesting today by a fellow lighthouse. I no longer have access to it so I can’t quote him. But, in my own words, “Do not let the birds build a nest. When you sin, get passed it. Don’t let it just slide and try your best not to go back to it. Rather, shake out of it (Sounds sort of like “shake the dust from your feet” to me.) like the birds scattering from a tree. If left there, the enemy will gather stick by stick and build a nest with them. Do not let the birds build a nest.”
I know that as long as I have to live in this body, I will be exposed to temptations. And, as Paul once explained, I do things that I would rather not do. Those are sins with which, if we are not careful, “the birds will build nests.” I believe that room that did not belong in my house was much more than just a nest created from sins I’d rather not commit.
Rather, it was created in my early childhood... iniquities passed on to me by my forefathers. Those birds had easy access to a room in which they could build their nests. A nest in itself is fairly easy to knock down and destroy. But not when they’re enclosed within a bruise, a room full of nesting places, the room that iniquity built.
Lamentations 5:7Our fathers have sinned, and are not; and we have borne their iniquities.
It is just as I’d written about in ‘Caution -- Restoration Zone.’ My old house doesn’t need to be torn down and rebuilt. The Foundation is firm and will withstand any storm that happens to blow through. The Cornerstone still holds up the upper room. But that nest infested room did need to be demolished. It’s ruins didn’t need to be restored. They needed to be removed altogether because they didn’t belong there in the first place. It was a nest that had been built upon and built upon and built upon until I could not possibly tear it down myself.
Oh, I’m still a work in progress. But I have more than just a guest in my home. He’s a permanent resident and will see to it that everything is kept in tiptop condition as He surely isn’t restoring it all to just see it in shambles again. Any other visitors are going to have to check at the door with Him first. The invitation to fellowship is still open. And if you can get passed Him, you’re welcome to come inside. But, for your sake, I’d rather you stand at the doorway to your own kitchen and see if perhaps someone isn’t standing there, preparing a meal for you too.
Enjoy your Bread.
© Joyce Pool
Psalm 130:3 If thou, LORD, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand?
Psalm 103:10-11 He hath not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us according to our iniquities. For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him.
Hebrews 8:12 For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more.
Job 22:21-30 "Submit to God and be at peace with him; in this way prosperity will come to you. Accept instruction from his mouth and lay up his words in your heart. If you return to the Almighty, you will be restored: If you remove wickedness far from your tent and assign your nuggets to the dust, your gold of Ophir to the rocks in the ravines, then the Almighty will be your gold, the choicest silver for you.
Surely then you will find delight in the Almighty and will lift up your face to God. You will pray to him, and he will hear you, and you will fulfill your vows. What you decide on will be done, and light will shine on your ways.
When men are brought low and you say, 'Lift them up!' then he will save the downcast. He will deliver even one who is not innocent, who will be delivered through the cleanness of your hands."
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Sister...I am still at a loss for words to compliment these works. The Lord is clearly shining in your writing. It is difficult to read while looking through my tears, but I managed. God is so awesome. Praise Him, over and over again. Thank you, sister for allowing God to use you in such a mighty way. Your brother in Christ, Christian
"HIS touch" Graet writing that I felt inside as I read it. I can see what your saying. It's mind boggling! God doesn't have to do anything for us on our behalf. But His Love continues to amaze me. I can hear it and see it in your writing experiences. May God continue to bless you.
Thank you for sharing your vision/dream and your delicious bread with us. What treasures lie in these words.
Wow! I think you've started a book here. I'm breathlessly waiting for the next chapter. Thank you for posting them Joyce. I am getting the message right along with you. God bless. Love, Tammy
Amen Treava, He is rebuilding the tabernacle of David, the body of Christ! For David was a man of war, as so is Christ. Ps. 24:8-Who is this KING of GLORY? The Lord STRONG and MIGHTY, the Lord MIGHTY IN BATTLE. 1 John 3:8-For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil. That calls for the body of Christ to be a giant killer, and squash all the lies of the enemy. I love you, Sharon
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