Dear People Who Keep Company With God,

I believe the highest calling of the church is to be a dwelling place of God in the Spirit (Eph. 2:22). Jesus said, “Foxes have holes, birds have nest, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.” (Matt. 8:20) That is a prophetic statement concerning the church (Col. 1:18). From the beginning when God walked with man in the cool of the day (Gen. 3:8) He has been seeking to be with His people.

I Have A Dream PhotoIn the Old Testament David seemed to understand the heart of God better than anyone. He was so close to His heart that he picked up on His desire for a dwelling place on earth. He wrote, “For the Lord has chosen Zion; 
 He has desired it for His dwelling place: 14 “This is My resting place forever; 
Here I will dwell, for I have desired it.” (Ps. 132:13-14)

In the New Testament, the Apostle John leaned upon the chest of Jesus and heard His heart (John 13:25). He later wrote, “And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God.” (Rev. 21:3)

We desire the Presence of the Lord because God Himself desires to be with us. He gave us that desire. I was saved because of an encounter with the Presence of the Lord. I received a calling to be a pastor because of an encounter with the Presence of the Lord. The dream I have for the church was birthed out of an encounter with the Presence of the Lord.

Years ago the Holy Spirit gave me a dream of a ‘new church’. I called it “The Father’s House” because I knew it was a place where people could come and experience His living Presence. I believe He revealed to me there would be places like this all over the earth where every human being on the planet would have access to His Presence.

This church would not be built in the image of a man or according to man’s thinking. It would be centered on His Presence. I attempted to put into practicality what I was seeing in the Spirit. As the years rolled by I slowly realized that even the noblest dreams must go into the ground like a seed and experience death (John 12:24).  I experienced firsthand the beautiful, but troubling process that accompanies the dreams God gives us. Let’s be clear about this, God always has a process because He is more concerned with us than our dreams.

The death of a God-given dream is messy and humiliating. You feel alone. For a time, I felt like a part of me had died and I quietly mourned. I was provoked and my faith was shaken. I had a lot of questions, but when everything was said and done I let it go. I surrendered my heart to the Lord and kept walking on with Him because in the end He is the dream.

One day the Holy Spirit appeared to me in a vision as a Ram, Jehovah-Jireh (Gen. 22:12-14). The meaning of Jehovah-Jireh is The Lord Who Provides. It literally means The Lord Who Sees, or The Lord Who Will See To It. For Abraham, it was the ram caught in the thicket that was offered in Isaac’s place. I can’t explain it, but I knew the Lord was revealing to me that He would see to it that the dream is resurrected and come forth in its time. When it happens, it will be so much better than what I ever dreamed it would be.

Many Blessings, BW

 

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