Zeal for Our Father's House
Coming solemnly and soberly into Your Presence we ask:
When you said, "The zeal for My Father's house consumes me?", what did you mean? Could you describe this zeal? We, your Body, want the same zeal you have. What would that look like?
(Please write what you receive from the Lord in comments. I will not post on my blog for 2 weeks, setting it aside for responses.)
When you said, "The zeal for My Father's house consumes me?", what did you mean? Could you describe this zeal? We, your Body, want the same zeal you have. What would that look like?
(Please write what you receive from the Lord in comments. I will not post on my blog for 2 weeks, setting it aside for responses.)
posted by Patti Blount @ 8:57 AM
16 Comments:
At 9/10/2007 11:47 PM ,
Anonymous said...
Im going to read this paticular passage again and invite the Holy Spirit for council.
But I know that if my earthly father had many mansions in lucious places around the world free for me to come & go, surrounded by true love and joy, open to me without worry, fear, finances, time.., the butterflies in my stomach would be all the transportation I'd need!
At 9/11/2007 9:01 AM ,
Anonymous said...
I believe that commenting "anonymously" is so of the Spirit of God.
At 9/11/2007 2:08 PM ,
Sarah said...
Lol! Glad to see we're not taking ourselves too seriously here.
I've read this passage from Psalm 69:9 and been asking God for understanding. (And when Jesus cleared the temple, how the disciples remembered that it was written "zeal for Your house will consume me." The two contexts of these verses strike me... but I don't have anything I would call "revelatory" yet.
The first context is Saul ruling the house of Israel, the second is pollution in the temple (merchandising the things of God).
I'll comment again if I get anything...
At 9/11/2007 2:30 PM ,
Anonymous said...
What I got so far: The zeal the Lord has for His Father's house is the zeal He has to build (tear down, remodel, reinforce) us on the inside. He will not relent until it (we) are finished. He will restore the years the locusts have eaten: our sins, outside forces, or the enemies" lies we've believed. He provided the means of what truly happened on the cross, and now is applying that to us as He builds. He will not stop until, those who are His, can be fitly formed together into a suitable house where both we and our Father can live.
At 9/11/2007 7:16 PM ,
Bill L. said...
The Lord woke me early this morning with this thought - "if we are to have the zeal for the house of the Lord that consumes us we must totally die to self." To consume is to use up or bring to an end so it is our 'self' that needs to be consumed!
At 9/12/2007 6:19 AM ,
Patti Blount said...
Meditating on what Bill got from the Lord: The longer I walk with the Lord, the more self-consumed I see that I am, and it's depressing. May God consume my consumption.
At 9/12/2007 3:24 PM ,
Sarah said...
I really appreciate the anonymous comment (comment #4). I really resonate with that.
At 9/14/2007 8:30 AM ,
Patti Blount said...
Lots of thoughts swirling around on this subject-seeing a vague picture of being consumed with our Father's house-maybe somewhat like being in the world, but not of it-going, doing, and being, but either building or tearing down the Father's house in our relationships whether towards those who know Him and those who don't. Letting the Spirit of God rule in us and produce life towards those He touches, this only happening when we put ourselves aside and let that love flow instead of holding out for it for ourselves or withholding it from others-real agape love that gives and blesses and brings life and refreshing!! Father can dwell here. It's who He is and where He can reign. (?)(?)(?)
At 9/14/2007 11:24 PM ,
Anonymous said...
The Scripture before this said, "Do not make My Father's house a house of merchandise!" We, as children of God, are the Holy Temple and many have made their temple a place of merchandise. Meaning, they have bought the world's goods in exchange for God's goodness. We can look at these people and see what happens when we buy into the lies of our enemy. We can see not only a spiritual change, but a natural change as well. When I look at Christians that have gone astray for the ways of the world, I can know that dwelling in the Father's presence gvies me that zeal of wanting more of Him. That knowing His eternal promise is a fight worth fighting for all the days of my life. I know what I was like before submitting my will to God and I know I do not want to go back there. The zeal I have for Christ is more than just ferverant desire, it is love that's grasped within the jaws of the Lion. Zeal is another meaning of passion. That passion in my heart for the longing of being in the eternal presence of God... eats me up to the point of anticipation on a daily basis.
At 9/15/2007 6:20 PM ,
Nate said...
Zeal for my fathers house.
This is the answer I got.
What will we do for God?
What will we give up?
Everything God asks of us, and we do it gladly.
At 9/19/2007 12:13 AM ,
Anonymous said...
Our Father's house is us, corporately, not just individually. WE have sinned against our Father's house in many many ways but He is still faithfully calling us to come back, be cleansed and sent on to new glory. But we, whether from ignorance or simple blind habit, are much more comfortable making more useless laps around the Sinai wilderness rather than press on for His promised life.
This is not zeal for His house. We generally spend much more time attending to our own house (cleaning, fixing, repairing, remodeling, building, etc.) than we do attending to the needs of the more "run down" parts of His house - the orphans, widows, poor and least of Christ's brothers.
Zeal is measured in terms of where we spend our time, energy and resources.
If we confess our sins, He is faithful to forgive us and cleanse us of ALL unrighteousness - even neglect of His house.
At 9/19/2007 11:48 AM ,
Patti Blount said...
I am so overwhelmed right now at what the Father is showing us, I don't even know if I can express it. But, I know one thing, it is producing a zeal in me like I've never known. I must post on this Monday. I don't know how many of you are following this, but I know the Father is speaking to us His Body. I pray that He opens our eyes wider and wide so that we can attend to His house that is in ruins! (Read Haggai-ask for revelation-then act) It's for His heart and blessing!!
At 9/21/2007 11:44 PM ,
Anonymous said...
We are the house of the Lord. He could have used any other object or word-picture to describe us. We are also His body. He could have used trees, rocks, the whole earth, clouds, anything. But He chose “house” and “body” as His main explanations of His calling upon our life. These are both intensely local - not international or global or even beyond immediate reach. I submit to you all that the American believers are as spiritually weak and anemic as they are (in addition to the effects of all the counterfeit/fake poisons we’ve ingested) precisely because we don’t know how anymore to be a local congregation. We travel great distances to gather with people of like mind (like theology, like attitudes, like affluence, even like ethnic origins or whatever other similarities please our self) but we don’t gather with people of like spirit - that is, totally surrendered to the Person and will of Almighty God. In truth, there hasn’t been many people like this to know but we don’t even really know how to seek people of His Spirit in our own neighborhoods and cities. I struggle with this constantly so I’m speaking of my own difficulties too.
I am not saying that we should not give to ministries overseas, etc., by any means - God would have to direct a person and do that personally, clearly and with confirmation. I’m saying we need to first take care of those who live next door or down the road. I believe that every believer who lives within walking distance of your house is the ekklesia to which you primarily/firstmost belong. But you and they cannot be ekklesia until you and they gather together in unity with Christ’s Spirit. We are, at most, only individual believers isolated away from the other cells of the body of Christ to which we should be adjoined - we cannot give to one another what the Head has for us to share and, as a result, we have lost the ability to give to anyone else either. We must minister first to Jerusalem (our family), then to Judea (our neighbors) and then to the uttermost parts of the world. Reverse the order and we won’t really minister to any of them - except maybe in material ways. It’s the case of not leaving former things undone while we attend to the latter and too many of us have found it too convenient to write a check rather than wrap a towel around our own waist.
Also, zeal is good but it can be without knowledge, wisdom and self-control (restraint). Jesus calmly twisted ropes together before He unleashed His zeal for His Father’s house. He never did anything that His Father wasn’t doing. It was just time to clean house. He wasn’t angry (as in an outburst of temper, a sin of the flesh - Gal. 5:19-21) or impulsive (rash, another sin of the flesh) - He was, by the leading of God’s Spirit of holiness, deliberately taking aim at a false, deceptive practice that ripped off the people of God and which made worshiping God a distasteful affair. God will be having us “pick fights” with religious leaders just as Jesus did but we dare not do this apart from Him or we will be removed from the scene before our time. His zeal is what it takes to go to the Garden of Gethsemane and choose God’s will over our own. Temporary highs will never get us through that dark night.
At 9/22/2007 9:14 AM ,
Patti Blount said...
The Lord has been showing me that in this scene of Jesus dumping over the tables, He also said (maybe in one of the other Gospels) , "My Father's house is a house of prayer, and you have made it a den of thieves." Could this also refer to His anger at the enemy of our souls and his pinions (the thiefs) who have plundered His house (us) by robbing us of the life He died for us to have through his various means and schemes we've been entrapped by? Also, He 's layed on my heart the Scripture when He says that He has a baptism to be baptisized with and He is distressed until it is accomplished! This baptism of fire, this cleansing baptism of His, is the "table turning" "rope snapping" (or the shaking) we must go through to be cleansed of the marks of the enemy in us. The Father is distressed until His House is cleansed and totally purified, and He will do it-It will be done-He is consumed with it!!!! That should give us great hope to know that as we desire what He desires (and that is for this, His house in us, to be lined up with His will by purification) that it will indeed be done, with much table turning going on.
At 9/22/2007 8:40 PM ,
Anonymous said...
… and The WORD became flesh and tabernacled among us … The Eternal God was now in a tent of human flesh. The Father was now dwelling among men. His place of permanent residence was in Jesus, ‘THE CHRIST’... and He was well pleased to be there … and to live and express Himself in and through Jesus of Nazareth. (John 1:14; Col 1:19, 2:9; Heb. 1:3).
That day, when Jesus saw men making the temple (which had been the representation of the dwelling place of Almighty God) into a ‘house of merchandise’, He became greatly disturbed. He became passionate! ... He became violent! … He was filled with jealousy! The zeal of His Father’s House consumed Him! Religious men were using and misusing the pure and precious things of GOD for personal gain. They were making a mockery, not only of the atoning and redemptive plan and work of GOD, but also of the eternal goal and purpose of that plan and work! How horrible!
This same ‘zeal’ and ‘jealousy’ of the LORD is seen throughout Scripture. The two words ‘zeal’ and ‘jealousy’ are used interchangeably and come from the same root word in both Hebrew and Greek. Throughout both Old and New Testaments, ‘the zeal and jealousy of the LORD’ is seen in connection with HIS dwelling place, in relation to HIS people, and with matters of betrothal and marriage. God’s dwelling place and His intimate relationship with His people are beautifully and intricately woven together in HIS eternal plan and purpose, which HE carried out in CHRIST JESUS (Eph. 3:11)
Here are some references the LORD led me to during this study:
Ex. 20:5 ‘I the LORD thy GOD am a jealous God, …’; Ex. 34:14 ‘the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God ...’; Num. 5:29 (there’s even a ‘law of jealousy’ concerning adultery); Deut. 4:24 ‘ is a consuming fire, even a jealous God …’; Jos. 24:19 ‘… an Holy God; He is a jealous God …’; II Kings 19:31 ‘For out of Jerusalem shall go forth a remnant, … the zeal of the LORD shall perform this’; Isaiah 9:7 ‘The zeal of the LORD of hosts will accomplish this.’ Isaiah 59:17 ‘And He put on righteousness like a breastplate, and a helmet of salvation on His head; and He put on garments of vengeance for clothing, and wrapped Himself with zeal as a mantle.’ Joel 2:18 ‘Then will the LORD be jealous for His land …’; Zep. 1:18 ‘… be devoured by the fire of His jealousy …’; Zech. 1:14 ‘I am jealous for Jerusalem and for Zion …’; II Cor.8:2 “I am jealous over you with a godly jealousy; for I betrothed you to One Husband, that to Christ I might present you as a pure virgin.”
The verses that follow John 2:13-17 were another important connection for for me during this study. After Jesus turns over the money changers’ tables, drives them out of the temple, and says, ‘Take these things away; make not My Father’s House a house of merchandise!’ … He is asked by the Jews, ‘What sign do You show to us, seeing that You do these things?’ His answer is shocking! He says, …“Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” This is so significant in our topic of discussion. Verses 21-22 state: ‘But He was speaking of the temple of His body. When therefore He was raised from the dead, His disciples remembered that He said this.’ The dwelling place of GOD and the Father’s House are now directly related to the temple of His Body!
How puzzling! … After openly demonstrating HIS passionate feelings for the true
significance of HIS FATHER’S HOUSE, Jesus quickly moves on … on to the real HOUSE OF GOD - HIS BODY. This is the HOUSE that was designed in eternity past, that was hid in GOD from the beginning of the world. This is the one that is made only of the substance of CHRIST, as Eve was made only of the substance of Adam.
How enlightening! … Jesus said, … in three days, I will raise it (this temple, this dwelling place of God, this Father’s House) up. This HOUSE of GOD comes forth from the dead! This sounds like the ‘many grains’ that come forth from the ‘Grain of Wheat’ that fell into the ground and died! In this FATHER’S HOUSE there are many ‘dwelling places’/’abodes’/’resting places’. This HOUSE is one that can be neither made nor improved by man. The development and growth of this HOUSE needs neither the noble ideas and well-meaning suggestions of men, nor the energetic religious good works of men. May we rest in HIM and wait upon HIM in the building of HIS ETERNAL HOME!
We know from many verses in HIS WORD and from our experience of HIS life within us that we are now HIS BODY! … and we are now the living stones that form HIS HOUSE! (Isa. 28; Psalm 118: 22-24; I Pet. 2: 4-9) We are the many dwelling places, abodes, and resting places in the Father’s House. No wonder we feel zeal, passion, and jealousy for HIM and for HIS HOUSE. We are HIS BODY! We are HIS HOME! As this same zeal and jealousy for what God passionately wants purifies, captures, and enlightens us, we become like the psalmist who cried out, “How lovely are Thy dwelling places O LORD of hosts! My soul longs and even yearns for the courts of the LORD; my heart and my flesh cry out for the LIVING GOD. … Blessed are they that dwell in Thy HOUSE … Blessed is the man whose strength is in YOU … They go from strength to strength … For a day in THY courts is better than a thousand outside … (Read all of Psalm 84!)
As His zeal, passion, and jealousy purifies us and causes our eyes to be single … to behold only HIM, it is also destroying the enemies of the House of the LORD. It deals thoroughly with that which seeks to ‘replace’ the CHRIST of GOD. That which is ‘instead of CHRIST’ is ‘anti-Christ’.
What passion, zeal, and jealousy we experience as the eyes of our understanding are opened to see more clearly HIS desire to obtain for HIMSELF an eternal dwelling place of rest and satisfaction in us! And it is in HIM (as our dwelling place) that we too find our eternal rest and satisfaction! Psalm 132 speaks so beautifully about this!
It is HIS zeal, HIS passion, HIS jealousy that we sense in our spirit. HE is building in us by the growth and movement of HIS life! HE alone causes the building to increase! Paul wrote to the Corinthians, “I planted, Apollos watered, but GOD caused to grow. You are God’s cultivated land; you are God’s building . This is strong proof that the HOUSE of GOD will only grow by HIS LIFE growing in, through, and among us!!!
At 9/23/2007 6:20 PM ,
Patti Blount said...
This will be my last comment on this question we asked of the Lord. Isn't what He revealed to (through) us so marvelously grand and awe-inspiring? Just that He would show us "pieces" of His heart and plans and purposes. This unfolding on what He's revealed about the Father's house and His zeal to build it, consuming Him, could really go on and on. It is never ending, as is everything in His eternal heart. I know that He has used all of this to stir this same zeal in us, His Body, and He's using that stirring for the furtherance of His Kingdom. I don't really know what I'm talking about, but I know that what I'm talking about is true. So, those of you who have approached our most approachable God with me, I know are blessed to know Him even better than we did before. This has been most awesome and real-the most real, really because He is reality in which everything else pales by comparison. I won't be posting Monday of what the Lord showed me. The Lord used a brother and sister to sober me up from my unbridled zeal, realizing what He showed me was just for me.
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