Isaiah 65:21-24 NKJV
“They shall build houses and inhabit them; They shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit. They shall not build and another inhabit; They shall not plant and another eat; For as the days of a tree, so shall be the days of My people, And My elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands. They shall not labor in vain, Nor bring forth children for trouble; For they shall be the descendants of the blessed of the Lord, And their offspring with them. “It shall come to pass That before they call, I will answer; And while they are still speaking, I will hear.”
INSIGHT
-Build in Hebrew is written as Banah and it means to establish. Build therefore brings out the aspect of incremental steps to establish. It is God’s design that His children keep building up, disregarding the circumstances that they encounter. In Exodus 14:15, God instructed the Israelites to keep going forward even as the continually cried to Him. We encounter various challenges in life including; personal issues, relational challenges, economic challenges, increasing prices of commodities and taxation levels, bad governance, family issues, work related challenges, low pay and discrimination at work, family issues, a perception to delay in response to prayers, etc. Psalms 34:19 reminds us that many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the LORD delivers them out of them all. God calls us to focus on Him and not be discouraged by life situations by looking at the negative side. He reminds us to build houses and inhabit them, plant vineyards and eat their fruit, for He has blessed us. God calls us to keep moving forward for He is our God, He is with us, He answers us before we call, and nothing is difficult for Him.
PRAYER
Lord You are faithful, we worship You and honor You. You are our King of kings and Lord of lords, nothing is too hard for You. You are the Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last, You never change. Thank You for the gift of life and enabling us to see this day. We know that You have a great purpose for us, how awesome is Your name Oh Lord. Your promises are Yes and Amen, we exult Your holy name. We ask You to do a new thing unto us and forgive us all our trespasses. Lord You have called us Lord to build up houses and inhabit them, to plant vineyards and eat their fruit, to move forward for You have blessed us. Thank You for Your love and grace upon us. May You continually bless us and make us fruitful in our lives, families, relationships, marriages, churches, ministries and nation. May You release breakthroughs in every aspect of our lives. May You bless us indeed and expand our territories. May You release Your dew from heaven and abound it upon us and our descendants. Thank You Lord for You will never leave us nor forsake us. Thank You for Your faithfulness. Amen
Further reading: Jeremiah 32:27, Matthew 6:8
1 Chronicles 17:12-14 NKJV
“He shall build Me a house, and I will establish his throne forever. I will be his Father, and he shall be My son; and I will not take My mercy away from him, as I took it from him who was before you. And I will establish him in My house and in My kingdom forever; and his throne shall be established forever.”
INSIGHT
-Before the building of the temple, altars were designed, some to worship our Holy God and others for pagan gods. Genesis 12:8 reveals how Abram moved to the mountain East of Bethel and built an altar to call on the name of the Lord. At Bethel, Jacob also built an altar to worship God (Genesis 35:1). During the time of Moses, he oversaw the construction of a tabernacle where the Israelites offered sacrifices to God and experienced His presence (Exodus 36-40). In the fourth year of king Solomon’s rule, he began the construction of the Jerusalem temple which took seven years. He employed the finest workmanship and best building materials including gold to bring out a unique impeccable excellence guided by God. Our bodies are the temples of the Holy Spirit and we are not our own since we were purchased by the blood of the Lamb (1 Corinthians 6:19-21). We are living stones and built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ (1 Peter 2:5). We are vessels of honor created by God for every good work (2 Timothy 2:21). As we do this we inherit the Davidic covenant as children of God and we shall dwell in His house forever and ever Amen.
PRAYER
May You transform us dear Lord Jesus to be more like You, to see like You, to talk like You, because You are our Holy God and You have called us to be Holy. Lord Jesus Your nature is love, may help us to love like You do. May You make us to be vessels of honor, made of You Lord for You so that we can effectively represent You, for the glory and honor of Your name. May You deliver us from all the plans of the evil one and make every path straight. We cast all our cares and burdens unto You Lord Jesus for You care for us. May You release all our pending payments from all those who owe us, we humble ask You. May You bless the work of our hands and make us fruitful. May You teach to give our time and resources for the prosperity of Your kingdom. We pray this believing and trusting in Jesus mighty name. Amen
Further reading: 1 Kings 6:1-38
Psalms 127:1 NKJV
“Unless the Lord builds the house, They labor in vain who build it; Unless the Lord guards the city, The watchman stays awake in vain.”
INSIGHT
-The word ‘house’ may refer either to an ordinary dwelling, a place of habitation, a place of worship, or a family, with reference to its success and prosperity, as the word house is often used now. No matter what one’s skill, strength, or industry may be, all will be in vain unless God shall assist them. We are called to entirely dependent on God our Source and Sustainer. It reminds us that all our families, children, securities, blessings and salvation are gifts from God and not our personal achievements. It is through wisdom from God that a house is built, and by understanding it is established (Proverbs 24:3).
PRAYER
Lord You are our Source and our Salvation. We who trust in You are like mount Zion which cannot be removed but abides forever. We thank You for loving us and choosing us. We do not deserve it but it is by Your mercy and grace, that You have blessed us with every spiritual blessing. We did not choose You but You chose us and appointed us so that you may go and bear fruit, fruit that will last and so that whatever we ask in Your name Father, You will give us. Lord Jesus we worship You and honor You, thank You for You always hear us, and respond to our prayers. We believe that You respond to our prayers and hearts desires according to Your divine purpose and will. May You give us peace in our hearts, families, churches and nation, that surpasses all human understanding. May You give us peace and prosperity in our nation and help us to be established upon You Jesus Christ. May You teach us build our houses upon You dear Jesus, the Rock of our salvation. May You protect us and preserve us with Your precious blood. May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with us now and forever more. Amen
Further reading: John 15:16, Ephesians 2:8-9
Jude 1:20 NKJV
“But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit,”
INSIGHT
-Jude writes about salvation having been given the love and grace of God apart from the human sin and guilt that came with the law. Therefore, since Christ has redeemed us with His precious blood, we who believe in Him and have given us a new birth in His most holy faith and calls us to transformation as we obey His will. Building up our faith also requires us to read the word of God and pray always. Jude also discloses of the condemnation of false teacher and the need to defend the true gospel by preaching it. In fact letting the gospel out to defend itself is vital, since the gospel is Christ Himself and the Holy Spirit impacts every soul that hears of Christ to believe in Him. The Holy Spirit also enables us to pray in the Spirit in all prayers and supplications.
PRAYER
Dear Almighty Father, we come before Your Holy and mighty Name today with humble adoration and exultation. We worship You for who You are and for all You have done unto us. You have been a good Father to us and we love and honor You. Dear Lord may You instill in us a deeper thirst for You that we may draw near to You always through prayer, reading Your word, and preaching it. May You guide us in all ways and bless us in every sphere. You are a good and wonderful God we adore You. May You increase our faith and help us to live according to Your will. May You heal our land and prosper our economy we humbly ask You. You are faithful Lord we honor You. We pray this in Jesus Mighty name. Amen
Further reading: 1 Corinthians 12:9
2 Corinthians 5:1 NKJV
“For we know that if our earthly house, this tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.”
INSIGHT
-As a tent is a flimsy abode, so our bodies are frail and vulnerable. God has prepared for us mansions in heaven not built by human hands, not yet seen but believed as eternal reality in Christ Jesus. Christ came as a High Priest of the good things to come, with the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not of this creation (Hebrews 9:11). We are therefore called to build up our hope in Him for we have an eternal inheritance in Him and through Him.
SUMMARY
The theme build expresses a dual reality of two diverse realms. The physical sense emanates the actual facts of how and where we live today. The Lord commanded from the beginning to the end that we should be be fruitful. John 15:5 reminds us that if we abide in Christ and He abides in us, then we can bear much fruit but apart from Him we can do nothing. Isaiah 65:21-24 discloses a realization of some of the blessings that come with fruitfulness saying that, we shall build houses and inhabit them; we shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit. We shall not build and another inhabit; and we shall not plant and another eat. The blessings of the Lord indeed makes one rich and adds no sorrow to it. We are called to let the Lord build our houses unless we build in vain (Psalms 127:1). The Lord also build His church upon the solid rock that is Jesus Christ. On the other hand, the spiritual realities enlighten us to build up our most holy faith in Christ Jesus through His Word and consistent prayer in the Holy Spirit (Jude 1:20). Further, that we should build up our home in God having been promised an eternal abode even as our bodies fade away.
PRAYER
Thank You God for Your promises upon us. Thank You God for the gift of eternal life, we hope and trust in You and Your word. We thank You for have kept us this far and hope that we will see You as You are dear Jesus at the last day. Thank You for the gift of eternal life. All our hope and trust is in You. We humbly ask You to forgive us all our trespasses and wash us with Your precious blood. We humbly implore You to heal our hearts, minds and bodies and transform us to be more like You, in Your nature of love. May You heal all those who are sick and suffering among us. May Your revival come and grant the gift of salvation unto all those who do not know You. May You release financial and economic breakthroughs among Your people and Your nation. May You release unto us all our pending payments and respond to our hearts desires dear Jesus. May You bless us in every sphere dear Lord Jesus. All glory, honor, power and blessings belong to You Lord now and forever. May You bless us and keep us Lord. May You make Your face shine upon us and be gracious to us. May You lift up Your countenance upon us and give us peace. Amen
Further reading: 2 Peter 1:12-15, John 14:2