In My Father’s House…

John 14:1-4  “Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me.  In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also. And you know the way where I am going.”

To borrow a title from an awesome song… “I Can Only Imagine”!

However… I do think we (the members of Jesus’ Club) have let our imaginations RUN WILD!

We imagine… that “Once Saved Always Saved” means we no longer have to observe and obey the rules of the house.

We imagine… that the house will bend to our wills in decor, behavior, and maintenance.

We imagine… that the Owner of the house is obligated to be at our beck and call no matter who, what, where, when, how, and why, we or the house, are in the situations we find ourselves in.

We imagine… that the love of the house, means NEVER having to say we are sorry nor denying ourselves to live any which way we desire to.

And worst of all… we imagine… we are RIGHT! So, we preach this gospel of our own imagination, changing it as necessary to polish our pots of gold and bling, so they will blind those who sit in our pews and eat from the cauldrons of rubbish.

When did things change so drastically?

When sin entered our garden!

When we fail(ed) to kill Satan (the snake) with the hammer of truth (God IS and He IS GOOD… all the time)!

When we decided that, WE DECIDE what God really means!

When we treat God the way we WOULD NEVER ALLOW ANYONE to treat us or those who love us.

Let me ask you…

If someone (even your most loved child) came into your house, threw huge parties for your known enemies, blasted the music of sin and debauchery, burned every book you owned on the subject of proper behavior, locked you in your room if you threatened to complain, and had no remorse for the damage and degradation that resulted…

Would you… smile and nod? Hug and kiss every attendee? Take the doors off the castle so everyone could come in? Become the Ringmaster of this circus?

If you would do any of these things, I KNOW FOR A FACT, it is not your house we are in.

I KNOW FOR A FACT, you would invite Satan into EVERY house but your own!

I KNOW FOR A FACT, YOUR house would remain completely untouched. Walled in, professionally guarded, taken care of by an army of hired workers who must possess the best record ever! And…

I KNOW FOR A FACT, you would do everything in your power to keep it that way, including turning your back on the the Way, the Truth and the Life!

In My Father’s House… there are rules… no COMMANDS!

Matthew 22:37 You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the great and foremost commandment. 

In My Father’s House… there are ways to live!

Luke 19:45-46 Jesus entered the temple and began to drive out those who were selling, saying to them, “It is written, ‘And My house shall be a house of prayer,’ but you have made it a robbers’ den.”

In My Father’s House… as His children, you represent the Owner of the house!

1 John 3:2-3 Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is. And everyone who has this hope fixed on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.

In My Father’s House… there is no condemnation… but there is the Spirit of God! For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, so that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
Romans 8:2-4 

If you are truly in My Father’s House… we will know you by your mind set!

Romans 8:5-8 For those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace, because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so, and those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

If you are a “robber” trying to steal God’s house, let me just say, it (stealing from God) WILL NOT be allowed while in His house!

If you are a child wanting to take your “inheritance” and run to play with the world, (Luke 15:11-24 *NOTE TO SELF* remember that the world will spend and give you nothing, while you dine on pig’s slop.) SQUANDERING God’s inheritance to us, WILL NOT be allowed while in His house. 17) But when he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired men have more than enough bread, but I am dying here with hunger! 18) I will get up and go to my father, and will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in your sight; 19) I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me as one of your hired men.”’

Squandering God’s inheritance won’t cost you what you deserve (excommunication/dismemberment) 20) So he got up and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion for him, and ran and embraced him and kissed him. 21) And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ 

It will cost “coming to your senses” and humbling yourself before the owner of the household.

Though you have none of the inheritance left to contribute to Your Father’s House… With God’s forgiveness, there will be new clothes, the family crest ring, shoes made for walking Gods land, fattened calfs for a feast beyond feasts. A celebration In The House! (Luke 15:22-23)

A celebration, not to condone or excuse a son’s (or daughter’s) worthless behavior… A celebration of RETURN to the Father’s House…

A celebration of a fallen child’s RESURRECTION!

Luke 15:24 for this son of mine was dead and has come to life again; he was lost and has been found.’ And they began to celebrate.

I do not believe God’s house nor His Kingdom is an OPEN BORDER to all beliefs, all behavior, all opinions, all methods of entering…  Jesus said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.
John 14:6 

I believe the only way to get to Our Father’s House is JESUS!

And I believe the only way to stay and live in the house is LOVE the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.

Deuteronomy 6:4 says it all… “Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord is one(YES, Israel is in the house too – not JUST our neighbor!)! 

If we dwell in THIS house of God… These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart. WE SHALL…teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up. WE SHALL… bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as frontals on your forehead. WE SHALL… write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. (Deuteronomy 6:6-9) 

If your house is In My Father’s house, where there are many dwelling places; where Jesus is preparing a place for you. And if Jesus is preparing a place for you, He will come again and receive you to Himself, that where He is, there we may be also…

In Our Father’s House!

**All Scripture quoted comes from the “Bible Gateway” app and is the NASB version of the Bible unless otherwise noted.