“For behold, I am commanding, And I shall shake and sift the house of Israel among all nations [and cause it to tremble] Like grain is shaken in a sieve [removing the chaff], But not a kernel [of the faithful remnant] shall fall to the ground and be lost [from My sight]…In that day I shall raise up and restore the fallen tabernacle (booth) of David, And wall up its breaches [in the city walls]; I will also raise up and restore its ruins And rebuild it as it was in the days of old.” Amos 9:9, 11 AMP
Friends,
I want to encourage you today. Though the world we live in seems to consistently stir the pot of fear and negativity, the Lord our God is moving. The people of God’s greatest days are just ahead.
Recently I was sitting with Jesus and I asked him what was on his heart. He said “REBUILD”.As I continued to listen attentively, I heard Him say:
“I’m coming for the hearts of my people. I desire mercy not sacrifice and I’m calling my beloveds into full communion with me on earth as it is in heaven.”
Full communion is moment by moment conversational prayer with the Lord like David had. (Isaiah 55:3) I believe the tabernacle Amos speaks of in the scripture above represents intimate relationship by communing with the heart of God through the Holy Spirit. Jesus desires this with you!
Returning to the Original Foundations
The Lord said to me:
“Ever since the early church absorbed into Roman culture under Constantine, traditions became more important to many than the original ways. I am bringing my church back into alignment with important principles established in the book of ACTS.”
He began to bring so many things to mind that he wants to restore back to his people…
- First love
- Repentance
- Awe and fear of the Lord
- Unity among believers
- Demonstration of the gospel through signs, wonders, and miracles
- Believers gathering in homes
- Teaching families together
- Expectation for angelic help
- Boldness and courage
- All were baptized in the Holy Spirit
The father has a heart to return to the foundations of family within the body. I could feel his heart as He told me:
“I am turning the hearts of the fathers to the children and children to the fathers. Family is a big deal to me. How can you say you love me when you can’t love your brother or sister? Family is also a big deal to the heart of the Father.”
The Lord is talking us back to our original foundations and that is KINGDOM FAMILY.
Rebuilding the Church
I heard the Lord say:
“Just as the people rebuilt the temple in Ezra’s day, so I am rebuilding My temple right now in my church. But this time it will not be a building made with human hands. Watch what I will do…”
Suddenly, in my mind I saw a yellow rolling desk chair with muddy water pouring onto it and splashing off. Then I heard Jesus say, “I am dismantling my church so that I can rebuild her. The church has been sitting down for a long time and many have become complacent, non-repentant, dirty, without fear of the Lord.” The chair in the vision symbolized sin, attention-seeking and self-glorification. The muddy water represents repentance from dead works. Dead works is any attempt to find favor, earn acceptance or be made righteous before God by one’s own effort, ability or willpower (Ephesians 2:8,9). Both sin and dead works are things that God wants removed from His Bride.
I felt the Lord’s heart for us to believe WHO WE ARE as sons and daughters and walk in the inheritance that He paid with his very life to give us. His blood was poured out to give us the gift of righteousness. The Lord went on to say:
“I want to cleanse my people. I want to cleanse them with the washing of the pure water of the word. To renew their minds with my truth by the Holy Spirit‘s leading. If my people will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways I will hear them and I will heal them. I am calling my bride by name. Come to me all you who are weary with burdens and with the weight of sin. Lay them down in repentance and I will give you rest”.
The Hebrew word for repentance is Teshuva, which also means “a returning“. God is not just calling us to repent; His is calling us home to be hidden in His heart.
A Holy Temple in the Lord
“Once my people RETURN to me, we will walk into the new season of the new wine skin.”
In my mind’s eye I saw myself standing in a large room. As I looked, I realized the walls of the building were made of pots of all different sizes, shapes, and colors. Then the Lord brought to mind 2 Corinthians 4:7 which reads:
“We now have this light shining in our hearts, but we ourselves are like fragile clay jars containing this great treasure. This makes it clear that our great power is from God, not from ourselves.” 2 Corinthians 4:7
We are the clay pots that hold the Spirit of the Living God. As followers of Jesus, we are being formed into the walls of the Living Sanctuary or Temple that God has told us about in his word. Then I heard the Lord say:
“My people will be rebuilt into a living sanctuary holy and pleasing to me moving together in unity with one mind and in one accord. Each will be a holy habitation of my Spirit. You in me and I in you, both of us being in the Father– a unified living temple of the Lord – a remnant people who carry the presence of the Lord everywhere they go because they are sold out, on-fire lovers of God.”
“Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.” Ephesians 2:19-22
The Lord continued to speak to me and He said:
“My people will no longer hide in a building. They are becoming the temple of God everywhere they walk. They will be living gateways – portals that my power will flow through to reach the lost. My victory is unstoppable and those who love me more than their own life will also be unstoppable. My angelic hosts are assembling. They are preparing for new assignments to partner with my remnant who fully surrender in the power of my Spirit. I am the commander of these heavenly hosts. Those who are with us are much greater than those that are against us. Rejoice! The King of Glory is the Lord of Victory (Psalm 24:9-10)!”
“Believe me for greater things (John 14:12). Miracles you’ve not seen and never even heard of. My wonders are limitless. Hold my hand… I invite you to step closer to me, my beautiful holy habitations. I will set your feet on a rock and hide you in the day of trouble. I am your Beloved and you are mine.”
If you are a believer in Jesus, He is talking to you. There is coming a great outpouring of the Spirit of God unlike the earth has ever experienced. Jesus wants to make your life his holy habitation… His dwelling place. UNION with him looks like intimate relationship: constant friendship chats, turning your thoughts affectionately toward him throughout the day, choosing to obey his voice instead of your flesh, and loving people everywhere you go in partnership with Him. In our humble surrender to his majesty, He empowers us to live naturally supernatural lives as we become His door to reach the lost, broken, and captive with His love and power!
For Christ,
♥️Ashley Edwards
Ashley Edwards is a wife, mother, the author of
The Voice of Truth: Hearing God's Voice and Encountering a Love that Changed Everything.
Ashley currently works as the Director of Local Ministries for Watermarked Ministries.