Building in the Spirit

On Sunday 20th November we, here at The Dream Centre, entered into an intense time of breakthrough worship, as we corporately together set out in pursuing Him who is all together lovely. Throughout the evening God spoke to us from 2 Kings 4:8-21, about the transition that the Shunammite woman made inside her own heart towards the man of God and the move of God, by opening up her home. Secondly, we saw from 1 John 1:1-4 how God would release to us, the people of The Dream Centre, four new dynamics as we close 2010 and enter 2011. 

The linking word spoken to us was from Song of Solomon 2:9-13:

Listen! My lover! Look! Here he comes, leaping across the mountains, bounding over the hills. My lover is like a gazelle or a young stag. Look! There he stands behind our wall, gazing through the windows, peering through the lattice. My lover spoke and said to me, “Arise, my darling, my beautiful one, and come with me.  See! The winter is past; the rains are over and gone.  Flowers appear on the earth; the season of singing has come, the cooing of doves is heard in our land. The fig tree forms its early fruit; the blossoming vines spread their fragrance. Arise, come, my darling; my beautiful one, come with me."

Insight To The Background

We have seen in the above text, thus far, the beginnings of a very free expression of love between a maiden and a man. The courtship has begun, and the desire for each other is intense. She, the lover (The Dream Centre), is weak with passion. It is at this point that the protagonist (the main character or hero in this scene) has appealed to the daughters of Jerusalem. She is concerned that the emotions of her and her lover are not taken beyond the proper pace of pure love. So, we now see the couple separated but longing for each other. Paraphrasing V9 a little here: ‘The Dream Centre, whilst locked into a time of intense worship, being situated in our home town of Droylsden, Manchester, saw her lover visit her. He appeared like a gazelle or a young stag, in that He had an intense energy and  a passionate desire to be with her and His people. He stands outside and calls for her to go out with Him into the region of Tameside and out into the nations of the world, in order for her to enjoy the beauty and understand the realisation that a new spring has dawned. ‘Winter is at an end!’ comes the call, for the rains that once swept people away have now passed, declares the Lover. 

There is a fresh cooing of the Holy Ghost heard in the land, for the Spirit of God cannot move until the word is declared. In Genesis chapter one, the Spirit of God was found waiting for God to speak before He could move across the face of the waters. Once God speaks ‘He’ - the Spirit - then moves to bring that which has been spoken from heaven and received on the earth to pass, for God is watching to see whether His word given to us, The Dream Centre, will be fulfilled. (Jeremiah 1:12).     

Practical Steps To Ensure That The Word Comes To Pass

From 2 Kings 4:8-21:

1. The Shunammite woman saw what God was doing outside of her own house, for God was moving beyond her.

2. The Shunammite woman made a conscious decision and became willing to extend her inward capacity, so that both the man of God and the move of God could be brought inside her own home.

3. She had to specifically learn how to connect with a new, fresh, source of power flow. Her old circuit board would need upgrading if she was to connect with this new power source, as the old circuit board is insufficient to hold the new power.

4. The Shunammite woman not only builds and makes room in her home, but urges the man of God to stay. She isn’t happy with a simple visitation but wants instead a holy habitation.

5. She isn’t only happy with what God is doing further afield, but pursues Him to come and stay so that she could be close to the move and the man in the move.   

6. When asked what she wanted she replied ‘I have a place amongst my own people’. She had found a place where she could build, live and express her love for God. So many people want the move but have never discovered their home or their people.

7. The woman, when asked what she wanted, was not found asking for personal pleasures, wants or even needs, despite teachings on prosperity. When God asks you ‘What you do you want?’ and your response is ‘To become like Solomon with a heart to guide, guard and govern the people and the move in the people’ then God can release to you the desires of your heart. (1 Kings 3:6-14)

8. Often what God releases to us, the enemy will then try to seek to kill, steal and destroy, as this is his nature. The Shunammite woman understood that when disaster comes you must learn to bring your inward spirit and focus to a place of peace. ‘Is your child alright?’ she was asked ‘Yes, everything is alright’ she said. (2 Kings 4:26)

9. The Shunammite woman laid her problems on the bed where the word and promise was first declared. The Shunammite woman knew her prophetic reference point and built from there.