Are You Up Or Down, Pt 3a - No. 84

Colossians 2:6-7, “As ye therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him: rooted and built up in him, and established in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving.”

God does not want us to stay down at our lowly level. He wants to bring us up to His life-giving, liberating level. He wants to build us up in Him. He has also shown us how we can be built up.

By Rooting in the Word

Acts 20:32 tell us that His gracious words have the power to build us up. “I commend you to God, and to the Word of His grace that has power to build you up.” (TJB) We can’t grow unless we are strongly rooted in God’s truth.

By Praying in the Holy Ghost

Jude 20, “But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost.”
 

I know that you know these principles back to front. But there is no way around it. There is no other way to be built up in Christ, in our faith, and strengthened in our inner man than by immersing ourselves in the Word of God and in prayer.

As we are built up, we are then able to build others up. In fact, God has ordained us to be builders. He wants us to be builders of our homes. In Proverbs 14:1, the Word personally speaks to women when it says, “Every wise woman builds her house, but the foolish pulls it down with her hands.” 

What does God want us to build? He wants us to build our homes and our families. You will notice that it doesn’t say that we are to build our careers. If we are wise women, we will put all our effort into building a godly and stable home. Our greatest vision in life will be to build up our marriage and family. We need to get a building mentality. Every time we open our mouths, we should speak words that build up. Every plan we make for the day should be for the purpose of adding to the building program of our home.

The Hebrew word for ‘build’ in Proverbs 14:1 is the Hebrew word, “banah”. There are three aspects to the full understanding of this word.

1.    To make, to set up surely, to build. When a builder builds a structure, we watch it grow before our eyes. If it is your own house that is being built, you excitedly inspect each new development. Building is hard work, but it is creative and stimulating. Building a family is hard work but we will be blessed with the fruit of our labors. And there is no limit to the creativity. We can fulfill every dream and gifting that God has invested in us in the great vision of building our family.

2.    To repair. This is a very important part of building. All buildings break down and decay. If we do not continually fix and repair, the building will eventually fall down. It is the same with our marriage and family life relationships. We must continually repair with transparency, forgiveness, encouragement and love. The homebuilder knows that “Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up.” (1 Corinthians 8:1)

3.    To obtain children or bring about an increase in offspring. This is an unexpected meaning, but very much part of the word. Read Deuteronomy 25:7-9, Ruth 4:11 and Psalm 127:1 as examples of “banah” being used in this context. Every new child that is received into the family builds the family and makes it grow. The amazing thing is that each new child that comes into the family is not limited to one only. That child will one day have children and his or her children will have children. Each child builds a whole dynasty. In fact, the meaning of the most common Hebrew word for children, “ben”, means “the builder of the family name.” Every new child helps to build and expand the family, not only in this generation but also in generations to come.

Love from NANCY CAMPBELL

 

PRAYER:

“Oh God, you have shown me clearly that you have purposed for me to be a builder. Please give me a building attitude. Help me to daily build my home by my words and my actions. Save me from speaking destructive words. Save me from making decisions that limit or destroy that great building vision you have for our family. Amen.”

AFFIRMATION: