God longs to dwell in the midst of a people that are wholly His. His prescription for that is a way of life that creates a context that is most conducive for His abiding. 

In this session, Michael shares from Acts 2:37-47 and Acts 13:1-3 on 9 key components for a living habitation. 

A habitat is the natural environment of an organism; the place that is natural for the life and growth of an organism. It is the place where a person or thing is usually found. 

God desires a habitat for Him to walk in the cool of the day among a people that are His. 

God has promised Jesus a people conformed to His image. Together, they will be the Bride of Christ. This Bride, the Church, will be a people from every tribe, nation, and tongue, across every generation of human history. This people, His comparable companion, will be His inheritance. 

In this session, Michael shares on the importance of God getting what He is after from the people that have been purchased with the blood of His Son. 

God is after a “what,”— a people conformed to the image of His Son. But, there is also a “way” that He is going to get that, and something that we can do about it to invest into what Jesus has been promised. 

With an emphasis on Numbers 9, Ephesians 1-4, and John 17, Michael shares on how you can make an investment into the inheritance of Jesus in a practical way. 

The Church is a people that have been purchased with the blood of God’s Son— Jesus Christ. They are a people redeemed from the influence of rulers and powers, and the corruption of the domain of darkness. They have been born again, now housing a divine life— The Holy Spirit— who is radically and dynamically working within them to align them to God in an intimate way, and to His purposes in an ongoing way. The church is a family of new creatures. 

In this session, Michael considers God’s desire to have a people He can share Himself with and the lengths that He goes to in order to reveal the habitat that is most conducive to fulfill that desire. Context matters. And there is a context most conducive to God having a resting place, a habitation, for Him to walk in the cool of the day amongst His people. 

God longs to tabernacle with us; He wants to do life with us. 

With an emphasis on Leviticus, Michael shares the heart of an ongoing way of life together that provides God with the environment, the habitat, for God to abide.

The Scriptures are filled with story after story of people in impossible situations who put their trust in the Living God. From Abraham having a name that did not fit his natural circumstances to Rahab being remembered for the faith, she showed in one moment. We see the hope they had that God could completely change their situation in his perfect timing. 

Prayer that moves mountains because with a heart of integrity before God and before one another. 

Bob lays out several points as a progression in prayer that will help the people of God to become a house of prayer as God desires. 

Prayer is—

Digging

We will need to be a powerful people in prayer if we are to become a people who do powerful works of God. 

All powerful work for God is first preceded by powerful and prophetic prayer. 

We must become a Spirit people who are gripped with a revelation that Jesus is returning. At times it is easy to lose sight of the way we live our lives on the earth today will have an impact in eternity. 

In Acts 1, just before Jesus’ ascension, He commands the disciples to wait in Jerusalem for the baptism of the Spirit. He ascended, and while they were gazing into the sky, two men appeared and told them, the same way you saw Him leave, He will one day return.

The power of the Holy Spirit and the reality of His soon-coming return to reign on the earth should shape our lives practically. The Spirit helps us to live like Jesus and lay down our lives to be His witnesses on earth.

We live in a day and age that constantly bombards us with self-help motivational quotes, steps to reaching your destiny, or some magic recipe to improve yourself. As we work to be a people that Jesus desires in our city, we are trying to remain faithful to the Scriptures. 

Jesus says anyone that wants to follow him must first deny themselves, pick up their cross and then follow up. This is the only method proven to produce a people filled with God and therefore find their destiny in Him. 

There are no other means that God has ordained to get the people he desires. A people who embrace the cross. A people of character, integrity, and supernatural power. We learn to let Jesus take his rightful place as Lord and King of our lives by denying ourselves and carrying our cross. 

The Father is readying a people for Jesus that have been conformed to His image. A people that have been wildly possessed by the Holy Spirit and have been empowered by grace to become lovingly subject to the leadership of Jesus in every possible way. 

There are 2 areas where the Spirit is creating an emphasis for us in this season as we desire to be a Jesus People— a people who are fully His and have been conformed to His image. 

Authenticity— living in the reality of a transformed nature fueled and governed by Divine life; The Spirits work within us to conquer every attempt for us to live in response to what is happening to me instead of in response to what God is doing in me.

Subjectivity— living in subjection to the word of God. Not just loving the Bible but living the Bible, consistently through sorrow and celebration, trials and triumphs, worries and wonders. The hammer, which is the word of God, and the chisel, which is life circumstance, working together to conform me to the image of the One who is the Word made flesh. 

For our Resurrection Sunday gathering Michael Dow shared a word with us from John 18-19. 

"There is a Barabbas that lives on the inside of each of us."

"The crowd put pressure on Pilate to free Barabbas externally; Jesus was crucified and laid down His life to set Barabbas free internally."

"'Bar-Abba' means Son of the Father. They shouted, 'Give us Barabbas,' because they better identified with him. The murderer filled with brokenness, pain, weakness, insecurity, corruption. Humanity has always been confronted by what it sees in God and has desired to make Him more like them so they can feel better about the things that need to be changed."

Take a listen, enjoy!