Hi Brian!

This week I am not sharing a word, but an idea from a portion of Scripture. As I was praying and meditating about what to share this week, these verses kept coming up! Proverbs 24:3-4:

3 Through skillful and godly Wisdom is a house (a life, a home, a family) built, and by understanding it is established [on a sound and good foundation], 4 And by knowledge shall its chambers [of every area] be filled with all precious and pleasant riches.

I saw the pics of the progress on your family's new home! I LOVE how it looks so far! We are praying and agreeing with you all that everything will go smoothly and that it will turn out even better than you hoped for and be perfect for your 'growing up' family! That being said, this verse is speaking about what you and Kristine have already done in building your HOME! The verse above is not speaking of just the house, the building, but of the "life, home, and family" that you have built! "Built here is the Hebrew word "banah". Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew Lexicon says: to build, rebuild, establish, cause to continue. Vine's Expository Dictionary also says to construct, to found and to establish, but adds that building one's house also refers to having (and raising) children. The source of all of this wonderful building is the Wisdom of God! I love how the Amplified Bible (above) says "skillful and godly Wisdom". It is not enough to simply have knowledge, but to have godly Wisdom in how to carry it out, and to be able to be skillful at it! And this is equally important in building the house (structure), the home (the nurturing place of growth and development) and the family! And this Wisdom will also be necessary to fill this house, this home and these precious living temples of God with HIS precious and pleasant riches, all that He has provided for each one to be fully equipped to carry out His plans and purposes for them! You and Kristine have done so well at preparing, providing for and guiding those lovely and uniquely individual young ladies to become the women of God that they are destined to be! This new adventure will be another exciting chapter in your "Wonderful Life"! Here are the Hillsong Kids again with "This Is Living", because you are all living THAT life! HIS life!

Love and Shalom from the Swoveys! 

Hi Brian!

The word for this week is "masterbuilder". It's found only in 1 Corinthians 3:10-11:

10 According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise masterbuilder, I have laid the foundation, and another builds thereon. But let every man take heed how he builds thereupon. 11 For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. KJV

This is the Greek word "architekton". Obviously we get the word 'architect' from this! Strong's Concordance says: a chief constructor, i.e. architect. Thayer's Greek Lexicon says: a master-builder. architect, the superintendent in the erection of buildings! Vine's Expository Dictionary says: from arche, meaning rule,beginning and 'tekton', meaning an artificer'. JESUS is our Foundation and the ONE Who pours blessings into our lives! JESUS is not simply a 'builder', but a MASTER at building! That involves the 'idea' meditated on and then put into practice! JESUS has the Master Plan for all of our lives and WE must spend time in fellowship with Him in  order for Him to share His plans and purposes with us! THEN we, in the footsteps of OUR 'Masterbuilder', can continue to build on what God has done! The Masterbuilder is responsible for the PLAN and the MEANS to carry it out! I was thinking about this the other day in reference to your brand new home! You are your own first Masterbuilder, having the ideas of what you REALLY want in a home! Then you present those ideas to someone qualified to begin building! But your responsibility doesn't stop there! Now you must stay in contact with those doing the building to make sure that they continue to be focused on YOUR plans and purposes! The same is true of the seeds of the Word that we sow into the lives of others. The foundation should be the Word of  God and then we 'build' on that solid foundation by the words that we speak and the attitude that we have. Here is 1 Corinthians 3:10-11 in a couple other translations! 

10 According to the grace (the special endowment for my task) of God bestowed on me, like a skillful architect and master builder I laid [the] foundation, and now another [man] is building upon it. But let each [man] be careful how he builds upon it, 11 For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is [already] laid, which is Jesus Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One). AMP

10 Using the grace God gave me, I laid a foundation, like a skilled master-builder; and another man is building on it. But let each one be careful how he builds. 11 For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Yeshua the Messiah. CJB

According to the grace of God which was given to me, I as a skillful master builder laid a foundation, but another builds upon it. But let each one be taking heed how he builds upon it, for an alternative foundation no one is able to lay alongside of the one which is being laid, which foundation is a person, Jesus Christ. (from The New Testament: An Expanded Translation by Kenneth S. Wuest

Or, to put it another way, you are God's house. 10 Using the gift God gave me as a good architect, I designed blueprints; Apollos is putting up the walls. Let each carpenter who comes on the job take care to build on the foundation! 11 Remember, there is only one foundation, the one already laid: Jesus Christ. THE MESSAGE: 

10 God has given me unique gifts as a skilled master builder who lays a good foundation. Afterward another craftsman comes and builds on it. So builders beware! Let every builder do his work carefully, according to God’s standards. 11 For no one is empowered to lay an alternative foundation other than the good foundation that exists, which is Jesus Christ! 

I am excited for you all and your new home! I am also very excited about how God is going to bless you all abundantly in every area of life! I want to share a Hillsong Kids song again! Sometimes kids songs say it best! Here is "My Hallelujah":

Love and Shalom from the Swoveys!

Hi Brian!

I'm going to share another 'mystery' this week! This one involves the color purple! In fact, it's called "The Purple Mystery". 

The Teacher was holding a purple cloth and running it through his fingers as if inspecting it. He then placed it in my hands. 

"The color purple," he said. "It was woven throughout the Tabernacle, on the veils and curtains, even in the garments of the priests. Now look at the cloth I gave you. It's purple. It should be made up of purple threads but it's not. If you look closely, you won't find any."

So I examined it. And as he had said, I was unable to find in the cloth a single purple thread. Instead, it was made up of tiny blue and red threads finely woven together.

"Purple is the joining of blue and red. And if you looked at the veils of the Tabernacle, you would find the colors blue, purple, and red. The colors appear in the instructions for building the Tabernacle over and over, the same three colors and in the same order 'blue, purple, and scarlet.'"

"Why?"

"The Tent of Meeting was the place of the joining, the reconciliation, the meeting of two realities, God and man."

"And so the colors represented God and man?"

"Blue is the color of the sky, the heavens ... representing the heavenly, God. So the blue is first."

"And the color red ... scarlet?"

"In Hebrew, the word for man is adam. Adam comes from the Hebrew word for red. Red is the color of the Middle Eastern earth from which man came. And scarlet red is the symbol of sin and guilt. Red is the color of man ... So then what is purple? Purple is the joining of blue and red. And so it speaks of the joining of God to man, heaven joined to earth. But for there to be purple, it must be a total joining ... the joining of all that is holy to all that is not, all of God to all that is us ... to all that is you ... so totally joined that God will appear as sin. And as that total joining drew near, the Heavenly One was beaten and mocked and made to wear a crown of thorns ... And then He was covered with a robe. And do you know what kind of robe it was? It was a purple robe ... a purple robe to over the One in whom heaven and earth, God and man, blue and red ... become completely one ... purple."

The Mission: Today, join all that is red to all that is blue. Join all that is ungodly to God and God to the ungodly - so much so, it becomes purple.

I have always loved the color purple! Long before becoming a Vikings fan. This just makes that more special to me! There is so much symbolism in the Word of God that people are unaware of! When the soldiers dress JESUS in that purple robe, THEY thought they were mocking Him! In fact, they were showing forth exactly Who He was! He WAS and IS the KING of all kings! Royalty! But, more importantly for US, He was the complete joining of God and man! The PERFECT sacrifice! The PURPLE! OUR purple! I LOVE that! Here is an older song from Hillsong called "Saviour King":

Love and Shalom from the Swoveys!

Hi Brian! 

The word for this week is "roaring". It's found twice in the New Testament:

Luke 21:25 And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; 26 Men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken. KJV

1 Peter 5:8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walks about, seeking whom he may devour: 9 Whom resist steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world. KJV

These are two different Greek words. The one in Luke is "echos". Strong's Concordance says a loud, confused noise, i.e. roar. Also: a rumor. Thayer's Greek Lexicon says: 1. a sound/noise & 2. rumor/report. Jesus said this in answer to His disciples' questions about when the end times would be and what they would look like. With multiplied weather related disasters, forest fires, earthquakes, meteorites, there is a LOT of "roaring" going on! The elements are making themselves heard! Also, the rumors, fears, predictions and doomsday reports of those who do not know what the Word of God says are causing many people to lose heart and give up! Even many born again believers have lost hope because of this "roaring"! The word found in 1 Peter 5 is the Greek word "oruomai". Strong's Concordance says: middle voice of a primary verb. Thayer's Greek Lexicon says: to roar, to howl (of lion, wolf, dog and other beasts.) Vine's Expository Dictionary says: to howl or roar. It also says that this word is "onomatopoeic", [which the dictionary says means: the naming of a thing or action by a vocal imitation of the sound associated with it (such as buzz, hiss);  the process of creating a word that phonetically imitates, resembles, or suggests the sound that it describes.] and is used of a lion as a simile of satan. This "roaring" is not even real! The devil walks about AS a roaring lion! He is NOT a lion. He is a defeated foe. The best way to look at this one is when fear and worry try to come on you about situations, circumstances, tests, trials or any other 'trouble', picture the devil standing there saying 'roar', as IF that will scare you into quitting, giving up, running scared, or backing down from your faith confession! The very best way to deal with this impersonator (fake, fraud, liar) is to LAUGH! He will be demoralized and stop! Another good way is to praise and worship JESUS in the face of any and all opposition. Holy Spirit spoke to us on Friday night about getting more involved with 'warrior praise' and then we were shown this song by Bethel Music called "Raise A Hallelujah". A very good song to use today! 

The Love and Shalom from the Swoveys!