Not under my Roof

Good morning, everyone. Welcome to "Try Jesus!" If this is your first time joining us, it’s great to have you with us. I would like to thank all the new members for joining "Try Jesus."

I would also like to welcome those in Florida, Oklahoma, Idaho, Colorado, California, North Dakota, and New York. It is a pleasure to have you with us today. The Lord continues to expand his word!

"I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the LORD."  (Psalm 122:1 KJV). The Lord is indescribable and uncontainable. We gather to seek him above all today. He is an amazing God!

Our Lord continues to pave the way for the righteous. Authentic born-again believers shall not be moved from his mighty guiding hand! The Lord is our rock and our salvation this morning! He is our defense against ungodliness.

I would like to give praise and all glory to the Lord this morning and not man for all "Try Jesus" members who have been draw closer to hearing God's voice since last week. The Spirit of God helps our spiritual ears to be sensitive to his voice.

I pray that many of you are hungering for more of God and spending time with him before you start your day. The Holy Spirit will anoint your hearing to distinguish God's voice from the world's and Satan's destructive voices.

Please continue to invite God in your everyday plans. He loves the whole you more than you'll ever know. Let's welcome his voice and presence this morning. Our God is an amazing Savior through his Son, Jesus!

"Heavenly Father, we bless your name and give glory that is due to you alone. We thank you for watching over us and meeting our every need. You are our all-sufficient Savior! We never have to go outside of you for life's fulfillment.

We continue to thank you, Lord, for using last week’s snow and cold to bring caring hearts to help those who are in need of assistance. Your love consistently shows up when the struggles of life affect us.

Father, I pray that you would again this morning shine your light and warmth with the loving kindness that draws those from the darkness of social media traps, snares, and pitfalls. Strengthen your church to reach the lost.

As it was last week Lord, there are still more hurting people searching for the meaning of life and looking for peace. Please strengthen the body of believers this morning to shine with your living word for all the brokenhearted to hear.

Lord, I want to thank you for shining your light and bringing relief to our children and underage teens who have been indoctrinated and manipulated to undergo unnecessary surgeries to remove their body parts.

Jesus, your wisdom has already let us adults know that if their minds are not fully developed until after the age of 21, how can they be mature enough to make irreversible changes to their bodies. Thank you for bringing truth.

Thank you that damages were awarded to that young woman who was only fifteen years old. May more lawsuits put an end to those operating on your chosen choice of gender for each child. Only your love and power help our kids.

May today's message bring many households to the truth that without you the house will never stand but continue to be spiritually gutted out by Satan's life destroying tactics. Lord, may your word reach broken hearts today, Amen."

How many of you have ever walked along in your home and felt a drip on your head? Your first response is to look up, right? Then another drop hits your face. Now things are really getting your attention. You start to investigate.

You might not feel a drop of water on your head as you would your face. Regardless, you begin to search where the problem might be coming from. You begin to hope that the problem is not serious. After all, it's your home, right?

You try your best to keep it in tip-top living condition. We all know owning a home takes everyday examining inspections. Your basic home maintenance schedule might look something like this.

On a monthly basis, you might check your smoke or CO detectors, HVAC filters, and plumbing associated with your pipes and water heater for leaks. Seasonally, you might have your gutters inspected, and service your HVAC.

You might also check your doors and windows for drafts. Annually, you might keep a home schedule to drain the water heater, inspect the foundation, clean dryer vents, and check for pests. Oh, those uninvited pests, "yuk!"

I know many people who hate insects and all kinds of bugs invading their living quarters. Especially in your bedroom when you may be sleeping, right? Even if you grew up living in a big beautiful expensive home, those bugs still find a way to get in.

Obviously, I purposely left one structural piece off the above list, the roof. Why? Keep reading. We know the foundation is key to every home because of the weight it has to support. It's what the rest of the skeleton frame sits on.

The roof is like the icing on your child's birthday cake. Because it provides safety from all the elements that come from above. Have you ever seen a house collapse? It is a terrible ordeal to look at. Especially those who own the property.

Some of those million-dollar homes in California are built on ground foundations that experience mud slides from torrential rainstorms. It's as if those homes are built on rolling logs. Why build it on shaky foundations?

So, every skeletal part of the home serves a purpose. The highest point of your home is the roof. When something goes wrong up there, it can affect everything on the inside. I remember a church that had a leaking issue.

They patched. They sealed. They repaired, but later, they but later they still had a leak. They eventually had to do what many homeowners will try to avoid, replace the roof. It can be an incredibly frustrating problem.

Why? Because leaks can sometimes appear inside the church or home far away from where the actual leak might be on the roof. I wonder how many of us here have gone through the exact same situation?

For all homeowners and every roof you stand under, it symbolizes something different that could be going on inside. Ever see contractor work that build homes in a neighborhood that all look alike?

But what causes them to appear slightly different is what goes on inside the structure. And yes, even what might appear outside from those who choose to alter a few things. This places many homes in a place of high visibility.

As we move into the spiritual context of today's message, we've all heard the phrase, the family that prays together, stays together. Why is that such a bonding statement that keeps the whole home standing strong and erect?

Prayer and spiritual introspection in the home, inside and out, represent the most inner part of every home. It represents the highest thoughts and affections towards our wonderful creator. Our homes can be a place of meditation.

They can also be a place of refuge and public declaration of the one who has the strongest foundation we build our spiritual lives on. And even though the roof may not be the place we desire to spend our time, we see it used in scripture.

Most of us don't want to spend our time on the roof. Especially those who are afraid of heights. We don't want to live like Snoopy does on his house. (Smile). But the Bible gives explanation to how roofs were used back them.

Some of you may own or know someone who has a flat roof with maybe a beautiful deck on top of it. Before we look back in the Old Testament at how they used their roofs, let's quickly look at how Peter approached it.

It began in Acts chapter 10 with a man named Cornelius. Please read the first two verses aloud into your spirit, family, or study group. It pleases the Lord when we read his own words back to him. (2 Peter 1:20-21; 2 Timothy 3:16).

1} "There was a certain man in Caesarea called Cornelius, a centurion of the band called the Italian band, 2} A devout man, and one that feared God with all his house, which gave much alms to the people, and prayed to God alway." (Acts 10:1-2 KJV).

(Please read also verses 3-8). From here, we see Peter going to pray. "On the morrow, as they went on their journey, and drew nigh unto the city, Peter went up upon the housetop to pray about the sixth hour: (Acts 10:9 KJV).

You see beloved, roof tops served a great purpose in biblical times. It was customary for eastern houses to have flat roofs with outside stairways. The roof was used as a convenient place for relaxation, privacy, and prayer.

The roof can be related to the head of responsibility inside the home. It can also be a place of solitude, refuge, and separation. For many spouses that engage in contentious verbal communication, moving to higher ground can ease tension.

Husband's pray when reading these verses. (Smile). "It is better to dwell in a corner of the housetop, than with a brawling woman in a wide house." (Proverbs 21:9 KJV).

"It is better to dwell in the corner of the housetop, than with a brawling woman and in a wide house." (Proverbs 25:24 KJV).

The roof can help until cooler heads prevail. Then spouses can come back together with empty rage. (Ephesians 4:26-27; 1 Corinthians 7:3-4). Now that you husbands are off the roof top, let's look at safety and responsibility. Smile.

In the Old Testament, roof tops were used to demonstrate safety and carried great responsibility. The Israelites were instructed to build a battlement wall around the flat roof to keep anyone on the roof from falling off.

"When thou buildest a new house, then thou shalt make a battlement for thy roof, that thou bring not blood upon thine house, if any man fall from thence. (Deuteronomy 22:8 KJV)."

This kind of safety and responsibility helped Israel keep its people safe. God appoints watchmen as spiritual guardians to pray and remain vigilant day and night, specifically overseeing the city by putting watchmen in towers.

You can read about these amazing efforts Israel showed by stationing guards against danger, sounding alarms, and watching for messengers. (Isaiah 62:6-10; 2 Kings 9:17; Ezekiel 3:17; 33:6; Nehemiah 4:13).

Here's what happens when God's presence is represented not only from the rooftop of your home, but the whole foundation, physically and spiritually is protected when God's presence is in your home.

How many of you pray over your home? How many of you welcome God's holy waring angels over your home? These days security is paramount for every home. I recall recently a Christian left his home unlock with the door open.

He was in the garage preoccupied with something important and needed to go to the marketplace. He was rushing to his car and left the front door open and unlocked. Upon arriving home, he walked gingerly up to the front door.

Once he noticed it was open he thought someone might have broken into his home. He then remembered he left in a hurry and forgot to lock the door. He was still cautious as he searched outside and inside for intruders.

He then began to praise God for being the supreme watchman over his property. God indeed is our strong tower, the righteous run into it and are saved. (Psalm 61:3; Proverbs 18:10). God takes care of the righteous.

Here are some other passages you can read in your quiet time of meditation and prayer. Notice the fire symbols surrounding these examples of God's blessings of those who trust in his provisions.

Pray them into your spirit with the fire of God’s Holy Spirit. May they be planted in the soil of your heart. 🔥 Genesis 39:2-5; Joshua 2:1-13; 24:15; 2 Samuel 6:12, 16-23; 1 Chronicles 13:13,14; Nehemiah 8:14-18; Deuteronomy 11:19-27;🔥

1} "I will sing of mercy and judgment: unto thee, O LORD, will I sing. 2} I will behave myself wisely in a perfect way. O when wilt thou come unto me? I will walk within my house with a perfect heart." (Psalm 101:1-2 KJV).

"Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the LORD keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain." (Psalm 127:1 KJV).

"The curse of the LORD is in the house of the wicked: but he blesseth the habitation of the just." (Proverbs 3:33 KJV). Here's more Wisdom. Proverbs 14:1, 11; 15:6; 24:3-4; 31:27).

[Families establish homes and sentries guard cities, but both these activities prove futile unless God is behind them. A family without God can never experience the spiritual bond God brings to relationships.]

Things that go on and under roofs can also bring swift judgement. The Bible tells us that those things done in the dark can exposed by light. (Isaiah 29:15-16; Luke 8:17; 12:2-3).

Because God is holy, he will expose hidden acts of idolatry. The roof and everything under the roof the eyes of God sees. If Adam and Eve could not hide, why do you think we can?

Many of you have boundaries set inside and outside your home. Especially those with children. The roof represents a boundary, separating the private, inner life of the home from the public and the external world. (Satan's outside forces).

Just a few examples of horrible circumstances. (Judges 16:23-30; 2 Samuel 11:2-27; 18:24-33; Genesis 19:1-11; Jeremiah 19:11-15). Some cities and states represent negative nicknames of how they conduct itself.

The word "roof" in the Hebrew language is (gâg). It is a roof; by analogy the top of an altar. It is the top