Big Plans

Text within this block will maintain its original spacing when publishedThank you for your prayers.

I had big plans.
I was going to get us an international headquarters.
And as I sat with the Lord,
to make sure I wasn't running ahead of God,
the Lord said,
"Go for it. I am with you."

Since "going for it,"
I have been through a series of
extremely painful experiences.

I had to choose between following Jesus and my family.
I lost my best friend.
I had to walk through a new layer of memories of childhood abuse.
The house I was pursuing fell through,
and the new owner said I could no longer stay there as a guest,
so I was again without an address in the US.
And most of this happened right before Easter.

And in every one of these hard moments,
I had forgive,
let go,
come back to God,
and trust.
There's that word again,
trust.

Remember,
we are walking by faith
because we are building in the Resurrection.
The Holy Spirit does not build like we do.
The Holy Spirit is not like the stock market.
The Holy Spirit prunes first and then brings the growth.
It hurts.

I have been through this before,
it's how I got to Boston,
and how I got to London.
And so I know that in the pruning,
and in the cutting,
the Lord is about to bring new growth.

In the Resurrection,
we are given the power to build
and create in the Power of the Holy Spirit.

This power to build and create comes through
pressing and squeezing to release the oil of anointing.

We are creating,
and we are re-forming into Belonging House International.
We are praying for the International Headquarters for Belonging House.
We are praying in a million sanctified, fearless artists and creative people.
We are praying in our international gathering October 10-12, 2025.
And we are asking the Holy Spirit
to manifest all the promises that God gave us.
Breathe into the clay,
and make a living being.

The Kingdom is always advancing,
never retreating.

God said
I could go ahead with my big plans,
even so,
I have to trust Him and do it His way.

I mentioned last week
the State of New Hampshire officially recognized
Belonging House International as a new non-profit.

This squeezing is bringing out the best in our community.
Listen to these thoughts from Elizabeth Averill:Text within this block will maintain its original spacing when publishedWe can now receive tax-exempt giving here.
https://www.zeffy.com/donation-form/raise-up-an-army-of-artists

God has big plans,
and this story is becoming epic.

He Never Fails,
Christ

Belonging House International is a community of artists and creative people called to build Jesus a throne in the earth. In other words, we make disciples who will disciple the nations in the world of creativity.

Christ John Otto writes long form essays at https://christjohnotto.substack.com

You can support us at buymeacoffee.com/christjohnotto

We have a community for those who have made the Belonging House Commitment on Mighty Network. https://belonging-house.mn.co