Thread by @GbengaWemimo

How do you think Obed Edom felt when King David insisted on moving the Ark of the covenant out of his house to a central place where it would benefit the whole of Israel?
How do you think the people around Obed Edom felt?
What do you think Obed Edom's wife and children said to

their father
If you were Obed Edom, how would you feel?
You were born without much in terms of money and property
Your family house was located in Jabesh Gilead (The outskirts of Israel sharing boundaries with the land of the Philistines
The Ark came to you by sheer happenstance

It was captured in battle by the Philistines and taken to their land
The Philistines placed the Ark in the House of dagon, their god
The Ark visited the land of the Philistines with great wrath and vengeance
The Ark also broke dagon to pieces
The philistines went to consult the

their elders to know what the cause of the plague visiting their land was
Everything pointed at the Ark
The Philistines placed the Ark on a cart driven by a cow that just delivered new babies
The instinct of a mother was to feed her children after giving birth to them
The breast

becomes heavy with milk and this is often very uncomfortable for the mother if the calves don't suckle
The cattle didn't think of the young ones
Without a guide, it moved the Ark straight to Israel as if controlled by a GPS
The Israelites saw it and were excited
Arrangements were

made to move it back to the temple in Shiloh
While the Philistines can be pardoned for their ignorance in how they handled the Ark, God expected better from the Israelites
The Ark was their inheritance, their piece of Heaven on earth and they were given adequate instructions on

how to handle it
The inevitable happened
The Ox pulling the cart upon which the Ark sat stumbled
The ark almost fell off the cart
Uzzah instinctively reached out to steady the Ark and he was struck dead for his irreverence
Just like that!
David realised God was unhappy with them

He decided they must wait and see why
This was how the Ark ended up in the House of Obed Edom
The Ark had visited the philistines with vengeance and struck Uzzah dead but in the House of Obed Edom it commanded great wealth for his host
Within three months, Obed Edom became very

wealthy
When the news got to David, he didn't say "It seemed the Ark is being well cared for by Obed Edom, let us convert his house to the temple and leave the Ark with him"
Obed Edom took all the risk, brought a strange presence into his house and exposed his family to its power

They could have taken one wrong step and died for it
He bore all the risk and yet, King David made preparations to move the Ark away from his house in a jiffy
If you are in Obed Edom's shoes, how would you feel?
In the book of Judges 17, a young Levite named Micah stole eleven

hundred shekels from his mother
His mother was very distraught by the loss and cursed whoever stole the money
Micah repented and restored the money to his mother
His mother decided the money would be dedicated to God
She added 900 shekels to the eleven hundred that was stolen and

gave it to the blacksmith to make an idol for her
This idol and others were placed in Micah's care
Michah consecrated one of his sons and made him a priest to care for these idols
A young priest from Bethlehemjudah came traveled down to Michah's house and Michah made him his

household priest
A few years later the tribe of Dan discovered that Michah had a household full of idols which has its own dedicated priest
They couldn't believe it
How can one man keep God to himself without sharing?
The children of Dan took all the idols and the priest away

from Michah
Michah protested and the children of Dan told him they would kill him if he does not shut up and walk away
Michah saw that they were too strong for him and he left them alone
Jesus told the disciples to stay in Jerusalem until the Holy Ghost was given to them but he

also instructed that they should spread to Judea and Samaria and all over the world
It started as Jesus told them it would on the day of Pentecost
They received power but they stayed put in Jerusalem because Jerusalem was their comfort zone
Just as it happened with Obed Edom and

Michah, what was meant for the whole world cannot be kept in a household or in a tribe
As a young minister of the gospel, I worked with a pastor who tacitly discouraged church growth
She insisted she didn't want a crowd
She wanted the church to be like a family church
She would

discourage evangelism but encourage events within the church members so that church members could bond
One day I saw a vision, candlelight was burning in a small room, suddenly the light started shining brighter and brighter until it overwhelmed the room and i couldn't see the

room again
I went to the pastor and told her that the Holy Spirit is not meant to be an idol worshipped by a few
His light was meant to shine through us to the whole world
If indeed you have the power of the Holy Spirit, you cannot and will not want to keep him like a household

idol
Religion would encourage that but the Holy Spirit is not to be domesticated
Perhaps i was too young and didn't use the right words, the pastor dismissed my words
Within three months the church she kept as a family church scattered
Members suddenly became discontented and

they started leaving one by one
A few months later, this pastor was withdrawn and another pastor was sent to the church
The new pastor understood what had to be done and the church grew
"In the city of Ephesus, so mightily grew the WORD of God and it prevailed - Acts 19:20
Where

the word of God and the Holy Spirit are the driving force of a ministry or a church, growth is evident
The prophet told the widow to borrow many vessels for the oil to pour into
It is never about the size of the oil, it is always about the availability of the vessels to pour the

oil in
The moment the widow's son said "There are no more vessels" the oil stopped flowing
A wise minister of the gospel does not say enough when it comes to the move of the Holy Spirit & the opportunity to win souls and birth fellowships
You must never settle
You must make room

Unwise people will say "Why is that G.O building a bigger auditorium, why is that church building a bigger space, where will they get people to fill the space. The money should have been given to the poor, why are they not contented..."
The wise will say "Enlarge, expand, grow!"

Imagine Apostle Paul stopping at Rome, or Ephesus, or Laodicea, or Corinth or Macedonia or Berea
Imagine the preachers of the gospel stopping just before they got to you
We must continue to break fallow grounds, enlarge the place of our tents, make more room for the Holy Spirit

to express his love and stay in fellowship with His people.
The Holy Spirit has never said Enough since the day of Pentecost, He continues to marshall and prepare the church and He will do this until Jesus returns.
Work with Him, not with sentiments
Remember...It is not about YOU

@threadreaderapp compile

Make Room gbengawemimo.com/post/make-room
If indeed you have the power of the
Holy Spirit, you cannot and will not
want to keep him as a household
idol
Religion would encourage that but
the Holy Spirit is not to be
domesticated