Building God’s House together in Aotearoa
Participating in Aotearoa’s Prophetic Story: Building God’s House Together
What I’m about to share is not easy to say—and it wasn’t easy to hear either. At the beginning of 2025, I sensed the Holy Spirit highlighting Haggai chapter 1 to me. It came like a quiet but firm nudge, one I wanted to dismiss but couldn’t shake. The message was sobering, and honestly, it stirred discomfort before it stirred hope.
In Haggai, the people of God were pouring their energy into building their own houses while leaving the house of the Lord in disrepair. And the result? Despite all their work, they were left with lack. They sowed much but harvested little. They earned wages, only to see them vanish.
As I sat with this, the Holy Spirit began to speak—not just about ancient Israel, but about us here in Aotearoa. He brought application after application: about our attitudes to money and material things, the consumer-driven culture we live in, our obsession with image, comparison, and having more. We can become so focused on building our lives outwardly—more stuff, more comfort, more status—that we neglect our inner lives with God. We end up spiritually thin, even while we appear materially rich. And all of this affects not just individuals, but the tone of our society, our churches, even our nation.
I sensed both inspiration and challenge. The inspiration came with a sense of hope, promise, and God’s deep love for our land and people. The challenge came with an invitation to discern our foundations as we seek to “build God's house.” An invitation to a time for Holy Spirit inspired reflection—are we building with the right spirit, on the right foundation?
Be Encouraged.
I also sensed God's love and care for faithful church leaders who are diligently serving across Aotearoa. Many are quietly working away, investing their all, seeking to honour God and serve people well. They have weathered waves of societal critique, media headlines about toxic church culture, and leadership failures. These pressures, though often external, have subtly affected the confidence of some to clearly call people into the house of the Lord—to belong to the family of God and to build together in the Spirit, contributing their time, talents, and treasure.
Some of this hesitation stems from compassion. They see how stretched and burdened their congregations are—overwhelmed by work, struggling under financial strain, or carrying personal and emotional weights. These leaders don’t want to add pressure. Yet I sensed the Lord wants to refresh them with a revelation: that calling people to belong and to build in God’s house is not an extra burden—it is a life-giving gift. When it rises from the right Spirit and foundation, belonging and building will bless lives, families, and communities. God is encouraging leaders to be both bold and loving, to keep serving and speaking, articulating and embodying the heart of the Gospel and the ministry of reconciliation, which brings all things together in wholeness and peace.
Various Applications.
There have been a number of applications that have emerged through the inspiration from Haggai. Some of it applies to us, the church, to us as individuals, and some specifically to our national story and where we are right now as a country. We need to understand where we are and when we are. God has been actively unfolding his redemptive plans in the nations since the beginning. In Aotearoa NZ, we are joining a sacred story that is already underway, and we are invited to join in.
God’s house is not about buildings—although buildings do have a part to play in serving the expression and purpose of God’s house. It’s about heaven and earth connecting. God’s dwelling place here with us and among us. About hosting and honouring his Presence, expressing and embodying his nature, his word, and his ways, and about the fulfilment of his prophetic promise: “Behold the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God.” – Revelation 21:3.
As we understand God’s promise and provision in heaven and build according to that blueprint, we participate in the heaven-on-earth action of the Kingdom. However, if we build on faulty foundations, what we produce will also be faulty. Even when the outward form may appear spiritual or religious, the fruit can reveal something different. Where mixed messages and wounded histories remain unaddressed, the house that rises will inevitably be “off”—tilted by the weight of what’s been overlooked or left unresolved, or by values that don’t arise from the Kingdom of heaven.
Even those who join the work later—well-meaning and unaware of the history—will still be shaped by the resulting spiritual atmosphere. None of us are neutral; we are all influenced, consciously or unconsciously, by the spirit of the age, worldviews and values, unresolved pain and history, and the unseen forces that war against the clarity and purity of the Spirit of God. That’s why discernment, humility, and repentance are so vital. If we are to truly build the house of the Lord in Aotearoa, it must reflect his Kingdom.
This is true for individual lives, families, communities, churches, and even nations. There’s a connection with our lives in Aotearoa right now. With our economy. With our church culture. With our race relations and the tensions surrounding Te Tiriti o Waitangi. When a society is structured to maintain the prosperity of some through the historic robbery of others, everyone suffers. The land itself groans. None of us prosper the way we’re meant to. But please, I want to say: this is not about shame, blame, or a political agenda. This is a spiritual invitation.
Discern the Redemptive Thread.
The Gospel doesn’t erase history—it speaks into it redemptively. It lifts every people group, calling us higher. One day, Scripture says, every tribe, tongue, and nation will bring their unique glory into the New Jerusalem. Our crowns, our stories, our languages, our honour—all surrendered in worship. That includes Māori, Pākehā, Pasifika, Asian, African—everyone who now calls this land home.
Te Tiriti o Waitangi, though broken, still holds prophetic weight. Seen through Kingdom eyes, it becomes a picture of covenant—a human reflection of the greater reconciliation God achieved through Christ. Just as Jesus reconciled God and humanity, Te Tiriti invites two peoples to walk together in partnership, honour, and shared belonging. And in God’s redemptive story, there’s always room for restoration.
The challenge is real—but so is the invitation.
God is again saying, “Build my house.” A house of Presence and prayer. A house of healing and hope. A house where the Spirit moves freely, where wrongs are acknowledged and grace flows like water, and where the whānau of God live with humility and honour, self-giving love and authority. This applies to each of us (our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit), and to all of us (the Body of Christ).
Kingdom ministry in Aotearoa hopefully carries this tone. Not strident or partisan, but deeply anchored in love and truth. We’re not just living in a nation—we’re participating in a divine story unfolding here and now. And in that story, justice and mercy walk hand in hand. Wounds are named, but they’re also healed. People are restored, not cancelled. Foundations are rebuilt, not ignored. Prophetic promise is proclaimed and walked out together.
House of Healing and Hope
As we consider what it means to build God’s house in Aotearoa let’s be willing to confront the uncomfortable truths that hinder this work. One of these truths is the temptation to offer superficial comfort rather than authentic healing. The prophet Jeremiah’s words still echo with prophetic urgency:
"They have healed the wound of my people lightly, saying, ‘Peace, peace,’ when there is no peace." (Jeremiah 6:14)
This is a sobering challenge for our time. God’s priority is not appearances, nor ministry that minimises or masks the pain of people and whenua with positivity. Building God’s house in Aotearoa must involve creating spaces where deep healing happens—not just at the surface level, but at the level of whakapapa, identity, and cellular memory.
The Gospel is not weak. It is not a coping strategy or a vague comfort. It is wisdom and power to bring life where there was death, wholeness where there was fragmentation. When the house of the Lord is truly being built among us, it becomes a wāhi tapu (sacred space) where trauma is not avoided but met with grace, where inherited pain is not silenced but healed, where what has been done to us and what we have done to others can be brought into the light and redeemed.
This is the kind of transformation God offers—healing to the uttermost (Hebrews 7:25). The love of Christ can reach into the deepest parts of the human soul and body. The Spirit can unlock trauma stored in our bodies and even in our whakapapa, and bring healing not just emotionally or spiritually, but at the deepest level of our being. His power can touch us even at the cellular level, bringing regeneration where generational pain has marked our lives.
In recent weeks, I had a lovely encounter with the Lord where I saw the wisdom of heaven coming down over the earth, over the church, pulsing with power and light, clothing us, carrying divine solutions to heal and restore all manner or wounds and solve all kinds of problems. And I sensed such an encouragement in the Spirit to expectantly lean in for fresh revelation, wisdom, strategies, and grace to faithfully steward and minister God’s healing wisdom and power.
Christians in Aotearoa are invited into this sacred ministry—not as professionals dispensing bandaids, but as hosts of God’s presence, carriers of His mercy and wisdom. Our churches can become places where real solutions are found, where family lines experience the justice and restoration of heaven, where the house of the Lord is known as a house of prayer, presence, healing, hope and purpose. Where divine solutions for the world are found.
This is not the easy road but it is the good road. It requires courage, humility, and a willingness to move beyond shallow comforts to the costly work of love.
Who’s in?
“Build My House” – A Prophetic Invitation to Aotearoa in 2025 - Jill Smith
“The glory of this present house will be greater than the glory of the former house,” says the Lord Almighty. “And in this place I will grant peace,” declares the Lord Almighty.” — Haggai 2:9
As we navigate our way through the life and times of Aotearoa in 2025, it’s becoming unmistakably clear: God is highlighting relationships. Not just as a good idea or helpful value, but as central to His Kingdom purposes. Relationships are not peripheral — they are always at the very heart of who God is and what He is doing.
From the loving communion within the Trinity — Father, Son, and Holy Spirit — to the reconciling mission of the Gospel, God reveals Himself through relationship. The ministry of reconciliation (2 Corinthians 5:18) is not an optional extra; it is the very heartbeat of His redemptive story.
A Call to Genuine Reconciliation
God is speaking again — clearly, lovingly, prophetically — to us, the people of Aotearoa.
God is always actively unfolding and inviting us to participate in his ministry of reconciliation. He is reconciling heaven and earth, God and mankind, men and women, families, children and parents, Māori and Pākehā, apostles and prophets, churches and ministries. These threads form the woven mat of God’s redemptive purpose for our nation. Where one thread is broken, the pattern suffers. But God, the Master Weaver, is inviting us into a season of thorough repair and restoration — not with superficial solutions, but with humble, Spirit-led healing.
Jeremiah’s prophetic warning echoes over our land:
“They dress the wound of my people as though it were not serious. ‘Peace, peace,’ they say, when there is no peace.” — Jeremiah 6:14
It can be tempting to “heal wounds lightly” — especially those that seem beyond our capacity to address well, the wounds of our history, personally through to nationally and globally, our fractured families, communities, and even churches. It is a time for courageous repentance and loving yet honest engagement, not cosmetic unity. A time to sit in truth, listen deeply, and allow God to do the deep work of reconciling hearts and restoring foundations.
The Treaty, the Marriage, and the House
There is a prophetic picture in Te Tiriti o Waitangi — a sacred covenant, not merely a political agreement — that mirrors the biblical mystery of Christ and the Church (Ephesians 5). Like a marriage covenant, it speaks of long-term faithfulness, honour, and shared life. This image may seem mystical, but it carries profound real-world wisdom for our journey together as a nation.
This covenant is meant to hold, to remain a reference point, and to be fulfilled — not discarded or rewritten to suit the preferences of those who currently have influence or power.
God is also asking us to examine the foundations of the house we are building — spiritually and practically. The prophetic challenge in Haggai 1 is especially relevant:
“Give careful thought to your ways... Is it time for you yourselves to be living in your panelled houses, while this house remains a ruin?... You expected much, but see, it turned out to be little. What you brought home, I blew away. Why?” declares the Lord Almighty. “Because of my house, which remains a ruin, while each of you is busy with your own house.”— Haggai 1:4, 9
We must ask ourselves: What are we building on?
If the foundations are cracked or crooked, the whole house will be out of kilter. Even if it appears beautiful on the surface, misalignment at the base leads to instability, distortion, and disrepair. In Aotearoa, in the church, we cannot build a future of unity and blessing on a foundation of unresolved injustice, broken covenant, and superficial reconciliation.
In Scripture, the Church is built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus as the chief cornerstone (Ephesians 2:20). This foundation is not just theological; it is sacrificial. It’s laid down with self-giving love, with truth, humility, and relational grace. It's not built by control or conquest, but by co-labouring with Christ, by laying our lives down so that others may rise.
When God’s house is neglected, the whole nation suffers — spiritually, relationally, and even economically. And we are seeing this now in Aotearoa: increasing anxiety, depression, social fragmentation, economic inequality, and generational fatigue. There is a connection between our spiritual foundations and national wellbeing. We are reaping the consequences of houses built on the wrong blueprints — whether in government, church, or family.
But God, in His mercy, is calling us back to the foundation — to the blueprint of Heaven. A house where every living stone has a place. Where covenant is honoured. Where whakapapa is recognised, and healing is thorough, not rushed. Where we don’t “bandage the wound” of the people lightly, but allow time, space, truth, and grace to do the deeper work.
Let us seek to rebuild on the true foundation — the one laid by Jesus and the apostles — so that the house that rises will not be distorted or imbalanced, but will reflect the wholeness of the Kingdom, and host the glory of the Lord among us.
Apostolic-Prophetic Partnership: Unity in Diversity
There’s application to the partnership between apostles and prophets, and by extension, to all the ascension ministries, and diverse gifts and callings. These are not lofty titles but humble functions — given to equip the Church to grow in maturity and reflect Christ. Prophets help us see the blueprint of what God is doing and saying. Apostles help us build according to that divine pattern — strategizing, equipping, resourcing and releasing others into God’s purposes.
Yet in this hour, we are also called to reflect honestly on how our prophetic ministry have reflected unhelpful models of performance, rather than the example of Jesus, and our apostolic models may have been subtly influenced by empire building patterns of the world, rather than the examples of the first apostles. Church planting strategies, leadership structures, and ministry models can sometimes prioritise uniformity and efficiency over relational wisdom and mutual honour. In the name of “Kingdom culture,” we may have expected everyone to speak and lead in the same way, inadvertently silencing valuable expressions and stifling God-given diversity.
And here lies a challenging truth that we must face with grace: Sometimes we genuinely believe we are promoting “Kingdom culture”, when in fact, we are projecting our own cultural norms, familiar ways, and personal preferences onto others. All of us — no matter how spiritual — interpret the world through our own lens. That’s why we need real humility, relational grace, and deep listening to recognise and receive the gifts others carry for the good of all.
All our cultural treasures — as well as our familiar models of ministry — must be discerned through the lens of Scripture, the life of Christ, and the lives and teaching of the apostles. We are all learners in the Kingdom. And one day, we will all cast our crowns before the Lord in worship — side by side with people from every tribe and tongue. That future vision should shape how we lead and relate today.
God is offering us a loving invitation to greater clarity and alignment. The true apostolic call is to discern what God is doing, the heavenly pattern and vision, and build in step with His Spirit. It is to honour what God has revealed and done before, the true foundation already laid, pick up the thread and keep weaving the heavenly vision, nurturing emerging gifts, and making room for expressions of faith, leadership, worship, and community that reflect the abundance of the Father’s house.
To keep in step with Holy Spirit we will frequently be challenged to lay down our own assumptions and judgments in order to discern the blueprint of Heaven — a house where every person is a living stone, valued, placed, and empowered. Where unity is not achieved by pressure to conform, but through the revelation of Jesus, shared honour, covenant love, and mutual submission to Christ the cornerstone.
Aotearoa’s Prophetic Invitation
God is not asking us to ignore our wounds, suppress our stories, or settle for shallow unity. He is inviting us into a journey of deep reconciliation — personally, relationally, culturally, and nationally.
He is raising up a people — prophets and apostles, artists and elders, shepherds and teachers, Māori and Pākehā, rangatahi and kaumātua, every tribe and every tongue — to partner with Him in building His house in Aotearoa. A house that reflects God’s vision in our bicultural foundation and makes room for multicultural abundance.
My sense is that this is a great prophetic moment for Aotearoa in 2025:
To be healed, so we can become healers.
To seek truth, so we can walk in freedom.
To pursue genuine reconciliation, not cosmetic unity.
To honour covenant, so we can be clothed with God’s glory.
To discern the blueprint of Heaven and build on earth accordingly.
To repent where we’ve been shaped by worldly spirits — consumerism, materialism, performance, control, image — and return to the way of Christ, who laid His life down in love.
The call is clear. The invitation is open.
Let us build the Lord’s house together — in humility, honour, and hope — that His glory may dwell in this house, that our land may be healed, and that our nation may reflect God’s vision and dream for us, and