Let the Master Architect do His Magnfiicent Work!

We’re still working on some home remodeling and repair projects. It’s been going slow. We have wall to wall carpet, so when Danny took the wall down between the den/kitchen and the living room we now have a gap in the carpet. That gap will remain until we have time to put the new flooring down. We also have to figure out which flooring we want before we can put it down!  

Remodeling takes a lot of time and effort. Sometimes you find other things, hidden problems, along the way.  I have also discovered that, as one project is finished I can see another project I’d like us to do. 

Because we have a vision for what we’d like the house to look like inside and because we know what we want the downstairs to be for us, we can see through the construction issues. We can see the finished product because we have a plan. Someone else might come in and think “what a mess” but we know the end from the now.

God speaks to my heart: We who have been born again are under construction. Our lives at times can look like chaotic messes. We’re going from death to life, from under penalty destined for demolition to bought with a price and oh how we need “fixing up”.  As God begins the remodel process in our hearts, others might see the mess only. We too might keep looking at the mess we still are. Can God really fix us? Are we worth redeeming? What if more problems are found while He’s working on us? What if He reveals things that we have to let Him totally remove? Can we live without the walls that we have built?

And for those who watch the process, God has a wonderful plan! It does not yet appear what we will be, but He has a perfect plan for each construction process, for each redemptive action, for each renewal and regeneration. Often we feel condemned by the process because we falter in our walk, we forget God’s plan, we make our own changes and then we’re in a mess again.

Maybe you feel that your life is set for the wrecking crew. You don’t deserve to be remade. You may see no redeeming value in your situation, in your heart or in your mind. Maybe someone has tried to tear you down, demolish your life or tell you that you’re worthless and only good for the scrap pile. People will walk away, put the condemned sign on your life and leave you with gaping holes in your heart.

But God – But God!  He is the Master Architect of our lives. He has a plan and it is oh so very good! He is going to take you – take me – take us – and make us into something we could never imagine in our wildest dreams!  His plan will be fleshed out in our hearts and then after it is all done He will display us for the world to see as His!

As the song goes, “I am not who I was, I am being remade, I am new!” It’s so true! We are born again, but the process of sanctification – being remade – takes a lifetime! And even when it looks like we’re stuck in a de-struction, we are actually being perfected. One day, when Christ appears, we will be absolutely perfect!

Oh beloved, rejoice! You are being built for the King’s domain! You are loved so unconditionally and God’s plan for you is lavish and better than anything you could plan for yourself.  Let Him do the work, don’t slow Him down, don’t beg for Him to quit, for it will be all good as you let Him live His life through you!

Colossians 3:10 Put on your new nature, and be renewed as you learn to know your Creator and become like Him.

2 Corinthians 3:18 But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.

Philippians 2:13 for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.

2 Timothy 1:9 For God saved us and called us to live a holy life. He did this, not because we deserved it, but because that was his plan from before the beginning of time--to show us his grace through Christ Jesus.

Colossians 2:7-8 Therefore as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, having been firmly rooted and now being built up in Him and established in your faith, just as you were instructed, and overflowing with gratitude.

God Will Mend it and Give You a Ministry for Him

She called our office looking for help. The garbage men had delivered her monthly supply of  trash bags, which are in a large roll.  The only problem was that they threw it into her yard and broke off a shrub at its base! Would it grow again? Was it ruined? What would happen? Should she pull it up and discard it? Replace it?

I forwarded her call to one of our agents. With knowledge of horticulture she was able to answer the woman’s questions and give her hope.  If we had no agents with knowledge none of us would be able to help.  I could have forwarded her call to the agent who knows about cooking and canning, but that would not have helped.

Unless there is knowledge to impart, there’s no need to speak with someone else. If we only speak with folks who know nothing more than we do, we’ll all be in the same boat. If we think we know so much that we don’t need to ask anyone else, we’ll be up a creek without a paddle. 

The agent in my office could have said no to the call. “Tell her I’m busy trying to learn more, read more, seek more. I don’t have time to help.” 

But taking the chance and answering the call not only helps the caller, it helps the receiver of the call. If we take the chance and let God use us to impart knowledge we will also learn in the process. We will grow in faith, fellowship and love.

People have lots of issues. Some of them are far more serious than a broken branch on a small shrub. But they’re looking for answers.  They need help. They need relief. They want to be able to look beyond their brokenness.  They want to recover and thrive again. They want to produce new fruit, flower in faith and shine the glory of their Maker.

For every believer, we are gifted with a spiritual education to receive. This education goes on throughout our lives. We don’t get our “diploma” until we arrive in heaven, but we should be learning truth to live out in our own lives. And as we learn we should be asking God to use us to impart His Truth into the lives of others. We’re not learning for ourselves – that would be self-centered. Rather we are learning to share – and that’s God-centered.

Oh beloved, God knows the brokenness you’ve experienced. He knows the things that have been thrown at you.  They may have been intentional or unintentional but they hurt all the same. Whether from a stranger or a loved one, the pain is agonizing. There is no hope for recovery, redemption or regeneration on your own. Until you stretch out your life to the One Who has Rivers of living water.  If you will let God heal your hurts and grow you in your faith He will then use you to help others.  God will indeed use your former brokenness to impart to others His redemption, His reparation, His restoration.

Run to the Lord this morning and give Him your brokenness – everything – your hurts, your disappointments, your fears, your anger, your unforgiveness, your discouragement…And watch as He not only repairs your life, He will make it all new! Why would He do this? Because He loves you and He’s for you and that’s all that really matters.

Revelation 21:5 And He Who is seated on the throne said, See! I make all things new. Also He said, Record this, for these sayings are faithful (accurate, incorruptible, and trustworthy) and true (genuine). AMP

Psalm 103:1-2 Let all that I am praise the Lord; with my whole heart, I will praise His holy name. Let all that I am praise the Lord; may I never forget the good things He does for me.

Psalm 23:3 He refreshes and restores my life (my self); He leads me in the paths of righteousness [uprightness and right standing with Him—not for my earning it, but] for His name’s sake. AMP

Psalm 96:2 Sing to the Lord; praise His name. Each day proclaim the good news that He saves.

1 Corinthians 9:23 I do everything to spread the Good News and share in its blessings.