Let the Master Architect Build You Up

Every time we drive by the Barkman House and the Captain Henderson House I am amazed at how they look. Both were built in the late 1800’s. Still standing and still beautiful they are proof that the right architect building a house will help it to keep strength and remain standing for generations to come. Of course both have been taken well care of, but someone had to start with a plan. Without an architect with a plan it’s hard to conceive of anything that will be worth living in.

That is how it is with the life of a believer. Even though saved, you must still have a plan for your life. Someone has to orchestrate things so that you are built up correctly and can stand the faith test of time.

There are two major architects in the world today. They are satan and God. Both are outstanding builders. Both want your business. Both want to build your house. One wants to lock you in forever, just like a bad mortgage. The other wants you to freely come and go with no burdens to keep you stationary.

Whoever you let build your house is the one that will ultimately decide how you live. The enemy of your soul wants to build the house. He will showcase all the flaws mistakes guilt chains and locked doors. And yet even though he builds on your fears and worries and unbelief, you will get all the blame for the poor workmanship. He won't take responsibility for a thing even though he will kill steal and destroy everything. All the time he is building he will tell you about yourself and your home: no good, not enough, poor quality, reject, impossible, second hand. He will try to build you a false façade but the interior will be gutted and nothing will be there to keep you safe and warm throughout your lifetime.

If God builds the house, there is an entirely different outcome.  He begins with the Perfect Plan, which is His Word. His tools are the Truth of His Word. He builds your interior first by giving you a Savior. 

 Jesus changes everything.  Then He gives you His architectural book, He hides nothing from you. He shows you how your home will be solid as though built on the Rock.  Every room will be pristine for you are washed in the blood of the lamb.  He will guide you into a home full of joy and peace. He will talk to you along the way and remind you that He has made all things new, including you. Perfected, gifted, strong, courageous, invincible, first run. His workmanship will stand the test of your time on earth. And as He is the finest builder in heaven or earth, He will get all the glory. You won’t care that He gets the glory because you know that without the Master Architect you would be nothing.

I don't know about you but I'd rather choose to give God all the glory knowing that His ways are most magnificent. It’s hard sometimes because we are human. We like to take matters into our own hands and do our own choosing. But when we let God choose for us and work through us He creates a masterpiece that will show forth the praises of Himself, for He brings us out of darkness and into the light of His glory and grace.

Oh beloved, maybe you’ve been building on a poor foundation. You may have been trying to build your own house but all your co-workers have left you high and dry. Things are about to fall in. You have been crying in the mess, but it’s time to cry out to the Only One who can fix the foundation, redeem the plan and renew the interior. Jesus will come and together with God the Father and the Holy Spirit, they will work as a team to set your home in order. Your life will be polished with His Word and you will shine God’s glory for the world to see. Others will come in and out of your life to be blessed by the workmanship and you will share that God came in and changed everything. What is breaking your heart right now will be remodeled so that you can live safe and warm with the Lord no matter what.

God loves you and He’s for you and that’s why He will come and help in whatever situation. He will let you know Him like a best friend. He will care for you like a Father. And He will build on the foundation that no man can destroy. Rejoice and let Him start building again as you live in the Light of His Word.

Matthew 7:25 And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock.

Isaiah 28:16 Therefore, this is what the Sovereign Lord says: “Look! I am placing a foundation stone in Jerusalem, a firm and tested stone. It is a precious cornerstone that is safe to build on. Whoever believes need never be shaken.

Ephesians 2:10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.

Colossians 1:11-13 We also pray that you will be strengthened with all His glorious power so you will have all the endurance and patience you need. May you be filled with joy, always thanking the Father. He has enabled you to share in the inheritance that belongs to His people, who live in the light. For He has rescued us from the kingdom of darkness and transferred us into the Kingdom of His dear Son. NLT

1 Peter 2:5 you also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

Disaster House or Christ Built House?

Disaster House highlights home remodeling the “wrong way”.  The episode I watched showed them pulling out a load bearing wall by hitching the wall to a set of Clydesdale horses through a window. The horses pulled that wall down without much effort. But the after effects were bad: falling plaster, sagging ceiling, and the floor above falling down.

The results were truly disastrous.  The host did go on to show how to fix the mess once you’ve done it.  It took a lot more time, money and effort to repair the mess. They could have done it the right way to start with and saved a boatload of money and headaches!

Fortunately for us believers growing in faith and becoming Christlike don’t have to come at the cost of a disaster. Just like home remodeling, there is a right way and a wrong way to do things in the Kingdom of God. Unlike a homeowner who may have no background knowledge and no guidebook to go by, we believers have the knowledge of the Most High God spoken into our hearts through the Holy Spirit. Our “resident” expert shines His Spirit on God’s Word and we can know that we know that we know how to live with one another, how to grow in unity, love and faith. We can also know how to build up one another, build up God’s ministry and repair any problem that arises.

But there will be times that we will have to start from the ground up. A lot of times we come into a situation with all of God’s knowledge but the building has sagged for a long time. Lack of prayer, lack of love, lack of the bolstering of God’s Spirit: all make for a bad situation.  We could just tear down the entire building or let it go empty. But is that God’s plan?   How do we go from the disaster house we find ourselves in to the Spirit built Kingdom God desires?

It may be that the disaster you are facing looks too far gone to do anything about.  You’ve tried everything and yet the walls are falling in everywhere. It may be your ministry, your marriage, your children, your future, your finances or your friendships.  While there’s nothing you can do to change things in the natural, there is always something you can do that will move heaven and earth on your behalf: you can pray. Keep asking God to show up and show out. Ask God to change your heart and then the hearts and minds of others.

Without God as the Master Builder and Chief Architect we all might as well go home. Without Jesus as the chief cornerstone of all we do we are headed for disaster. And would we want it any other way? Do we really want to do it all by the flesh? Are we really content when we’ve had our way? Do we feel great satisfaction when the things fall completely to the ground?  Does “I told you so” ever make the disastrous heap of rubbish look better or feel better?

Oh beloved, God has a wonderful plan for your life and for the life of those around you. His plan calls for Him to be first, for love to reign supreme and for the head of the building to be Christ. Can you work with that? Can you leave the choices to Him? If you do, you will watch Him display His wondrous power in glorious ways! He will take the crumbling edifice and rebuild it for His glory! And when it’s all said and done and our life of faith is over here on earth, we will arrive home face to face with the Stone the builders rejected.

God loves you and He’s for you – and that’s why He keeps asking you to let Him do the construction throughout your life as you learn to be more like Him. When it’s all about Jesus, He makes the reconstruction better than anything you could dream up on your own. You can trust Him as He builds your life into something magnificent to show forth His glory!

Ephesians 2:20 Together, we are His house, built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets. And the cornerstone is Christ Jesus Himself.

Colossians 2:7 Let your roots grow down into Him, and let your lives be built on Him. Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught, and you will overflow with thankfulness.

Matthew 7:24 Everyone who hears these words of Mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.

Jude 1:20 But you, dear friends, must build each other up in your most holy faith, pray in the power of the Holy Spirit.

I Corinthians 3:11 For no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.