The Architect and the Builder

Architect: One who designs and supervises the construction of buildings or other large structures.

Builder: One who builds; one who develops or gives form to according to a plan or process; create.

Many years ago (more than I want to admit) I was in the construction business: block laying, carpentry, superintendent, but was mainly in the residential concrete business. When working in all phases of construction, you have to be able to read blueprints. If you can’t read and understand them, you will fail to correctly do your job. In turn, your work may not pass inspection or worse, the building may suffer structural damage in the future.

For many years I had a misconception concerning my part with my daily walk with the Lord. I didn’t have the attitude of living life on purpose for a purpose. I mainly read my bible and prayed for direction. Most of my life I lived passively. I let my career and financial life suffer all for the sake of waiting on the Lord. I lived mostly in the wishes and dreams realm and not the action realm. Both are important and both are needed to fulfill all God has called us to do.

Paul wrote in Philippians 2:12 (KJ) :Wherefore, my beloved… work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. The word work in the original language means: to accomplish, by implication to finish, fashion, cause, do, perform, work (out). This is a strong action word. Clearly we are to participate in our own life after salvation. Adam Clarke writes in his commentary on this subject, “We must be workers together with Him, that we receive not His grace in vain; because He works in you, therefore work with Him, and work out your own salvation.” We are not to be passive in our walk with Christ as I was for so many years.

Let me bring this back around to “The Architect and the Builder”.

Fortunately, I’ve had a change of perspective in my career and financial life. I now see my life like a builder builds a house.

Building a house all starts with an architect having a thought or picture in his mind of the final product. He then with a team, starts implementing his thoughts by creating blueprints or plans. After the plans are complete with every detail drawn our, they go to a builder. The builder starts the process from the ground up to build the architect’s vision.

One thing I didn’t see on the construction site was an architect. The architect did his part with vision and plans. He may occasionally consult on the project but he doesn’t grab a hammer and nails to work on the house. The builder does the work with the detailed plans to complete the project.

We as Christians can use this analogy to help us complete the call on our lives. We know that God has work for us to do. Read what the Apostle Paul told the Ephesians: “…. He creates each of us by Christ Jesus to join him in the work he does, the good work he has gotten ready for us to do, work we had better be doing.” (Eph 2:10 Message) We also know that He has already laid out good plans for us. (Jeremiah 29:11) These plans are written on the tablets of our heart. (2 Corinthians 3:3) It would do us well to spend more time listening to the desires of our heart for out of it flows the springs of life. (Proverbs 4:23) Listening to our heart, in part, is listening to God’s plans for you.

God is the Architect.

We are the builder.

Too many Christians are falling short of God’s best because we haven’t read the Architect’s plans.

What about you?

Where are you at in respect to “working out your salvation”?

Are you a passive bystander or a builder?

If you want to learn to be a builder, here are some steps to take.

Commit

Decide today you will do what it takes to be a builder. You will need this in your spirit because it will take some work to shift your mindset. Your mind will still want you to be passive but your commitment will help you push forward.

Listen

Set a daily time and place for you to get alone with God. Make it a time of reflection, intimacy and study. Don’t get stuck with the idea that your time alone with God will look and feel the same every time. Some days just read the bible, others days pray and listen. Be flexible and enjoy your time with God.

Write

Writing is a gateway to your heart. So write down your desires, passions and visions. Write on a grand scale as if the whole world was yours to create with a pen. Be completely vulnerable to your own desires. There are no boundaries or rules when you write. It’s not about grammar or spelling, it’s about opening up the floodgates of freedom in your life.

Remember that this is a progressive learning process. In time you will begin to see the Architects plans. It will be up to you to implement them and create the life God has called you to live.

Now go and get your nail bags on and start building.

Andy

Run for Your Life

One warm day while walking on a trail, I saw an etched message carved on the path. It read, “TURN BACK”. For a moment I actually felt a touch of concern. Then I had to laugh at the humor.

But isn’t this what we often hear in our minds when we want to try something new or when the Lord is showing us a bit of our future. I’ve heard this voice many times in my life. It was loudest when I went parachuting. Everything inside of me yelled, “STAY IN THE PLANE!” Obviously, it was a false alarm.

I remember opening night of a play in which I had a lead role. It had a cast of 200. Music, acrobats and swordsmen were involved in this elaborate production. An audience of over 3,000 showed up. It was a dream come true for me but it all came with a few personal complications. I’ve never had formal training in the art of acting and I would be working with skilled entertainers and musicians. The only thing I had to offer was my willingness to take direction, energy and enthusiasm.

 I could have turned back and turned down the opportunity but that would have put me in a position to justify the act of turning back to familiar territory, and not moving forward to unchartered territory. If I had turned back, I would have been denying the very core of who I was created to be in that time in my life. It would have been disobedience, which is simply not complying with God’s will and purpose for our life. Disobedience keeps us from enjoying the good life God intends for us. But there is a much deeper downfall to turning back and disobedience. Much, much deeper.

Let’s look at the story of deliverance of Lot from Sodom and Gomorrah.

(Gen. 19 Message Bible)

Before God destroyed the two cities, He chased Lot and his family out first by sending angels to hurry them out. The directives from the angels were; “Now run for your life! Don't look back! Don't stop anywhere on the plain—run for the hills or you'll be swept away." (Verse 17) These are very strong statements.

But in spite of these statements, after the cities were destroyed and everything about them was destroyed, Lot’s wife looked back and turned into a pillar of salt. (Verses 25-26)

This story makes me wonder, “What was she thinking? Didn’t she take the angels and situation seriously?” I have come to realize I wasn’t much different than her.

Let me explain. In this text I see the story of redemption not being taken seriously by those who know better. I had been like this for many years of my life. Often times I would agree with condemnation though the bible says I am free from that. God was serious when He said, “THEREFORE, [there is] now no condemnation (no adjudging guilty of wrong) for those who are in Christ Jesus…” and yet I would turn back and gaze at the past as if it were real. Jesus was serious when He said, “I came that they may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance (to the full, till it overflows).”, and yet I would still look at my deep failures and decide it wasn’t for me. I had often turned back to the pains and problems of my past and used them as an excuse to not move forward. I’d turn back to the utter fallen state of my pre-redemptive life and agree with its vile lies. And just a Lot’s wife turned into a pillar of salt so did I. I became bitter with life, self-righteous and self-loathing. I failed to hear the seriousness of the call of freedom that was before me.

Take this seriously. Your past has utterly been destroyed! Stop turning back. All the promises of God are yes and amen but they are also in front of you, not behind you. Looking back exposes a sense of connection with your past and it keeps you from seeing the truth of your future. We, through Jesus, have been fully redeemed. Through Jesus, God rained brimstone and fire, poured a river of lava out of the sky, destroyed our past and the entire plain of it and everything that grew from it.

Nothing good comes from looking at the Sodom and Gomorrah of your past. God wants us to put it down for good. He wants us to live with the urgency of running from every thought of it. Not looking back and not stopping anywhere near it or we will be swept away from our God ordained future.

Are you serious about what God says about your past and future? If you haven’t been and you want to, begin with these steps.

·        Write down the negative thoughts that come to you regularly.

·        Find scriptures that counter those thoughts.

·        Every time negative thoughts come to you, tell yourself, “it’s not true” and repeat the scriptures several time throughout the day.

This is a process so give yourself time and you will one day notice a change in your thought life.

Andy