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The real estate scenario may be shaky and uncertain at present. But, you have a God who is real, and whose estate is all of heaven and earth! How comforting truth it is indeed, in these volatile times. For, as it is written-Yet in all these things you are more than a conqueror through Him who loved you, since, you can be confident, even as Paul declares, that nothing can separate you from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus, your Lord [Romans 8:27,39]. It is a love that is an action, for He builds you up, according to His word of promise, The Lord has built up Zion; He has appeared in His glory [Psalm 102:16].
And it begins in the here and now with His promise to build His church, that the enemy can never overcome. You and I, as children of God, by faith in Christ Jesus are the very church that He is building even now, to demonstrate His glory that is displayed in His wondrous power, His character, and His very Personhood. And His desire is, that the church is filled to overflowing with His fullness, with the foundation of truth, that has far-reaching consequences; for it extends even unto the building of your heavenly home, the glorious mansion, eternal and abiding forever.
And to Abraham, the patriarch, it began with stepping out of his very comfortable comfort zone, to obey the call of God upon his life that spoke of him being surely blessed by Him. It was a step of faith that he was able to take, and was made possible for He knew in whom He believed. He knew the nature and character of God. And he went out not knowing where he was going, is how God’s word aptly expresses the challenging and yet rewarding journey of Abraham.
By faith he [Abraham] he dwelt in the land of promise in a foreign country, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise, For he waited for the city which has foundations, whose builder and architect, or designer, is God [Hebrews 11:9,10].
GOD, the Builder:
For every house is built by someone, but He who built all things is God [Hebrews 3:4]. And it is why the psalmist in the scriptures has made it clear that unless the Lord builds the house, the builders labor in vain. The core truth is that it is the Lord who builds everything, and when it is He who is doing it, He will also finish it. Your life and everything concerning you, will not be an unfinished structure, as He builds it up. You will indeed see a flourishing finish.
GOD, the Architect or Designer:
A building is planned before it is built; a plan or design that is usually done by the architect, who conceptualizes what needs to be built in his mind to put it down in a manner that can be received and applied by the builder. But when God is the Builder, He is also the Architect, who has planned and designed what He then goes on to build. An artist has a picture of what he is going to draw in his mind before he attempts to express it as a drawing on the canvas. An architect too has in mind a picture of what needs to be built. It then in his skillful hands, becomes a plan that the builder goes on to construct, to raise up a building, that is fitting and satisfies the need of the owner of the plot of land.
And when God Himself is the Architect, it is in the word of God that He has put down His plans for you, to also write it in the tablet of your heart. And it is rightly expressed when it takes shape and form in the hand of the Builder. He knows beyond compare, all the factors that come into play, for He has seen you, and He is the God who sees you. There is also nothing that He cannot do.
a. The Designer’s foresight:
‘Your eyes have seen my unformed substance’, writes the psalmist. And He is the God who is seeing you even now, the El Rohi, as He proved Himself to be in the life of Hagar. And when He is watching over you, without taking His eyes off you, it also follows, therefore, that nothing about you, however small and insignificant it may be, escapes His eye. And when the eyes of God were upon him, Noah found favor in His sight. It is the truth that is operating even in your life today, as a child of God, to see you find favor in His sight, as His eyes remain upon you.
And as an Architect, He foresees; He has a vision concerning how He is going to build your life. He also foretells, to speak His thoughts into your heart. And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel to Abraham beforehand saying, ‘In you, all the nations of the earth shall be blessed’ [Galatians 3:8]. The God who foresees, blesses you with the knowledge of it, that you may look ahead. And by faith the words of Job can be yours, to say ‘Lord, I know you can do all things; No purpose of Yours can be thwarted’ [Job 42:2].
b. The Designer’s foreknowledge:
God’s foreknowledge goes a step further beyond what He foresees. It flows out of His foresight and is not the result of hindsight, that comes when you step out trusting in your own strength and wisdom. God’s foreknowledge, is seeing what is going to take place in the future, in the light of what needs to be done now, because of it. A wonderful portrayal of it was what happened in the life of Joseph, as he was brought before the Pharoah, in order to interpret his dream. And Joseph was able to say what the dreams meant, and also what needed to be done concerning it. It was to store grain for the years of famine that were going to come after seven years of a plentiful yield.
The invaluable truth it teaches therefore is that with God in the centre, a lesson that you learn, is not through hindsight, but rather, His promise comes to you, even before you see the problem. And then the truth that you need to stand upon in order to conquer the challenge is the knowledge that all the promises of God are ‘yes’ and ‘Amen’ in Christ Jesus, our Savior and Lord. His promise, says to you ‘That is how it is going to be’ and you receive it to declare ‘Let it be so’.
Also, it is with the foreknowledge that you make calculations concerning the requirements and skills that would be needed in order to complete what you begin to build. But when it comes to how He is going to build your life, the Architect who is also the Builder has already made the calculations; and it was why He caused you to be born, to be then born again in the spirit, to know and accomplish His purposes for your life. The apostle Paul has described the process of it in his letter to the Romans, where it is written that whom He foreknew, according to His foreknowledge, He has predestined, to be justified by the righteousness of Christ to be ultimately glorified [Romans 8:30,31].
It is how His wondrous and powerful promise of building up Zion, that is you, your household, and every blessed child of God, to appear in His glory, becomes true in your life and mine. And though all productive activity seems to be at a standstill all across the globe, your heart need not be troubled or anxious for He is your primary source.
c. The Designer’s provision:
For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them [Ephesians 2:10]. In His foresight and foreknowledge, God your Designer or Architect has planned and prepared beforehand, the way in which you are going to be built up, and so He definitely knows all the resources that would be necessary, to also make it all available. Your provision comes from Him. Do not worry about tomorrow, were the Lord’s words to the multitude that thronged to hear Him. And they come to you today very specifically and relevantly for He has already made provision.
What is happening in the world right now could flood you with worry and anxiety that weakens your faith in God. But, ‘Why did you doubt?’ is the loving reprimand of the Lord that comes to you this day, even as it comforted the disciples in the stormy waters. And gathering together in worship is something that plays a vital role in being encouraged and strengthened in faith that gives you confidence even in negative circumstances, and the truth of His ever-abiding presence in you is the guarantee that what He has designed and planned, His purpose for your life will certainly come to pass.
The Designer’s Garden:
It begins at the very beginning, at the dawn of humanity, that sprung forth in His creation of Adam and Eve. And there is nothing haphazard or unplanned in anything that He does, for He planted a garden, where they would dwell in fellowship with each other, and with Him, to be blessed, have dominion and be fruitful. A garden is very different from a forest, for it has a design and a purpose to it, even as it was in the Garden of Eden. There was a wondrous provision in it, for out of the ground the Lord God made every tree grow that was pleasant to the sight, was suitable, and good for food [Genesis 2:9].
Even as Paul writes in the context of his needs being met to the Corinthian church, all that Adam and Eve needed was made available to them by God [1 Corinthians 16:17]. And though the present scenery of your life, could appear to be a forest, in unplanned disorder, the truth remains that you have a Divine Architect, who knows the plan and good design He has for you. And He Himself will be the conducive environment, in the light of which it will be transformed by Him to become a beautiful garden. It could take time, but He will certainly bring in your life, what is pleasing and suitable and good, that will see you grow and be built up into your divine destiny.
He makes all things beautiful in its time [Ecclesiastes 3:11]. “Beautiful,” in God’s perspective is perfect and also appropriate. A beautiful garden needs plants that are suited to the climate of the place. There are seasons too that determine the flowering yield of a plant, just as you and I go through seasons in our lives. But the garden designed and planted by Lord God the designer can be fashioned in such a way that in every season there is a particular plant that blooms and bears fruit so that the garden as a whole remains beautiful and fruitful all through the year. And may it be your blessed portion as the Lord builds up Zion, and may your life be transformed to be as it was in His Garden, His original intended design. And may it see you blossoming and yielding good fruit in every season, all through this coming year, and every year of your life.
It of course involves a gestation time, a seedtime and harvest that is the pattern of God. A root that lies under the ground, is very much a part of the towering tree that is visible outside. Therefore, never discount the times in your life when nothing seems to be happening, for God is silently at work in your life, behind the scene. In His time the fig tree will certainly blossom!
God’s perspective is what needs to become yours in order to be worked out in your life, in divine principles that are supremely and supernaturally practical. It is vital, for you are God’s field, you are God’s building [1 Corinthians 3:9]. You are His garden, His field under cultivation. Sin may have wrought havoc, but God is at work to restore and bring you back to His original intended purpose, in, forming you in His own image. It is the gospel message, the good news of your salvation.
And God is above and beyond any disastrous circumstance is the irrevocable unchanging truth forever. It is what can speak powerfully and specifically in your heart and mine after experiencing the effect of a global pandemic that has brought lack and loss in so many people’s lives.
1. HE comforts you:
He is the God of all comfort; a comfort that not just brings you out of discouragement to strengthen you in your inner being. As the prophet has put forth, For the Lord will comfort Zion; He will comfort all her waste places; He will make her wilderness like Eden; And her desert like the garden of the Lord; Joy and gladness will be found in it, Thanksgiving and the voice of melody [Isaiah 51:3].
The above picture is a restoration and transformation that only the Lord can bring forth, especially in the lives of those who have lost loved ones in this past horrendous season of sickness and pain. And whatever may be your situation, He will certainly bring about a change to build your life. You have a God whom you can call ‘Father’, who so loves you.
2. HE causes to spring forth:
For as the earth brings forth the bud, As the garden causes the things that are sown in it to spring forth, So the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations [Isaiah 61:11]. As the Lord has taught through the parable of the sower, that describes what the condition of a person’s heart can be towards receiving God’s word, the incorruptible seed of His word needs to be planted in the soil of your heart with the right attitude. And He will cause it to work in and through you to make your life bloom and bear fruit.
3. HE cares for, and protects you:
‘I the Lord am its Keeper; I water it every moment. Lest anyone damage it, I guard it night and day [Isaiah 27:3]. His constant provision and protection is the Lord’s promise to you, as your Builder and Architect, Designer. He watches over you, even when you are asleep, or in other words, in your unguarded moments, when the enemy tries to bring harm upon you. You can rest in the assurance that whatever that is not planted by the Father, will be uprooted by Him.
4. HE guides, to strengthen & satisfy you:
The Lord will guide you continually and satisfy your soul in drought; And strengthen your bones. You shall be like a well-watered garden, Like a spring of water whose waters do not fail [Isaiah 58:11]. Even in the dry patches of life that invariably come in your journey here on earth, times of famine and lack, as you face seemingly insurmountable challenges, it is He who is abundantly able to strengthen you. He will satisfy you in the midst of it all as He guides you safely to the other side, His grace taking you to where He wants you to be!
5. In HIS goodness – to languish no more!:
Therefore, you shall come and sing in the height of Zion, Streaming to the goodness of the Lord, For wheat and new wine and oil, For the young of the flock and the herd, Their souls shall be like a well-watered garden, And they shall sorrow no more at all [Jeremiah 31:12]. Weeping may endure in the night, but, there will be joy in the morning. Your life may lack harmony and order at present, to resemble a forest, but God never gives up; He sticks to His plan. And He will bring restoration and transformation in your life, as He builds you up by doing His wonderful work of grace in you, to be as a well-watered garden.
In humble adoration therefore, may your soul sing like never before, as you give thanks unto the Father, the Builder and Architect, of your life. And may His will be done, even as you acknowledge with thankfulness that on the Cross, the Lord has accomplished all that is needed for you to become and be what the divine Designer has designed you to be. In the Name of Christ Jesus Amen.
