11.21.8 "The Plan"

"The Plan"

Ezekiel 42:1-43:27
James 5:1-20
Psalms 119:1-16
Proverbs 28:6-7

For the past few days of reading, God has been bringing Ezekiel through the temple. There are around 100 verses over the course of 3+ chapters talking about hallway dimensions, ceiling heights, walkways, and doorways. Reading these types of details we are inclined to ask God, "What are you showing me about you through these scriptures?" His response to is, "I have a plan."

Do you know that God is omniscient? (that means he knows everything) Our Sunday School answers cause us to nod our head. But do we live like we know that? There REALLY is a Blueprint! He is aware of every detail of our lives! He created us with purpose, and for a plan!

"Son of dust, describe the Temple I have shown you to the people of Israel. Tell them its appearance and its plan so they will be ashamed of all their sins. And if they are truly ashamed of what they have done, then explain to them the details of its construction - its doors and entrances - and everything about it. Write out all the directions and the rules for them to keep. And this is the basic law of the Temple: holiness! The entire top of the hill where the Temple is built is holy. Yes, this is the primary law concerning it." Ez. 43:10-12

After spending all this time describing the dimensions of the temple, He tells Ezekiel to describe it to the people. It's very interesting what the result is to be. "Tell them its appearance and its plan so they will be ashamed of all their sins." Imagine having a blueprint described to you and it causing you to be ashamed of your sin! sounds weird doesn't it? What is the principle here? The principle is that when we see God's plan, we can see where we fall short of his holiness.

In the same way God had a blueprint for the Temple in Jerusalem, he has a blueprint for our lives. I Cor. 3:16 says, "Don't you know that you yourselves are God's temple and that God's Spirit lives in you?" There are measurements that are a necessary part of the make up of who we are. There is a plan for us to discover and become who God has created us to be.

This sounds somewhat elementary, but we too often lose sight of this. We especially forget this when trouble comes. When things happen outside of our comfort zone or we experience hurt and sickness, we forget that this may line up with the blue print of what God is trying to accomplish in us. He may be working patience in us, which only comes through suffering.

"For examples of patience in suffering, look at the Lord's prophets. We know how happy they are now because they stayed true to him then, even though they suffered greatly for it. Job is an example of a man who continued to trust the Lord in sorrow; from his experiences we can see how the Lord's plan finally ended in good, for he is full of tenderness and mercy." James 5:10-11

From suffering, "the Lord's plan finally ended in good." Too many times when I go through suffering, I cry and feel sorry for myself, and try to get others to feel sorry for me. During those times my posture should be "Lord, complete your PLAN for me through these difficult times." It shouldn't be "God has let me down, so I turn my back on him & figure things out on my own."

My mother-in-law has been living with us for the past 3 months, and for the past 9 days she's been in the hospital. Arnie Jacobson has written a book called "The Favor Factor". He said being in God's favor doesn't mean you wont end up in a hospital bed, it just means that your in a hospital bed for the purpose of reaching someone for him. In fact, that's how his mother came to Christ. As we've gone up the to hospital a few times each day, it could be easy to bemoan the difficulty the trip creates, or we could look at this as a great little "add-on" to God's blueprint.

We need to be consistent about looking into God's blueprint. As we look into His word, He instructs us, and we need to respond. I love Ps 119. "Happy are all who search for God, and always do his will, rejecting compromise with evil, and walking only in his paths. You have given us your laws to obey - oh, how I want to follow them consistently." vs 2-3.

By seeing God's plan we can become aligned to the blueprint. It corrects us. "After you have corrected me I will thank you by living as I should! I will obey! Oh, don't forsake me and let me slip back into sin again." Ps. 119:7-8

I've been involved in several building projects. We've built 2 homes, I've drawn up & built 2 finished basements (I talk big, but my father in law has done most of the labor!). I've also been a part of the building project at the church. There's one thing I've learned that's REALLY important. You can't just look at the plan once, and go to work. You need to keep checking and re-checking to make sure what you're doing is aligned with the plan. It's amazing how many times a subcontractor will do something that doesn't line up with the plan, and it has to be done over.

We can't just read the word during the service on a sunday morning and then go live the Balanced Christian Life. We need to make it a lifestyle. Each day we need to check the blueprint and live accordingly. Being Empowered through Biblical Training equips us to live the Dynamic Lifestyle of Worship - walking in obedience. It encourages us to commit to Relationships Devoted to Unity - submitting to the needs of one another. It reminds us to use our gifts and resources responsibly through Active Ministry Involvement, and it keeps before us our Mission to Reach our World for Christ.

We need to first acknowledge that God has a plan for us, then seek his plan through his word and time in prayer, and then repent for things in our life that don't align with the plan. We then thank Him and honor Him by living obedient lives!



Through the Power of the Spirit,
Live the DREAM!

P Greg


Dynamic Lifestyle of Worship
Relationships Devoted to Unity
Empowered Through Biblical Training
Active Ministry Involvement
Mission to Reach our World for Christ