A Community of Grace »

Patterns and templates are invaluable tools when seeking to model an object to a specific design. In woodworking, a thin metal plate is used as a guide, detailing the specific dimensions and cuts needed to form a new object into the likeness of a perfected model. The design process is similar in sewing. Patterns formed from tissue-like paper are laid over and pinned to fabric. By cutting and sewing according to the lines and darts outlined, a seamstress can create an article of clothing nearly identical to the pattern.

When God created the heavens and the earth, He intended heaven to be the divine pattern to which everything on earth conformed. Yet when sin entered the world, man began to design his own templates for living. To this day, we tend to pattern our lives after what seems right and desirable to us. Sadly, our perspective is very limited. Lives modeled after man-made patterns never receive the joy and soul-peace God desires to give. They will never display His glory.

What would it look like to submit to God’s divine pattern for our lives?

1. We would seek to know God accurately and worship Him continuously. Speaking of heaven, Scripture says: “Day and night they never stop saying: ‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty’”(Revelation 4:8b).

2. We would daily access the abundant provision available in heaven, for God has: “…blessed us in Christ with every spiritual (given by the Holy Spirit) blessing in the heavenly realm”(Ephesians 1:3).

3. We would seek God’s will above our own: “Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven”(Matthew 6:10).

One day, heaven will fully come to earth. God will bring all things together under the rulership of Christ. Today, heaven comes to earth as we conform our lives to the divine template of heaven.

“The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ, and He will reign forever and ever.”

Revelation 11:15

Dot-to-dot worksheets are popular tools for teaching children to connect random dots by sequential numbers or letters. To the delight of any child, connecting every dot according to the instructions reveals a completed picture.

As a Christ-follower, our lives are like a dot-to-dot worksheet. Apart from union with our Creator by faith in Christ, life often appears as a series of incomprehensible dots on a page. Our souls are continually shaped by countless experiences and interactions with others, good and bad. We lack the understanding to interpret the relevance or process the pain of many different life events. As a result, we often suffer from despairing emotions that tempt us to doubt the goodness of God. We are incapable of connecting the apparent randomness of many dots or experiences that God in His foreknowledge has allowed.

Yet as we daily come to Christ and deepen our understanding and faith in God’s sovereignty, goodness and love, we learn that each dot in our lives has been carefully ordered:

“We know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28).

God will reveal His purposes for you as you trust and follow Him with the carefully chosen dots of His design. He simply instructs you, in a broken world, to pay careful attention to His precepts and to order your life by them. Yielded to and guided by the Holy Spirit, His predetermined plans for good will be accomplished. Like the careful strokes of a child’s pencil guided by preset instructions, you too will be fully assured of the God-exalting and soul-satisfying outcome that God is meticulously completing in you. The connected dots of your life will form the image of Christ to the praise and honor of His name.

“And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue His work until it is finished on the day when Christ returns.”

Philippians 1:6

Only in the last few decades have news and sports media reported on a twenty-four hour basis. The never-ending need for a new story has brought an influx of endless chatter and analysis. At times, the quality of news coverage seems watered down due to all the hours to fill. In addition, through social media and messaging “apps,” we can learn the most mundane details of people’s lives with a simple touch and swipe.

Here’s a thought: As Christ-followers, let’s give the media something life-altering to talk about. The transformational effect of God’s Spirit upon a single human life can and should be so radical that people notice and talk about it. Consider Jesus. Though not always embraced, and at times rejected, He was never ignored. The religious leaders tried numerous tactics to silence and remove Him from the public eye. Yet news of the words He spoke and the miracles He performed spread quickly throughout the region.

What could be more newsworthy than the visible effects of God’s holy character displayed through an individual life? As Scripture has commanded:

“Let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:16).

As God’s Spirit works in us according to His purposes, we become:

“…blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe as you hold out the Word of life” (Philippians 2:14-16a).

The life of God living through us will present a radical contrast to the ways of the world. Ask God to work in you. Ask Him for the immeasurable privilege of displaying who He is through the events of your everyday life. Then, whether in the bleachers of a ballgame, at a neighbor’s dinner table or on cable news, may people speak of the excellencies of our God. They will do so because they’ve seen the transforming power of His Spirit in each one of us.