Floor Grace

“To all perfection I see a limit, but Your commands are boundless."- Psalm 119:96

In the six months we have held the lease on our new property on Townsgate much time has been spent praying and planning. It has been a faith filled, joyful, and hopeful time of building out the space and preparing for a new home where we will worship God, grow in our faith, and reach people with the love of Jesus. Needless to say I have been inundated with floor plans, timelines, wall finishes, and flooring types to such a degree that I now feel capable and qualified to do a remake of the hit show "Home Improvement". Attention Tim Allen, my offer stands to co-host with you!

With this project at the forefront of our minds it comes as no surprise that one of the first pictures the Lord would give me in 2017 has to do with CARPET. This most vividly amazing picture and reassuring truth came to me during our Worship and Prayer night last month. As we were in the midst of God's presence, seeking His face and resting in His grace, I felt the need to bow down. As I moved into a position of lying face down on the carpet, the Holy Spirit began to unveil and reveal His love and plan through the very carpet I was connected with at that moment. Here is the word I received: The carpet represented my faith journey with God. It is all the events, the blessings, the answered prayers, and the encounters I have had from the moment I opened my heart to Jesus as Savior (June 1990). It is a beautiful carpet filled with the goodness, faithfulness, and victories of God! Yet, what the Lord began to speak to my heart is that His love and plan TRACES BACK far beyond the day I was saved. The Lord knew me and loved me even when I was in my mother's womb. But that's not all! God did not just start loving me when I was born (November 1971), but His love and plan traces back all the way to creation. Can you imagine with me that as God was looking at all He made on the sixth day and in His seeing it as "very good", He was actually including you and me in that joyful expression? The Lord had more to speak on this word and picture of the carpet beyond just showing me His love and plan from the beginning.

Just as God's love and plan TRACES BACK to the beginning of time, it RACES PAST this very day (February 2017). That God's love and plan is deeper than we have experienced (Birth to Today), and is deeper than we can envision (Today to Eternity). What the Lord was speaking to my heart was that as wonderful as the carpet of His goodness has been, before it and beyond it is something newer and greater. That by boldly believing in His love and plan beyond what I know and see, I choose by faith to pull up the carpet, only to discover a beautiful and highly valuable hardwood floor in perfect condition!

In order to allow this poignant and powerful picture to become a truth that solidifies our foundation and anchors our hope, let me share some Scriptures that speaks to His divine love and plan stretching far beyond our history and far ahead of our coming journey.

God's love and plan TRACES BACK to the Beginning:

Jeremiah 1:5- "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations."

Psalm 139:16- "Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in Your book before one of them came to be."

Ephesians 1:4-5- "He chose us in Him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in His sight. In love He predestined us for adoption through Jesus Christ, in accordance with His pleasure and will."

Romans 8:29- "For those God foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters."

God's love and plan RACES PAST Today:

Jeremiah 29:11- "For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the Lord, 'plans to prosper you and not harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

Psalm 119:105- "Your word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light for my path."

I Corinthians 1:8-9- "He will also keep you firm to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful, who has called you into fellowship with His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord."

Philippians 1:6- "Being confident of this, that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Jesus Christ."

Let us be thankful for all the Lord has done to this day and let us take bold steps into His perfect tomorrow!