“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” (Jeremiah 29:11) I came across that familiar verse in a book one day. My eyes were skipping down to the next paragraph when the Lord stopped me.
“Plans,” he said. “What are plans?”
He often does this, asking me a question to get me to stop and think, to meditate about something. To not just read, but to communicate. To have a conversation with the Holy Spirit.
So, okay, plans. Automatically I began to define plans. Agendas. Itineraries. Events. Happenings. Occasions. Places to go, people to see, things to learn, things to do, those are plans.
Blueprints, he said. Think blueprints. Oh, wow. My thoughts took off in a very different direction.
He began to unroll a set of blueprints in my mind’s eye, and then to show me the results of those blueprints. Mud huts and wood shacks. Three-bedroom brick houses. Manufacturing plants and office buildings.
Chapels, churches and cathedrals. Ornate palaces and castles. Fortresses.
Temples.
For many minutes we discussed this concept, as he began to describe the steps necessary to build a natural structure. Foundation. Electrical. Plumbing. Insulation. Walls. Roofing. Furnishing. End goal? Inhabit it.
There was so much more, many details. And then he began to describe what he is doing in the spiritual, building a supernatural structure for himself to inhabit.
Plans are good, he said, and he has plans for every one of his children. No two are alike, but all have one thing in common. He has building plans for each one, and he himself will inhabit them.
You know, it’s really fascinating to read God’s word with the author at your elbow.
Esther's Petition 
Reblogged this on Esther's Petition.
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This is good. I like the idea of God planning for us to dwell in what He is building in us. To dwell in Jesus. His plans are what is best and we need to trust them. Thank you for sharing this.
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Beautiful. It gives much greater insight into the notion that Christ “dwells” within us, and of the “indwelling of the Holy Spirit.” It’s amazing how I’ve heard that my “body is a temple for the Lord” my entire life, and I’ve _kind of_ gotten the concept, but in 200 words you’ve made it incredibly clear. It’s a real paradigm-shift, thinking of God’s “plan” as an architectural blueprint, rather than as an unfolding map of cause-and-effect.
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Thanks, Tyler. The Holy Spirit is a very real person, with his own personality and voice. The difference between a Christian and any other religious person is simple: they are inhabited by an additional spirit, God’s, and he prefers to do the managing of the new life. Have you ever read https://estherspetition.wordpress.com/2019/02/22/the-day-all-things-became-new/ ? Part of my own journey with the Lord. :)
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I like the perspective the Lord gave you about plans being blueprints. Applicable for us as we are building the condo. I think of Psalm 127:1 “Unless the Lord build the house we labor in vain.” May this be true physically and spiritually!
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