By Brenda Groves
The Post Newspaper Contributing Writer
Years ago, my hubby and I got hooked on the reality show “Fixer-Upper.” And I am fascinated by how their imaginations work when they encounter some of these houses.
I recall one of the episodes in particular where they were focused on the renovations of a large old home.
It definitely needed some “tlc,” but the foundation was solid and it was really a beautiful old house. The seller was initially asking around $140,000, and it had been on the market for quite some time so the final selling price was reduced to just $40,000. I couldn’t believe it!!
In my estimate that was a HUGE value for the buyer!!
Immediately after this program went off another show came on where they flip houses. We don’t watch this one very often, but I became interested as this man and wife team in California were looking at a duplex in a nice area. I can’t even convey the poor condition of that place. The definition of the word condemned should have a picture of this house in reference next to it.
The foundation was cracked, and it just went downhill from there. You couldn’t even compare it to a rat hole because I don’t believe any self respecting rat would live there either. So you can imagine my shock when this house sold for a whopping $350,000! As is!! Before any renovations!!!
You’ve gotta be kiddin’ me! Who in their right mind would pay such a price for that place? Then I remembered …
“Location! Location! Location!”
They could tear down that home and lay down a new foundation and rebuild a wonderful home in a beautiful location.
Well, a couple of weeks later I was out mowing our lawn listening to a Bible teaching about how valuable we are to God. The message was filled with scripture but there was one, Colossians 1:22 that he focused on …
Paul the Apostle was addressing a body of born again believers in the book of Colossians, and I’m going to lay down my own foundation with several awesome statements …
“… giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light. He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.
He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist. And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence.
For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell, and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross.
And you, who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy, and blameless, and above reproach in His sight— if indeed you continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast, and are not moved away from the hope of the gospel which you heard, which was preached to every creature under heaven, of which I, Paul, became a minister.“Col. 1: 12-23
And the minister I was listening to went on to say, by example, that God could have chosen to set up His kingdom anywhere on this planet. He could have created a huge mansion that stretched across the sky that was visible to the whole world. People could look up and point it out to their children, “Sweetheart look, God lives there!”
Or stretch your imagination a bit more, God is out walking with a real estate agent who is pointing out choice locations on earth for God’s kingdom and suddenly God stops and points to us, mankind, even someone like me, who was selfish, insecure, with a bitter heart, bound up in addictions, full of lies, hurt, disappointment, hypocrisy … yet God says, “I want to live there!!” The real estate agent is taken back and gasps, “God, you want to live in THERE?”
Smiling God says, “Yes! There!”
“Why has she been condemned!”
“That doesn’t matter to Me. I know that I created her in My image and I know who I created her to be!!”
“But God are you sure? When did you decide that?”
“Before the foundation of the world I had a plan.” (Eph. 1:4-6)
“The cost is going to be high,” the agent declares, “You will have to pay with Your own life!”
God says, “Done! So let’s sign the deal!!”
“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and hid; and for joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.” Matt. 13:44
I know I took some liberty here but this example helped me to gain a better perspective on what true Christianity looks like.
Please understand, we are not just saying a prayer to go to heaven some day, heaven has come down and God has set up His kingdom inside of each born again believer.
He wants to live inside of us, reconstruct our hearts on a solid foundation of love and instructs us to renew our minds in His word so we can “put off the old man” and “put on the new” and follow (pattern our lives) after Him, our real Father, created in His image.
You know, we hear this all the time .. “people just need to learn how to get along and love each other.” Well, this may sound harsh but mankind is just displaying the characteristics of earthly, sensual and demonic people born from the seed of sinful man. (James 3:15) We can’t learn how to love, we must “become” love- begotten by our Heavenly Father. Born again. (John Cpt. 3)
Instead of looking into self, self preservation, needy, hurt, bitter, angry, the image of the father of all lies- Satan, whose identity we took on after the fall of man and have been reproducing every since then. (John 8:44)
God is love, and we were originally created out of pure love but after the fall of man and that “love connection” was broken from our end, suddenly mankind became needy of love and our lives became all about us looking for love in all the wrong places. Yet, we were originally created in His image to receive His love and reflect that unconditional love to each other. We can read about what God’s kind of love looks like toward us and could/should be flowing through us if we understand this in. 1 Cor. Cpt. 13.
Because of Jesus, in our new born again spirits we are holy, blameless and above reproach in His sight because we have been conveyed into the kingdom of the Son of His love, Christ in us the hope of His glory. And (spiritually speaking) we are now in the body of Christ and Christ is living in us. Get it? (Col. 1: 13-14, 21-23, John 14:23)
“He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” John 3:18
The old saying, “what you don’t know won’t hurt you” is a lie! What we don’t know is “stealing, killing and destroying us.” (John 10:10)
“When it’s the knowledge of the truth that will set us free.” John 8:32
God places great value in every living person! He must or He wouldn’t have sent His Beloved Son to pay the price!
When we can clearly see that value in us, through His eyes, then we can clearly see the true value in other people. No matter where they come from, what they look like, how much money they have, or don’t have.
“But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God …” Eph. 2: 4-8
“Now when He was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, He answered them and said, “The kingdom of God does not come with observation; nor will they say, ‘See here!’ or ‘See there!’ For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you.” Luke 17:20-21
“There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are IN Christ Jesus.” Rom. 8-1
Location. Location. Location.
(All scripture taken from NKJV)
Contact Brenda Groves at: bkgroves1996@yahoo.com
