{"id":3642,"date":"2017-04-04T14:08:28","date_gmt":"2017-04-04T18:08:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/prayerplainandsimple\/?p=3642"},"modified":"2017-04-04T14:08:28","modified_gmt":"2017-04-04T18:08:28","slug":"letting-god-re-design-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/prayerplainandsimple\/2017\/04\/letting-god-re-design-life.html","title":{"rendered":"God’s Interior Design"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cLet God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think\u201d (Romans 12:2b).<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cAnyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun\u201d (2 Corinthians 5:17 NLT)!<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

\"8627482617_3fd7c65462_z\"<\/a><\/p>\n

If you’re not at peace\u00a0with your inner-self, God is happy\u00a0to tenderly and skillfully remodel and re-decorate your interior life. When you employ Jesus as your Designer, when you listen to what He has to say and do it, your life will begin to take shape and it will soon become something truly beautiful, like a well-designed home, tastefully put together, comfortable, inviting, clutter-free, and beautiful to the eye.<\/p>\n

We recently sold our home in the country; our realtor hired a designer to come through our home and make recommendations for staging that would render our home more appealing to buyers. The interior designer\u00a0whisked through our house in about an hour; I followed her around, feverishly writing down her every suggestion, room by room. We were pushing and pulling furniture around, editing out superfluous knick-knacks, and creating more feng shui.<\/em><\/p>\n

After she left, I went to work, carefully bringing about her every suggestion. When I was finished a day or two later, I could not believe the transformation; she\u00a0has an amazing gift of seeing possibilities and improving and building on what exists.<\/p>\n

God does this with our lives! He takes what we have, edits out what is no longer necessary (things like condemnation, unforgiveness, and all things that simply clutter our lives and rob our joy), and rearranges what we have to make it more inviting for His presence.<\/p>\n

If the foundation of the house is in ruins, He might deem it necessary to bulldoze\u00a0and start over. (I\u2019ve been there\u2026He\u2019s done that for me\u2026) Sometimes that process is expedient and much better in the long haul\u00a0than a simple, band-aid-like remodel. Whatever the case, God will do a thorough job of re-creating your life when you give whatever you have to Him and, in turn, follow His directives.<\/p>\n

Want a new and improved decor of the heart? Pray this plain and simple prayer with us today:<\/p>\n

Father,<\/em><\/p>\n

My heart is out-dated and in dire need of updating. There is no real over-arching design to my life; it feels random, haphazard and cluttered unnecessarily. I feel as though I am a hodgepodge of what others have designed my life to be; like I have followed the stuff\u00a0of this world, filled my life with yard sale junk and have not employed the designer of Heaven to make my life something worth looking at.<\/em><\/p>\n

Lord, I want my life and existence to reflect the beauty, order, and joy of Heaven.<\/em><\/p>\n

Lord, clarify who I am. Remind me once again of what you have created\u00a0me to do in this world. <\/em><\/p>\n

Is it: <\/em>
\nDeclaring your purposes to others?<\/em>
\nIn serving others?<\/em>
\nIn teaching?<\/em>
\nEncouraging?<\/em>
\nGiving generously to those in need?<\/em>
\nLeading people and projects?<\/em>
\nOr simply in showing kindness to everyone around me? [see Romans 12:6-8]<\/em><\/p>\n

How have you wired me? Like a particular design \u2013 retro, modern, transitional, antique, Victorian \u2013 show me who I am at the core, and then help me to live that out consistently. Prune and plan my life\u2019s objectives.<\/em><\/p>\n

Create in me a clean heart and renew a right spirit within me. Be my Interior Designer, Father. You who made me know what’s best for me.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

In Jesus\u2019 Name,<\/em><\/p>\n

Amen<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Photo credit: Wicker Paradise<\/a> via Foter.com<\/a> \/ CC BY<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cLet God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think\u201d (Romans 12:2b). \u201cAnyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun\u201d (2 Corinthians 5:17 NLT)! If you’re not at peace\u00a0with your inner-self, God is happy\u00a0to tenderly and skillfully remodel and…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":478,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14,15,7,4,25,3,1],"tags":[2055,2054,2052,2051,2056,2053],"class_list":["post-3642","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bible","category-bible-prayer","category-daily-prayer","category-god","category-jesus","category-prayer","category-uncategorized","tag-a-clutter-free-heart","tag-feng-shui","tag-heart-decor","tag-home-decor","tag-kon-mari-method-of-the-soul","tag-making-jesus-the-designer-of-your-life"],"yoast_head":"\nGod's Interior Design<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/prayerplainandsimple\/2017\/04\/letting-god-re-design-life.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"God's Interior Design\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"\u201cLet God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think\u201d (Romans 12:2b). \u201cAnyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. 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