When we moved to Benton, one of the first things I did was build a shop. I built it 16 ft. x 16 ft., designed in such a way to meet my present needs. I built the ceiling tall enough to handle 8 ft. length plywood. I positioned windows on the front and back in line so they could be opened to run 16 ft. material out the window so it could be cut to length. The front door is in line with the back door. With my portable table saw set up in the middle, I can rip 16 ft. material by it hanging out the front door and being pushed through the saw full length so it then hangs out the back door. I built shelves on the upper part of the walls to give storage up out of the way of the work area. I am set up to do the projects I need to do. We could live here without a shop, but my tools would be piled up in storage, and I could not use them.
Life is much like having a shop. God has a good life with gifts and abilities and ministries for every person. He has a good destiny, a rich and rewarding and satisfying life planned for each one of us. This life is found in Christ. When we turn our life over to him, his blood sacrifice takes our sin away before God. This frees us from the bondage of sin, which brings misdirection, failure, and death into our life. When we turn from our way and believe on and receive Jesus, committing our life to him, God sees us as righteous in his sight. The righteousness of Jesus is put to our account. Through Jesus our spiritual “shop” is built and given to us. With our life committed to Jesus, we can walk with the Lord and follow his guidance to use the tools in the shop. Being baptized (immersed) in water is our first obedience to him. He will baptize us with his Spirit and supernatural power as we walk in obedience to his Word and believe for and ask him for the Holy Spirit (Luke 11:9-13). As we are led by his Spirit in daily life, the shop is set up and the supernatural tools, provided through the Spirit, can be accessed for our daily use. God’s life for us, with this fully equipped, fully functional, spiritual “shop”, is custom designed for us for just what we need,. It is all for us in Christ, the Spirit Anointed One. By turning to him we can learn to live the full life he has for each one of us (John 10:10; John 14:6). As we commit to learning the Word and to being filled with and led by the Holy Spirit, we learn to dwell in the presence of God through the Lord Jesus Christ. This is the presence that will usher us into heaven with him forever.