Date: 2/3/2009
<br>Author: Devin Pickard
<br>Title: Construction by Destruction
<br><br>For those of you don't come through Centerville very much, let me catch you up on what's going on around here.  The town square is currently going through quite the face lift.  There are a number of different renovations ongoing,  with the main one being the routing of Hwy 100 straight across the square, which in part is to help alleviate some congestion and make it easier for those 18 wheel trucks to pass through town without having to traverse  around the entire square.  Add to that a couple of new traffic lights and a relocation of Minnie Pearl, and you've got yourself quite the happening!  As you might imagine, this little hamlet is now full of bulldozers, dump trucks, and all kinds of heavy machinery.  Trenches are being dug, pipes are being laid, ground is being removed, you know....the sort of things that go along with most any kind of construction.  If you notice, at least at the beginning of any type of building project, there is far more destruction than construction.  In other words, in order for the new to take place, the old has to be removed.<br><br>As with most things in life, a spiritual application can be made here.  This bulletin will go into 622 homes this week.  As much as I would like to think that each member of each home is experiencing a tremendous relationship with the Lord at the present time, I know that I would be sadly mistaken.  Oh, that is certainly not to say that the desire to have such a relationship is not in each of those homes, because it probably is.  But we know that it's our actions, not our desires,that truly prove where our relationship with the Lord stands.  Our daily actions are  determined by what's most important to us.....nothing more and nothing less.  I think it goes without saying that the destructive patterns in our lives lead to destructive actions, which then in turn push away everything in life that is supposed to mean the very most.  These poisonous patterns throw out all common sense and reason regarding the high spiritual consequences these destructive actions will bring on.  For most, a second thought will never be given to the fact that this broad way of destruction (Matt. 7:13) will lead to an eternity separated from God in a devil's hell.  <br><br>Now, the good news.  If you are on that destructive carousel, and you are currently reading these words, then that means that you are still alive.  That means that you still have opportunity to change your life pattern.  That means that you still have opportunity to destroy the destructive aspects of your being and begin a new construction project.....your relationship with God.  The Holy Bible is full of characters who could tell you a thing or two about the “construction by destruction” equation.  King David could write a book about the sum-total of destruction and the redemption of construction....in fact he did.....read some of the Psalms sometime.....he feels your pain.  Less we forget about the Samaritan woman at the well (John 4), the Prodigal Son (Luke 15), and even the Apostle Paul (Acts 9).  They were all reminded of the same fact that still holds true thousands of years later.....you can never have so much destruction in your life that God can't remove it.  So, it's time for some of us to put on the ole' hard hat, lace up the work boots, and get going.  Your Heavenly Father want you to  become a one-man (woman) wrecking crew, and he will give you the energy and the spirit to get rid of those things that “so easily beset you”.  Look at it this way, at least you don't have to move a big heavy statue of a lady wearing a hat with a price tag on it :)<br>Go the extra mile - Devin<br>