DreamHouse Phase 3: Furnish the chambers

In Phase 1 we selected the finest raw materials.  Then we constructed the shell from the finest blueprints in Phase 2.  Finally, we'll furnish the chambers in Phase 3.  After all, who wants to live in a bare home?  Even if the home is made of the finest raw materials and masterfully constructed from the finest blueprints, it will be cold and uncomfortable at best without furnishings.

It is the furnishings - furniture, rugs, pictures, linens, dishes, etc - that make a house a home.  It is the furnishings that promote a house from rude shelter to comfortable home.  It is the furnishings that distinguish a house from the house next door; the furnishings become a vivid visual depiction of our individuality - our tastes, styles, temperament and priorities.  The furnishings make all the difference.

Through wisdom is an house builded; and by understanding it is established: and by knowledge shall the chambers be filled with all precious and pleasant riches. Proverbs 24:3-4

Phase 3 - Furnish the chambers... and by knowledge shall the chambers be filled with all precious and pleasant riches.

• KNOWLEDGE - cunning, skill, awareness, perception
• CHAMBERS - innermost part within a house; bed chambers
• FILLED - fully furnished, fulfilled, replenished, satisfied
• PRECIOUS - valuable, bright, clear, costly, excellent, honorable
• PLEASANT - delightful, sweet
• RICHES - wealth, enough substance

In other words, through awareness, perception, cunning, and skill, the heart of a home (family) is fully furnished with valuable, excellent, honorable, delightful, sweet substance.

Awareness and perception of what?

Answer: awareness and perception of (1) the architecture and (2) the lifestyle of the inhabitants. One of the principles of good interior design is that the furnishings should complement (not conflict with) the architecture. For example, don't use Grecian columns in a house of modern architecture.

As we're furnishing our chambers, we need to have an awareness and perception of God's architectural design for our family. What specific roles and tasks has God designed for my family? How do those roles and tasks effect our lifestyle? Does the lifestyle of a doctor differ from the lifestyle of a farmer? Obviously. Does the lifestyle of a Pastor differ from the lifestyle of an evangelist or a missionary? Yes, of course. Does the lifestyle of a family with infants differ from the lifestyle of a family with teens? Yes.

An awareness and perception of God's design for our family will lead us to furnish and equip our family with the very things that complement God's design. The equipment that is valuable, excellent, and honorable in helping us carry out God's roles and tasks will also be delightful and sweet to us. God has designed us to enjoy the equipment we need for our work. How sweet is that?

What about our individuality?
We know that God has a standard blueprint for all families, right? And within that standard blueprint for all families, He has a unique design for my family. But here's something else that we don't often consider. Within God's standard blueprint for all families, and within God's unique design for my family, there's a place for my individuality. That's right - individuality.


You mean we can follow God's standard blueprint and God's unique design and still express our own individuality? Yes! Don't buy into that common misconception that obedience to God's will somehow stifles individuality. God's creation is living proof that God is not opposed to individuality. How many varieties of butterflies did He create? Fish? Flowers? Vegetables? The great variety in creation proves that God enjoys and gets glory from diversity and individuality.

As we furnish our chambers, let us do so with an awareness and perception of God's design for our family. And let us express our individuality in a way that complements God's architecture.

DreamHouse Phase 2: Construct the Shell

Through wisdom is an house builded; and by understanding it is established: and by knowledge shall the chambers be filled with all precious and pleasant riches. Proverbs 24:3-4

According to these verses, there are three distinct phases of homebuilding:

• Phase 1 - Obtain raw materials
• Phase 2 - Construct the shell
• Phase 3 - Furnish the chambers 

 Phase 2 - Construct the Shell
... and by understanding it is established... 

• UNDERSTANDING - the act of understanding (skill), the faculty of understanding (intelligence, insight), the object of knowledge
• ESTABLISHED - set up, prepared, fixed, fastened, made firm, made stable

Phase 2 is primarily concerned with transforming the raw materials into a shell that will provide shelter, shade, and protection.

Here's an important distinction: understanding is not the same as knowledge.  Knowledge is something that resides in the gray matter in our brain; understanding is what happens when we call up that knowledge from our brain and act upon it.  For example, if knowledge is the blueprint for the house, then understanding would be the act of constructing the house according to the blueprint.

Through understanding (acting upon what we know of God's blueprint for the family), the home (family) is set up, prepared, fixed, fastened, made firm, made stable.

How important is it to follow a good blueprint when you're building a house? It's vitally important. It's the difference between a sturdy, functional, beautiful house and a tree house!

So don't just pick up a hammer and start nailing boards together! That may be a great way to build a tree house, but it's not a great way to build your dream house.

If you're serious about building a dream house, you ought to study God's blueprints for your family the way a master carpenter studies the blueprints for a home. Then demonstrate your understanding by following the blueprints.

DreamHouse Phase 1: Get Your Raw Materials

My daughter is signing a contract to purchase a house today, on the 24th of May.  How appropriate that my Bible-reading this morning included these verses from the 24th chapter of Proverbs, it being the 24th day of the month... And now that I think about it, we moved into our house on the 24th of November.  Hmmmm.  How interesting is THAT? 

God's Word is alive and powerful, as fresh and nourishing as newly baked bread, more relevant and informative than the latest news report or scientific discovery.

Through wisdom is an house builded; and by understanding it is established: and by knowledge shall the chambers be filled with all precious and pleasant riches.  Proverbs 24:3-4

OK now... this is the home I want...  But this kind of home isn't just something you obtain with your wallet.  This kind of home requires much, much more... This kind of home has three major phases:

• Phase 1 - Obtain raw materials
• Phase 2 - Construct the shell
• Phase 3 - Furnish the chambers

Phase 1 - Obtain raw materials
Through wisdom is an house builded... When I looked up the key words in my concordance, here's what I found.

• WISDOM - skill of an artificer, skill (in war), wisdom (in administration), shrewdness, prudence (in religious affairs)
• HOUSE - home as containing a family
• BUILDED - to build, establish a family, cause to continue, make permanent

In other words, through wisdom, a home (family) is established, continued, and made permanent.  The raw materials of the family are a man and wife, equally yoked as born-again believers in Jesus Christ, committed to love and serve one another as a picture of Jesus Christ and his beloved church, co-laboring to serve the Lord in their local church, and bringing up children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.

When wisdom guides the selection of raw materials, a family will be established (stable), continued (enduring), and permanent.  When wisdom does not guide the selection of raw materials, the family will be unstable, waning, and temporary.

A home will never be any more stable, enduring, or permanent than the raw materials used to build it.  So phase 1, select your raw materials with care and wisdom.  Don't settle for less than the best.

New to FarmTown - WordCrops!

A man's belly will be filled with the fruit of his mouth,

and with the increase of his lips shall he be filled.

Death and life are in the power of the tongue:

and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof. 

Proverbs 18:20-21

Sowing and reaping imagery... my words as the SEEDS which I sow, and my food as the FRUIT they bear someday.

Suppose facebook revamped "FarmTown" to grow crops based on the words you speak to and about your friends and family? What would your farm look like? Would it be filled with flourishing crops, flowers, and trees? Or would it be full of thorns, thistles, and cockleburrs?  Let's mentally examine the crops our words may be producing....

It is the habitual, not the occasional, use of this little member, that determines its fruit.  A saint may speak unadvisedly-- a sinner acceptably--with his lips. Neither would thus determine his true character. Charles Bridges

Hey Moms, Dads, and Children...
...imagine the words you speak to those who live with you as seeds.  Imagine that your words have been collected in a basket for you each day, and before you go to bed, you scatter the whole basket into your front yard.  When those seeds sprout, what kind of landscape will people see in front of your home as they pass by?  Will they wish that their yard looked as lovely as yours?  Or will they wish you would MOVE?


Hey Hubbies & Wives...
...imagine the words you have spoken about your spouse as seeds that you have scattered at the community park.  What is springing up as the result of your words?  Are your words bearing a harvest of respect and honor for you and your spouse in your community?  Or scorn and dishonor?


Hey Mother-in-laws...
...imagine the words you have spoken to (and about) your daughter-in-law over the years as seeds that you scattered at the family farm. What kind of crop have your words produced? Perhaps medicinal plants that soothe and heal? Perhaps practical herbs that add seasoning and spice to meals? Perhaps an impenetrable briar forest to rival that of poor Sleeping Beauty?

What about your words to and about...
... your "so-called" friends
... your Pastor
... your teacher
... your supervisor
... your co-worker
... your rival

Remember, death and life are in the power of your tongue.  Not death and life for the one you speak to/about, but death and life to you, the speaker.