Designed to Last and Built to Win

By Sandra Garder

Designed to Last and Built to Win

 

 Enlighten you - You are a winner! You have a winning design. God is your Father. He loves you 100%, and He will always cause you to triumph and win.

 

Empower you - You we

• Language: English
• Publisher: Sandra Gardner Ministries
• Release date: May 7, 2022
• ISBN: 9780578293035

Book preview

Introduction

In this life we face many challenges, but the good news is that we were created to triumph and win. By divine design we are WINNERS. We were created by the Creator Himself to outlast any circumstance, challenge, situation, storm, crisis, or battle that comes into our lives. Victory is our portion. In this season we decree and declare that defeat is not an option because there is no defeat in Jesus Christ. This book has been written to help you kick defeat out the door and open wide the door for success. Success means to accomplish, to achieve, to attain and to advance. I declare that you will accomplish, achieve, attain, and advance in all that God has planned for your life because you are Designed to Last and Built to Win!!

Now thanks be on to God, which always causes us to triumph in Christ. II Corinthians 2:14a

Chapter 1

God, The Master Designer

For thou hast possessed my reign; thou hast covered me in my mother’s womb. I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; marvelous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well.

-Psalm 139:13-14

There are so many facets to the name of God. In scripture, He reveals Himself in many ways. Just to name a few, He is Jehovah Yireh, the Lord Who Provides, Jehovah Rophe, the Lord Who Heals, Jehovah Shalom, the Lord of Peace, Philos, the Lord Our Friend, Emmanuel, the Lord Who is with Us, and ABBA, Who is Our Father.

In my younger days, I did not know Him as Father. I saw Him as a God who sat in heaven looking down over the balcony of heaven just waiting for me to make a mistake. If I did, I felt He would reach down and hit me on the knuckles with a stick until I got it right. I had a very distorted view of Him.

Now, I understand that He is a very loving Father who cares deeply for me and my wellbeing. He has a great plan for my life. It is a plan of good and not evil, a plan of peace and not confusion, a plan that includes a bright future (Jeremiah 29:11). He is a good, good Father whose goodness and mercy are extended to me every day, and for that I am thankful.

Today, I would like to share Him as God, the Master Designer.

Master

When I hear the word master, words like expert, expertise, specialist, genius, very skilled, and qualified come to mind.

Designer

According to Dictionary.com, a designer is someone who originates, creates, builds, or fashions a particular design for a specific purpose.

Design

A design is the way something is built or put together. It is an idea, a plan, a sketch from the heart and mind of the designer.

You were designed and created by the Master Designer Himself, God. Your design came straight from His heart. It is laced with love, and on the inside of you----is a VERY FABULOUS YOU.

Fearfully and Wonderfully Made

In Psalm 139:13, King David speaks of how God, his Designer, created all the delicate, inner parts in his body. He is overwhelmed and fascinated as to how God knit and put him together in his mother’s womb. He is amazed that all of this could happen before he was even born.

I knew you before I formed you in your mother’s womb. Before you were born, I set you apart and appointed you as my prophet to the nations.

-Jeremiah 1:5, NLT

Before You Were Born

The word before means previously or beforehand. God knew you and had detailed knowledge of you before you were born. You were not an afterthought in His mind, neither did He merely throw you together. He took time to plan every intricate part of your design beforehand. He thought about your hair, your hair color, how many hairs you would or would not have on your head, your eyes, your eye color, your skin color, your personality, your voice, and even your assignment on the earth. Before you were born, He knew who you were to become. He knew what your design would require; therefore, He ordained you, appointed you, set you aside, and built you according to the purpose and plan for your life.

Notice in Psalm 139:14 how we, the readers, can hear King David’s thoughts of fascination. He speaks and he says, I will praise thee for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; marvelous are thou works and that my soul knoweth right well.

David is praising and complimenting God because he recognizes the skill of God, the expertise of God, and the genius of God. The word fearfully is used as an adverb indicating awe or astonishment. David is in awe and feels astonished at His artistry.

Wonderfully connotes uniqueness, distinctiveness, being set apart, being different, and being the only one of its kind. David understands that this work is extraordinary, phenomenal, exceptional, unusual, and beyond anything ever created.

Spiritual Identity Theft

Unlike David, for years I did not know that I was fearfully and wonderfully made. I did not stand in awe and astonishment of my design, nor did I marvel over my uniqueness. I did not marvel over the fact that I was distinct, set apart, and the only one of my kind. Truth be told, instead of being an authentic, designer’s original, I became a fake, counterfeit, carbon copy of another person’s design. I called it spiritual identity theft.

Because I did not understand my own mold, how God knit me together, and the purpose for which I was created, many times I was comparing myself to others. Guess what? Usually, I came up with the short end of the stick because of feelings of inferiority.

Comparison Syndrome

The spirit of comparison is a thief. It steals our originality and our God-given identity. The comparison syndrome is designed to make people feel less important, not as valuable, and inferior when compared to others. Comparison can also breed covetousness. To covet means to desire excessively what belongs to another. When we covet the life of others or what belongs to them, we are not able to find fulfillment in our own lives. Fulfillment is to be satisfied with all that God has created in me and for me.

Your originality was given to you by God. It empowers you to think, to act, and to express yourself independently in an original manner. It is the innovative, inventive, genius, and creative part of you. Another name of God is-- God, Mighty Creator. It contains the idea of God’s creative power.

In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.

-Genesis 1:1

He is a creative God, and