“And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock.” (Matthew 7:25, ESV)
The foundation is the base starting point to anything you are desiring to build.
This beginning piece will be an essential factor before you go on to the next levels of your project.
How do we make sure the foundation is built the way we need it to be, to withstand every storm?
It must be founded on the Rock. This Rock is Jesus.
Whatever your plan is, without including Jesus 1͎s͎t͎ , all else will ultimately fail.
“Do not just live a godly life…build it.” – The Few
To not have Him in mind first is foolish (Matthew 7:26), because without Him, you cannot do anything!
As Christians, we should learn from our past. I don’t know about you all, but before I had Jesus by my side, my mistakes dug me into a deep hole. One that I wasn’t able to get out of my own, in my own strength. If it wasn’t for my Savior, I would have continued into the depths of chaos and fears. Who knows where I would have ended up!
Thankfully, God met me in my mess. He grabbed my hand and insisted this was no longer a battle I had to fight on my own. Where no one else was to be found in my times of need, He revealed to me that He was. I just had to be willing to finally surrender and lean into His hope.
“And He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.”
Colossians 1:17, ESV
He is the Vine, we are the branches (John 15:5).
To be successful in anything that we do, we must make sure God is first in our lives and we remain in Him.
We have been appointed by God, not to do the things of the kingdom on our own (John 15:16).
If we are not grounded and united with the Father we are more than likely going to fall at some point.
Save yourself the trouble and enter His rest.
Our talents, gifts, and light do not come from our own doing, but from the Maker Himself!
“Those who are planted in the house of the LORD Shall flourish in the courts of our God.” (Psalm 92:13, NKJV)
“Let the heartbeat of your Bible reading be this simple prayer: ‘LORD, move this from my head to my heart.” – John Piper
Today let us examine our relationships. Which ones? All of them.
Your relationship with God should be first in your life. If this is not the case for you, then this is one area in your life you must cater to first and foremost. Next, if you have a spouse, you and them have become one flesh (Genesis 2:24). Thus because of this your relationship should also be of importance to you. It should be second on your list. Your parents, your imitate family (if they are in your life) should also be an aspect within your life that you can lean in toward. After all the command, “Honor your fatherand your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.” (Exodus 20:12, ESV), still applies (Matthew 10:37, Matthew 15:4, & Matthew 19:19). Then everyone else accordingly. (Friends Proverbs 17:17, Bosses/Coworkers 1 Peter 2:18, Matthew 5:16, Colossians 3:22, the government(s) 1 Peter 2:18…..so on and so forth).
These are just some logistics before I begin, but this is not necessarily all we will cover.
Today, I would like to go over relationships as a whole. Meaning, this is something we should be doing in all of our relationships, no matter which one it is.
This ‘something’ is honesty.
“You have no idea the numbers of people that God may want to influence through you.” – Andy Stanley
Honesty is important in every single relationship. When you are not honest with someone, you are even lying to yourself. In reality, it is also relevant to note that when you are not being honest with yourself or the people around you, you are not walking in accordance to the spirit. Walking in step with the spirit means that our hearts and thoughts are aligned with the Father (Galatians 5:25). Honesty gives us a clear conscience.
“Whoever gives an honest answer kisses the lips.”
Proverbs 24:26, ESV
Being an honest person means you are being your truest self. Those who are free in Christ are free indeed (John 8:36). If you feel you cannot be honest with the people around you, then you really need to reevaluate who it is you are allowing yourself to be affected by. There are so many questions we could ask ourselves to get us back on track, but the key thing is that we must fix our faults as soon as we recognize them. The longer you wait, the harder it will be to get to the solution. Please, allow me to explain.
“For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this world’s darkness, and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” (Ephesians 6:12, BSB)
As we spoke about in reading, “Sometimes“, we learned that the tough times we go through in this life are no exception to the Body of Christ. IF you accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior your life has become new in Him, but that doesn’t mean that everything is picture perfect. Despite now being a child of God, we are still temporally living in the world, but just because we are in the world, doesn’t mean we should respond the way the ones of the world do.
“So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.“
Galatians 5:16-18, NIV
Whether we are being honest or facing honesty, sometimes this can be a hard thing to handle. Sometimes we don’t want to face what is in front of us, but I encourage you today to fight against that. Stop running away from your problems and instead try tackling them and work through them.
By doing this and applying it to your life, you will be walking according to the spirit and will of God.
It might not be easy but that is okay. It may be a fight but it is a fight worth fighting for.
Our spirit is consistently fighting against our flesh, but it is up to us to reason it out (see Isaiah 1:18).
“Learn to do right” (Isaiah 1:17, BSB).
One last thing before you go.
To be honest, is showing you love the one you are being honest with. Is it not?
Thank you for reading. To read more on friendships please click here to read.
If this helped you and blessed you, I pray you will also take the time to be in the Word of God. 1 Peter Chapter 2 maybe! 😊
“Prayer ushers you into a relationship with your Creator that impacts and reveals who you are as a person at the most profound levels.”- Charles F. Stanley
There is so much one could say about prayer. Prayer can do big things, or small. Prayer is also connection. Connection with the most important Being in the entire universe. How ever big that even is.
With prayer, comes humility. It allows us to lower ourselves and come to a God that is so much more than ourselves. It detaches us from the bustling world and brings us to a quiet space of intimacy.
You may know of the frequent times Jesus had often wandered away to do just that.
“And he withdrew himself into the wilderness, and prayed.”
(Luke 5:16, KJV)
From The Gift of Prayer by Charles Stanley, he says it perfectly, “Your life was made to be an earthen vessel that shines forth His glory (2 Corinthians 4:7). And the more you know Christ and are unified with Him, the more He lives His life through you, giving you His power and revealing His plan for you.”
You see, prayer isn’t just a time for you to ask for all the things you desire. Prayer is a way for you to have the most important relationship of your life! Matthew 6:33 states, “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.” God and His kingdom come first! Did you know as a child of God you are already a citizen of His kingdom? You no longer belong to the worries of this world.
“Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world; if it were, My servants would fight to prevent My arrest by the Jews. But now My kingdom is not of this realm.“
(John 18:36, BSB)
& although this kingdom Jesus speaks of is not of this realm, we have access to it everyday. Jesus tells us so, “The kingdom of God does not come with observation; nor will they say, ‘See here!’ or ‘See there’! For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you.” (Luke 17:20-21,NKJV)
“What other creature exhibits such a capacity or has been given such an honor?”- Charles F. Stanley
Are you in awe yet?
You should be.
I am showing you this passage because it glorifies the LORD. It illustrates His essence. A snippet of who He is and what He has done/does. Isn’t it just beautiful how some One so extraordinary and unfathomable would genuinely want a loving relationship with you and I? What is man that You are mindful of him (Psalms 8:4)? For we are just dust (Genesis 2:7; Genesis 3:19; Genesis 13:16; Genesis 18:27), yet you cover us in your blood (1 John 1:7), and cloak us with robes of righteousness (Isaiah 61:10).
“Coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious, you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” (1 Peter 2:4-5)
My message for you all today is, be an opportunist. An opportunist is simply someone who takes on an opportunity. You take the chance that is given to you and take it. Luckily for us, right now we have every single day to seize the opportunity at hand.
P R A Y
Get to know God. Even more deeply than you do now. God insists that you do. He says in Jeremiah 9:24, “But let him who glories glory in this, That he understands and knows Me, That I am the Lord, exercising lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth. For in these I delight”, says the Lord.” <- That is who He is and this is what He wants!
As for myself, I have been exploring my personal relationship with our Father. More so lately. The things I wonder about Him, I seek. The questions I have for Him, I ask. The worries I have, I lay them all at His feet. For He truly cares.
“He shall pray to God, and He will delight in him,
He shall see His face with joy.”
(Job 33:26, NKJV)
Taking on this challenge with God has done more than just be therapeutic for me. It is a continual learning process. I am learning how God speaks to me individually. I am learning how He speaks in general. Of what exactly He wants from me while we are here, and becoming more expectant to what He may reveal. It will not come all at once, as we may prefer (see Psalms 37:7), but I hope that this encourages you to maybe reach out to God on a new level. Fight against the distractions, the doubts, lies, or even laziness that is hindering your relationship. Trust your walk, trust where you are, and trust where you are going, because you are in safe Hands (Jeremiah 29:11; Psalms 46:10).
Love Never Fails 