“Anyone who listens to my teaching and obeys me is wise, like a person who builds a house on solid rock. Though the rain comes in torrents and the floodwaters rise and the winds beat against that house, it won’t collapse, because it is built on rock. But anyone who hears my teaching and ignores it is foolish, like a person who builds a house on sand. When the rains and floods come and the winds beat against that house, it will fall with a mighty crash.”
I agree that if you build on any other foundation other then Jesus Christ your faith will crumble and crash to the ground in the storms and squalls of life but our faith should not just be a single sided matter of concern. Our faith should be partnership between Christ and us.
The foundation of our faith was not just given and chosen for us so we could build whatever we want to build on it. The foundation of our faith in Jesus Christ is given to us so we can accomplish all that God has planned for us.
Yes God has given us many desires, abilities and giftings but not used, constructed and mended together properly with the help of God they will all fall apart. And when it comes crashing to the ground you won’t just be scratching your head telling yourself that was a waste of time but you will be running to Jesus in agony, hurt and despair. There are many people in this world who don’t know God yet have been gifted with things God has given them and they build on foundation which is not Christ and they wonder why everything they do does not fulfill them. Some have just accepted these unsuccessful happenings or ventures as just a part of life but for you the believer in Christ Jesus it does not need to be that way!
(Ecclesiastes 2:11) says “But as I looked at everything I had worked so hard to accomplish, it was all so meaningless. It was like chasing the wind. There was nothing really worthwhile anywhere.”
You don’t need to be left chasing the wind.
You see chasing the wind comes from human thinking and understanding and having no intervention or guidance from God.
Imagine if you will, God wants to build you a beautiful Arts and Craftsman home on the foundation (Jesus Christ) he has poured for you but you want to settle for a single -wide mobile home to park on it. You want to be settled and done. You don’t want to have to go through a lengthy construction process and struggles and costs that build a house. Nothing is wrong with a single -wide mobile home except if your spiritual home is built like a mobile home you might have some real problems when the real storms come and you may faultier and even fall away from your faith and Salvation in Jesus Christ.
Single-wide mobile home mentality is: It is a person who has at one time in their life "given" their life to Christ but has gone no further in their partnership with the Godhead (Father, Son (Jesus Christ) and Holy Spirit.). It is being selfish and single-minded. Obviously I am not talking about baby Christians here, I am talking about someone who's relationship with God is a one time act of surrender to the Lord and they have gone no further in their Christian walk. They don't study the word of God. They don't do anything to help their fellow man experience the love of Jesus Christ, and there is little difference between them and an unsaved person lost in this world except they may come to church on an occasion. Theses individuals biblical beliefs are weak at best. When faced with a challenge in their life, they immediately take the human route of understanding instead of the higher route which is to holdfast and trust in God. You say, Jeff, that sounds judgmental? I don't mean to sound judgmental. My objective is to show you, it is better have a relationship and partnership with God then a silent one and be lost. My concern for these individuals is if their is no inward or outward change than I wonder if they are saved or have fallen away to the allures and beliefs of this world. If so their souls are endanger.
The blueprints and building materials God has for you in life add more beauty and fulfillment then you and I can possibly imagine and they don’t include wheels and a hitch. They are permanent and long lasting. That mobile home of faith doesn’t have chance when the storms come to challenge and test your faith.
1 Corinthians 3:11-15 “For no one can lay any other foundation than the one we already have-Jesus Christ. Now anyone who builds on that foundation may use gold, silver, jewels, wood, hay, or straw. But there is going to come a time of testing at the judgment day to see what kind of work each builder has done. Everyone's work will be put through the fire to see whether or not it keeps its value. If the work survives the fire, that builder will receive a reward. But if the work is burned up, the builder will suffer great loss. The builders themselves will be saved, but like someone escaping through a wall of flames.”
God wants to help you construct that beautiful house of faith in your life that will withstand the storms, squalls, floods, hurricanes, tornados, and that fire on judgment day but in order for that to happen you have to make Jesus Christ the contractor of your life. You have got to stop your human thinking and reasoning and seek a heart of God.
1 Corinthians 3:17-20 “…For God's temple is holy, and you Christians are that temple. Stop fooling yourselves. If you think you are wise by this world's standards, you will have to become a fool so you can become wise by God's standards. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness to God. As the Scriptures say, "God catches those who think they are wise in their own cleverness." And again, "The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are worthless."
Now the dangers of building by yourself: There have been times in my Christian walk where I thought I was doing God a favor by doing works and service by my own will power but all I did was slip into human thinking and understanding. My human thinking and understanding left me empty, tried, frustrated and worn out. And in the end I saw no point or meaning. It was fruitless and it got me in trouble with God.
It is a terrible thing to find out your efforts have been in vain…
It is probably just as bad as taking too many steps. You feel prompted to act in a situation and so you move in what you "think" God wants you to do but find out instead of taking just that one step God wanted you to take, you took five additional steps... and that is when you usually find yourself over your head in a mess that only God can straighten out.
And it’s hundred times worse when it’s not just yourself who are involved but others as well. You are left feeling like the only thing you can do then is apologetically, humbly; regrettably and even mournfully bow out of the situation.
Another danger of building by yourself is recorded in Matthew 7:21-23
“Not all people who sound religious are really godly. They may refer to me as ‘Lord,’ but they still won’t enter the kingdom of Heaven. The decisive issue is whether they obey my Father in heaven. On judgment day many will tell me, ‘Lord, Lord, we prophesied in your name and cast out demons in your name and performed many miracles in your name.’ But I will reply, ‘I never knew you. Go away; the things you did were unauthorized.”
Meaning and purpose is useless without God. Just knowing the content about something is very different then living in the content of something. This is the same with God. We may know a lot of content in God’s word but it is very different when living out God’s word. All knowledge of content of God’s word (without God) is useless but knowing God’s word in hand with God is priceless.
Christ maintains and builds his church via the Holy Spirit. He is the foundation and with CAREFUL instruction from the Holy Spirit a person’s faith can be built to withstand all the trials this life has to bring. A peer faith is what God desires but a faith built by our understandings not Godly understandings is hard build on.
Guidance from the Holy Spirit is the assurance we won’t be left chasing the wind or find ourselves doing things unauthorized by God (Matthew 7:23).
Jesus says, “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not be presenting his own ideas; he will be telling you what he has heard. He will tell you about the future. He will bring me glory by revealing to you whatever he receives from me.” John 16:13-14
Every person who claims to be a Christian must look to God’s Holy Spirit for instruction in his or her lives.
The Holy Spirit gives us a spiritual birth. This spiritual birth helps us build upon God’s truths of Christ Jesus making them tangible for us not to just “know” but to put into practice in everyday life, everyday trial, everyday test, everyday challenge and everyday joy.
Yes the partnership with God brings fulfillment, Godly understanding, discernment and joy …so we don’t have to go chasing the wind. Ask God, "Lord am I truly living the life you want me to live?" Study the bible as you do this and ask God to build your assurance in Jesus Christ.
You will certainly be brought into challenges but challenges are good for us. They are faith boosters.
| We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they are good for us-they help us learn to endure. | |
| And endurance develops strength of character in us, and character strengthens our confident expectation of salvation. | |
| And this expectation will not disappoint us. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love. |
God won't give you anymore then you can handle and He will slowly build you a strong house of faith as you trust and follow in the Lord Jesus Christ. The storms will come but keep your eyes on God and see what He does. Others may even ask you how you can stand so strong and you can answer, "Because of all that the Lord has done and has continued to bring me through."
1Peter 1:7 These trials are only to test your faith, to show that it is strong and pure. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold--and your faith is far more precious to God than mere gold. So if your faith remains strong after being tried by fiery trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world.
May God bless you in all of His truth!
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