Building without a foundation

Just before we began building our home, we needed to get the approval of our neighbours. Going from house to house was an interesting experience and, on the whole, it was great to meet our new community. 

One of new our neighbours kindly invited us into their home to show us the bad 'cracks' that had developed over the years and they gave us this advice: 'make sure that you build on solid foundations, because we were in a rush when we built, and we now see the error of our judgement.' 

We took their advice and asked our builder to be extra cautious when digging our foundations and so far it has been a wise decision. I was thinking of this story when I read Luke 6 yesterday:

46 “So why do you keep calling me ‘Lord, Lord!’ when you don’t do what I say? 47 I will show you what it’s like when someone comes to me, listens to my teaching, and then follows it. 48 It is like a person building a house who digs deep and lays the foundation on solid rock. When the floodwaters rise and break against that house, it stands firm because it is well built. 49 But anyone who hears and doesn’t obey is like a person who builds a house right on the ground, without a foundation. When the floods sweep down against that house, it will collapse into a heap of ruins.”

Thought: What does it mean for us to 'build on the rock?'

Living in Grace

D3LM3

A new foundation

                                                

It saddens me when people abuse the grace God has given to us. I see this happening in many ways, but the one that causes me the most frustration is when people adopt this attitude: 

"God loves me and will forgive me, so I can do what I like!" 

This is not only a false understanding of God's holiness, but also his Love. From a human perspective can you imagine the consequences for a child who says to their parents: "I know you love me and won't discipline me, so I am going to do what I like!" That certainly would never fly in our home and I don't believe God would let it slide either. I like the words of the Life Application Study Bible that say:

 “God’s grace does not cancel our duty to obey Jesus: it gives our obedience a new basis.” 

Our obedience to Jesus is based on our reaction to his immeasurable grace. The way we respond to God's overtures of love is show it by our actions.

Ephesians 2:8-9 - “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” 

Living in Grace

D3LM3

What will be left after the storm

We know that storms can be devastating. Some storms come and go, leaving us a little wet, but not to broken and trouble. Others leave a massive amount of debris and little hope of picking up the pieces. The question I have for us today is this:

"What will we be left with when the current crisis of Coronavirus ends?"

Proverbs 10:25 offers us some powerful imagery today and points us in the right direction. Solomon writes: "Disaster strikes like a cyclone, whirling the wicked away, but the godly have a lasting foundation."

Is Christ still your foundation during this time of testing and trial? Remember that your foundation (Jesus) can never be moved, so rest your life on him.

Zig Ziglar - The foundation stones for a balanced success are honesty, character, integrity, faith, love and loyalty.

Living in Grace
D3LM3

Clinging to a spiders web

"They hang their life from one thin thread, they hitch their fate to a spider web. One jiggle and the thread breaks, one jab and the web collapses." - Job 8 (The Message) 

Life is very fragile and yet, even knowing this, many people still seem to hang everything onto one small thread or a "spiders web." Health, employment, relationships, material comforts, all fall into the category of the 'one thin thread' in my opinion. And when we lose these things, our whole lives seem to fall apart. 

It is not that God doesn't want us to enjoy any of these things - of course we can still love God and enjoy our work, relationships and so on. The trouble comes in when 'EVERYTHING' hinges from these things and there is no room for God. That is the dangerous place to be in.

I guess, Jesus still says it best, when he says, "a wise person builds their house upon the rock!"

Living in Grace
D3LM3

Danger lurking inside

We came home yesterday to discover that our neighbour's huge tree had just fallen over. It was quite a scary sight, as it covered the whole of his driveway and entrance into his garage. My immediate thought was that it had been the wind that had blown it over, but upon reflection the wind wasn't that strong. As one got closer to the tree you could see that white ants had happily been eating the trunk for ages. It literally got eaten from the inside out and it was the ants that weakened the tree. In the end, all it took was a small gust of wind to blow the whole tree over.

I am sad that this old tree is no more - it look stately and proud. We will miss it. What bothers me even more is whether I am like that tree or not. Are there "things" eating me up inside? Do I dismiss those small "things" that others can't notice, only to have these very things destroy my core?

We need to protect our inner core (spiritual well being), so that nothing can topple us. We may not notice these things at first, but in the end they will harm us.

May God protect your spirit today. Take good care of the small things in your life, so that when the time of testing comes, you can stand strong.

Living in Grace
D3LM3

Friday thoughts

At the end another hectic week, may these thoughts inspire you to have an awesome weekend.

Psalm 104:5 - He set the earth on its foundations; it can never be moved.

"Try not to become a person of success but a person of value." - Albert Einstein

"If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put foundations under them." - Henry David Thoreau

Living in Grace,
D3LM3

P.S. Thank you for the many enquiries about the 'Cycle of Grace' information. I battled to put together a link for the notes from Trevor Hudson, but I managed to source something similar on the Cycle of Grace. Have a look here. (These are not my notes - credit to OK New Forest). I will put my adapted version of the sermon notes onto the blog over the weekend.

Build your life

Lee Strobel's testimony of discovering life in Christ is remarkable. He was a former atheist, but now he is a powerful witness for Jesus. In his book, 'The Case for Christ' he writes:

"If Jesus is the Son of God, his teachings are more that just good ideas from a wise teacher; they are divine insights on which I can confidently build my life."

Proverbs 3:19 - By wisdom the LORD laid the earth's foundations, by understanding he set the heavens in place.

Let's build on a solid foundation.

Living in Grace,
D3LM3

Standing Firm

Sometimes we need to dig our 'faith' heels in and stand firm. Just as these words encourage us to do:

"But you must continue to believe this truth and stand firmly in it. Don't drift away from the assurance you received when you heard the Good News." - Colossians 1:23

Who or what has helped you in the past to feel 'anchored' in your faith? Please let me know!

Living in Grace,
D3LM3

Godly Foundations

Here is some food for thought:

“For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ.” – 1 Corinthians 3:11

Luke 6:48-49 – “… But the one who hears my words and does not put them into practice is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. The moment the torrent struck that house, it collapsed and its destruction was complete."

I will be exploring some of these thoughts tomorrow in the service.
Strength and grace to you.

Living in Grace,
D3LM3