A firm foundation

1 Corinthians 3:11 (ESV)

For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.

I love building things in my shop and sharing the fun with kids. Have you ever helped a toddler build a tower? The kind they’ll destroy seconds before its finished? You start on a solid base as you build upward. Then without warning, with a spark in his eye, your building buddy introduces the full force of his hand to the weakest part of your tower. Now, you let the toddler build his own tower. Yet, his tower repeatedly falls before it’s tall enough to be called a tower at all.

Your friend has yet to grasp the concept of a firm foundation. He’s not alone. How often do we watch pieces of our lives prematurely topple? We build on wealth, our lives fall. We build on education, appearance, or relationship, and at some point, our towers crumble. Why? Because when our confidence is placed on anything other than the loving acceptance of our Creator, we are engineering failure into our foundation.

You might be picking up blocks right now, thinking about laying a foundation, or sitting at the top of a fragile, leaning tower. There is really good news for you. God is not only a good builder; He’s the ultimate architect, restoration specialist, and general contractor. Before you know what you need, He has what you need. When the world needed a Savior, He sent the chief Cornerstone. Therefore, we can say, “I’m confident.” Not self-confident, but God-confident.

Dear Lord, we want You and our salvation through Christ to be the foundation of our life. We invite the Holy Spirit to reveal to us other blocks we have tried to put in Your place. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.

Strong foundation

Luke 6:47-48 (ESV)

47 Everyone who comes to me and hears my words and does them, I will show you what he is like: 48 he is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when a flood arose, the stream broke against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built.

If you grew up in the church, you probably remember the parable of the man building his house on the rock and the man who built his house on the sand when you were in Sunday school. We can often focus on the foundation of the man whose house was built on the rock. He obeys the words of Jesus and his house stays up. We often tend to ignore that this man also goes through the storm. Both of these men go through the same storm, but there is a different outcome for these men. The only difference is their foundation

We can learn a little nugget of truth from this parable. We learn that the Christian life isn’t about escaping the storms that come our way. The Christian life is about weathering the storms with Jesus as our foundation. Jesus never said that the man who does his words won’t have any problems in life. He says that the man who does his words will be able to make it through these problems because he has Jesus as his foundation.

Dear Lord, we pray for safety during the storms of life. Help each of us work on making our foundation strong. In the Name of Jesus, Amen. 

Established our foundation upon the ROCK

Matthew 7:24-27 (ESV)

24 “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 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. 26 And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. 27 And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.”

Here in Florida we always have the chance of being hit by a tropical storm or hurricane during the summer months. Back in 2004 we were hit by 4 hurricanes and we were very thankful that our house was built to the standards that were set so it would stand strong even in the storms.

In this passage, Jesus is talking to Jews, of course. They were familiar with the rain and how vigorously it comes down these seasons. They knew not to build their houses on sand -- or else they would quickly collapse when the rains came!

The Lord is warning us about building our houses on weak ground. He knew that stormy seasons would come and He wants us to be prepared! We don't want to be one of the many whose houses will collapse because they were built on fame, fortune and other things of this world. We must be careful to build our house only upon Him. Even building our houses upon seemingly innocent things like family, tradition and good works is dangerous. We want to be of those who've established our foundation upon the ROCK of the truth of His Word and who will be able to weather the coming storms because of it!

Are there storms raging about you today? Let's completely built our life upon the Rock.

Dear Lord, help us to focus on building our life upon You. So that when the storms of life come we can stand firm. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.

Build with care

1 Corinthians 3:10 (ESV)

According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and someone else is building upon it. Let each one take care how he builds upon it.

An elderly carpenter was ready to retire. His contractor was sorry to see such a good employee go, and asked him if he would build just one last house as a personal favor. The carpenter agreed but his heart was not in it. He resorted to bad workmanship and using cheap materials.

When the carpenter finished his work, the contractor came over and handed the front-door key to the carpenter. "I appreciate all the hard work you’ve done for me all these years and I’d like you to have this house as a token of my gratitude.”

The carpenter was shocked! If only he had only known he was building his own house, he would have worked much harder! Now he owned a house that wasn’t built very well.

We should think of ourselves as carpenters and our lives here on earth, as our house. Each day we hammer a nail, place a board, or erect a wall, we must build with care! It is the only life we will ever build. And what we do here will count for eternity!

Our lives today are the result of our attitudes and choices in the past. Our lives tomorrow will be the result of our attitudes and the choices we make today! Let’s build to the best of our ability. 

Dear Lord, we pray today that we would take what you have given to use and do our very best to build the life You have for us. IN the Name of Jesus, Amen. 

Slated for the wrecking ball

2 Corinthians 4:16 (ESV)

So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day.

Some of the wealthiest individuals in the United States are real estate developers. They make their money by buying a piece of property that is terribly run down, seemingly useless, without any value to the naked eye and reforming it completely, making it look brand new! These businessmen are not as much interested in what is on the property as they are interested in the land it's on!

So it is with God and us. He's not at all interested in what we've built with our lives -- he's not interested in our wealth or the diplomas we've acquired or the name we've made for ourselves. He wants to completely renovate us! He has a vision for our lives much greater than we can imagine. All He needs is for us to give up our land so that He can go to work and start rebuilding!

We're an old warehouse, slated for the wrecking ball! And we have the opportunity to be renewed today. Let's give Him our lives yet again.

Dear Lord we pray that You would take our life and make us what You have designed for us. In the Name of Jesus, Amen. 

Giving it Your All no Matter What.

Matthew 7:25 (NIV)

The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock.

Tuesday evening at the 1996 Olympics brought high drama and pride as Kerri Strug guaranteed a gold medal for the U.S. women gymnasts. With two Russian performances yet to be completed and the medal still in doubt, she had one more vault to attempt. But should she?

On her first attempt, the veteran Olympian who stands four-feet-nine-inches high and weighs 87 pounds had heard her ankle snap and had limped off. Perhaps she should have removed herself from the competition to avoid further injury, but she didn't. She pulled herself together, set herself for her final attempt, and nailed a near-perfect vault before a cheering crowd! She held a flamingo-like stance until the judges recorded their scoring of her performance - a performance that assured first place for her team.

With two torn ligaments in the 18-year old's left ankle, Kerri Strug then collapsed in pain onto the floor. Her coach, Bela Karolyi, carried her onto the medals platform. She had become the darling of Atlanta for fighting back through her pain.

Knowing that Jesus is our foundation, we can accomplish what He has before us even when all around us seems dark.

Dear Lord, give us the strength to carry on and do our best even when we don’t think we can do it. In Jesus’ Name, Amen. 

The Rock Foundation

Matthew 7:24 (New International Version)

 “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.

The Point Reyes Light Station was built in 1870 at Point Reyes, California, approximately 30 miles northwest of the entrance of San Francisco Bay. Originally, the light was to be built at the top of the point. However, due to concerns that the light would be obscured by fog, the light was built 275 feet down the bluff at its present location. To reach the light, you must descend 304 steps on the headland from the plateau. The top of the lantern is 37 feet above the ground and the focal plane of the light is 294 feet above sea level. Point Reyes is, by official records, the windiest and foggiest on the Pacific Coast. It is also just a few miles from the San Andreas Fault, the active earthquake fault that runs through California. During the 1906 earthquake, which leveled many buildings in San Francisco, the entire Point Reyes Peninsula and the lighthouse moved north 18 feet! The only damage to the lighthouse was that the lens slipped off its tracks. Thirteen minutes after the earthquake, the lighthouse was once again in working order. Why was there such little damage to the lighthouse? The engineers had the forethought to bolt the sixteen-sided structure to solid rock.

Our strength and safety comes when we stay attached to our firm foundation, Jesus Christ.

Dear Lord we thank You for being our foundation.  We pray that we would build our life upon the foundation that You give to us. In Jesus’ name, Amen.