CCF: Build Your Life on the Right Foundation
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| Image courtesy of pastorrick.com |
Brother Edric Mendoza
In times of crisis we see what we are really made of - our true
foundation. What are you building your life on?
As we conclude the Legit series, we are looking at Matthew 7:24-29, the
ending passages of the Sermon of the Mount where Jesus compared anyone who
listens and follows his teaching to a wise man who build a house on a solid rock,
the rain and flood came but the house did not collapse because it was built on
the right foundation. The same account has been documented in Luke 6:46-49:
46 “Why do you call Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’
and do not do what I say? 47 Everyone who comes to Me and hears My
words and acts on them, I will
show you whom he is like: 48 he is like a man building a house,
who dug deep and laid a foundation on the rock; and when a flood occurred,
the torrent burst against that house and could not shake it, because it
had been well built. 49 But the one who has heard and has not acted accordingly, is like a man who built a house on the ground
without any foundation; and the torrent burst against it and immediately
it collapsed, and the ruin of that house was great.”
As we look into our lives, build your life on the right foundation. Jesus
shared three practical steps how we can do this:
#1 Come to Jesus (the right foundation)
Everyone of us is building our lives on one foundation. It can be
business or money, relationships, fame or self-worth. The real question we need
to ask ourselves, is that the right foundation? The passage tells us, Jesus is the right foundation. He is the
rock(from Greek word “Petra” which means massive rock).
Only Jesus can cause positive change. (2 Corinthians 5:17) We
are not capable of changing ourselves with our own strength because our
foundation is weak. Only through Jesus that we can create real and lasting
change.
Only Jesus can give you the time and money you
need. (John 10:10) Jesus came to give abundant life to those who believe Him.
Only Jesus can give rest and relief. (Matthew 11:28) He can
give you rest.
Only Jesus can give lasting happiness. (John 15:11) He came so that
our joy may be made full.
Building your life on the right foundation means coming to Jesus not caught
on external behaviors. Coming to Jesus is an inward surrender of your life and
giving Him the full control.
“There are very few
who in their hearts do not believe in God, but what they will not do is give
Him exclusive right of way.” –Unknown
#2 Hear His words
Hearing God’s word means giving ourselves opportunity to listen to Him.
How do we listen to God? This question brings us back to the spiritual disciplines.
Hearing God through prayer, Word, worship,
fellowship and fasting. In our Christian walk we need people who can speak
to us because they love us. As we fast, we deprive ourselves with earthly
things and feast on the presence of God.
Our love for God should drive us to come to Him and hear His word. Cherish
your moments with Him. Like any human relationship, foster your relationship
with God by spending time. Go to the heart of why you are doing it.
As we go to the motion of hearing God’s word, Jesus reminds us to dig
deep and not just do the superficial. To really understand the context and find
the richness of what God is trying to teach you in His word.
This hope(Jesus) we
have as an anchor of the soul – Hebrews 6:19
As we listen to God’s word, we strengthen our connection to the anchor. Hearing
God’s word intimately, deeply allows us to build strong and long links to our
anchor (Jesus) so that when life storms happen, we will be in better position
to weather them.
#3 Act on them
Hearing alone is not good enough. James 1:22 says,
22 But be doers of the word, and
not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.
For many Christians who know what they’re supposed to
do the real struggle is doing it. Could
it be that the reason why we are struggling to obey God is because we really
haven’t come to Jesus yet and everything is superficial. Or maybe we need to
remember the principle of “Motion before emotion.” Many times the reason why we
are not acting on what we’re supposed to do is because our feelings are junky. If
you know what is the right thing to do, just do it even before the emotion and
trust God to let the emotion follow.
On a real note, some people will stubbornly disobey
God even after hearing His word several times.
“There are only two kinds of people in the end: those
who say to God, “Thy will be done,” and those to whom God says, “Thy will be
done”. – C.S. Lewis
It is a terrifying situation to be on the latter part as you are not
exempted to the consequences of the wrong choices we make.
To build our life on the right foundation, we need to come to Jesus, hear His words and act on them. For in the end, there will be a
divine judgment and only those who build their life’s foundation on Jesus Christ
as their Lord and Savior will carry through.
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