Tag Archives: foundation

WHAT WILL THE FIRE REVEAL?

Christian Life,

1 Corinthians 3:11-15 NIV
[11] “For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. [12] If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, [13] their work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person’s work. [14] If what has been built survives, the builder will receive a reward. [15] If it is burned up, the builder will suffer loss but yet will be saved—even though only as one escaping through the flames.”

Sobering words… written to believers!

The Apostle Paul was never shy to warn as well as to encourage his readers to pursue and live by the truth, no matter how distasteful it might be.

There are truths in Scripture that we would prefer to dodge or ignore, truths that expose the inner workings of our hearts and warn us of consequences. However, if we don’t heed the warnings now, we might find that we cannot change the outcomes when they happen later.

For a start, If we trust in Jesus for forgiveness and a new life, we have a solid foundation on which to build. However, even with a strong foundation, our lives will collapse under the pressures we face if we build on the foundation with inferior material.

A strong foundation does not necessarily guarantee a strong building. Our superstructure will depend on the material we use to build our house. We can build with good quality material that will endure testing, or we can build with inferior material that will be consumed in the fire.

For example, houses built of wood won’t stand a chance in a fire even if they are built on a stone foundation. Likewise, homes built on selfishness and conflict will perish when fiery circumstances hit. Houses built of brick or stone are far more durable during a fire. In the same way, homes built on unity and love will be stronger to survive in adversity.

1 Corinthians 3:1-4 NIV
[1] “Brothers and sisters, I could not address you as people who live by the Spirit but as people who are still worldly—mere infants in Christ. [2] I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready. [3] You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere humans? [4] For when one says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,” are you not mere human beings?”

What constitutes inferior building material?

In the context of his rebuke of the Corinthian church, Paul points to their behaviour as a cause for concern. Despite the many spiritual gifts at work in this congregation, these people were still worldly in their attitudes. Instead of using their gifts to help and build one another up, they were acting in selfish and competitive ways.

How many church leaders today spend more time putting out fires than building strong believers because their church members are immature? Competition and conflict, the rule of the flesh, still happen because of suspicion, mistrust, and selfishness. Real love is often scarce since self-preservation occupies centre stage. These are the combustible materials that will not survive the fires of hardship and testing.

Paul contrasts worldiness with godliness. Worldliness is more than living the world wnd what it has to offer. Worldliness is about thinking and reacting like the people who have “self” as the hub of their lives.

In the war between our old sinful nature and Jesus’ nature in us, the flesh often wins because our own thoughts and desires occupy centre stage. Paul warned that if we live to satisfy our sinful nature, we will die.

The New Covenant, which is centred in “Christ in you, the hope of glory,” enables us to be led by God’s Spirit, not controlled by our flesh. How important this is for now and for our future in God’s kingdom.

God’s Word promises us that, if we share in Christ’s suffering, we will also share in His glory.

Romans 8:17 NLT
[17]”And since we are his children, we are his heirs. In fact, together with Christ, we are heirs of God’s glory. But if we are to share his glory, we must also share his suffering.”

Since Jesus suffered unjust treatment without retaliating, we are called to be like Him…

1 Peter 2:20-23 NIV
[20]”But how is it to your credit if you receive a beating for doing wrong and endure it? But if you suffer for doing good and you endure it, this is commendable before God. [21] To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps. [22] “He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth.” [23] When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly.”

Building our lives on this principle…

Matthew 5:11-12 NIV
[11] “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. [12] Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”

…and which Paul discovered to be way to experience God’s grace when he was hated and persecuted…

2 Corinthians 12:8-10 NIV
[8] “Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. [9] But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. [10] That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”

…the principle that non-retaliation defuses the destructive revenge cycle, promoting love instead of hatred, peace in the place of chaos, and harmony for conflict, stops the escalating revenge cycle in its tracks.

Such behaviour will build homes and communities instead of fragmenting them.

Now let’s look at the outcome. Reigning with Jesus, sharing His glory, means that we will participate with Him in the government of His kingdom on earth. However, if we have never learned to control our own unruly selfish desires and sinful responses now, how will we ever be able to take part in the rule of His kingdom later?

So, Paul wrote to the Galatian believers…

Galatians 5:13, 16-17, 19, 21 NIV
[13] “You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love…
[16] So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. [17] 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…
[19] The acts of the flesh are obvious:… I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.”

We can say, then, that there are two categories of believers, those who will be saved by the skin of their teeth because they built their lives with selfish and fleshly material and those who will share with Jesus in the administration of His kingdom because they obeyed the Spirit.

We need seriously to heed Peter’s counsel…

2 Peter 1:5-11 NIV
[5] “For this very reason, (to escape the corruption caused by evil desires), make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; [6] and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; [7] and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love. [8] For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. [9] But whoever does not have them is nearsighted and blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their past sins. [10] Therefore, my brothers and sisters, make every effort to confirm your calling and election. For if you do these things, you will never stumble, [11] and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”

FOUNDATION STONES – 1

Christian Life, ,

WISDOM

God’s Word is like a scratch patch of jewels. As we dig through its treasures, we find priceless stones of wisdom that form the foundation upon which we can safely build our lives.

John saw the new Jerusalem as a city built of gold and precious stones.

Revelation 21:19-20 NIV
[19] “The foundations of the city walls were decorated with every kind of precious stone. The first foundation was jasper, the second sapphire, the third agate, the fourth emerald, [20] the fifth onyx, the sixth ruby, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth turquoise, the eleventh jacinth, and the twelfth amethyst.”

Let’s examine some of these precious stones that secure our lives in wisdom and truth.

The first stone, let’s call it the cornerstone, the stone that holds the whole structure together, is wisdom. What is wisdom?

Wisdom is truth in action.

A simple definition of wisdom…doing what works. It’s is said that a wise person does what works. A fool knows what works but doesn’t do it.

True wisdom comes from God.

Proverbs 2:6 NLT
[6] “For the Lord grants wisdom! From his mouth come knowledge and understanding.”

In Proverbs 8, Solomon paints a comprehensive picture of a person called “Wisdom”.

Wisdom calls people to listen to good judgement and understanding.

Wisdom is available to all people.

Proverbs 8:4 NIV
[4] “To you, O people, I call out; I raise my voice to all mankind.”

Proverbs 8:6-7, 12 NLT

[6]” Listen to me! For I have important things to tell you. Everything I say is right, [7] for I speak the truth and detest every kind of deception….
[12] “I, Wisdom, live together with good judgment. I know where to discover knowledge and discernment.”

Wisdom is to hate and shun all evil, to speak and to live by the truth,

Proverbs 8:7-8 NIV
[7]”My mouth speaks what is true, for my lips detest wickedness. [8] All the words of my mouth are just; none of them is crooked or perverse.”

Wisdom is of greater value than wealth.

Proverbs 8:10-11 NIV
[10] “Choose my instruction instead of silver, knowledge rather than choice gold, [11] for wisdom is more precious than rubies, and nothing you desire can compare with her.”

Solomon sums up the foundation of true wisdom in two statements.

Proverbs 9:10 NLT
[10]”Fear of the Lord is the foundation of wisdom. Knowledge of the Holy One results in good judgment.”

Proverbs 8:13 NIV
[13] “To fear the Lord is to hate evil; I hate pride and arrogance, evil behavior and perverse speech.”

Only as we hold God in highest reverence and awe, and do as He instructs us, can we learn to think as He thinks and do as He says. This is wisdom, the solid foundation that leads to a safe, happy, and prosperous life.

Wisdom doesn’t guarantee a trouble-free life but it does guarantee God’s presence and favour that will see us through the worst of circumstances to a secure end.

In the New Covenant, wisdom is a person. Jesus is God’s wisdom personified of whom Solomon wrote.

1 Corinthians 1:30 NLT
[30] “God has united you with Christ Jesus. For our benefit, God made him to be wisdom itself. Christ made us right with God; he made us pure and holy, and he freed us from sin.”

God’s wisdom, encapsulated in Jesus and through Him, did everything needed to restore us to fellowship with Him and to reset His eternal plan for mankind.

Isaiah presents the Messiah as the one on whom God’s Spirit will rest… (Hebrew “nuach”, meaning “to settle down”, “remain” or “dwell”).

Isaiah 11:1-3 NIV
[1] A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit. [2] The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him— the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of might, the Spirit of the knowledge and fear of the Lord— [3] and he will delight in the fear of the Lord…”

The Spirit who rested on Jesus at His baptism and accompanied Him throughout His life, death, and resurrection, was the Spirit of “the fear of the Lord”.

When we examine the life of Jesus closely, as recorded in the gospels, we find that His outstanding characteristic was the fear of the Lord. Even as He faced the horror of His impending death, nothing could shift Him from His avowed intention to do the Father’s will.

Psalms 40:7-8 NIV
[7] “Then I said, “Here I am, I have come— it is written about me in the scroll. [8] I desire to do your will, my God; your law is within my heart.”

To Jesus, to fear the Lord was not only an obligation but a delight. The fear of the Lord was the foundation of His life, providing His meaning, His purpose, and His obedience to the Father’s will. He did nothing without consulting the Father. He and the Father were “joined at the hip” and no effort of His enemies or His arch-enemy could drive a wedge between them.

He could testify with absolute truth…

John 8:29 NIV
[29] “The one who sent me is with me; he has not left me alone, for I always do what pleases him.”

If we build our lives on Jesus, our foundation and cornerstone, His wisdom, established on the fear of the Lord, will secure our present and future as we listen, follow and obey Him.

Matthew 7:24-25 NIV
[24] “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. [25] 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.”

THE GOSPEL OF LUKE – IT WILLCOST

Bible Study, ,

IT WILL COST

“Is there anyone here who, planning to build a new house, doesn’t first sit down and figure the cost so you’ll know if you can complete it? If you only get the foundation laid and then run out of money, you’re going to look pretty foolish. Everyone passing by will poke fun at you: ‘He started something he couldn’t finish.'” Luke 14:28-30.

Jesus says a lot and reveals a lot about Himself and being His disciple in this statement. Unlike His arch enemy, there’s no fine print in His invitation to follow Him. Satan carefully conceals the cost of believing his lies in a sugar-coated pill that kills as surely as swallowing a cyanide capsule. Not so Jesus! He leaves no-one with illusions about the cost of following Him.

‘Before you make any commitment to me,’ He says,’ be sure you understand what is involved and what it will cost you. Don’t wait to find out when you have already been joined to me because the separation is painful and permanent if you decide to pull out.’ Isn’t that just like Jesus? He doesn’t lure us into commitment to Him under false pretenses and then reveal the conditions after we have believed Him and been born into His kingdom.

Being a disciple isn’t a bed of roses. There is a cost involved, not money or good works but nothing less than dying. It’s not the dying so much that is the problem but what has to die – our right to the ownership of our own lives inherited from our forefather, Adam. He rejected God’s right to make the rules and chose to make his own and, in that choice, he wrote his own obituary. He died to God, to eternal life and to all the wonder of a life lived in union with and directed by a loving heavenly Father. Satan neglected to tell him what rebellion would cost!

Jesus urges, ‘Before you blindly plunge into a commitment to discipleship, be sure you understand what it involves. Then, when tough times come and the requirement to submit and obey your Rabbi eat into your will, your sense of ‘fairness’, your idea of God’s love, what you think is best for you, how you treat other people, how you wear Jesus’ yoke, how you handle the stewardship of your money and possessions and all the myriad ways you consciously or unconsciously reveal who you really are, you won’t chicken out because you didn’t know what to expect.’

Being a disciple of Jesus requires a daily dying to yourself. Jesus called it ‘shouldering your cross.’ Your cross is not some difficult or painful circumstance you have to bear over which you have no control, like an impossible spouse, a wayward child or a physical infirmity. Shouldering your cross is purely voluntary. Jesus did not have to go to the cross but He chose to. He had every opportunity to evade His persecutors and escape their murderous intentions, He could have saved Himself but He didn’t.

Not only that but He absorbed in Himself all the injustice, venom and cruelty that human beings could dump on Him without revenge or retaliation. That is the majesty of Jesus’ sacrifice. He could have died cursing and swearing just like the criminals who died beside Him, but He did not. “He was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so He did not open His mouth.” Isaiah 53:7b (NIV).

But…what we pay for, we receive. The price we pay, dying to ourselves, will receive something far greater in return. That’s how it is with God. What we pay in surrender, we receive in the fullness of God’s life and all the blessings that go with it, freedom from guilt and fear, His love, His joy and His peace. These are priceless compared with the unwillingness to allow Him to steer us through the allurements or sin which conceal the terrible price of death.

The choice is yours….

THE GOSPEL OF LUKE – BEDROCK OR SAND?

Bible Study, ,

BEDROCK OR SAND?

“‘Why are you so polite with me, always saying, ‘Yes, sir,’ and ‘That’s right, sir,’ but never doing a thing I tell you? These words I speak to you are not mere additions to your life, homeowner improvements to your standard of living. They are foundation words, words to build a life on.

“‘If you work these words into your life, you are like a smart carpenter who dug deep and laid the foundation of his home on bedrock. When the river burst its banks and crashed against the house, nothing could shake it; it was built to last. But if you use my words in Bible studies and don’t work them into your life, you are like a dumb carpenter who built a house but skipped the foundation. When the swollen river came crashing in, it collapsed like a house of cards. It was a total loss.'” Luke 6:46-49.

What comes to mind when you read these words?

Jesus was telling His disciples that His words, His, Jesus’ words, were absolutely foundational for living. Who did He think He was? Okay, He was a rabbi and He spoke with authority, and people sat up and took notice when He taught; and He taught things radically different from the other rabbis, even though He taught from the same Scriptures as they did.

But did that give Him the right to claim that His words were the foundation of all life? What made Him so different from all the others? And who or what gave Him the authority to make a claim like that?

Nicodemus, a Pharisee and a member of the Sanhedrin, had the courage to challenge Him. ‘What makes you so different from the rest of us?’ he asked. Jesus’ response was surprising. ‘Nicodemus, you will never understand nor have a share in these things until you have come alive by the Holy Spirit.’

‘What are you talking about?’ Nicodemus asked. ‘It is impossible for me to go through the whole birth process again,’ to which Jesus replied, ‘I’m not talking about natural birth. I’m talking about a “birth” brought about by the supernatural work of the Holy Spirit that will give you access to the realm of which I am speaking.’

Nicodemus was in this over his head. ‘I haven’t a clue about what you are saying,’ he said. Jesus’ reply startled him. ‘I know what I’m talking about because I came from that realm. I have first-hand knowledge because I was there. You are a teacher but you don’t really know what you teach. I do!’

That’s what made all the difference. Jesus came from realm where the Father’s will was absolute and was carried out without question. And it was the Father’s will that everything worked together in perfect unity and harmony because that is the nature of the Godhead.

Because of human rebellion, everything is chaotic on earth. When we “see” what Jesus was getting at through the Holy Spirit’s work of making us alive, and reinstitute the way of life God intended for His children to live, generously, graciously, gently and humbly, caring about others instead of only ourselves; when the storms of life rage, God’s peace in our inner being will steady us and keep us trusting in Him until the trouble has passed.

If we live greedy, selfish lives, when trouble hits, we have no foundation and no-one to turn to, least of all God, because we are out of fellowship with Him. We are part of a world system which is continually collapsing because it was not built on the truth.

Jesus’ claim to speak foundational words was not only legitimate but also made perfect sense. When we treat others with kindness, God reciprocates with an inner joy and peace that selfishness cannot produce. That’s how we were created to be. When we live contrary to whom we really are, our lives fall apart, relationships disintegrated and we live in the environment of unhappiness.

Have you built your house on a strong foundation?

Foundation Truths

Bible Study, , ,

FOUNDATION TRUTHS

Therefore let us move beyond the elementary teachings about Christ and be taken forward to maturity, not laying again the foundation of repentance from acts that lead to death, and faith in God, instruction about cleansing rites, the laying on of hands, resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. And God permitting, we will do so (Heb, 6: 1-3).

Is it possible that there are teachings about our faith from which we must move on? Apparently there are!

What are these teachings? This writers calls them “foundations” – the fundamentals of our faith. What are they and why must we move on beyond these things?

When someone lays a foundation for a new building, he doesn’t remove the foundation – he builds on it because it is there to secure the building. When this writer says, ‘Move on’, he is not saying, ‘Abandon the foundation,’ he is saying, ‘Build on it.’ It forms the basis of what you believe.

The foundation of what he writes here is made up of three pairs of complementary truths.

1. The first is repentance from acts that lead to death and faith in God.

Of course this is a part of our foundation. To “repent” means to return to the path. God has shown us the path that leads us to our desired destination in life. Our destination is to be like God Himself – mirrored for us in His Son, Jesus. He created us in Him image, but that image was shattered at the fall. He did everything to remove the barrier between us and Him so that we can return to the way that leads us into oneness with Him again, becoming like Jesus who is our older brother (Heb. 10, 11).

Faith in God, very simply means, according to Hebrew thought, anchoring ourselves to God so that we do not blow away in the wind. On their migration from Egypt to the Promised Land, God’s people had to face the howling winds in the wilderness. The only way to secure their tents was to drive pegs into the ground to which they tied their tents.

This vivid picture enables us to understand what it meant for them, and for us spiritually, to make it through the desert and arrive where they were supposed to go. This is foundational, as you can see. Our lives are a journey. We must keep on the path if we are to arrive at our destination, and we must ensure that we are anchored to God so that we are not blown away by ‘every wind of teaching’ (Eph. 4:13, 14).

This is a once-off experience and does not have to be repeated – a part of our foundation.

2. The second pair is ‘instruction about cleansing rites’ and ‘the laying on of hands’. This has to do with initiation into, and identification with Jesus, the leader of “The Way”, (which is what His movement was originally called Acts 9: 2).

This is the second step after returning to God’s way from the path of sin. Cleansing rituals or “baptisms” were a regular feature of Jewish life. Ritual purification by being immersed in running or “living” water was practised many times as a person came back to, or entered a new phase of life.

Baptism into Jesus is a sign of death to the old way, initiation into “the Way” and identification with Jesus as the rabbi we have chosen to follow. This also a once-off part of our foundation.

3. ‘Resurrection of the dead’ and ‘eternal judgment’ are the third part of our foundation. This is not talking about our physical resurrection but our spiritual resurrection – out of our death to sin and into our new life in Christ.

But because of His great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions . . . (Eph. 2: 4-5a).

God has forever judged sin at the cross. Our sins, past, present and future, and the sins of the whole world have been judged and punished once and for all. ‘It is finished.’ God has made us alive, raised us up with Christ and seated us with Him in the heavenly realms, fully accepted once and for all.

These are foundation truths, always there and never to be repeated. It is now up to us to build upon what has been laid down, relying on the truth that Jesus completed everything on the cross. ‘It is finished,’ were some of His last words. Now we can rest on His finished work and live in the reality of what He has done for us.

Scripture taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.