Matthew 7
The Sermon on the Mount
Vs. 24-27, Foundation for life
Therefore, everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock.
And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and yet it did not fall for it had been founded on the rock.
Everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act on them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand.
The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and it fell--and great was its fall.
This story is very interesting, in that these two men both built their dream houses to live in with their families, and probably furnished them nicely, and were both comfortably living in them.
Then the same storms came to both of them alike; the same rains, the same floods, the same hurricane winds to batter them both alike. The only difference was in the foundations they chose to build their houses on.
The wise man chose to formulate his lifestyle on the basis of The Rock (see I Corinthians 10:4), God's Word. The foolish man chose to trust the World's theories and theses. They both lived lives that were respectable.
But when the storms of life hit them both, the wise man continued to stand (Ephesians 6:13), while the foolish man was knocked for a loop and completely destroyed (and great was its fall).
God's Truth is a Rock that we can firmly base our lives on, not like the shifting sands of this World's philosophies and sciences.
So what is your life's foundation? If you start with error (not Truth), then the longer you go the farther you get from the Truth. But if you are on the narrow, confined footpath with your hand firmly in your Father's, then He will lead you straight on, and He will be your strength in fighting the battles of life.
I study God's Scriptures, and I have chosen to believe that every word is accurate and every story and teaching is True. So I trust in them; they are my answer for every question, they give me the solution to every problem, and they furnish me purpose and worth to give me confidence when the World around me is storming and attacking. I stand firm on Christ, my Redeemer and Lord.
O my Father, thank You for Your wonderful written Word, and Your amazing grace to grant me Your own Spirit to dwell in my spirit permanently. You have promised me that You would never leave me, and You have kept Your promise: through all the turmoil, all the sorrow and mourning, through all the waiting; through all the testings of this school of life, this vale of tears.
I know that the pressures You allow in this World are making me into Your diamond. All the lessons You are teaching me will stand me in good stead when I "graduate" and receive the "adoption" (Romans 8:23), which will be the new, spiritual body that will swallow up my mortal, corporeal body I'm living in now (see I Corinthians 15:35-58, especially vs. 50, 52-54).
Father, Your goodness to me is so gracious, You are so gentle and compassionate; teach me to also show Your grace and gentleness and compassion to others--that I may be Christ to those who need to see Him.
And every eye will see, and every knee will bow, and every tongue will confess that You alone are God. And You will receive all the blessing, all the honor, all the glory, all the power, all the riches, all the wisdom, and all the strength.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
