Firm Foundation
Recently, during a home inspection, we were told we had to cut down some trees that had roots growing too close to the foundation of our home. This did not completely surprise us as we could already see our sidewalk had cracked open within a few feet from the house. Just doing a quick google search on foundation cracking was enough to let us know that this wasn’t a good thing at all. Furthermore, the host of problems that follow a cracking foundation is TOO much to even comprehend.
Now, did we want to spend our hard-earned money toward removing these trees? Of course, not. Dare I say, we all have other plans for our money than the demands that home ownership can throw at us. However, this was the foundation of our HOME, where we plan to live forever. Maintenance was an absolute necessity. Complacency about the problem threatening our foundation was not an option.
This led me to thinking about my spiritual foundation. I was absolutely blessed beyond measure to be raised in a Christian, spirit-filled home. To find either of my parents reading their Bible early in the morning or hear my dad walking around the house praying in the Spirit was commonplace. We sat in the front row at church every Sunday and were at church every time the doors were opened. I was immersed in everything I needed to have a solid, spiritual foundation laid for me, and I am forever grateful to my parents for leading me to trust in Jesus. I’ve continued to build upon that foundation throughout my life.
Sadly, as I’ve married, had children, grown up, I’ve also watched people abandon that same foundation. They’ve built their life on Jesus for so long, and suddenly, they just stop. Stop going to church. Stop meeting with their close friends that they once read the Bible with and prayed with. They don’t seem to see the need for the lifestyle they had before. And I wonder why? What happened that cracked their foundation, ever so slightly, that led to an abandonment of the home, the faith, instead of maintenance. Is that you today? Is it someone you are fervently praying for?
Think with me for a minute. Was there a time you couldn’t imagine your life without reading your Bible, praying, going to church, or meeting with others to talk about Jesus and pray? Have you stopped accountability with others? If so, what diminished your passion?
The world has many pleasures that can fill our time with joy or the promise of it. It’s human nature to want what pleases us. But what pleases us often isn’t what’s best for us. So ask yourself, “what brings me pleasure today? What is my life currently centered around? What do I find myself looking forward to most of the time?” Has your life’s foundation shifted underneath you with time? With age?
Taking time to reflect on what we are truly building our life, our family, our purpose, and our faith upon is the most important thing we can do. We can all get distracted and lose focus of the reason we are here on this earth. To not reflect and regroup is dangerous.
If you've built your foundation on Christ, ensuring that the entire house is on a strong foundation, and have lived there for many years but have now moved on by filling the cracks with other things, it's time to rebuild. Luke 6:46-49 says, “Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say? As for everyone who comes to me and hears my words and puts them into practice, I will show you what they are like. They are like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock. When a flood came, the torrent struck that house but could not shake it, because it was well built. 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.”
Are you collapsed spiritually? Are you failing in specific areas in your life? Are you treating your problems with things that will never last, things that will never sustain you? If so, today’s the day to turn it around.
Mark 8:36-37 says “What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul?”
Your soul matters.
You were created for such a time as this. If you need to rebuild and recenter today, do it. Maybe it’s not you, but you need to pray fervently for someone who has no solid foundation in Christ today. Do it. In fact, go further. Call them, text them, reach out to them. It just takes one person submitted to God to reach the lost.
Rebuild your foundation. Repair what’s started to crack. Lend a hand to someone doing the same. Seek to show someone the ultimate foundation: Jesus.
ACTIVATION: Listen to the song “Firm Foundation” by Cody Carnes. This song always awakens something in my spirit. Journal what verses specifically spoke to you as you listened today.
PRAYER: God, be my foundation. When I have let things go and not maintained my relationship with you, be near to me. Restore me today. Make yourself known and real to me today. I commit my day and my life to you. Amen.
Now, did we want to spend our hard-earned money toward removing these trees? Of course, not. Dare I say, we all have other plans for our money than the demands that home ownership can throw at us. However, this was the foundation of our HOME, where we plan to live forever. Maintenance was an absolute necessity. Complacency about the problem threatening our foundation was not an option.
This led me to thinking about my spiritual foundation. I was absolutely blessed beyond measure to be raised in a Christian, spirit-filled home. To find either of my parents reading their Bible early in the morning or hear my dad walking around the house praying in the Spirit was commonplace. We sat in the front row at church every Sunday and were at church every time the doors were opened. I was immersed in everything I needed to have a solid, spiritual foundation laid for me, and I am forever grateful to my parents for leading me to trust in Jesus. I’ve continued to build upon that foundation throughout my life.
Sadly, as I’ve married, had children, grown up, I’ve also watched people abandon that same foundation. They’ve built their life on Jesus for so long, and suddenly, they just stop. Stop going to church. Stop meeting with their close friends that they once read the Bible with and prayed with. They don’t seem to see the need for the lifestyle they had before. And I wonder why? What happened that cracked their foundation, ever so slightly, that led to an abandonment of the home, the faith, instead of maintenance. Is that you today? Is it someone you are fervently praying for?
Think with me for a minute. Was there a time you couldn’t imagine your life without reading your Bible, praying, going to church, or meeting with others to talk about Jesus and pray? Have you stopped accountability with others? If so, what diminished your passion?
The world has many pleasures that can fill our time with joy or the promise of it. It’s human nature to want what pleases us. But what pleases us often isn’t what’s best for us. So ask yourself, “what brings me pleasure today? What is my life currently centered around? What do I find myself looking forward to most of the time?” Has your life’s foundation shifted underneath you with time? With age?
Taking time to reflect on what we are truly building our life, our family, our purpose, and our faith upon is the most important thing we can do. We can all get distracted and lose focus of the reason we are here on this earth. To not reflect and regroup is dangerous.
If you've built your foundation on Christ, ensuring that the entire house is on a strong foundation, and have lived there for many years but have now moved on by filling the cracks with other things, it's time to rebuild. Luke 6:46-49 says, “Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say? As for everyone who comes to me and hears my words and puts them into practice, I will show you what they are like. They are like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock. When a flood came, the torrent struck that house but could not shake it, because it was well built. 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.”
Are you collapsed spiritually? Are you failing in specific areas in your life? Are you treating your problems with things that will never last, things that will never sustain you? If so, today’s the day to turn it around.
Mark 8:36-37 says “What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul?”
Your soul matters.
You were created for such a time as this. If you need to rebuild and recenter today, do it. Maybe it’s not you, but you need to pray fervently for someone who has no solid foundation in Christ today. Do it. In fact, go further. Call them, text them, reach out to them. It just takes one person submitted to God to reach the lost.
Rebuild your foundation. Repair what’s started to crack. Lend a hand to someone doing the same. Seek to show someone the ultimate foundation: Jesus.
ACTIVATION: Listen to the song “Firm Foundation” by Cody Carnes. This song always awakens something in my spirit. Journal what verses specifically spoke to you as you listened today.
PRAYER: God, be my foundation. When I have let things go and not maintained my relationship with you, be near to me. Restore me today. Make yourself known and real to me today. I commit my day and my life to you. Amen.
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