WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO FROM A FAITH PERSPECTIVE WHEN AN EMERGENCY HAPPENS?
I'm just curious. Are you ready?
IS YOUR HOUSE BUILT ON THE SAND?
* I'm not trying to puff anyone up, but a lot of people don't understand the need for building up faith. Fortunately, a lot of people do. Squirrels store nuts up all summer in my flower box for winter. It's the cutest thing; they know they'll need it.
Ants work and work. My grandmother used to say" If you don't do tis, even after I'm gone, I'll know it, the ants will bring me the news." Ants have been around for a long long time. I don't quote science journals, but the bible spoke of the hard working ants.
A Lesson from the Ant
6-11 You lazy fool, look at an ant.
Watch it closely; let it teach you a thing or two.
Nobody has to tell it what to do.
All summer it stores up food;
at harvest it stockpiles provisions.
So how long are you going to laze around doing nothing?
How long before you get out of bed?
A nap here, a nap there, a day off here, a day off there,
sit back, take it easy—do you know what comes next?
Just this: You can look forward to a dirt-poor life,
poverty your permanent houseguest!
PROVERBS 6: 6 9THE MESSAGE BIBLE)
It's important to build a a solid foundation of faith. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. If you've got on your listening ears, hearing the Word, reading the Word, speaking the Word will build up your faith. You are a spirit and it will charge your spirit.
Maybe what you hear today isn't for today, but when you need it it will be there for you. That's why Jesus talked about the importance of not building a house on a foundation of sand. Let's look at what the message bible says:
21-23"Knowing the correct password—saying 'Master, Master,' for instance— isn't going to get you anywhere with me. What is required is serious obedience—doing what my Father wills. I can see it now—at the Final Judgment thousands strutting up to me and saying, 'Master, we preached the Message, we bashed the demons, our God-sponsored projects had everyone talking.' And do you know what I am going to say? 'You missed the boat. All you did was use me to make yourselves important. You don't impress me one bit. You're out of here.'
24-25"These words I speak to you are not incidental additions to your life, homeowner improvements to your standard of living. They are foundational words, words to build a life on. If you work these words into your life, you are like a smart carpenter who built his house on solid rock. Rain poured down, the river flooded, a tornado hit—but nothing moved that house. It was fixed to the rock.
26-27"But if you just use my words in Bible studies and don't work them into your life, you are like a stupid carpenter who built his house on the sandy beach. When a storm rolled in and the waves came up, it collapsed like a house of cards."
28-29When Jesus concluded his address, the crowd burst into applause. They had never heard teaching like this. It was apparent that he was living everything he was saying—quite a contrast to their religion teachers! This was the best teaching they had ever heard.
Matthew 7: 21-29
Habitat for Humanity builds thousands of homes across the nation. It is an incredible undertaking. They have a book on How To Build a House which cost $24.95. It's a bargain. There is a whole lot involved to housebuilding. You've got materials, codes, those things that make me impatient; they make things level, you need manpower. There's a lot of stuff. Despite all of that Jesus is talking about the location. This carpenter chose to build his house on the sand; perhaps for the sake of scenery; without regard for the risk. Maybe it was cheaper, maybe it was free. Obviously it was easier.
It is certainly easier to come to church once a week if then and hear the Word and get charged up for a short time. However in Mark; it says that The Sower sweth te Word and four different things can happen:
The sower soweth the Word. (THE WORD GOES FORTH; YOU HEAR IT)
15And these are they by the wayside, where the Word is sown; but when they have heard, Satan cometh immediately and taketh away the Word that was sown in their hearts.
16And these are they likewise which are sown on stony ground who, when they have heard the Word, immediately receive it with gladness;
17but they have no root in themselves, and so endure but for a time. Afterward, when affliction or persecution ariseth for the Word's sake, immediately they are offended.
18And these are they which are sown among thorns, such as hear the Word,
19but the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things entering in, choke the Word, and it becometh unfruitful.
20And these are they which are sown on good ground, such as hear the Word and receive it and bring forth fruit: some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some a hundred."
If you read and seriously meditate upon these; it will show you why you can't afford to just come to church on Sundays but that you have to deliberately set out to hear the Word of God and build up your faith. When an emergency comes for you or someone that you know, you don't want a battery that won't work, you want to be charged up. AMEN.
Just something to think about.
Friday, August 31, 2007
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