4-20-2024 Building on the foundation

  

Don’t be conformed  to this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind that you might  prove that which is good, acceptable and perfect – the will of God (Rom. 12:2)

 Last time we talked about having the proper foundation laid out for our lives.  In other words, what is critical to our faith in Jesus Christ?  As we proclaim our Christianity, we learned that God is love.  God is Spirit – how can flesh and bone live in nothingness?  We must worship God in Spirit and in truth – and in love.  Then, as our love grows in Christ Jesus we express that love towards those we encounter by doing what is best for them in our relationship and help them to be all that they can be in Christ Jesus.

Okay. So just how do we build our love?

We profess to be Christians – followers of Jesus Christ.  So our first step in expressing our love was to ask Jesus into our heart: Jesus, I’ve come to realize that I have violated some (if not all) of Father’s rules of life, that is how to love as You have loved me.  Violation of God’s law of love is sin.  I have confessed that I am a sinner and lay my sins before You.  Forgive me.  let Your Holy Ghost abide in my heart and guide me and help me to be obedient to Your leading.  Thank you Father for forgiving me my sins and give me the strength to abide in Your love.

Again, so just how do we abide in God’s love?

Our foundation has been laid so our first task is to learn what God’s love involves and how to apply what we learn into our own lives.

We have many teachers who put into our lives so we want to make sure all our teachers are tuned in, that is that they (themselves) are connected with Father.  So who, or what, are our teachers? 

Our first step is to look at the world around us. Father does speak to us through nature and the natural elements which He has put into this world.  How many of us are truly aware of the natural beauty that surrounds us?  Even so, we need to begin reading the bible.  There’s nothing more tangible than the written word!  The bible is God’s love letter to us.  It shows us the many aspects of God’s love – how He protects us, nurtures, us, gives us food and clothing, comforts us, walks with us, talks with us and even corrects us so we can stay on the right track.  (Hint, hint).  If one really wants to know God’s love – gotta know the bible. 

The bible does give us a written synopsis of God’s love.  When we accept Jesus into our hearts and lives, we know that Jesus loves us but it is very unlikely we understand the depth and breadth of that love.

So, as we read the bible, we will come across things that we don’t quite comprehend or understand.  So we have our pastors, brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus, bible/Sunday School teachers and the like.  We have access to multi-media sources, books and publications.  When properly applied, all these help us to understand God’s love, but when we are young, in the Lord, we need to be careful.  We believe the bible to be “God inspired”, that is those who wrote the words into the book were inspired by God to write what they wrote and that includes all the translators, over the centuries.  And, yes, we have to know God’s love so we can weigh what we are taking in to understand and know whether or not it agrees with that love.  That’s why we did “Building a foundation” on 4/6/24.  But, we really don’t know the depth and breadth of God’s love until we learn about.  The more we learn about it, the deeper our love becomes and the deeper our love becomes, the more we want to learn.  It is a continuing cycle. 

Yes, there are many versions of the bible out there.  Some may be a paraphrase, that is a summary, of what the bible says.  Some are translated into language with which we are more familiar (modern day English).  And some may include explanation to help us understand the passage we are reading.  But we have to start reading somewhere.  We may pick up a bible and discover that it may not fulfill our spiritual hunger – something just seems to be lacking.  So ask Father which bible should “I” be reading.   One may start with one bible, then move onto another version to gain better fulfillment.  If you listen, Father will let you know.  The history of bibles is another whole discussion, but not today.

The bible is great – and necessary, but we have to communicate with Father ourselves – one on one, mano e mano, face to face.  I love it in Job where Job says “I knew all about you, but now I’ve seen You face to face” (Job 42:5). Job came to truly know who God is!  Our prayer life is our communication with Father.  Whether we realize it or not, it is our first connection with Him.  It is our initial and foremost indication that we are growing in God’s love.  It is through our heart (prayer) God confirms that we are functioning in His love and are on the right track.  As we said, He also confirms in our heart where and when the world around is consistent with His love.

In prayer, we give Him the praise for who He is as we recognize all that He does for us – praise and thanksgiving are important in our relationship.  We set our petitions before Him – what I need, like to have or even how do I resolve this particular situation.  Or (WHOA!) even just thanking Him for all that He has done for us.  We can even share our feelings or just our thoughts with Him - in prayer. 

As we expect results, our prayer should be spoken.  Father spoke words and created all things (Gen. 1:1-31).  We don’t necessarily have to ‘shout’ it out.  Samuel’s mom, Hannah, quietly spoke her prayer to God for a son.  She prayed in her heart, only her lips moved.  Eli saw her and thought she was drunk [crazy woman] (1 Sam. 1:9-13).  We need to pray (talk) with Father, BUT we also, then have to listen to see what Father has to say to us.  How can we follow His direction and learn if we don’t recognize His voice?  We recognize His voice because we are continuing to grow in His love.  Jesus says that His sheep know His voice and He knows us (John 10:25-29). PTL!

The prophet Samuel, as a young boy, had to learn to hear God’s voice.  Three times, as he lay upon his bed, he thought he heard his mentor Eli call him.  Three times Eli sent him back to bed – he had hadn’t called Him.  But, Eli finally got the message and told Samuel if he hears the voice again say “Speak Lord, for your servant hears” (1Sam. 3:1-10).  The fourth time God spoke to Samuel, the young boy did as he was told and began a wonderful relationship with Father. 

A friend and neighbor of mine, years ago, said “I don’t get it.  I don’t hear God like you say do but every time I have a problem and I go to Him with that problem, I don’t hear anything.  Then I get this crazy urge to get my bible out.  I do and find myself discovering a passage and guess what?  There’s the answer I needed!  Of course, we also have our brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus as well as various counsellors who also can help us.  And yes, we do have to be careful as to inputs into our lives.  What or who must be connected with Father through Jesus.

We said, the last time, God’s love is agape love, that is all giving, all caring, all edifying and all personal – as we share our lives with Him. 

Applying that love is the easiest or the hardest part to do.  How quickly do we yield to Him or how hard do we resist what He says?  As we grow in Christ Jesus, so grows our understanding of the depth and breadth of the love Father has for us.  We don’t get the full package the day we say “Save me Jesus.”  The depth and breadth of Father’s love is so vast, it takes a lifetime to grasp the whole of His love for us. 

If we are quick learners, we can get a big chunk of love early in our walk.  However, if one is slow like myself, it may be the day of rapture or until Father calls us home (natural death) before we fully comprehend God’s great love.  Even if then, but when we are with Him in eternity, we will surely know.  In the meantime, I’ll take all the love He gives me. 

Applying?  Just how bold are we to take a chance and apply what Father shows us?  It’s great that we believe and trust God in His love.  Jesus challenged the Jews that if they didn’t believe Him, at least believe the works which He did (John 10:38).  God created all that exists through His works (Gen 1:1-31), Jesus did many good works and miracles during His ministry.  So we may conclude that faith without works is dead (meaningless).  We show our trust in Father, our faith, by doing the works He gives us to do in this world (James 2:14-20). And Jesus reminds us that as we believe in Him, we can do the same works He did.  Just ask (John 14:1-14).  Our works will be tried by fire.  When good, we receive a reward, when bad, loss is suffered yet the man himself will be saved (1 Corinth. 3:11-15).

Saul (the apostle Paul) was a Christian’s biggest nightmare in his early days (Acts 9:1-2).  Paul was a Pharisee.  Pharisees were members of the sect that believed in resurrection and in following legal traditions that were ascribed, not necessarily by the Bible, but through “the traditions of the fathers.” Like the scribes, they were also well-known legal experts (Britannica.com) in the bible.  Paul declared himself a Pharisee among Pharisees (Acts 23:6).  In other words, Paul was a Pharisee ‘to the bone’, lock, stock and barrel, completely.  But look what happened to him through the love of Jesus.  Not only did Paul ‘get saved’ but immediately, he went out and preached Jesus (Acts 9:17-20).  A 180 degree turn around. Paul already had the knowledge from the scriptures.  Jesus converted his heart!  Now, He understood them.  If you will, the love of God took over Paul’s heart and life.  Paul was a quick learner, he also had a strong foundation in the Torah (the Law), prophets and Psalm and he put his faith to work immediately.  But, how many are like me?  It may take us a little longer to get the ball rolling, but in the end, as with Paul, let our results glorify Father!

I’ve shared with you that we need to receive God’s love, abide in that love and grow in that love.  Of course, we start with Jesus, add prayer, reading and learning the bible, seeking additional help through nature around us, the people Father puts into our lives and then by doing what Father has shown us.  We show our love, trust and obedience to Father by doing ‘works’ to further His kingdom.  And through those works is how we express our love to those around us.

I’ve shared some tools to help identify resources available to help us grow in Father’s love.

My prayer is that we all take advantage of what Father has set before us.

Amen

4-6-2024    Building a Foundation

For the past several years now, I have been following and (occasionally) posting responses to posts by Henryp Jonson.  I’m still confused if the ‘p’ is actually part of his first name or his middle initial (oh well).  Henryp is a pastor in the Philippines.  I started following him as he was posting photos of the building of his church.  And I do mean – literally – building his church.  He laid the physical foundation for the building, brought in the timbers for the framework, walls, etc.  He and his congregation built the church from the ground up.  Since then, also on Facebook, he has shown the activities and growth of his fellowship.  He’s even brought in special speakers to help his fellowship grow.  Now I didn’t come in as Henryp was building his ‘flock’, but it was indeed, the church members who built the church.

I mention Henryp because before any church can succeed, it has to have a foundation in, of and for the people.  The actual church consists of the body of people who are in attendance but, it is also nice to have a place where we can come and gather together, living in and sharing what Father has done for us – in person.  There’s just something special about being, in unity, with other Christians.     

But first, let’s consider erecting a building.  Any builder knows that before a house can be constructed, it needs a solid foundation.  Before construction can even start, the ground must be settled, solid as a rock, so the building won’t sink into the ground and collapse (Matt. 7:24-27).  He assures that his building surface is level and can support the building he intends to erect.  As example, growing up, my mom decided to covert our front porch into an extension of our living room.  It looked great, inside and out.  But after several years, the ground upon which the extension was situated, began to settle.  It was livable but a crack emerged where the new edition connected to the original.  By the grace of God, it wasn’t a separation of the two sections, yet it was noticeable what had happened.  The house I’m living in now has no such problems, but the house is not level.  Shortly after I moved in, I noticed that if I placed a round 0bject on the floor at one end of my living room, all by itself, the object would start rolling towards the other side of the room until it hit something to stop it.  The foundation may have been sure but it certainly was not level.  When something is placed on the floor, that something should stay put.

Once the cornerstone is laid and the foundation is ‘squared away’, the building can be erected safely and effectively.  That is the house will be square and level, side to side, top to bottom and the floor will be level to gravity.

Now let’s look at how to build a spiritual foundation.  There are many bodies (churches) within the body of Christ so there are many different places where the body gathers.  According to the National Congregational Study Survey, there are an estimated 380,000 churches in the U.S.  There are more than 45,000 Christian denominations globally and more than 200 denominations in the U.S., according to the Center for the Study of Global Christianity. Most of the denominations came to be after the Protestant Reformation in 1517.  Again, there are over 200 denominations in the U.S.,  which includes, Catholic, Methodist, Baptist, Lutheran, other ‘main stream’ (traditional) churches, Pentecostal, Full Gospel, Apostolic plus assorted variations and ‘Independent’ fellowships. 

Not all denominations and/or congregations believe exactly the same so foundation becomes very important.  No, we’re not going to discuss the differences between the 200 denominations, much less the 380,000 congregations (churches) in the U.S.  But consider, on an average, there are 7600 churches in each state of various denominations or non-affiliated churches.  As of June 2023 and according to http://statista.com/statics/, 31% of Americans claim to never attend a church while only 20% claim weekly attendance. That leaves about half our nation somewhere in between.  How many churches exist in your town or city?  According to https://www.churchfinder.com/, there are 97 churches in my hometown which has a population of 43,700+.  That means, on average in my town, 91 people attend a church service on a weekly basis.  Yes, some churches are larger and some smaller so this doesn’t mean every church in my town has ninety members.  Getting the picture?

The body of Christ should be in unity.   

So, with so many ‘fellowships’ in the nation or even locally, basic foundation becomes very important.  And that’s what we’re going to talk about – what foundation really is important to us? 

As Christians, we believe that God is (period), end of discussion.  If this isn’t true, then what do we believe in?  The Big Bang?  Evolution?  What do we expect after this life is over.  Anything? 

In the beginning God!  God created the heaven and the earth (Gen. 1:1). 

There was nothing before Him (Isa. 43:10-11) and He has created all things (Gen. 1:1).

God is Spirit so we worship Him in Spirit and in truth (John 4:24).  That is our spirit must connect with His and it does through the Holy Ghost (1 Corinth. 2:13-16). 

And God is love and we know this as His Spirit (the Holy Ghost) abides in us (1 John 4:6-13).  Now, love in 1 John is the Greek word agapao (G25), to love in a social or moral sense.  Which would include agape (G260) which is benevolent affection,  to hold dear, or charity.  God explains to Jeremiah that His love is everlasting (Jer. 31:3).  Here, the Hebrew word used is ahba (H160) which is love between friends, within the family, loyalty to and could include romantic.  Nonetheless, God is love!

We also know that God sent His only begotten Son into this world to redeem us back unto Himself because we departed from Him through disobedience (John 3:16, Gen. 3:1-24).

There is no greater love than a man lay down his life for his friend (John 15:13).  Agape is used in this passage.  ‘Lay’, in laying one’s life down, is the Greek word tithemi (G5087) which is effectively taking the place of.  Through Jesus, God took our place on the cross (1 Peter 2:21-25).  And yes, literally over the centuries, many Christians have (literally) died for their faith, but there is another connotation here.  Jesus tells us we must deny (die to) ourselves (Luke 9:23-26).  That is to reject the ways of the world and abide (live in/for) the love of Jesus. 

So, what do we mean by abiding in His love?

Throughout the whole bible, Father explains His love towards us AND how we can return our love to Him.  Practically speaking we show our love towards Father by seeking His will (Matt. 6:33), then applying His will into our lives (James 2:14-26).  We believe.  Praise the Lord!  But Father also wants us to show what we believe by ‘loving’ others.  Doing something good for someone else.

We’ll mention the ten commandments here: love the Lord above else, no statues, don’t use God’s name flippantly (loosely), honor the Sabbath, give mom and dad their due respect and, of course, don’t kill, steal, commit adultery, lie or desire that which belongs to our neighbor (Exod. 20:3-17).  Go back and read all of James 2 and draw a deeper connection.  Jesus summed up love in a single statement which has two parts: Love God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength and then love your neighbor as yourself  (Mark 12:28-31, Matt. 22:36-40).  Surpsrise!  Even the Jews knew this (Luke 10:25-27).

Jesus gives us many examples on how to love our neighbor.  The man who had been beaten and robbed and another man (a Samaritan) took the wounded man to an inn, paid for the room and told the innkeeper that, upon his return, he would cover any additional costs (Luke 10:30-37).  Peter and John, at the beautiful Gate at the temple, had no money to give the lame man, so they offered him what they had – “stand up and walk”, and the man did (Acts 3:1-8).  Paul tells Timothy to flee evil things but follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, patience, meekness, don’t ever give up but cling to our eternal promise.  Be willing to share your faith and be accountable to God (1 Tim. 6:11-14).  Some doable suggestions.  We all don’t have to literally ‘die for Jesus’, but in turning away from worldly things and living for Jesus is death to the ‘old man’ and life to the new man in Christ Jesus (Col. 3:1-4, 2 Corinth. 5:14-21).  Keep in mind that we don't do 'works' to get saved.  We do them because we are saved.  Let the new man live in us through the Holy Ghost,

Helping other people helps them to become all that they can be.  Paul tells us that everything we do should be done to edify the body (Eph. 4:15-16 ).  He also tells us to excel in edifying the church (1 Corinth. 14:12, 14:26, read all verses 1-40).

We can go on and on with examples, but I pray that we are getting the picture. 

The Holy Ghost will comfort us because He dwells within us (John 14:16-17). He will lead us into all truth (John 16:13-14) and understanding (1 Corinth. 2:5-16).  He is our teacher (John 14:26). He is our strength to live this life (Eph. 3:16).  He gives us authority (G1849 exousia)  over sickness, disease and over the power (G1411 dynamis) of devils (Matt. 10:1, Luke 9:1).  He will l protect us (Rom. 8:26-28).  To receive the full benefit of the Holy Ghost working in us and through us, we have to give Him free reign in our lives, that is don’t quench the Spirit (1 Thess. 5:19).And Father gives us that direct connection with Him through the Holy Ghost.  He edifies me and yet has His a place in the church (1 Corinth. 14:1-19).

 Our foundation is built on more than just the belief that Jesus has saved us.  We do have an obligation on our part.  And we do have help to accomplish our tasks - the Holy Ghost - and our brothers in Christ.

So what is our foundation built upon? It should be to love our heavenly Father with every ounce of energy we have and then showing that love that through our actions.  We should help others in need.  We should endeavor to help others to be all that they can be.   And knowing the Holy Ghost is in us and will guide us, teach us and protect us and be our strength to accomplish all that Father has laid before us.

We can go into greater detail, but I pray this is enough to get the ball rolling, if it isn’t already on the move in our lives.  

Once the foundation is laid, we have the hope and promise that Jesus will be with us always (Matt. 28:20).  He will help us to become all we can be.

So again, I ask “Upon what is our foundation built?

Amen