Monday, October 24, 2005

Monday Morning Encouragment - October 24, 2005

Good morning! This weekend I have been watching the pictures of Hurricane Wilma on the television with great interest. A few years back my wife and I spent time in Cozumel and Cancun and have many fond memories of those two cities. Seeing the pictures of destruction has gotten me thinking about holding up to life’s storms.

In Matthew chapter 7, Jesus tells the story of two men who built their homes on two different types of foundations. This morning I want to look at this story and pinpoint a few truths for the day.

Matthew 7:24-27 (HCSB)

Therefore, everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them will be like a sensible man who built his house on the rock. The rain fell, the rivers rose, and the winds blew and pounded that house. Yet it didn’t collapse, because its foundation was on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of Mine and doesn’t act on them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. The rain fell, the rivers rose, the winds blew and pounded that house, and it collapsed. And its collapse was great.

Everyone of has built a house…the house being our lives. And just like the men in this story, each of us has a choice as to the foundation we will build our house upon. The most beautiful, well built home in the world has no strength if its foundation is not solid.

I find it interesting the types of foundations that I watch people building their lives on today. I know people who are trying to build their life on a relationship with another person, or they are building upon a career. Still others are trying to build upon traditions and education. The problem is all of those foundations are movable. What will happen when that loved one dies or that relationship ends? What if the company downsizes, goes bankrupt or moves overseas? What happens when today’s knowledge becomes tomorrow’s history? The bottom line is that all of those things are temporal.

The only lasting foundation is God Himself. When all else is stripped away, God is the only thing that remains. So how do you make God your foundation? It all begins with surrender. Allow God to be in charge of your life and develop a personal intimacy with Him. This personal intimacy is developed through spending quality time with God. This can be done through worship, prayer, Bible study, meditation and silence. Unfortunately too many of us settle for a relationship with God that is less than intimate. Our relationship with God could almost be described as dating, we see Him every Sunday morning from 11A-Noon.

Today I want to challenge you to examine your foundation. Are you truly building a deep relationship with God? Have you built upon a foundation other than God Himself? When your foundation is strong the storms of life howl and blow, but they will not topple you.

Until next Monday, may God’s richest blessings be yours this week.

Carl

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