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My Hope Is Built on Nothing Less

When you see a house falling down, chances are there’s a foundation issue.  If it’s a life that’s collapsing, you need to repent or jack that house up and pour a new foundation.  Only a life built on the Rock will stand firm (Matthew 7:24-27).  We’ve sing a few songs that remind us of this:

My hope is built on nothing less Than Jesus’ blood and righteousness; I dare not trust the sweetest frame, But wholly lean on Jesus’ name.

and …

The wise man built his house upon the rock. (x3)  The rains came down and the floods came up. (x3)  And the house on the rock stood firm.

The foolish man built his house upon the sand. (x3)  The rains came down and the floods came up. (x3)  And the house on the sand went smash.

and …

Jesus, You’re My Firm Foundation, I Know I Can Stand Secure; Jesus, You’re My Firm Foundation, I Put My Hope In Your Holy Word, I Put My Hope In Your Holy Word.

I. Hebrews 6:17-20.  God tells us that it’s not if but when the storms of life come.  If we are resting on His unchanging grace, then we are able to hold onto the hope that God offers us, this hope that is an anchor for the soul, where Jesus has gone before us beyond the veil into heaven itself.  Or as this song says:

When darkness veils His lovely face, I rest on His unchanging grace; In ev’ry high and stormy gale, My anchor holds within the veil.

II. 1 Corinthians 3:10-15.  Since the wise build their lives on the Rock, how should we build?  Walking with Christ, we avoid the building materials that the world offers and begin our new life by being baptized (Colossians 2:6-12).  Then, taking care how we build, our lives are tested with a refiner’s fire, and we sing:

His oath, His covenant, His blood, Support me in the whelming flood; When all around my soul gives way, He then is all my hope and stay.

III. 1 Corinthians 15:50-58.  We stand firm when our lives found in Him.  We must let Christ replace the perishable with the imperishable and the mortal with immortality.  Because He conquered death, we, baptized into Him can be clothed with His righteousness and stand blameless before the throne, singing …

When He shall come with trumpet sound, O may I then in Him be found, Dressed in His righteousness alone, Faultless to stand before the throne.

If we are truly being wise and not foolish builders of our lives upon Jesus, we can sing these choruses:

On Christ, the Solid Rock, I stand; All other ground is sinking sand, All other ground is sinking sand.

and …

So, build your life on the Lord, Jesus Christ. (x3) And the blessings come tumbling down.  The blessings come down as the prayers go up. (x3) When you build your life on the Lord, Jesus Christ.

and …

I Have A Living Hope,
(I Have A Living Hope, )
I Have A Future;
(I Have A Future;)
God Has A Plan For Me,
(God Has A Plan For Me,)
Of This I’m Sure,
(Of This I’m Sure.)

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For in You I Trust

Where do we go when our lives are handfuls of broken pieces?  Like Charlie Brown once again running towards Lucy to kick the football, the world yanks what we need away and we regret that once again we have put our trust in it.  Why do we not trust God more?  David answers this in Psalm 143.

I.  Psalm 1:1-3.  Because his enemy is pursuing his soul and crushing his life within him, David prays for mercy, appealing to God’s great faithfulness, righteousness, and steadfast love to grant it.  But, David is conscious of how he is living before God as well when he asks Him not to enter into judgment with him and then spends much time recalling what God has already done for him while yearning for a closer relationship with God.

II.  Romans 8:13-14.  If God does not answer him quickly, David knows that his spirit, already fainting within him, will fail.  Because it is only in God that he trusts, longing to hear of God’s steadfast love as He answers David’s prayer and gives guidance by morning, David has to be patient.  Often we find it harder to trust God when the world offers a quicker or easier “fix.” Perhaps we fear rejection by the world or hope it will leave us alone if we blend in with it?

III.  Romans 8:3-8.  David appeals to the relationship that he has with God for his life to be preserved.  As God’s servant, he submits to God’s will and trusts fully in Him and Him alone, choosing to be led by His Spirit.  Therefore, since he belongs to God, he asks God to guide and save him “for [God;s] name’s sake.”  There’s certainty in David’s trust of God.  Because of his close relationship with Him, David knows his enemies will be destroyed.

The Japanese art of kinsugi mends pottery with gold and lacquer and brings more value to a piece than before it was broken.  Only God can take our brokenness and turn it into a beautiful-mess.  Trust Him.

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We do so many things wrong

Our Father who is in Heaven,

We know so little. Our hands are weak. Our eyes see only what is near. Come help us. Be present in our midst.

Thank you for another day to enjoy. We decide to live with your peace in our hearts. Help us to act today with kindness and contentment.

We decide to do your will. We want what you want. Help us to say only words that you approve. Give us strength to act like Jesus. Continue reading “We do so many things wrong”

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I’ve None but God

I’ve none but God in the end,
‘Tis he my guide and friend.
For me Christ bled, my daily bread;
To him I would ascend.

O Lord, for you I wait.
In me, I pray, create
A holy heart, from sin apart;
Take me to Heaven’s gate.

While earthly time remains,
Christ Jesus’ love constrains:
We sow the seed in word and deed;
O’er all our Savior reigns.

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Not Against Us is For Us

The Titanic sank over a century ago.  The 20 lifeboats, capable of saving only 1178 of the 2208 on board pushed away half-full, saving only 705.  Why didn’t those on them save more?  Perhaps it was fear or lack of preparation in the panic of the survival situation?  Perhaps in their selfishness they judged those not on the lifeboats as either not worthy of saving or that their addition would swamp their vessel of salvation?

Like the ship, this world is sinking to its final destruction.  Each local body of the Lord’s church is a lifeboat that is only partially filled.  Rather than do the Lord’s job of judgment about who can climb in or is excluded, we need to be about ours of encouraging and teaching the way of God more accurately to those who don’t yet know it (Mark 9:38-41).

I.  Matthew 7:13-14.  A spokesman for the disciples posed the situation of a man doing good works in Jesus’ name as a problem because he was not following “us.”  After all, Jesus himself had earlier spoken of the few who were on the narrow path that led to eternal life while the many were heading to destruction.  That is not what Jesus understood was happening.  Where the followers saw this as a situation of division (1 Corinthians 1:10), God in the flesh saw one who was perhaps not yet His follower (2 Peter 3:9).

II.  Acts 19:1-7.  When we see people in other lifeboats or in areas where several local bodies of the Lord’s church meet, those who have gone from our lifeboat to another, we pray that their vessel is sound enough to save them.  But what about those treading the icy water or are just clinging to debris?  When Paul encountered “disciples” who hadn’t heard of the Holy Spirit and knew only John’s baptism, he sought to fill his lifeboat by preaching the gospel.  While maintaining the distinction between “us” and “him,” Jesus told his followers not to stop the man doing good works in His name “for the one who is not against us is for us.”

III.  Acts 18:24-26.  As a Jew, Apollos was not part of the new covenant in Christ, although God had given him many skills and he taught about Jesus as accurately as he knew.  He would be one today that many in their partially-filled lifeboat would uncaringly watch float by while he clung well to a piece of the wreckage.  Not Priscilla and Aquila.  They “took him aside and explained to him the way of God more accurately.”  While we dismiss many Apollos-es as not doing the will of the Father, Jesus reminds us that judgment and the giving of rewards is His job (Matthew 7:21-23) while ours is to fill the lifeboat (Matthew 20:18-20).

The way of salvation is indeed narrow and few find it, but it is not up to us to designate who those few are.  Rather, understanding that those who are not against us are for us, are you filling your lifeboat?

 

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Even If You Suffer

Suffering results from consequences of our bad choices and of our good choices.  Many reap harvest from sin and smugly assume that all suffering is for righteousness’ sake, but it is only suffering for doing good that God says He will bless you (1 Peter 3:13-18).

I.  Philippians 3:8-11.  We endure righteous suffering because of our relationship with Christ.  If God is truly our refuge where we abide and store our treasure (Matthew 6:20-21), then He will bless us when we suffer along with the prophets (Matthew 5:11-12).  Christ put the relationship with His Father first and suffered to make the gospel possible, so we must die to sin and selfishness to live in Him as a new creation (Romans 6:3-5).

II.  1 Peter 1:14-15.  We endure righteous suffering because of our relationship with ourselves in Christ.  If we are fearful or anxious for what the world can do to us, then we have a very low faith and trust in God, the only One we should fear (Matthew 10:28).  Rather, because He endured suffering and chose to be holy because His Father was holy, we too must choose, as we die to self and live for Him (Romans 6:6-8), to be holy for our own sakes.

III.  2 Corinthians 5:18-20.  We endure righteous suffering because of our relationship with the lost.  The sinless Christ died for us when we were unrighteous (Romans 5:6-8), so he has done for all while hoping for their repentance (2 Peter 3:9).  Since He chose to suffer for the lost, shouldn’t we who have obeyed the gospel and are in Christ already be willing servants or ambassadors for Christ by being gentle and respectful towards them (Galatians 6:1) that we might win some?

Many avoid suffering at all costs, often compromising with and blending in with the world.  But Christ suffered for righteousness’ sake for you who were lost.  Shouldn’t you who are in Christ because of His suffering be willing to suffer to bring the lost to Christ?