CONCERT OF PRAYER

Pray Week 678

“Underpinnings”

Matt 7:24-27 (ESV) “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.”
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Whenever I read this parable that Jesus taught, I used to always envision two houses, one built on a rocky outcropping and the other built on the beach. As I meditated on this Scripture this week the Lord showed me two houses in the same community that, for all intents and purposes, looked to be identical. The storms of life will shake both houses to their very foundations. “… He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous”.-Matt 5:45 The difference between these two houses is in their underpinnings.

This parable is about a relationship. It is about our relationship with Jesus. It is about the constant, solid touch of His abiding presence in our lives. Some of us have an indirect, proxy relationship with Him. We relate to Him through others in the ministry and through the ritual and rites of religion. This is similar to the house built on sand. The sand is in between the foundation and the bedrock that is Jesus Christ. This sand is unstable and shifty. Ministry leaders are fallible like you and me. Traditional rites and rituals of religion are changeable over time. The other house may have the same sandy soil beneath it as the first, but it remains rooted firmly on the solid rock of Jesus Christ through its underpinning personal relationship with Him. When the storms of life come, the one with a solid one-to-one, personal relationship with Jesus can draw strength and stability from Him and remain standing. What do these underpinnings look like?

TRUST “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. – John 13:38. This underpinning stems from an ongoing personal relationship with God. It is difficult to trust someone we do not know. We get to know Jesus through a lifestyle of study of His Word and through prayer.

LOVE He said to him, “‘YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND.’ “This is the great and foremost commandment. “The second is like it, ‘YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.’ “On these two commandments depend the whole law and the prophets.” – Matt 22:37. This underpinning is like the cornerstone that supports the entire structure. To love as God commands is impossible in our own strength and ability. It requires the abiding presence of His Holy Spirit. Through Him we are able to see even our enemies with His eyes of love, forgiveness and compassion. Bitterness and unforgiveness harbored in our hearts weakens this underpinning such that it can no longer add support and strength to endure the storms of life.

PURITY I am the LORD your God. Consecrate yourselves therefore, and be holy, for I am holy. – Lev 11:44. Purity comes before power. We cannot expect the abiding presence of a Holy God in our lives when our hearts continue after the impurity of this world. When we choose to live a compromised lifestyle we choose an underpinning that fails to reach all the way to bedrock.

OBEDIENCE “If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love; just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love. – John 15:10. Note the interdependence of these underpinnings. Choosing to remain pure requires obedience to God’s Word. God’s abiding love stems from our obedience to Him. His abiding presence builds a strong relationship of trust in the truth of His Word and in His love for us.

What storms of life are attacking you today? Are you fearful of collapse or do you have a deep sense of His peace that stems from His abiding presence? Strengthen your house through an underpinned relationship with Jesus Christ by seeking first His kingdom and His righteousness. Dig deep through the shifting sand of a compromised lifestyle and of all that has separated you from a total and complete commitment of your life to follow Him. Sink pillars of Obedience, Love, Purity, and Trust solidly onto a bed rock personal relationship with Jesus.

Close in prayer, thanksgiving & rededication of your work to the glory of God