SWORD OF THE SPIRIT 1233
“A Firm Foundation”
Therefore thus says the Lord God, Behold, I am the one who has laid as a foundation in Zion, a stone, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone, of a sure foundation… – Isaiah 28:16
I was in Yokohama, Japan in a business meeting in the mid 1980’s when a 6.7 magnitude earthquake hit. I recall seeing the floor undulate as if it were waves upon the sea and the walls teeter and wobble. When the all-clear sounded and we returned to the conference room, to calm my nerves, I immediately opened my Day-Timer and read a prayer taped on the inside cover titled: Jesus Help Me.
The recent, tragic earthquake in Turkey brought back this memory. It is interesting to note that what we consider to be ‘Terra Firma’ is not all that ‘Firma’ and when the foundations of the earth shake, and life’s troubles are upon us the response for many of us is to turn in prayer to the solid Rock foundation of Jesus Christ.
I love you, O Lord, my strength. The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. – Psalm 18:1-2
From the end of the earth, I call to you when my heart is faint. Lead me to the rock that is higher than I – Psalm 61:2
For he will hide me in his shelter in the day of trouble; he will conceal me under the cover of his tent; he will lift me high upon a rock. – Psalm 27:5
Our lives are built on foundations. These can be unstable foundations built on the principles of a fallen, sinful world or they can be built on the solid foundation of the Rock that is Jesus.
Foundation of Salvation
He drew me up from the pit of destruction, out of the miry bog, and set my feet upon a rock, making my steps secure. – Psalm 40:2
And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” – Acts 4:12
Foundation of Business
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. – Matthew 7:24-25
Foundation of Faith
For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. – 1 Corinthians 3:11
He only is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall not be shaken. – Psalm 62:6
Foundation of Marriage
As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. – 1 Peter 2:4-5
Foundation of Career
But God’s firm foundation stands, bearing this seal: “The Lord knows those who are his,” and, who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began – 2 Timothy 2:19; 1:9
Foundation of Government
The Rock, his work is perfect, for all his ways are justice. A God of faithfulness and without iniquity, just and upright is he. – Deuteronomy 32:4
Foundation of the Church
And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock, I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. – Matthew 16:18
So, then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit. – Ephesians 2:19-22
May every relationship area of your life be solidly founded upon the stable and eternally unchanging power, presence, and peace of Jesus Christ.
There is none holy like the Lord: for there is none besides you; there is no rock like our God. – 1 Samuel 2:2
Sword of the Spirit 