What did God ever do for me?

When we ask the question of what Jesus’ sacrifice accomplished for us, I think this is like trying to contain an elephant with a butterfly net. For the last 2000 years the scope of what the greatest man to ever grace the face of this earth accomplished has been pondered, praised, and ridiculed. Endless songs have been sung and so many books written that the grandest of libraries could not contain them. When Jesus hung on the cross it was the single greatest moment of all human history and I will never forget what He has done for me.

The original intent of God was to have deep relationship with those that He created in His image. Love always gives a choice, because true love is not mechanical. Man was deceived and bought the lie of the enemy and this introduced the disease of sin into this world. Sin was like a virus that was loaded onto a supercomputer that slowly started to infect every sector of the genius machine. With that virus of lies the perfect father and child relationship was severed. The very ones that were created in the Fathers image had settled for less than their potential. Sin took over and gave way to the enemy and spread like a cancer in all the earth. God was so grieved that several hundred years later after the fall, He judged the earth and flooded it to cleanse it from the rampant wickedness that had spread like a virus. But God had a wonderful plan and His name was Jesus, Emmanuel, God with us. Jesus came to live and die to bring us back to our original intent.

Jesus came to make all things right again. The first step of this journey was to deal with the issue of sin that separates us from a Perfect Father. Blood is the both the literal and symbolic representation of life for without it we cannot live. Jesus gave his body and blood as a great act of Justice to make us right with the Father again. The Father’s righteous judgment against mankind’s sin was transferred upon the perfect one, Jesus Christ. Listen to this promise in the book of Romans “Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God.” (Romans 5:9 ESV). Bill Johnson states that because of the blood of Jesus “Nothing now separates us from the Father”. He said the only work we have to do is to believe that his perfect life of obedience, fulfillment, and sacrifice was enough to cleanse us of sin and make us righteous, justified, and holy. When He declares us righteous it means that we are in right relationship and right standing with God. This gives us access back into the original relationship and favored position that God had intended for mankind all along. When we come to Jesus and truly know Him, He changes the way we think, act, and live. Repentance means changing the way we think. When we change the way we think we change the way we act. Repentance is the natural outflow when we truly meet our Savior! When we fully repent and our thinking comes into alignment with the finished work of Christ we are positioned to walk in our inheritance. 

As if that wasn’t enough, God goes one step further and says that He adopts us as children when we accept Jesus. The scripture declares: “Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God” (1John 1:12 NIV). Jesus’ sacrifice allows us to be children of God and we get to share in His inheritance. Listen to what the scriptures say, “And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father! So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.” (Galatians 4:6-7 ESV). I think the most precious part of our inheritance as children of God is the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Think about it, God places His Spirit inside of us and gives us supernatural gifts that enable us to demonstrate his love. How much more deeper could this divine communion be?

Because we have been made sons and daughters the Holy Spirit can come and dwell within in us. We become a habitation of God. Bill Johnson states that Jesus “performed miracles, signs, and wonders as a man in right relationship with God…not as God”. When talking about the humanity of Jesus the scripture states, “who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.” (Philippians 2:6-7ESV).The implications of this statement are huge. Bill says that Jesus “chose to live with the same limitations that man would face once He was redeemed” and goes on to say that “He was completely dependent of the power of the Holy Spirit working through him”. This is a magnificent statement when seen in the context of how right we are now with God by faith in Jesus. We can live a life that is dependent on the Holy Spirit and live the same supernatural lifestyle that Jesus did. We have the third person of the Trinity dwelling inside of us and empowering us to be the representatives of Jesus here on earth.

When Jesus died for us stripped away the old virus sin-filled flesh and gave us a new godly nature that is full of the DNA of Christ. The apostle Paul writes to the church and says “But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere. For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing,” (2 Corinthians 2:14-15ESV). We should enjoy union with God that enables us to actually spread the aroma of His nature and love to a world that is dying for it. He has made us a new creation and we are brought back and reconciled into a powerful relationship with Father God. Scripture declares, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation” (2 Corinthians 5:17-18NIV). 

When Jesus died he opened the way for a lost race of people to come back home to their original purpose of being in the union of relationship to the Perfect One. Jesus is a hero to all who come to him for he brings us home to the Fathers house. We find that the Fathers heart is our home. He deserves so much honor and praise for His selfless love and His desire to reclaim His people. I am not the same after seeing His face and holding the hand of one who is pure love. What has Jesus’ sacrifice accomplished for me? Everything.

Is It the Will of God to Heal?

We live in a day in which God is moving through His church and equipping everyday believers to pray for the sick in Jesus’ name and see them healed. Can we really believe that it is the will of God for them to heal? I firmly believe the answer is yes. 

Sometimes I think that it can seem that the Bible talks about two different Gods. It can seem that the God of the Old Testament was angry and judgmental and the God in the New Testament is full of mercy and grace. The truth is that God does not have a dual nature. Regarding healing, the Old Testament is full of scriptures that show it was always God’s desire to heal. In Genesis 18 we see the Lord healed the bodies of Abraham and Sarah so they could conceive a son even though she was barren and they were well past the years of child bearing. Sarah had been barren all her life when God appears to this great patriarch, and through a supernatural miracle of healing Isaac is born. Isaac and Rebecca also had a son born because of a supernatural intervention. From Abraham and Isaac’s lineage we trace the ancestry of Jesus’ family line. 

When God spoke to the Israelites after he delivered them out of Egypt and He showed His desire and nature to heal when giving the law. Listen to the promise of God in scripture: “If you will diligently listen to the voice of the LORD your God, and do that which is right in his eyes, and give ear to his commandments and keep all his statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you that I put on the Egyptians, for I am the LORD, your healer.” (Exodus 15:26). Randy Clark says regarding this scripture in Exodus that it is “God’s heart to heal” and that “This is evident from His self-revelation to Moses”. The great king and psalmist David described the benefits of God by stating “Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits, who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases”. The God we read about in the Old Testament is a God who desires to heal. 

To understand the nature and will of God we need to look at Jesus and his life here on earth. I think the most convincing evidence that God is a God of healing is found in the person and ministry of Jesus Christ. His ministry was marked by supernatural healing. In the gospel of John, Jesus makes an incredible statement to one of his disciples when he says “Whoever has seen me has seen the Father”. (John14:9 ESV) The book of Hebrews says that Jesus is “exact representation of His nature”. (Hebrews 1:3 NASB) One of the names attributed to Jesus is Emmanuel, which means God with us. The assignment of Jesus was “not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me.” (John 6:38) The Father, Holy Spirit, and Jesus are equal with each other and they will not do something that contradicts the other. So if we examine the ministry of Jesus here on earth we can clearly see how God desires to minister to humankind. Bill Johnson states that “Jesus came to reveal the will of the Father”. If we need an answer to the question “Is it God’s will to heal?”, then we need to look at the life and ministry of Jesus. 

Randy Clark states that “Jesus healed because he always did what his Father commanded him to do”.  At the onset of Jesus’ public ministry he stands up in the synagogue and declares his personal mission statement while reading from the prophet Isaiah. Jesus declares of himself “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free.” He then immediately begins his public ministry by casting out demons and healing those who are sick. Jesus said that this was a sign of the Kingdom of God has come to earth. 

We can see Jesus furthering his ministry when he commissions the seventy two in the Gospel of Luke and says “Heal the sick in it and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you,’” (Luke 10:9 ESV). This ministry commission to heal was not just for those believers in the New Testament but it is also for Christians today. Randy Clark states that “Healing is part of the great commission assigned now to all believers”. In the Great Commission Jesus states that those who believe “will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well” (Mark 16:18 NIV) Church history also testifies to this truth of God healing because for the last two thousand years many men and woman have seen God heal. The Catholic Church even has a sacrament of that involves anointing the sick and praying for healing. 

I think that the desire of God to heal is also revealed when we look at the Greek word SOZO. This word is translated “save” in the New Testament. When looking at the context in which this word is used in scriptures it includes the forgiveness of sins, healing, and deliverance.  In our western culture we have a tendency to think the word “saved” means only the forgiveness of sins. But if we look at the ministry of Jesus and see that He touched the whole person, and brought restoration and healing, it helps us fully understand that salvation is much more comprehensive. Jesus died for us to be restored to our original relationship with God and walk in our original purpose. Part of this original purpose means wholeness of life in our earthly bodies. God’s love is clearly displayed when he brings physical healing. This act of kindness is a great aid when telling people the truth of a loving God and it also brings glory to the Father. 

It is the desire God is to heal and restore. When he does these things he is revealing His very nature to a world that desperately needs it. Healing is a practical expression of the Love of God. I am very thankful that it is the will of God to heal and it is my prayer that we understand and live this truth in its entirety. 

The Dawn of a new Day

I grew up in the church….man…I could have been born in a pew. I am a child of the 80’s and 90’s (born in 74) and I had a good first hand look at church culture. I always marveled at the handful of mighty Men of Woman of God that had a platform to lead, speak, and influence others from. We seem to love to identify ourselves with a dynamic leader whom we respect and is having an influence. Heck, in 1 Corinthians Paul had to address this issue with the church because they were saying ‘“I follow Paul”; another, “I follow Apollos”; another, “I follow Cephas”; still another, “I follow Christ”’. It seems to be human nature to want to belong to a certain camp. Actually, the real issue is we really want to belong to someone and something that matters.

So this brings me to my main point here. Typically, in Christian western culture we have a tendency to exalt Christian celebrities and to identify ourselves with them. This is not all bad, because we need strong leaders and reformers in the Church. The main issue here is that Christ is not divided. He is whole. I think a contributing reason that we act like this is because we all want to have a voice. We all want to be identified with what is true and we want our lives to make a difference. These are healthy things. The problem is we have and “us and them” mentality. Do you realize that we have this vocabulary of “laypeople” and “clergy”? I understand this language is not as common as it used to be… but I think the mentality it created is still common. One of my favorite verses in the Bible is in Ephesians.

Ephesians 4:11-13 - So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.

Jesus is raising up an Army of lovers in these last days. He is not raising up an Army of Clergy in these last days….His body is starting to wake, stretch, and arise from the shadows. It is the job of Christian leaders to equip you to minister to the world around you. You are to heal the sick, feed the poor, love the dying, displace hate, and re-present Christ. You are the only Jesus that some folks will ever see. The Kingdom of God (His domain) resides within you. If you know Jesus and the Spirit of God lives in you….you are called into ministry. Your primary identity is to be a son or daughter of the Father. Your default role is that you get to minister of His goodness to those around you. The Gospel is called the Good News…..is your news good?

(Practical) I am so busy right now I can’t see straight. I feel like time is not on my side… but at the same time I don’t want to be just be that neat church guy…I want to take my walk to the street. We can listen to His voice. Last week after church we were in a busy restaurant and it was packed. There was this bus boy and he was working his tail off. One of the folks at our table said “Man, look at that guy, he hates his job”. It was a statement said with sympathy. I started watching this young man and he was working very hard. He actually had too much work for just one dude. This is not the type of restaurant that you normally tip at. You pay at the counter, eat, and leave. I could not stop thinking about him as we all were enjoying ourselves and visiting. The kid looked beat down and I don’t think he had much self esteem. So, it came time for us to go and we walked outside and the Holy Spirit was poking my heart. I was thinking what can I do for this guy? But, in my heart I knew. So I took most of the cash in my wallet (that I was saving my tattoo!) and walked back in. It was perfect…he was in an area by himself. I walked over and gave him the cash and told him that I had been watching him and that he was such a hard worker.  I said that his strong work ethic will take him places in life (I actually felt this was a prophetic statement) and we sure appreciate the service you gave us. I told him I was a minister (just like you are…feel free to steal that line!) and gave him my card with my cell phone# on it. I said if you ever need to talk to someone feel free to call me. I put my arm around him and squeezed His shoulder like a father would. He was stunned…and just said "thank you sir"…and kept staring at the card I gave him.

I didn't cure aids that day. I didn't see someone get out of a wheelchair. I just listened to the heartbeat of heaven and did my best to love. The Father loves that young man enough to tell him that He sees his hard work. Actually, the Father loves that young man so much to show him the HE sees him. That was good news to that young man that day. I planted a seed and God will water it and cause His Sun (Son) to shine on it. 

Don’t look to a platform or a leader to identify with. Look to the hurting, lost, addicted, and selfish to identify yourself with. You don’t need to identify with a certain camp or party. You are the body of Christ….Now Rise…and walk on.

LOVE wants You

Love wants you...real bad. Do you understand that when the Word of Life says that God puts the Spirit of Adoption in us it gives us a new Father? That is true....but truth doesn't always transform until be believe and experience it. Father God is in a good mood....He is not waiting for you to screw up again so he can take you out. He is not the Great Hit-man wanting to finally judge you because you mess up all the time....He really does Love you and wants you Home.

Home is were the Heart is and you can trust the Father with your heart. The key to understanding the Fathers heart is letting the past filters of our experience dictate who we think Father God is.

He is Dad....Big Papa

Galatians 4:6-7 And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.

Do you understand that you are not a slave? Adoption means you come into the rights and inheritance of a Father/son relationship. The main inheritance you need is the Fathers love for you. Do you remember the story of the prodigal son?

Here is my summary....He wanted his inheritance now! So, in essence he is saying to His father "I wish you were dead because all I want is your cash". The Father loved his son so much he gave him his portion of the money and off he went. He went to high roller clubs and was rollin on 24's in his black Mercedes He smoked the best weed... rolled fat blunts and the woman were all around. He finally smoked all his cash away and had to work as a dishwasher in a cheap Chinese food place. He had to eat the leftovers off the plates he was washing in order to not go hungry.

He decided to go back to Dad because His Dad's employees were living much better than this. His Dad sees him coming up the drive... once the pickup that he hitched a ride with dropped him off. His Dad/Papa comes running down the drive barefoot with his new designer suit getting tattered as he runs up the drive in full abandonment. He comes to his son who is scared and full of shame and throws his arms around him and starts crying. "I love you so much and missed you so much...I love you son". The son feels so unworthy that he had treated his Dad with so little worth. He starts to apologize but Papa says "I know son...don't worry... your my son and I accept you with open arms...welcome home to my Heart". He takes off his new suit coat and puts it on the son...he takes off his Rolex and puts it on the son.

You thought the son spent all the inheritance? No.....Papa has so much he brings the son back into the place that creates abundance and restoration. The home of the heart that is Love and Life itself. Papa's love is unstoppable and when he sees His sons and daughters even looking his way he starts running towards them with Love in his eyes. His feet run swift & sure. His gaze is like a gale force wind of affection & affirmation. He knows who He made you to be. You will find yourself when you find yourself in the Fathers arms and realize that home is were the Heart is....and his Heart is a home for the homeless and the oven of true Love.

Come and run to Big Papa.....He loves you so much and He is waiting at the end of the drive just waiting for the chance to start running to Love on you.....Come Home.

Gods Generals

(This Blog Post in a response to one essay question for school for the book Gods Generals by Robert Liardon.)

I actually feel like I gained several insights while reading God’s Generals (Why They Succeeded and Why some Failed) by Roberts Liardon. I must say that this is a book that I will read again and it was very hard to put it down. I absolutely love reading about great men and woman of God in history. It always makes me want to pursue God and the calling on my life and to press in to see the “more” that God has for me.

Growing up my father used to say “God hits some pretty good licks, with crooked sticks”. What this means is that God can use people who are not perfect, but are just yielded to Him. Remember, the apostle Peter denied Jesus in his greatest time of need. Jesus repaid that betrayal by establishing Peter as the foundation of the New Testament church. It is always His grace and mercy that moves us to do things that are beyond our own natural ability. I think those He uses in extraordinary ways are typically marked with a desperation and hunger for God to move. They also seem to have an innate passion and love for God developed in their life. There are other times when life or the enemy has placed them in circumstances that make them look to God for supernatural breakthrough. Sometimes, God can just choose people in His sovereignty because He chooses to do so. Yes, we have freewill, but just go and ask the apostle Paul about His experience with a supernatural God that blinded him of the road to Damascus. God is not a tame lion (as C.S. Lewis said) He is still a sovereign God.

The first lesson I learned from this book is that almost all of these mighty men and woman really knew the promise of God in scripture. They believed the word of God that He still desires to heal and work  supernaturally. They took a hold of a promise from God and held on to it until they saw it released into the natural. I have good news for you. The God of the New Testament is still a supernatural God. Salvation is a spiritual supernatural event and transaction. It is the same with miracles and signs & wonders.   Most of us believe God is a supernatural God, but not all of us are “comfortable” with how supernatural He still is. When my wife and I went to India in 2007 and prayed for a girl who was deaf and mute... God healed her. She heard and spoke in front of a crowd of about a fifty people. We heard the gasp that went through the crowd around us as she spoke and we knew that God is still doing His stuff today on earth. In 1 Peter verse 4 it states that “he (God) has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature”. God’s nature is to restore and heal. Before Jesus was a minister he was a carpenter. His job was to make something new out of something that was yet unformed or seen. He would also repair things that were broken. When Jesus went into public ministry He did the same things. We are called to live as Jesus did as his representatives here on earth.  

The second lesson I learned from this book is something the author pointed out several times. We need to identify and operate in the gifting that God has placed upon us and discern the season that God has us in. Many of these woman and men of God had amazing gifting and supernatural ability on their life but when they tried to venture out of that arena it did not go well for them. Some of these folk’s lives ended in dishonor because they strayed so far from the original calling and mission. Alexander Dowie tried to build a Christian city called Zion which ended in financial scandal. Many believe his true calling and anointing was for the city of Chicago. William Brahman was used mightily of God, but his life ended in disgrace teaching things that were contrary to the truth of the Word of God. Brahman had a prophetic calling but he was not a teacher. When he insisted on being a teacher, even though others warned him, his teaching ended in serious doctrinal heresy. I personally believe that God can gift us with different things as our live changes. It is vital that we understand what God is saying to us and discern what season we are in. If you are called to be a worshiper it may not work out too well if you are convinced you are a teacher. Grace is released through us as we walk in our anointed calling.  

The last lesson I learned in this book ties in closely with the second lesson. A lot of times God will put strategic relationships in our lives to help us navigate the road God has us on. Sometimes Gods wisdom for us can look like a friend or ministry partner in our life. Others see things in us and know things that we need to keep us balanced and on the right path. In the book of Proverbs wisdom is marked by being teachable, correctable, and having many advisors. We need to be willing to hear God speak to us through others. I have friends in my life right now that have walked with God for many years and know the Bible much better than I do. We are made for relationship and not be an island. We need others to help guide us into truth and hold up a mirror to our lives and help us see our faults. This will keep us on the right track and help us be spiritually healthy. We need the each other to walk in wholeness. When someone is gifted by a supernatural gifting (and the supernatural is not too common in this day and age) we tend to get enamored by their gifting. The scripture is clear that we are to judge a tree by its fruit. Just because someone has a supernatural calling and gifting on their life doesn’t mean that God endorses everything they say and do. Remember, the supernatural is released by God’s grace and not our own works. Yes, we can position and equip ourselves to see supernatural breakthrough with more consistency, but it is still by Gods grace alone.  I love His Grace…. His healing, delivering, restoring, and supernatural grace.

This is a great book and I cannot recommend it more highly. It does not shy away from the amazing events and miracles or the ugly truth and controversy in some of these men and woman’s life. If I keep it real, my own walk with God has not been so pretty. I had a remarkable salvation experience and was used by God in ministry. I then turned my back and got myself wrapped up in substance abuse and addiction. In His grace he has restored me and still has the same calling on my life. My own life story would not be a clean and pretty book, but I think it would show just how much mercy and grace my Jesus has had on me. He does not show favoritism, and he can show you the same kind of mercy and grace that he had on all these mighty woman and men of God. We should all be inspired to be used of God to see His supernatural reality invade our natural reality. It brings Him honor and glory. I love what Randy Clark says: “Lord, let my life be a coin in your pocket to spend as You will”. These mighty men and woman of God let Him spend their lives and I desire to walk in the same things. Amen. 

Live in the Moment

      Do you know for so many years of my life I lived for another day? I remember years of my life spent wishing my location, circumstances, or relationships were different. Either looking back to what was...or looking forward to what I wish it would be. 

• When I was in my young teens and my Father was stationed in Germany ... I wished I was back in the USA.
• When we moved back from Germany and I was sent to a private Christian High School - I wished I was back in Germany with my friends
• When I was in College - I wish I had more "alternative/artsy" Christian friends
• When I moved to "alternative/artsy" Portland, Oregon - I wished I was back in Texas with my strong Christian friends

It seemed I was always looking back to what I once had (even though I complained when I was there) or I was looking forward to what I wished life would become. I spent so many years not stewarding the moment and relationships that God had me living in. When I lived in Portland I did not value the friendships that I had in my life because of religious (rule based) mindsets and strongholds in my thinking. Religion sets unrealistic expectations on ourselves and those around us and it has a tendency to ruin relationships. 

 God has people in your life right now. Maybe these relationships are not the easiest and maybe they do not flow naturally...but God can use the most interesting situation and people to mold our lives and hearts. Perspective may come years later when you look back and see God's hand forming you through those relationships that did not seem fun or easy. 

Or maybe you live with extreme mindsets like I once did...

• Instead of "I am going to become a better musician" - It became "I am going to buy all the instruments a whole band would have and buy recording equipment and record my own music and become famous."
• Instead of "I am really going to start trying to spend some time with the Lord every day." - It became .. "I am going to fast to seven days and then commit to spend an hour a day getting up at 5:30am to seek the Face of God."
• Or maybe when you Sin you have a tendency to go big - I remember when I fell into sin and took a drink - It turned into 2 drinks and then 3 drinks then smoking a joint...and then nine months later I would wake up from a nine month hazy dream...I am not kidding

This mindset is the unhealthy version of living in the moment. We get deceived that radical actions will propel us to a new place in life or offer some relief or escape. That is not the case. God has a balanced and healthy life for us but we have to hear His voice and follow His leading. These extreme mindsets can bring us to a place of chaos if we don't discern the hearts motive when giving into them. That is not living in the moment... that is living in the flesh...and it is a mindset of death. 

God has you in certain situations right now that you cant stand. He has relationships in your life that are less than ideal. Maybe instead of wishing we were in another time in our lives or looking to a place in the future that is not here yet...we should live in the moment. With a mind set on the Spirits leading. 

You want to get healthy....eat a salad today for lunch...go walking tonight. 

You want to get married...concentrate on building healthy relationships with both sexes...get involved in a singles group..this week. 

You want to know God more...spend some time in the Word today...take some time and ask to hear His voice...today.

You want to get your finances in order....Go buy Dave Ramsey's Extreme Money Makeover ...read it tonight.

Do you get the point? If you steward today well and then focus on stewarding tomorrow you will start to live the full life that God has in store for you. I learned this when walking out of addiction to take one day at time. Tomorrow is not guaranteed. Make the change you want today... one baby step at a time. Hang with the friends you have today. Call someone and ask if you can pray with them today. What happens when we steward well? We form habits that lead to living a full life regardless of circumstances that don't change. We start becoming the people we always wanted to be. 

I have tried to start to steward each day ... and I have seen the Lord bless me with those days I always longed for. They do not look exactly like I thought they would.. but they are full of the fruit of the Spirit and His Goodness. 

Of Foundations and Faith

Faith is the currency of heaven and the value of it cannot be underrated. I was praying this morning and asking the Lord what faith was. He went on to talk to me about various levels of faith. One of the first things He showed me was in the parable of the House built on the different foundations. (see Matthew 7:24-28)

One thing He pointed out to me in this story is that the building material was faith and it was the same in both contexts. One house was built on Rock (good foundation) and one was built on sand (unstable foundation). The parables emphasis was really on the Foundation of what the house was built on. I believe the house speaks of where our Heart abides. Building the house on the Rock symbolizes faith in Christ and an active lifestyle of relationship with Him. The foundation on the sand represents the plethora of things we can put our faith in here on earth. (Relationships, Hobbies, Title, Position, Power, Looks, etc…) The building is built with faith.... it is faith in something that brings the action of building. Trusting, hoping, relying, and believing that these things will bring fulfillment, purpose, meaning, and substance to our existence leads us towards the action of Faith. This can have negative and positive application. Jesus stated that real fulfillment can only be satisfied in the context of faith in His completed work on our behalf, and the subsequent invitation to enjoy LIFE with Him.  (present & eternal Life)

Yet so many are deceived…let me explain. Faith is more than just a confession….it is a lifestyle of pursuit of the ONE. What you have faith in will be displayed by your actions... not by just your words. This is why the book of James talks about showing your faith by your works (or actions). Yet, I continue to meet so many believers who have a confession of faith in Christ and yet their lifestyle indicates that it is a mere belief system. The foundation of a structure should help dictate what the building or structure looks like... just like the fruit of our actions reveal the trust issues of our heart. (I say “issues” because we “issue” trust to what we believe it) God is interested in our mind, but He longs to sit upon the throne of your heart. Once he has your Heart (and yes…I mean your Passionate Love Heart) he has your mind, body, and soul at His disposal. So many of us spend time dealing with the fruit of lives that we forget that the root actually dwells in the heart.

For instance…. We want to be “better people”, go to church more, stop cussing so much, give more, be “better Christians” and so on and so forth. These things are all noble, but if we focus on these issues we are just trimming the tree. The DNA of a tree dictates what type of fruit it’s producing. Meeting the Creator who dictates and creates  DNA is where we find lasting change. This is the kind of change that creates stable foundations. When we surrender and push all our cards onto the table to follow Jesus he gives us His Spirit. 


When I speak of the God who dictates our DNA I think of the person of the Holy Spirit who is mentioned in the first Chapter of Genesis. He was present during creation. When the Spirit of God resides in you and he is there to produce in you the Life of Jesus….therefore transforming your hearts DNA and laying the solid foundation. As people of faith in Christ we have the privilege to host the presence of the Holy Spirit.  When the Spirit is present in our lives it will be followed by transformation. (Practical tip….pray for the Lord to continually fill your with the Holy Spirit)

Good belief systems are just that…good. Knowing a Good God is so much higher of a calling and leads to a transformed lifestyle. It’s faith in the right thing. Faith in Jesus, that is the currency of Heaven and becomes an ETERNAL investment that will never fade, spoil, or tarnish. True wealth because the foundation is true ROCK. Maybe it’s time for a foundation check…and subsequent heart check. I encourage you to recalibrate your heart to rest on the foundation of Christ’s perfect love & life for you…… ask the Holy Spirit to lay the perfect foundation in your heart. You know what? He will. 


I happen to know He builds a pretty good house....