Foundation

Written by cycleguy on January 17th, 2013

construction

 ALWAYS UNDER CONSTRUCTION.  Check.

BLUEPRINTS TO START CONSTRUCTION. Check.

What’s next?

FOUNDATION.  Check.

How silly it would be to build a house without first starting with a foundation.  Can you possibly imagine the havoc that would come if we had the blueprints and just decided to build a house without a proper foundation?  Ridiculous you say!!  Sure it is!  How much more ridiculous does it sound trying to establish a life of substance without a proper foundation?

I know someone is bound to disagree with me…but that’s okay.  You are entitled to your opinion.  🙂  But I am convinced there can be no better foundation to build upon that God.  Oops, let me be more specific.  There can be no better foundation for a follower of Jesus to build his life upon that God.   I realize those who don’t follow Jesus will have different foundations.  Personally?  I think they will crumble, but people will debate that.

A Christ-follower’s beliefs must find their basis in God’s Word (blueprints) and our house must be built upon God as the foundation.  Therein lies the problem.  Knowing and understanding God.

Sigmund Freud, the father of modern confusion, I mean psychiatry, once said, “We invent God as a protective father.”  He goes on to say that basically God is a crutch.  An agnostic says, “Prove it.”  An atheist says, “God who?”

Is it arrogant to say we can know and understand God?  Well…yes and no.  We can know God because He has revealed Himself through His Son and His Word.  But understand?  Yes, to a point. Truth is: our finite minds can never and will never understand the infinite.  Therein is the rub and what is required is something so many have difficulty with

FAITH

“If I can’t see it, feel it, or touch it, I won’t believe.”  Sounds like someone in the Jesus story itself.  A man/disciple named Thomas.  “Unless I put my hands in the nail prints I will not believe.”  No matter how we like physical evidence, sometimes it just won’t happen.

My message Sunday is on God (as you probably gathered).   Here are the qualities of God I will be mentioning (but in no way exhaust).  God is:

IMMUTABLE (He never changes). FAITHFUL.

OMNISCIENT, OMNIPOTENT, OMNIPRESENT.

GOOD.

JUST.

PATIENT.

HOLY.

Time obviously hampers going into more..and into more detail.  I could talk about His wrath, His sovereignty, His wisdom, His love and so many more.  It is really a never-exhausted study.   I’m going to close out the message with this video.

What is your favorite quality of God?  Is there one in which He has recently shown Himself in a very real way?  I’d like to hear from you.  I’d also like to ask you for your prayers.  Thanks.

 

 

 

 

24 Comments so far ↓

  1. I suppose my favorite would be His sovereignty. Knowing He is in control brings me great comfort.

  2. Daniel says:

    “I realize those who don’t follow Jesus will have different foundations. Personally? I think they will crumble, but people will debate that.”

    O.K., for some fun. Roughly 7 billion is the world’s population. Say 2 billion are considered Christians. Do you honestly believe that the other 5 billion will claim or feel that their lives on Earth are build on foundations that are fundamentally flawed? What is your criterion for a crumbling foundation?

  3. cycleguy says:

    Ultimately, the bible says foundations made of wood, hay and stubble will crumble. Only those made of and built on stone will last. That is my criteria. They will crumble here on earth or at the end when they stand before God. Will they know? Not unless they hear the message of Christ and listen and respond. I don’t mind challenges Daniel. Thanks for offering it.

  4. jeff says:

    Good blueprints are clear and concise and not subject to many different interpretations. They are based on mathematical facts and physics. I like facts better than faith for my foundation. But each to his own. To think anyone who doesn’t follow Jesus as you do will have crumbly lives does seem a bit arrogant. But salesmen do need to believe in what they are selling. My Ford is better than your Chevy.

    • cycleguy says:

      I would expect you to say nothing else other than what you said here Jeff because your worldview is different than mine. I do believe in my foundation and even though it sounds arrogant, I do believe it will stand. Permanently.

      Oh, I drive a Nissan Frontier. 🙂

  5. Susan says:

    God’s grace. That’s my favorite. Grace that is greater than all my sin…

  6. floyd says:

    I’m always fascinated by the lost world that scoffs at faith. They make up theories and hypotheses that have zero mathematics or scientific fact to back them up and place all their faith in what no one has recorded from eyewitness accounts… And they scoff at recorded eye witness accounts that changed the world. These are the same people when stumped by the true physics of this planet that throw up their arms and say, “Hummm, unexplained phenomenon.” All the while demonstrating more faith in their beliefs than the average Christian does in God.

    God’s mercy stands out to me blatantly. A world that uses the very breath that He provides to mock Him. That mercy encompasses the redemption that He provides. The truth will set you free…

    Praying for you and yours, Bill.

  7. I taught a lesson one time where I asked the class to think of what it would be like if one of God’s attributes was missing. Like if he were omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent – but he didn’t love you. What a scary god.
    Or if he loved you, was all powerful, but wasn’t omniscient. He would want to do the best but would do things and just hope they worked out.
    Going through his attributes like that totally transformed the appreciation I have for his attributes.

  8. Eileen says:

    I love the fact that He never leaves us. The longer I journey with Him the more this means to me.

  9. Dan Erickson says:

    Great post. I believe in His foundation!

  10. Steve Martin says:

    His mercy.

    For totally undeserving sinners, like us.

  11. Ed says:

    His un-ending patience.

    Praying for you, always.

  12. Debbie says:

    I’m hearing “on Christ the solid rock I stand / all other ground is sinking sand”. 🙂 Praying for you now as you prepare to share God with the congregation Sunday. Today, one of my favorite things about Him is His patience / lovingkindness.

  13. Betty Draper says:

    His never ending love…