WHAT ARE YOU WORKING WITH?

As I write this blog, the Carolina coastal lines and even shore lines are being plummeted by Hurricane Florence with some cities receiving as much as 20 feet of flooding water.

Thousands have evacuated to safer ground due in part to torrential wind and rain which have topped and washed away many homes and buildings.

Even after emergency warnings, some decided to wait it out to avoid evacuation for a number of reasons including not wanting to part with their possessions or thinking their neighborhoods might not be affected but then discovering that they made unwise choices.

For the most part, the Carolina states are surrounded by beautiful beaches and sandbanks and many love to flock there to take vacations or to permanently live there because of the otherwise pleasant weather and fun water activities.

Regardless of where we live whether on the mainland or coastal shores, when natural disasters strike, when devastation hit, we are at the mercy of Jesus Christ of Nazareth. It does not matter the sure footing or the foundation that our homes or built upon, they are no match for hurricanes, fires, tornadoes and the like.

So it is with our spiritual lives, troubles will come. In this life, Christians as well as unbelievers will be faced with many trials and tribulations including the death of loved ones, marital troubles, wayward and rebellious children and grandchildren, job loss, foreclosure, homelessness, sickness and disease, church hurt, and so on.

But the question that arises is this: What are you working with? Are you trying to do it all by yourself and leaving God out of your decision-making? Is your foundation being built by you and you alone?

Did you seek God for that marriage that ended up failing? Did you seek God for that prospective job which ended up terminating you? Did you check out the family line of that spouse before marrying, only to discover that your children have inherited some unwanted and unforeseen generational curses?

Did you seek God for that particular house that you ended up losing? Did you seek God before moving to another city but never being able to prosper and excel there? Did you seek God before leaving the small church, to join the bigger one only to end up experiencing church hurt? Did you seek God before making that investment only to lose your retirement nest egg?

If your footing and foundation is faulty minus the wisdom and seeking of Jesus Christ, then when troubles come, you might be left with depression, guilt, bitterness, bewilderment, discouragement, condemnation, feelings of failure, feelings of emptiness with no meaning in life.

But oh my friends, when your foundation is built on the solid rock of Jesus, you might be hit with a left hook followed by a right hook, you might fall down but you won’t be counted out. You will get up!!!

And yes, sometimes, the enemy will come in like a flood, but if we are on a true and firm foundation, God will raise a standard up against him.

And please know that sometimes when trouble comes it’s not always the devil. Amen. Sometimes it might be due to needing to be purged and cleansed. To get us to where we need to be in Christ, to get us to the destiny that was ordained for us before the foundation of the world. Just sometimes God has to do some re-arranging.

And I will be the first to agree that the chastening of the Lord doesn’t always feel good. You know the story! Some medicines that we take don’t always taste good but it’s good for us. But in the final analysis, Papa God is a good and loving Father to us as His children.

So, if we learn to build on a sure foundation, and to fully surrender our lives to Jesus Christ, the Rock of our Salvation, when afflictions comes, God will deliver us out of them all….not some…but all of them.

As the old hymn goes…ON CHRIST THE SOLID ROCK I STAND, ALL OTHER GROUND IS SINKING SAND.

What are you working with?

PRAYER!

Father God, in heaven, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, we thank You for Your darling Son, Jesus Christ of Nazareth, Who died on the Cross for our sins.  Lord, we thank You for giving us a second, third, and fourth chance, when we mess up. We thank You for grace and mercy over our lives and Father God, we want to live our lives on a sure foundation which is Jesus Christ our Lord in Jesus name, Amen!

If you do not know Jesus as your Savior, and you want to accept Him now, you can click on the Menu button under PRAYER on the website, and pray the prayer of Salvation.

24 Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock:25 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock.26 And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand:27 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it (Matthew 7:24-27)

When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the LORD shall lift up a standard against him.” Isaiah 59:19b). 

Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the LORD delivereth him out of them all. (Psalms 34:19) 

Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit (John 15:2) 

5 And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him: 6 For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. (Hebrews 12:5-6)