Day 237: Foundation in Christ

1 Corinthians 3:10-13

According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and someone else is building upon it. Let each one take care how he builds upon it. For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw each one's work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done.

We cannot build anything and have it stand unless the foundation is stable. If the foundation is not stable, the whole building is rocky, and can fall at any given moment. But if you have a solid foundation, then you’ve gotten something that can last. You have something that can stand the storms, can’t be knocked down, because the foundation is holding it up so well. It’s like having a house built on sand, when it rains, that house is sadly going to slide. But if your house has a solid foundation and built on cement, there is a great chance that it’s staying put. It’s not sliding anywhere.  You can probably guess by now where today’s devotional is going. I want to focus on the part of the scripture that says, “For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid which is Jesus Christ.” If we’re laying foundations to build upon, those foundations must be laid in Christ Christ offers stability, and keeps us grounded. When we are rooted in Christ, when that is where our foundation is, we are solid. We are nearly impossible to knock down. We cannot be shaken, the foundation will never give out on us. A foundation in Christ gives us the opportunity to stand tall and firm and not worry about falling. We don’t have to worry that everything can be taken from up under us at any moment. We have security in Christ. So how do we build this foundation?

We follow the word of God. We submit ourselves to Christ, we give our lives to Christ. We believe in the life, death, and resurrection of our Savior. Meaning, we have a clear understanding that everything we are is because of everything He is. There are a few scriptures I want to point to in order to answer this question.

Luke 10:27

He answered, "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind'; and, 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'"

Matthew 22:37

Jesus replied: "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.'

Mark 12:30

And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’

Deuteronomy 6:5

Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.

Matthew 6:33

But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

Something I have come to realize in my life is to go to God first, He’s not my last resort. I’ve learned that when things are going crazy in my life that I must turn to God first, because He has the answer and HE can help me more than anyone else. I’ve learned to pray in the face of adversity before going to talk to my friends who can do nothing but sooth me. What we must know is that when we submit our lives completely to God and we learn to depend on Him and trust Him, He becomes our primary source and everything and everyone becomes secondary. God’s word remains the same, He doesn’t change on us, He is always the same, and that’s why a foundation in Him is so important, it’s not flaky and it’s guaranteed to stand forever.

All this to say, the answers we need are found in the word of God. Everything we are is in Him, we must find our identity in christ and follow Him all the days of our life. We must learn to depend on Him and trust Him in every area and moment of our lives, A life without a solid foundation is not a life that will get us anywhere. Lay your foundation in Christ and build on that, trust me, whatever you build will stand.

Reflections

1. Do you have a foundation in Christ?
2. Do you go to God first?
3. Have you devoted your life to Christ?

Prayer Time

Allow your answers to the above questions guide your prayer today, Talk to God about having a solid foundation in Him. For those of you who answered ‘no’ the the last question, I’d like to offer you a chance to make that decision right now. If you want to make the choice to follow Christ, now is the time to do it. If you want to rededicate your life to Christ, now is the time to surrender your life to Him.

If that’s you, if you want to make that decision today, pray this prayer with me.

“Jesus I declare that you are my Lord and Saviour who died for my sins and was raised three days later. I repent of my sins and I give my life to you. I believe in my heart that you are the true living God. Thank you for saving me. In Jesus name, Amen.”

If you made the choice to follow Christ, rededicate, or to submit your life to Him fully, Go to Romans 10:9-10, If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.

I love you and I hope you have an amazing day or evening! If you made the decision to follow Christ today, Congratulations, the angels in heaven are rejoicing! Be sure to share this and the good news with someone and come back tomorrow for Day 238!

Day 55: Toxic Waste

As we grow up one of the thing we start to learn how to do is be responsible and take care of ourselves. At one point of that growing up process we will realize that taking care of ourselves is more than just paying bills, putting food on our table, and providing for ourselves. It is so much more than being independent. In our twenties we are going through so many changes, our mindsets change, our bodies start to change, a lot of things go through changes. We have to make sure we stop and take care of ourselves, weed out anything that is harming us and be happy people. We know how to pay bills and work, today we are going to explore what it means to focus on ourselves for a bit and taking out the toxic waste in our life. The things that are poisoning us,: spiritually, emotionally and/or mentally, and physically.

Philippians 4:8

Finally, brothers, whatever things are true, whatever things are honest, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things

We must learn to focus on the positive things. It’s so easy to focus on everything going wrong and sometimes it seems to outweigh the good. But trust me when I say that there is always something to thank God for. We cannot dwell on the things that are screwed up about life, or we will fall into a black hole of sadness, or depression. Life is better than what we perceive it to be sometimes. We  just have to realize that we are not our issues, we are not our struggles, we are not our bad days, we are not our depression. We are children of God, we must set our mind on the things above and trust that God is bigger than the fears, and anxieties. He is greater than it all.

It starts with us

1 John 1:9

If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

A lot of times when we think about detoxing our lives and getting rid of all the things that are not good for us, we start outside of ourselves. We start eliminating people and things out of our lives that are surface issues, not realizing that it is so much deeper. Did we ever think that maybe we’re the problem? We’re the ones wreaking havoc on our own lives. We have to start with ourselves and work from the inside out, or things will never change. We must realize the flaws within ourselves first. A lot of times we are harboring things in our hearts, holding onto pain. hidden sin, unforgiveness. This is toxic to our spiritual health.  We cannot have a real relationship with God if we are harboring all this baggage that keeps us from getting close to Him. Whatever it is we must let it go. Holding on to all this is not doing anything but hurting us, poisoning our spirit. The more we hold on  the worse it gets.

We must take care of our spiritual body as well, if not more, as we take care of our physical body.

1 Corinthians 6:19-20

Don't you know that you yourselves are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in your midst?

Do you think God will dwell in a place that is unclean? If our temple is cluttered with everything that is not of God, and our own mess, is there any room for the true living God? In order to live a righteous life, we must focus on our spiritual wellness and take care of our soul. We must feed it so that it will grow.  Our spirits thrive off of prayer and scripture.

Prayer is essential to having a relationship with God. It is our direct line to Him. prayer is how we communicate with our Heavenly father. We have no relationship without communication. The same way we put in work to make our earthly relationships work is the same amount of time and effort we should be putting in when it comes to our relationship with God.

One the other hand, God gave us this physical body and we must take care of it. A lot of times I feel like many Christians are under the impression that taking care of ourselves physically, i.e. working out and eating healthy is not necessary, because it isn’t about the looks. Taking care of our body isn’t about having a nice six pack or looking good and having glowing skin (Daniel 1:12-15), that’s just a perk(It is okay for Christians to be attractive). It is about taking care of this vessel God has blessed us with and not abusing it. He has given us this body to live in and we only get one so we better take care of it.  

Sometimes we just have to let go

John 8:32

And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free

We will come to times in our live when we will realize that the situation we are in is hazardous to our spiritual, mental, and emotional health. We will realize that certain people are not good for us. We will need to remove ourselves from the situation if we want to continue to grow in our spiritual lives, and life in general. Our eyes have been opened and God has revealed the truth, now what are we going to do with it? This is the hard part, letting go of the things that we love, even though we know they are not good for us. This can be anything from friends to relationships or bad habits. We tend to hold on to the things in which we are emotionally invested, even if it’s tearing our souls apart. Once we know the truth it’s very hard to ignore, so what will we do with it?

Once we get ourselves in line with God and get rid of all the things within us that is poisoning our spirits; we will no longer stand for anything or anyone else outside of us causing us harm.

Reflection/Prayer Time

Take the time to reflect on what was talked about today. Which subject spoke to you the most? Respond to God, talk to Him about what resonated with you. And ask Him to remove the toxic waste out of your life. Talk to Him especially about the things you struggle with in secret, confess to HIm all those hidden sins, knowing that He will not judge you. Be an open book with God today, allow him to remove any and everything that is stopping you from growing in you faith.

I love you, I hope you have an amazing day or evening. Make sure you come back tomorrow for Day 56!