How To Know You Have A FIRM Foundation In Christ

03/11/21 • 40 min

Are you Puffed Up or Built Up?
Do you know what foundation your faith is built upon?
In this episode, I talk about knowing and building upon a firm foundation in Jesus Christ.
In the fire department, for a promotional exam we have to study a building construction book. The book talks about the 5 different types of building construction. They range from a Heavy timber down to a light-weight frame (basic home frame). One type that I remember studying about was the membrane structure. This type of building is nothing more that a cloth type material that is inflated with positive pressure air to keep the structure up while keeping you protected from the elements and weather; but once the air is stopped, the structure deflates much like a bounce house.
Same with you faith. What is it built on?
Is it built on the Word of God or just on the next fad or wind of doctrine that you like and makes you feel good, but doesn't truly build your faith?
In Luke 6:48-49, Jesus tell the parable of the wise man, who builds his house upon the rock, and the foolish man, who builds his house on the sand.
A high rise building must have a deep foundation to be able to hold the weight and forces that will come against the building and can be several stories large below the surface of the ground. We also need to have a deep foundation in Christ.
1 Corinthians 3:10-15 talks about the wise master builder and the foundation that will last the test of time.
In the building construction book, it tells that a concrete foundation takes up to 28 days to properly cure and set. If not, then you will have cracks, air bubbles, air pockets and unlevel floors. If this isn't corrected early on then you will have bigger issues later on as the building settles.
This is where older Christians feel that they need to step in after a new convert gets up from the alter and they want to tell them what they need to change or fix in their lives before God and the Holy Spirit can work in their lives.
We see that with any building the first stone that is set in place will determine how the rest of the construction can go. This is called the cornerstone.
Acts 4:11 and Psalms 118:22 tell us the Jesus is that chief cornerstone in our lives and faith.
The Leaning Tower of Pisa started being built in 1173 A.D. and in 1178 the builder realized that the building had started leaning after only building the first 3 floors. This was due to the soft ground that consisted of clay, fine sand and shell. Over the next several hundreds of years the shifting soil has destabilized the foundation of the tower.
The builder even tried to compensate with the remaining floors to prevent it from leaning more, but to no avail. It has continued to lean even with the builder taking extra precautions to maintain the center of gravity.
So, how do you build a FIRM foundation on Jesus in you life?
Here are 4 steps to help you.

F- Faith (scriptures for reference: Matthew 16:17-18; Hebrews 11:1-3; Ephesians 2:8)
I- Inspiration (II Timothy 3:16-17)
R- Read God's Word (Deuteronomy 17:19; Psalms 119:11,16; Jeremiah 36:6; Mark 12:10; Ephesians 3:4)
M- Meditate on God's Word( Psalms 1:2, Psalms 119:15; Psalms 119:148; Colossians 4:2; I Thessalonians 5:17; I Timothy 4:15-16

Songs that I remember hearing when I was young and in Children's church that we use to sing were "Kids Under Construction- maybe the paint is still wet" and "He's still working on me".
Isn't that how we feel at time that God is still working on us like a fixer upper or a re

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F- Faith (scriptures for reference: Matthew 16:17-18; Hebrews 11:1-3; Ephesians 2:8)
I- Inspiration (II Timothy 3:16-17)
R- Read God's Word (Deuteronomy 17:19; Psalms 119:11,16; Jeremiah 36:6; Mark 12:10; Ephesians 3:4)
M- Meditate on God's Word( Psalms 1:2, Psalms 119:15; Psalms 119:148; Colossians 4:2; I Thessalonians 5:17; I Timothy 4:15-16

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Previous Episode

The Shepherd's Love For His Wayward Sheep

Did you ever have that feeling that God had abandoned you when you were facing a difficult trial?
Maybe you wandered from your faith and felt like He left you or gave up on you?
In this episode, I share a story of when I was around 6-8 years old and wandered away from my mom in a department store; and how this event compares to the parable that Jesus told of the Lost Sheep in Luke 15.
Many times we feel that God leaves us or ignores us during hard times or even when we make mistakes and pick up old habits, but that isn't the case. There are many scriptures that tell us that He is always there and never left us.
Just as with the lost sheep, Jesus as that Good Shepherd knows where we are even when we feel lost, abandoned and afraid. He never took his eyes off us and was watching out for us.
It may not have felt like that when you went through a difficult situation and may not have turned out the way you hoped, but God still is wanting the best for us and cares enough to go get us and bring us back to the fold.
Just as a parent, we care for our children and don't want to see them hurt; but we have to at times allow them to face trials and even get hurt. That is when we step in to restore and bring healing and help to them, much like God, our Heavenly Father, does for us.
King David referenced many of his Psalms about God as a shepherd, because that was what he could relate to as a child and watching over his fathers flock.
Scripture references:
Psalms 23:1,4
Luke 15: 4-7
John 14:16
Matthew 18:20
Matthew 28:20
Matthew 1:23
Isaiah 7:14
Isaiah 58:9
Hebrews 13:5
Cover art provided by www.LumoProject.com

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Eddie Taylor: Are You Faithful, Available And Teachable?

In this episode, I talk with Eddie Taylor, co-founder of Taylor Ministry Group, about his and his wife, Beth, and their ministry that is a vision to help every leader live from a healthy core and to do that by reaching, reproducing and resourcing healthy leaders though mentoring and discipleship.
Eddie and Beth have been married for over 33 years and have three sons. Eddie has been a lead pastor, writer, conference speaker and sits on several ministry boards as an advisor and counselor. Eddie was born and raised in Waycross, Georgia.
Early in their marriage, Eddie and Beth were prophesied over that their marriage would one day be their ministry and today they are fulfilling that calling with The Taylor Ministry Group that believes it takes healthy spiritual leadership to promote church revitalization and evangelism for around the world.
Eddie talks about how his brother Kevin led him to the Lord and how he went to a revival service and was saved on November 2nd, 1986 and then on December 31st was filled with the baptism of the Holy Spirit at a youth event when he heard a message given out from the Holy Spirit to receive the Holy Spirit and a calling into the ministry.
He tells about Ray Owens, that mentored him and many others, and how he impacted his life even to this day that they still talk. He didn't just give him encouragement, but also at times that they would go for a ride and he would rebuke, or correct, Eddie in love over a comment or action that he had said or done. This was a father's love of correction and not out of hate and spite.
Eddie also talked about how we should have 3 significant people in our lives and relationships. There are those who are a Barnabas, Silas, or a Timothy. They may be someone that is in your life for a short time that pours into your life or vice versa. Then, there are those that are in your life for a long period of time as either a mentor or disciple.
Eddie planted and started a church in in 2000 till they stepped down in 2018 to start their next season in ministry.
Eddie shared that he has an acronym for mentoring and discipleship. This may be a lifelong or for a season for building and developing a protégé. It is call F. A. T.
F- Faithful ( in that those you are mentoring should be faithful not just to you but in their walk with Christ.)
A- Available ( are they willing to make time for you to pour into their lives and not as a servant to meet your needing.)
T-Teachable ( are they willing to be taught. You can't teach an expert. Looking for those that are hungry to grow in their spiritual walk.)
Eddie shares that when you are mentoring you should always be closing and always looking for the next Timothy. He shared a quote from Mike Breem, which says, "If you attempt to build a church you will rarely make disciples; but if you attempt to make disciples, you will have a church."
Eddie shares what him and Beth do it to teach what you know, but you reproduce everywhere else and who you are. You impress from a distance but impact up close.
He talked about how pastors and leaders should look at attendance or budgets to gauge the health of a church or ministry, and that size and health of a church are two different ideas of ministry.
What discipleship and accountability relationships do is help us see around us at 360 degrees to keep us from being deceived.
We finally talked briefly about Eddie's new book that he has written and hope to be out later this year about Samson called " The Rise and Fall of Samson". In it he talks about even with all that Samson did in his life to rebel, he was still called of God and was later mentioned in the H