Standing Firm on the Solid Foundation

February 04, 2025

Standing Firm on the Solid Foundation

For the past few days, I’ve been taking my puppy for a walk. She needs to “work” to remember her training, and I need the exercise, so it’s a win-win. We take the same basic route but add a little distance as our endurance grows. Today we walked for the first time by the old building where my daddy and uncles had a general mercantile store. I spent many hours of my childhood in that building. Sweet memories. I was sad to see that some of the bricks are crumbling. I don’t know anything about building safety or architecture, but it was interesting that where outside bricks were missing, I could see another wall of inside bricks, a double brick wall. Was that common building practice? I do know that when most of the town was destroyed by a tornado, that building stood with minimal damage. So, I started thinking about buildings being solid. I know that the foundation has to be strong. But what else does a building need to stand firm? What do we as Christians need to stand firm?

Mathew 7:24-25 HCSB 4 “Therefore, everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them will be like a sensible man who built his house on the rock. 25 The rain fell, the rivers rose, and the winds blew and pounded that house. Yet it didn’t collapse, because its foundation was on the rock.

The words of Jesus are the firm foundation upon which to build our lives.

1 Corinthians 3:11-13 HCSB 11 For no one can lay any other foundation than what has been laid down. That foundation is Jesus Christ. 12 If anyone builds on that foundation with gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay, or straw, 13 each one’s work will become obvious, for the day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire; the fire will test the quality of each one’s work.

Jesus is our foundation. We accept His words, the words of forgiveness and redemption, when we acknowledge our sin, recognize that out of His unfailing love, He bore our sin guilt on the cross, and confess that He is Savior and Lord. That is the only lasting foundation. We are saved for eternity. That foundation holds against every storm and every battle. I want to be very careful here. Our works do not save us. We are saved by God’s grace when we trust Him in faith. His grace and our faith are gifts from Him. But we still live in our natural, human bodies and are susceptible to disobedience. We choose moment by moment to be obedient to the work of His Holy Spirit in our lives. Our choices to yield to His work and obey Him are precious and valuable materials on which He builds. We still face storms in our lives. We still fight spiritual battles with our sin nature. So, how does our “building” stand firm on the foundation of Jesus’ words and his sacrifice for us?

1 Corinthians 16:13-14 HCSB 13 Be alert, stand firm in the faith, act like a man, be strong. 14 Your every action must be done with love.

We must be aware of the dangers that surround us, the spiritual battle against principalities and powers of darkness, the enemies of sin, the temptations of the devil, the weakness of our human bodies. Our faith, our focus must be on Jesus. He is our strength, but we have to allow Him to strengthen us. Be strong. Every action must be done with love. Our human love is weak and selfish. God’s love through us is pure and strong and enduring. We stand firm when He loves through us.

Galatians 5:1 Christ has liberated us to be free. Stand firm then and don’t submit again to a yoke of slavery.

We stand firm when we don’t submit to the slavery of sin, but trust in the true liberty and freedom we have in Jesus.

1 Thessalonians 3:7-9 HCSB 7 Therefore, brothers, in all our distress and persecution, we were encouraged about you through your faith. 8 For now we live, if you stand firm in the Lord. 9 How can we thank God for you in return for all the joy we experience before our God because of you,

We stand firm in our distress because of faith in Jesus as Lord. He is Lord.