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Focus Day 5 Steady Foundation

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Read His Words Before Ours!

Isaiah 28:16-17
Matthew 7:24-27
James 2:14-26
Proverbs 3

Focus, Day 5

I’ll never forget the day we realized our home’s foundation was compromised.
We’d only lived there six months, but we had big plans for our first home. With the current living space only having two bedrooms, my husband made remodeling plans to finish the basement, effectively doubling the size of our home.

Excitement was in the air until the day he walked upstairs, level in hand, and delivered the news: the cinder block walls were bowed in.
It wasn’t noticeable at first…
But a level doesn’t lie.
In the initial building process, wise steps hadn’t been taken to ensure a secure foundation. There was no way to move forward with our construction when we couldn’t trust the foundation. It would take four years of research, planning, praying, and consulting to find an affordable way to secure our home’s foundation.

A Sure Foundation
Praise God He is nothing like mankind! Proverbs 3:19 tells us, “The Lord founded the earth by wisdom, and established the heavens by understanding.” God, by nature, is all-wise, all-knowing and has no need to be taught, but is Himself the teacher. The source of wisdom and understanding is God.

Job 28:26 says, “the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom, to turn away from evil is understanding”.  Likewise, Proverbs 1:7 teaches, “the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge: fools despise wisdom and discipline.”

Most would agree that wisdom is a good thing to be acquired and evil should be avoided.  But who says which is which?
And what does fearing the Lord have to do with this?

Who is Wise?
Jesus tells us in Matthew 7:24-27, “Therefore, everyone who hears these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 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. But everyone who hears these words of mine and doesn’t act on them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. The rain fell, the rivers rose, the winds blew and pounded that house, and it collapsed. It collapsed with a great crash.”

Did you catch that? Jesus teaches it is a wise person who “acts on” His words. Obedience lays an unshakeable foundation bringing protection, care, and endurance.  Conversely, a foolish person will not act upon or obey the words of Christ; this decision is like building his home on shifting sand, completely vulnerable to destruction and will eventually washed away by storms.

Obedience matters.
It matters as much as a strong foundation matters for your home.  It matters so much that Jesus equates wisdom with obedience and foolishness with disobedience.  His Word defines what is straight and what is crooked (Isaiah 28:17).

This doesn’t mean we obey to receive a gold star, a badge, or a self-righteous rock.
OUR righteous deeds are actually like polluted garments (Isaiah 64:6).
Obedience does mean wisdom is only found in listening to, following and obeying the words of Jesus.  The way of Jesus is the rock. The Psalmist knew this well, “For God alone, Oh my soul, wait in silence, for my hope is from him. He only is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall not be shaken. On God rests my salvation and my glory; my mighty rock, my refuge is God.” (Psalm 62:5-7)

Our Foundation Shows
James 2:14-26 gives us another angle on what it looks like in real life when our foundation is Jesus Christ.
Verse 14 says, “What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but does not have works? Can such faith save him?”
Verse 17 continues, “faith, if it doesn’t have works, is dead by itself.”
Additionally, verse 18 continues, “You see that faith was active together with his [Abraham’s] works, and by works, faith was made complete”.

Is James saying we must work for our salvation?
Is he contradicting Paul’s words in Ephesians 2:8-9?  By no means! The order of things matters and we must use Scripture to interpret Scripture, (a plug for proper hermeneutics!).  In Paul’s writings he helps us understand the only perfect, wise, secure foundation is God Himself, His Word, and His way through Jesus Christ.
This means the moment of justification for a person is an absolute free gift from God.

James then helps us understand how, if that free gift has been planted within our hearts by God (Colossians 2:13), it will show itself as our foundation with lives resting squarely upon Jesus.  What will that look like?  Our actions will be in line with the rock of the words of Christ, and not on the shifting sand of our own desires, sin and unbelief.

To be clear, our lives here on earth will never perfectly reflect the glory of Jesus Christ. We will still sin, fail, and stumble. This is not a perfection game, but a remembering discipline (Proverbs 3:1-4).  When I forget my foundation, I start building a side-hustle castle on the sand of my own desires, which God graciously allows to be swept away reminding me of who I really am in Him.

For our daily remembering, it’s important to ask questions like:
To whom and what am I listening?
With what am I filling my mind?

The answer to those questions will answer these:
How will I prioritize my life?
How will I make decisions?
How will I love today?

When the words of Christ as our foundation, we will walk in wisdom and understanding and we will be hungry to take in His wisdom.  We will choose to obey Him, trusting He is, and always will be, our sturdy rock in an ever-tumultuous sea.

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Embracing God’s fullness in our lives is rooted in scripture and memorizing His word is vital to our continued growth and depth with Jesus. Tap and hold from your mobile device to download this week’s verse and make it your phone’s lockscreen!

Thanks for joining us today as we journeyed into Focus Week One! Don’t miss out on the discussion below – we’d love to hear your thoughts!
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Anchored Day 10 Fabric Of Life

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Read His Words Before Ours!

Colossians 1:1-4
Colossians 3:12-18
Genesis 1:26-27

Anchored, Day 10

Be Who You Are?
Look around and you’ll see all kinds of inspirational quotes encouraging you to
“be yourself”, “be who you are”, “you be you”.

Absolutely! God made each of us uniquely (Psalm 139:13-16) and we can celebrate that! However, found hiding underneath these pithy statements is a subtle message to focus on whatever you’d like to say or do regardless of what others think or care about.
Surely this must be the “real” you.

The problem?
Who you are depends on you.

When I became a mom 11 years ago, I slowly had to face the painful reality of
who I thought I was,
what I felt defined that identity,
and the stark contrast of who God says I am in Christ.
Who I thought I was, wasn’t good enough.
I needed something much more solid.

Perhaps you’ve had a season like this, where God uses circumstances and people in your life to patiently reveal where your identity had wrongly been resting.
Perhaps like me, you didn’t even know it was resting there
and it was God’s grace He showed you!

The book of Colossians gives us a different framework to, “be who you are”.
It’s actually the most hope-filled message of identity there could possibly be!
Colossians 3:12 begins, “Therefore, as God’s chosen ones, holy and dearly loved…”.  
What glorious truths!
God chose me of His own will!

His redemption makes me holy!

The Father already dearly loves me!

 Paul purposely sets the Colossians up to be rooted in who God has
already established them to be.
If we go back to the beginning of chapter 3, He also reminds those in the church:
1) We have died and been raised with Christ
2) Our life is hidden with Christ in God (Colossians 3:1-4)

So in a sense, this is Paul’s case to “be who you are”.
Perhaps a better way of saying this is be-who-you-already-redemptively-are.
(but that doesn’t fit quite as nicely on a bumper sticker, now does it? 😉

 The Clothes Laid Out For You
Paul continues by telling us what to “put on”.
It’s as if these are the clothes that the Holy Spirit has laid out for us.
Among them are compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience (3:12), as well as forgiving one another and bearing with others, and above all the garment of love, which has the ability to weave all things together in unity (3:13-14).
It’s important to note these all relate to our relationships with others.
Whether with family, neighbors or co-workers, we all feel hard-pressed in the very things we’re told to put on!

This is a tall order in our own strength and impossible to muster up.
Which is exactly why Paul started by reminding us to step into these clothes
from a place of being chosen, holy and dearly loved.
This identity is fitted by the power of God.

We don’t show compassion and kindness so that God chooses us.
We don’t respond with humility and gentleness to make ourselves holy.
We certainly don’t show love to be loved.

When we know and understand our position in Christ,
it frees us to step into the character God has designed us to show others.   

Reflecting The Father
In 3:13 Paul implores, “forgive as the Lord forgave you”.
In verse 15 he asks us to “let the peace of Christ rule in our hearts”.
In 3:16 Paul insists “the words of Christ should richly dwell (take up their home!) in us.”
With wide strokes and vibrant colors, Paul paints what a life reflecting the character of Christ looks like when we put it on.

When Genesis 1:27 tells us God created mankind in his own image, it supports what Paul is saying here.  Since you’ve been crafted to reflect the image of God – so reflect Him! Do It!

We are given ample opportunities to do this through the relationships God has placed in our lives. Remembering we were created to reflect Him helps us turn away from seeking our own comfort, pleasure and happiness in those relationships, instead asking God’s glory to be revealed even as we struggle and brush up against others.

When we are rightly rooted in reflecting God’s image,
we’re not stuck trying to be filled by others as we relate to them.

Drilling Down
At first glance, it seems Paul begins an entirely new thought in verses 3:18-4:1, but if we think about the whole chapter, it becomes clear Paul is simply drilling down to another layer.
He’s already encouraged us with who we are in Christ.
He’s told us what to put on.
Now He’s showing us what our daily relationships will look like
if the first two areas are embraced.

Tying it up, Paul circles back to what could be the second side of the same coin.
Instead of stating his point from the place of our identity,
this time he states it from the place of our ultimate motivation:
to bring glory to our Master!

“Whatever you do, do it from the heart,
as something done for the Lord and not for people,
knowing that you will receive the reward of an inheritance from the Lord.
You serve the Lord Christ.” (3:23-24)

What are you wearing today, Sister?
Does your apparel reflect the rich identity you have as Beloved Daughter of God?
be-who-you-already-redemptively-are
Wear it well and may it bring glory to God!

Ready for more? Dig Deeper!
Join us for every Journey Study by signing up!
Looking for yesterday’s Journey Study?
Share your thoughts from today’s Study!

Don’t miss today’s Digging Deeper!     And we’d love to hear your thoughts from today’s Journey!    Comment Here!

Embracing God’s fullness in our lives is rooted in scripture and memorizing His word is vital to our continued growth and depth with Jesus. Tap and hold from your mobile device to download this week’s verse and make it your phone’s lockscreen!

Thanks for joining us today as we journeyed into Anchored Week Two! Don’t miss out on the discussion below – we’d love to hear your thoughts!
Click the above image for today’s Digging Deeper!

Looking for other journeys from this theme?
Here’s a link to all past studies in Anchored!