Build on the Rock

Bible:

[Jesus said:] “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.” Matthew 7:24-27 ESV

For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. I Corinthians 3:11 ESV

But God’s firm foundation stands, bearing this seal: “The Lord knows those who are his,” and, “Let everyone who names the name of the Lord depart from iniquity.” II Timothy 2:19 ESV

Reflection:

A flood plain is a low, flat area of land near a river that is liable to flood when there is a lot of rain that makes the river overflow its banks. It’s not the best idea to build houses or other buildings on a flood plain, but today there are entire cities built where floods tend to happen. Builders have learned some rules for making houses and other buildings safe from floods. The foundation of a house is very important in a flood zone, and the best kind of foundation is a concrete slab. Wood framed walls are easily damaged by water, and so is plasterboard. More concrete, and also lime, work better for the frame of the house. Bricks are very good for the siding of a house, and some kinds of bricks are almost completely waterproof. Building a house carefully on a solid foundations with the right materials can make it last even when the floods come.

Jesus talked about making a house safe from rains and winds and floods. He talked about building a house on a good, firm rock foundation. Even in the worst of disasters, a house built on a solid foundation will stand against the weather, Jesus said. He also talked about foolish people who build their houses on shifting, sinking sand. Sand makes a terrible foundation for a house, and even a small flood or wind storm can knock that house over and carry it away.

When Jesus talked about houses, he was really talking about people’s lives and what they put their faith in. Jesus said that he and his teachings are the firm foundation of our lives. When we have Jesus as our foundation, the worst troubles and storms of life won’t shake our faith. But putting our trust in anything else besides Jesus–money or power or fame or our own efforts or another religion–is like building a house on sand. Our lives can’t stand without Jesus to hold them and keep them safe. In the end, our standing with God completely depends on Jesus. Jesus came to give his life for us to pay the penalty for our sins, and he is the only way we can have forgiveness and life with our Heavenly Father. In Jesus, we have a life and peace that will last forever.

Prayer:

Dear Jesus, Please help us to always trust you for forgiveness and life. Amen.

Source:

https://www.homebuilding.co.uk/building-in-a-flood-zone/

The Foundation is Laid

Bible:

Now in the second year after their coming to the house of God at Jerusalem, in the second month, Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel and Jeshua the son of Jozadak made a beginning, together with the rest of their kinsmen, the priests and the Levites and all who had come to Jerusalem from the captivity. They appointed the Levites, from twenty years old and upward, to supervise the work of the house of the Lord. And Jeshua with his sons and his brothers, and Kadmiel and his sons, the sons of Judah, together supervised the workmen in the house of God, along with the sons of Henadad and the Levites, their sons and brothers.

And when the builders laid the foundation of the temple of the Lord, the priests in their vestments came forward with trumpets, and the Levites, the sons of Asaph, with cymbals, to praise the Lord, according to the directions of David king of Israel. And they sang responsively, praising and giving thanks to the Lord,

“For he is good,
for his steadfast love endures forever toward Israel.”

And all the people shouted with a great shout when they praised the Lord, because the foundation of the house of the Lord was laid. But many of the priests and Levites and heads of fathers’ houses, old men who had seen the first house, wept with a loud voice when they saw the foundation of this house being laid, though many shouted aloud for joy, so that the people could not distinguish the sound of the joyful shout from the sound of the people’s weeping, for the people shouted with a great shout, and the sound was heard far away. Ezra 3:8-13 ESV

Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good,
for his steadfast love endures forever!
Let the redeemed of the Lord say so,
whom he has redeemed from trouble
and gathered in from the lands,
from the east and from the west,
from the north and from the south. Psalm 107:1-3 ESV

Reflection:

In the city of Dresden, in Germany, there was once a beautiful church named the Frauenkirche. It was a huge structure towering over the city with a stone bell tower at the top that was a landmark for the people of Dresden. But in 1945, near the end of World War II, allied forces bombed the city of Dresden and tens of thousands of people lost their lives. The city was left in ruins, and the Frauenkirche was destroyed. After the war, the city was rebuilt, but the church was left in ruins for many decades. Finally, in 1990, the people of Germany decided to rebuild the church. The British people, who had led the bombing raids so many years before, contributed a lot of money to the effort, and the son of an English pilot who had dropped bombs on Dresden created the gold cross that sits on top of the church’s dome. When the church was restored to the way it had been before the war, it was a happy day for the people of Dresden. There were people who had seen the first church, and while they knew there was shame in their past, they also were happy that a sense of pride in the good things of their past had been preserved for the young people of Germany.

When the foundation of the new temple in Jerusalem was laid, it was a joyful day for the people. The destruction of Solomon’s temple years before had been a terrible thing, but now they had hope for the future. They sang songs of joy while the priests blew on trumpets and the Levites crashed cymbals to add to the celebration. God had restored the people to their land, and they believed they would soon have a temple again for worshiping the Lord. There were old people there that day who had seen the first temple, and they cried out loud while the younger people shouted with happy excitement. The old people remembered the misery of seeing their first temple destroyed, and felt the pain of all their lost years, and the sorrow for all the time they had spent away from the promised land and from worship in the temple.

When we look at our past, we see causes for shame and sorrow also. We know that we’ve sinned against God and other people, and that there have been hurts and troubles that weighed us down. Looking at our past could be a painful thing if it weren’t for the Lord. He has been with us through all the days that have gone by, loving us and helping us. He has forgiven all our sins of the past because Jesus paid for them when he died on the cross. Because of Jesus, we know that God has worked for our good through everything that is past, and that he is with us every day, forgiving us and restoring us as his children. He will be with us and help us every day in the future, to the end and forever.

Prayer:

Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for being with us through all our past days, and for loving us and forgiving us. Please stay with us now and always. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Source:

http://www.dw.com/en/landmark-dresden-church-completes-rise-from-the-ashes/a-1758986

A Strong City

Bible:

In that day this song will be sung in the land of Judah:

“We have a strong city;
he sets up salvation
as walls and bulwarks.
Open the gates,
that the righteous nation that keeps faith may enter in.
You keep him in perfect peace
whose mind is stayed on you,
because he trusts in you.
Trust in the Lord forever,
for the Lord God is an everlasting rock.
For he has humbled
the inhabitants of the height,
the lofty city.
He lays it low, lays it low to the ground,
casts it to the dust.
The foot tramples it,
the feet of the poor,
the steps of the needy.” Isaiah 26:1-6 ESV

God is our refuge and strength,
a very present help in trouble.
Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way,
though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea,
though its waters roar and foam,
though the mountains tremble at its swelling. 

There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
the holy habitation of the Most High.
God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved;
God will help her when morning dawns.
The nations rage, the kingdoms totter;
he utters his voice, the earth melts.
The Lord of hosts is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress. Psalm 46:1-7 ESV

Reflection:

The ancient city of Xian, in China, has a wall around it that is 40 feet tall, at least 40 feet wide around the top, and 50 to 60 feet wide around the bottom. Along the wall there are 98 ramparts, which were built so that soldiers could keep watch for an enemy that might attack the city. On the outer side of the top of the wall there are battlements from which soldier also could keep watch for and shoot at the enemy. Around the outside of the city wall there is a deep moat. There are four gates built into the wall, one on each side, and each gate has three gate towers and a suspension bridge for letting people into and out of the city over the moat. The city walls of Xian were originally made of dirt, but later they were rebuilt with bricks. The people of Xian would have felt very safe with such a strong fortress surrounding their city.

The prophet Isaiah talked about a strong city with walls and bulwarks and gates that are wide open so that God’s people can come in. The foundation of the city is God himself, their everlasting rock. God has defeated the enemies of his people who had threatened them, and even the poorest and neediest are able to trample their enemies and share in their defeat. People who come into this city are safe and at peace. God is a wall around them, and they are so secure that they don’t have to worry about their enemies hurting them ever again.

There is no city on earth that can ever be completely safe from the attack of enemies and the destruction of war, but there is one safe place where no enemy can hurt us and we can be in perfect peace. That safe place is with God, who loves us and protects us from everything that threatens us. Even when we have troubles, we can know that God is with us and will keep us close to him always. He sent his Son Jesus to die for us and to defeat our greatest enemies of all–sin and death and the devil. Because of what Jesus did for us, we are safe in his care, no matter what happens to us. Someday he will bring us to his heavenly kingdom where there will be no more death or pain, and we will be happy and at peace forever.

Prayer:

Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for giving us safety and peace through Jesus, our Savior. In His Name, Amen.

Source:

https://www.travelchinaguide.com/attraction/shaanxi/xian/citywall.htm

Firm in Faith

Bible:

In the days of Ahaz the son of Jotham, son of Uzziah, king of Judah, Rezin the king of Syria and Pekah the son of Remaliah the king of Israel came up to Jerusalem to wage war against it, but could not yet mount an attack against it. When the house of David was told, “Syria is in league with Ephraim,” the heart of Ahaz and the heart of his people shook as the trees of the forest shake before the wind.

And the Lord said to Isaiah, “Go out to meet Ahaz, you and Shear-jashub your son, at the end of the conduit of the upper pool on the highway to the Washer’s Field. And say to him, ‘Be careful, be quiet, do not fear, and do not let your heart be faint because of these two smoldering stumps of firebrands, at the fierce anger of Rezin and Syria and the son of Remaliah. Because Syria, with Ephraim and the son of Remaliah, has devised evil against you, saying, “Let us go up against Judah and terrify it, and let us conquer it for ourselves, and set up the son of Tabeel as king in the midst of it,” thus says the Lord God:

“‘It shall not stand,
and it shall not come to pass.
For the head of Syria is Damascus,
and the head of Damascus is Rezin.
And within sixty-five years
Ephraim will be shattered from being a people.
And the head of Ephraim is Samaria,
and the head of Samaria is the son of Remaliah.
If you are not firm in faith,
you will not be firm at all.’” Isaiah 7:1-9 ESV

[Jesus said:] “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.” Matthew 7:24-27 ESV

Reflection:

Many years ago, a beautiful suspension bridge was built across a channel of water called “the narrows” into the city of Tacoma in Washington State. This bridge was called the Narrows Bridge. Almost right away the bridge swayed and rocked in the strong winds that whipped across the narrows, and it also bounced and rolled. People that drove across this bridge sometimes saw the headlights of the of the car ahead of them disappear as the bridge rolled in the wind. There had been a mistake in the design of the bridge, and it wasn’t able to stand against the wind, even though engineers tried to reinforce the bridge so that it wouldn’t bounce so much. On November 7th, 1940, strong winds hit the bridge sideways. After some time the bridge began to twist and then to rip. A good part of the span collapsed and fell into the water. The design had been bad, and it couldn’t be easily fixed to make the bridge sturdy and safe.

The southern kingdom of Judah was afraid of a terrible disaster hitting them. The northern kingdom of Israel had made an alliance with Syria to come against Judah and Jerusalem, and Judah’s King Ahaz and his people were terribly afraid. God sent the prophet Isaiah to Ahaz to comfort him and tell him that this alliance wouldn’t completely conquer him. He also said that within 65 years the kingdom of Israel would fall. Then Isaiah gave Ahaz a warning. He said that if wasn’t firm in his faith, he wouldn’t be firm at all. Ahaz was like the Narrows Bridge, shaking in the wind without having a strong faith in God. He wasn’t able to be strong and confident when trouble came because he didn’t trust that God would be with his people and care for them.

Jesus warns us that if we don’t build our lives and hopes on him and his word, we also will collapse in the storms of life. He used the picture of a house that collapses when a storm hits because it doesn’t have a firm foundation. But if we build our faith on Jesus and his word, we’ll be firm through all the troubles and storms of life. We can trust in Jesus’ love and care for us, because he showed us how strong his love is when we went to the cross and died for us. When Jesus died for us, he claimed us as his own people, and we can trust him to be with us and keep us close to him now and forever.

Prayer:

Dear Jesus, thank you for dying for us and making us your people. Help us to always trust you and to build our lives on your word. Amen.

Source:

http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/tnbhistory/connections/connections3.htm

A Solid Foundation

Bible:

Asa [Abijah’s] son reigned in his place. In his days the land had rest for ten years.  And Asa did what was good and right in the eyes of the Lord his God. He took away the foreign altars and the high places and broke down the pillars and cut down the Asherim and commanded Judah to seek the Lord, the God of their fathers, and to keep the law and the commandment. He also took out of all the cities of Judah the high places and the incense altars. And the kingdom had rest under him. He built fortified cities in Judah, for the land had rest. He had no war in those years, for the Lord gave him peace. And he said to Judah, “Let us build these cities and surround them with walls and towers, gates and bars. The land is still ours, because we have sought the Lord our God. We have sought him, and he has given us peace on every side.” So they built and prospered. And Asa had an army of 300,000 from Judah, armed with large shields and spears, and 280,000 men from Benjamin that carried shields and drew bows. All these were mighty men of valor. II Chronicles 14:1b-8 ESV

[Jesus said:] Everyone who comes to me and hears my words and does them, I will show you what he is like: he is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when a flood arose, the stream broke against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built. Luke 6:47-48 ESV

Reflection:

When someone builds a skyscraper, the first thing that has to happen is to lay the foundation. The foundation of a very tall building usually has to go very deep. It needs to rest on the bedrock that is sometimes far below the dirt at the surface of the ground. To reach the bedrock, the builders have to dig far down through layers of sand and clay to clear them out. A skyscraper is very heavy, and it would sink in the softer soil above the bedrock. For example, the Empire State Building in New York  weighs about 350,000 tons! Laying the right kind of foundation is the important first step in building a skyscraper.

In Judah’s kingly dynasty a man named Asa became the king. Asa made a very good start to his reign. He cleared the false gods and goddesses and their places of worship out of the country, just the way the sand and clay is cleared out of a skyscraper’s foundation. Asa wanted to build his kingdom on the solid foundation of serving and obeying the true God. God gave him peace and rest from war, and he was able to strengthen his kingdom by building fortified cities with walls and towers and building up his army.

We have a solid bedrock foundation that we can build our lives on, and that foundation is Jesus. Jesus came to teach us the ways of his Heavenly Father, but he did much more than that. He followed God’s ways perfectly in our place, and he took our sins on himself. He died for our sins on the cross, and on the third day he rose again from the dead. Jesus’ death and resurrection from the dead is what we build our lives on. Any other foundation that we might build our lives on is like sand or clay, and it will cause us to sink and fall. It’s through Jesus that we have life with God, a life that goes on forever.

Prayer:

Dear Jesus, thank you for being the solid foundation of our lives and faith. Amen.

Source:

http://madridengineering.com/challenges-of-skyscraper-construction/