Check your foundations

A building is only as strong as its foundation

Check your foundations with these 8 statements

1. God is our Father
2. Christ suffered and died for our sins
3. We stay IN HIM to remain fruitful
4. Jesus is coming back
5. Resurrection of the dead
6. He has given the Holy Spirit to guide us into all truth
7. The latter glory will be greater than the former glory
8. He will deny you if you deny Him

Statement 1: God is our Father

1. God is NOT a “prayer answerer” alone. He is our Father
2. We don’t go to Him only when we have needs. We go to Him to have a relationship
3. We don’t pray for blessings. Blessings pursue us
4. We pursue after His purpose for us
5. His purpose is that we love Him with all our heart, mind, soul and strength. This is reflected in us loving His creation
6. The earth belongs to our Father, and we are called to rule here
7. Wherever we are placed it is to checkmate the enemy’s work in our area of influence
8. God’s heart is to bring in the lost and the church to mature
9. Psalm 103:13 The LORD is like a father to his children, tender and compassionate to those who fear him. For he knows how weak we are; he remembers we are only dust
10. Romans 8:26 And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example. We don’t know what God wants us to pray for but the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words.
11. We need to allow the Holy Spirit to lead us every day out of our former way of living. This is a journey
12. God’s desire is for us to become like Jesus
13. Romans 8:29 For God knew his people in advance, and he chose them to become like his Son, so that his Son would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.
14. Three things attract God: Hunger, Whole heartedness and Consistency.
    He watches for these 3 things in our heart, whether we are consistently desiring to become like Jesus in every area of our lives or we are just simply making emotional decisions or religious decisions
15. Romans 8:15 For ye have not received the Spirit of Bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of Adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.

Statement 2: Christ suffered and died for our sins

1 John 2:1-2 If anyone does sin, we have an advocate who pleads our case before the Father. He is Jesus Christ, the one who is truly righteous. He Himself is the sacrifice that atones for our sins – and not only our sins but the sins of all the world.

Statement 3: Jesus is coming back

Romans 2:16 The day is coming when God through Christ Jesus will judge everyone’s secret life

Why is He going to judge the secret life? Usually in the natural the judgment is between two people. The original command was to rule the earth. So, to exercise authority they had to be under God’s rule.

Judgment comes when we sin against God in our thoughts. 

In the garden the only two people were a couple, and they came under judgment. Who did they sin against? God. By their thoughts and disobedience.

Even if we are not actively harming anyone we sin by our thoughts and in our secret life. Unless our thoughts are replaced by the Bible we will keep sinning in our thoughts. 

The day is coming when Christ Jesus will judge everyone’s secret life.

So, when the word comes, you may just brush it off and lose it. (Highway Heart) Or you may take it and hold until something in you has to break, and you don’t hold it further. (Hard Heart) Then you allow the Word to break you but then worry (loss of worldly things you already have or would like to have) and deceitfulness of riches (yearning for more than what you already have) can choke up the word. Other things take priority over God. A craving for all you can see and experience and boasting about these things. These are going to block off the word from taking root and bearing fruit. (Thorny Heart)

If you and the Word become one natural response is to bear fruit. (Fertile Heart)

To read more on the four types of hearts, Click here.

1 Thessalonians 1:10 You are looking forward to the coming of God’s Son from Heaven. Jesus whom God raised from the dead. He is the one who has rescued us from the terrors of the coming Judgment.

1 John 5:1-4 Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves the father loves his child as well. This is how we know that we love the children of God: by loving God and carrying out his commands. In fact, this is love for God: to keep his commands. And his commands are not burdensome, for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. 

Statement 4: We stay in Him to be fruitful and to live like the children of God (to represent Him accurately)

John 15 Remain in Me and let my words remain in you. For without Me you can do nothing. Those who remain in Me and I in them will produce much fruit and anything you ask in my name will be granted. (Paraphrase)

God did not love Jesus unconditionally.

There is a price to pay to remain in God’s love as a human being.

John 15:10 When you obey My commandments you remain in My love, just as I obey My Father’s commandments and remain in His love.

1 John 2:3 We can be sure that we know Him if we obey His commandments.

Statement 5: Resurrection of the dead

John 5: 24 – 30 I tell you the truth, those who listen to My message and believe in God who sent Me have eternal life. They will never be condemned for their sins, but they have already passed from death to life. And I assure you that the time is coming, indeed it’s here now, when the dead will hear My voice – the voice of the Son of God. And those who listen will live. The Father has life in Himself, and He has granted that same life-giving power to His Son. And he has given him authority to judge everyone because he is the Son of Man. Don’t be so surprised! Indeed, the time is coming when all the dead in their graves will hear the voice of God’s Son, and they will rise again. Those who have done good will rise to experience eternal life, and those who have continued in evil will rise to experience judgment

Both good and evil people will be raised again from the dead. What happens after that depends on whether we allowed our sinful nature to guide us or we lived according to the Word of God guided by the Holy Spirit.

Romans 8:13 For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.

Statement 6: He Has given the Holy Spirit to guide you into all the truth

John 7:38 Anyone who believes in me may come and drink! For the Scriptures declare, ‘Rivers of living water will flow from his heart.’

John 16:13 When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own but will tell you what he has heard. He will tell you about the future. He will bring me glory by telling you whatever he receives from me.

• When we are on the throne of our hearts, we make the Holy Spirit Lord like a PA who should do or tell us what we need and who should stay out when we want to do our own thing
• How to know the difference between His voice and other voices?
• His voice will always glorify Jesus in you. It will bring forth Christ-likeness in you
• His voice will always set you free not bring you into bondage (back into living like your former self)
• We come to God through the Holy Spirit
• Ephesians 2:18 Now all of us can come to the Father through the same Holy Spirit because of what Christ has done for us.
• As we obey the truth we are being made into the masterpiece of God
• Ephesians 2:10 For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.
• If God is dealing with us continually, we are His masterpiece.
• God created Humans in His own image
• Genesis 1:27 So God created human beings in his own image. In the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.
• Christ is the visible image of the invisible God
• Colossians 1:15 Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. He existed before anything was created and is supreme over all creation,
• God chose us to become like His Son in every area of our lives. He should become more and more visible in our lives than our old nature
• Romans 8:29 For God knew his people in advance, and he chose them to become like his Son, so that his Son would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.
• Holy Spirit’s guidance helps us not do what our old nature dictates. We must develop a relationship with Him so that He can speak into every aspect of our lives.
• Galatians 5:16 So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves.

Hebrews 4:13 Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight; everything is uncovered and exposed before the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.

Galatians 5:16-18 So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.

A plan of action from Master Life series (A wonderful resource for Christian Discipleship)

• ACTION plan
• Acknowledge the wrong emotion/thought you are feeling
• Consider why you have the emotion (what right of yours has been violated?) or what thought from your past is trying to take hold? No one holds onto something that hurts them. We hold onto some stuff we must let go because we have secretly come to enjoy it
• Thank God that He will help you master it (Every temptation has a way out)
• Identify the Biblical response to that trigger situation
• Obey the Holy Spirit’s leading. Humbly accept His guidance
• Nurture the appropriate fruit of the Holy Spirit

That is the plan of ACTION from the Master Life series to help us develop a meaningful relationship with the Holy Spirit.

• Statement 7: Latter glory will be greater than the former glory

You will not be the same person who began your walk with God. You will move from strength to strength, glory to glory. God will be dealing with you consistently in some area of your life. Every time you wander off, identify what takes God’s place in your heart. Is it love for comfort? Love for self? or Need for control?

It is a journey of dying to yourself and allowing more room for Him to take over in your heart.

Our heart is more deceitful above all things. It has to be led consistently back to the Lord.

1. We can be weak but our desires can be pure. We can desire to love God with all our heart, mind, soul and strength and cry out to the Holy Spirit to help us every day. This we can do with full assurance that God will strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to Him.
2. It is the weak who need to be strengthened. So, our desire can be set here. We may fall but Holy Spirit will ensure that we make it till the end. He will lead us in sanctification; that is to break the power of sin over our lives until we become like Jesus.

I will not say much more to you, for the prince of this world is coming. He has no hold over me,

John 14:30

There was no area in Jesus’ life, the enemy could exploit.

• The only way the enemy can do anything in our life is he must find a way in our flesh, in our mind, in our emotions; somewhere he must find a way to come in. If all that has been surrendered to the Holy Spirit of God, he has no access to do anything in our lives.

2 Timothy 4:3 For a time is coming when people will no longer listen to sound and wholesome teaching. They will follow their own desires and will look for teachers who will tell them whatever their itching ears want to hear.

• Their struggle was with their own will because it is their heart that desired all these things, and their ears followed what was already in their hearts
• That’s why we need to learn how to harness our heart
• And the only way, there is no other way, the only way to do that is to love God with all our heart, mind, soul and strength.
• Three things attract God: Hunger, Whole heartedness and Consistency
• He watches for these 3 things in our heart, whether we are consistently desiring to become like Christ or we are just simply making emotional decisions or religious decisions
• It is important to set our desire right – I want to conform to the image of Christ
• We may be weak and do things that hurt the Holy Spirit. We may grieve Him
• When the Holy Spirit is grieved, He will first look at our attitude and heart. Is there a genuine desire to change? Are we making an effort to change? Are we truly repentant and not just regretting. If we are, He will help us in the process of restoration

Proverbs 16:2 People may be pure in their own eyes, but the Lord examines their motives.

• He looks for what is actually our desire. So, if the desire is right then if we are struggling and we are falling, struggling, falling He will definitely meet us
• He will surely carry on the good work He began us to completion as we yield and cooperate with Him

• Statement 8: You are saved by grace. Redeemed by the blood of the lamb. He was slain in your place. If you deny Him, He will deny you.

There are two mindsets in following Christ – Building mindset and Blessing mindset.

Blessing mindset is introduced by the way we are brought to Jesus. “Come to Jesus and be blessed.”

Building mindset focuses on growing into Christlikeness.

In the blessing mindset we can easily get confused because we see absolute sinners prospering and being happy while we are enduring the cross, enduring opposition from others, facing shame and ridicule for being Christians and enduring God’s discipline too.

Our journey to becoming God’s Masterpiece involves all of this.

If we focus on blessing, these are the lies the enemy feeds us with when we go through tough situations

• God doesn’t care for you
• You got to figure your way out of this
• Take what He forbids and satisfy your need

These will cause us to deny Him.

In the building mindset we have an attitude to endure. Like in a gym, we go through hard training that breaks us but we endure knowing there is a purpose for our pain.

Matthew 10:22 And all nations will hate you because you are my followers. But everyone who endures to the end will be saved.

Endurance is vital to finish the race.

Through every situation we have a choice to stay calm and rejoice. The situation is set up by God to train us. We have full rights to come into His presence, ask Him for what we need, trust Him to provide and protect, live boldly on earth.

Hebrews 4:16 Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

In any situation what are we seeking? To be blessed? Or to be built? If we are built, blessings will eventually follow. But if we concentrate on blessing, we lose everything eventually. Be wise master builders = wise virgins = good and faithful servants who don’t betray the trust the Master places on them.

2 Timothy 3:5 They will act religious, but they will reject the power that could make them godly. 

2 Timothy 3 talks about Christians who love God but love other things more than Him. We need to move from this to being wise virgins who are sold out for Jesus.

2 Timothy 3 These are Christians who love God but they love other things more. They never allow the Holy Spirit to lead them more into Christlikeness	Wise virgins. These are Christians who allowed the Holy Spirit to do a deeper work in them. They were sold out for Christ. They loved God and loved His Word above everything else.
Lovers of self	Move from selfishness to selflessness
Lovers of money	Treasure Jesus in increasing measure
Boastful	Move from pride to humility
Arrogant	No confidence in flesh. Spirit led
Revilers	Speak only to build up others
Disobedient to parents	Honour their parents
Ungrateful	Thankful in every circumstance
Unholy	Set apart for Christ. No more selfish agenda
Irreconcilable	Forgive and pursue peace with all men
Malicious gossips	Aim to lead a quiet life, mind their own business and work hard at whatever they do
Devoid of self control	Move from disobedience to explicit obedience
Brutal	Gentle
Haters of good	Lovers of good
Traitors	Move from trusting God to God trusting them
Reckless	Fear God
Conceited	Move from pride to humility
Lovers of [sensual] pleasure	Endure hardship as a soldier of Christ
A form of [outward] godliness Religion	Focus on inward transformation   Focus on relationship
Denied its power to live godly lives	Fully led by the Holy Spirit