Building The Foundation

Original Date: 8/6/2008

Wow! God is absolutely amazing and works in very crazy and inspiring ways. I would like to share with you guys something that God has been doing in my life over the past year. I would also like to first thank an unnamed friend of mine whose radical prayers have helped me see so much more of God. Without this person in my life, I would never have gone through the journey that I am about to describe. So, thank you friend.

About a year ago, several situations that arose in my life that led me into more prayer time with God. It’s funny how that works. As I prayed in the Spirit for release of more of His presence in my life, God gave me one word: Foundations. I had no clue what to think of it. I did not know that that one word would take me on a journey deeper into the mind of Christ. I also did not know that that word would follow me on a course throughout an entire year and everywhere I would go I would see or hear it.

I thought that the first implications of the word “Foundations” were obvious: that God was going to point to something that had to do with the ground level of something He wanted to build. However, questions started coming to my mind. What did He want to build? What was the reason for the focus on the foundation? Why was the ground level of critical importance? And what did the foundation represent in my life?

So, I looked in scripture to see if I could find out more about what God means by the word “Foundations.” At this point I thought about the verse in Matthew that says: “And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock.” I understood that the rock represented God and building our life upon Him. However, I knew that God was revealing more than that.

As I searched more, God led me to the verses talking about the consequences of not having a good foundation. In 1 Corinthians 3:11 it says:

For no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if any man builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each man’s work will become evident; for the day will show it because it is to be revealed with fire, and the fire itself will test the quality of each man’s work. If any man’s work which he has built on it remains, he will receive a reward. If any man’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.

I realized that at that point there was something in my life that was to be tested. I knew that testing was required. I had recalled the quote that “A temptation is designed to bring out the worst in you, but a test is designed to bring out the best in you.” What was God trying to bring out? What was God trying to show me? What was my test?

Well, I found out the hard way. I failed the test. The test was a series of circumstances that required a committed determination on God to do things His way. Luke 6:49 says: “But the one who has heard and has not acted accordingly, is like a man who built a house on the ground without any foundation; and the torrent burst against it and immediately it collapsed, and the ruin of that house was great.”

Now, obviously we all fail by not doing things God’s way resulting in sin, but I realized there was a particular lesson God wanted me to learn. I realized at that point that there was a “foundations” concept that He wanted me to learn. I realized that God warns against being “double-minded” for that results in being unstable in your ways. A house built on a correct foundation does not move whereas a house built on a faulty foundation is unstable.

What I also realized at that point was that I was dealing with an unstable foundation within the courses of my mind. I was emotional and my thoughts would drift as quickly as my emotions. My decisions would then drift as quickly as my thoughts. I had no groundwork on which to base my decisions. I was not grounded so I was not firm. Basically, I needed some tweaking to my character and morals because of the improper construction of my foundation.

Well, God has been working on me. One evidence of this is how he has been working on my tendency to sway in emotional situations, particularly with work. As I was praying one day, he led me to hear an amazing quote: If you fear God, you will fear nothing else. If you don’t fear God, you will fear everything else.

Up until recently, I hadn’t given much thought into the concept of foundations until I was praying when God led me to a particular scripture. Matthew 7:18 says: “A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. So then, you will know them by their fruits.” As I was thinking and praying after reading this verse, God gave me a message that said: “The fruit from the seed of darkness is always questionable but the fruit from the seed of righteousness is always confirmed.”

This totally floored me and I was amazed that I heard it. I thought about what it meant though. It is talking about the revelation of true character. The "Foundation" is the basis for your character.