House of God, Building the Temple, Foundation

You must have a solid foundation. 

We just talked last time about the fact you are home to something. Not just you, but you are an actual House to something with you. Since you have, or I hope you have or will, accept the Spirit of Adoption, and become a Child of God, you become a House of God. Or the Temple of God.

Remember,

"Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own;" 1 Corinthians 6:19

Paul writes this in his letter to the Church in Rome.

"I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect." {Romans 12:1-2}

So what do we have to do? We have to rebuild the Temple. We have to build up the House of God. I believe that there are three steps to this process.

Laying the Foundation.

Building up the Walls of Faith.

The Covering, or Roof, of Grace, and Love.

We are talking today about the Foundation. After all, how can you have the Right Mind if you know nothing of God, Jesus, The Word, etc? You truly can't. First, you must have a solid Foundation. What is Spirit? Who is God? Who is Jesus? Is this stuff real? Did Jesus REALLY rise from the dead? Without a Foundation, you will never grow in Faith.

Jesus tells us that there are very few types of people. We all fall into one of these categories. When giving us the Parable of the Sower of the Seed, He explained this.

"Hear then the parable of the sower: When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is what was sown along the path. As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy, yet he has no root in himself but endures for a while, and when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately he falls away. As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and it proves unfruitful. As for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it. He indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty." Matthew 13:18-23

As a Child of God, you are a Sower of the Seed. However, what were you before? You see, you will meet all these types. Of course, the Wayside people are those that don't have any time or desire to even hear what you have to say. Theses are the mockers, and theses are those that want you to just keep your "Religion" to yourself. These are those that fight to keep God out of public life. The sad truth is, they cannot hear God's Word because they are not of God. If you have your Bible, turn to John 8:42-47

"Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and I am here. I came not of my own accord, but he sent me. Why do you not understand what I say? It is because you cannot bear to hear my word. You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father's desires. He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies. But because I tell the truth, you do not believe me. Which one of you convicts me of sin? If I tell the truth, why do you not believe me? Whoever is of God hears the words of God. The reason why you do not hear them is that you are not of God."

They are there. These people are in your life. It does not matter who these people in your life might be. Sadly in a lot of cases, they are your Family members and Loved Ones. They may be your best friends. They are in all our lives.

Remember, when you first become a Child of God, those nearest you, remember who you were before. You Sinned right there with them. You used to do all the things they are still doing. More importantly, they see nothing wrong with continuing to do. Now you are a New Creature, but they are the same as they have always been. Some of them will come to hate you. I know, I know. But they truly will come to hate you. Why? Because now they think, you think, you are better than they. They have no time for that "God nonsense." Jesus literally tells us that the devil himself comes and steals the Word away from them.

Then you have those that are the Stony Places and the Thorns. Truth is, this describes many Christians and may even describe the way you were in the beginning. Many hear the Word and receive it with great joy. They get on fire for God. They want to go out there and tell everyone about Him and Jesus, and Salvation. But they know little. They have not set for themselves a Solid Foundation. They are like a Soldier that just becomes a Soldier and wants to go out into battle. So they put on their Helmet, and run into the battle. The problem is, besides that Helmet, they are naked. They do not have any other Armor. No Protection. No Weapons. No backup. Nothing.

These are those that will go out and attempt to tell others about God, but when the others confront them and ask them questions, they have no answers and they themselves may become confused. Then, when they see this not workings, or they start questioning the "Contradictions" and the concept that the Bible was simply "written by men." they fall away. Or, the cares of the world, the love of money and stuff, come in and the little knowledge they had received dies.

If you are not well Founded in the Word, in God, in Faith, you are not being filled., replenished, you will fall away. Only with a Solid Foundation can you be filled and grow in Faith. Only then, can and will you understand that there are NO Contractions in the Bible. There are however many misunderstandings by some that read it. I could read a book on quantum physics, but I will not understand much of it. I have no foundation in that area. Get the point?

We are talking about building up the House of God. Actually trying to build up a Temple. Jesus tells us this.

“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

The importance of the knowledge of Truth. If you do not know the Truth, if you do not have a Solid Foundation, you will believe a lie. As long as something sounds right? A whole lot of people will believe it. You want to know one of the biggest lies straight from the evil one? "We are all God's Children." Sounds right? Sounds just? Sounds fair? "We are all God's Children. So who are you to judge? Let them alone. What is right for them, might not be right for you, but we are all God's Children. So just accept all, and love all."

There is no compassion in the acceptance of Sin. The only way you are a Child of God is through the Adoption of the Holy Spirit. The only way to be Adopted is if God calls you to accept Christ. As a Child of God, the only way you can be Righteous is by doing the Will of God.

YOU build for yourself, a solid foundation. YOU do. God is not going to do it for you. YOU build yourself a solid foundation by reading the Word and doing the Will of the Father. YOU build your house either on the Sand or on the Rock. Depending on what YOU do, decides what happens when the storms of life come. It is only by The Word, and spending time with God, allowing the Holy Spirit to commune with your Spirit, that you may build a solid foundation for yourself. The Word gives you peace. The Word answers all your questions. The Word gives you Hope. Romans 15:4 declares.

"For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope."

Do you want to be that "Good Ground" that Jesus tells us will bring forth a mighty harvest? Do you want to be at peace with whatever may come into your life? Do you want to be sure, that you can overcome all things, and all your needs will be met? Do not run into battle wearing nothing more than a Helmet. Put on the Whole Armour of God. How do you do that? Build a solid foundation.

From this solid foundation, we must build up Walls of Faith. More on that next time.

Do you know Jesus as your Savior? Have you been adopted into the Family of God? If not, say this Prayer. Right now. Wherever you may be. Say it in your own words, and do not doubt in your heart. God will heal you. He will send the Spirit of Life to you. Let us Pray.

"Oh heavenly Father, Lord God. I am a Sinner. I know this. I know there is nothing I can do to change that. But I know you can. I accept Jesus and His Sacrifice for me. I believe that He raised from the Dead. I repent my Sins. Please send the Spirit of Adoption into my life. Help me to get to know the real you. Save me. Please. In the name of Jesus, Amen!"

That's it. It really is just that simple. Now go tell someone what you have just done. "That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved." {Romans 10:9} You need to find a Church that God leads you to, and be Baptized the way Jesus said to be. You are now a Child of God. A New Creature. You "have put off the old man with his deeds, and have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him." {Colossians 3:10}

If you want to tell me, or comment, question, give testimonials, or just say "Hi," the Email is opntalk@gmail.com

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost be with you all. Amen.{2 Corinthians 13}

Until next time, be Blessed, be a Blessing, and Jesus is Lord!