Our Foundation

"So from now on, we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer."
2 Corinthians 5:16

How often do we live according to the views of this world? How often do we accept the jargon of how the world diagnoses issues as truth instead of that of God's word? I truly believe that we have become desensitized to God's word and at times have become blinded by Satan and his ideas. I woke up this morning with such heaviness on my heart about how we have allowed the world's view to corrupt the truth of God's word. I have been thinking about personalities. Do you know that the world has actually broken personalities down into 16 different types? Do you know that most of us take this as truth? We actually put ourselves within the box of these views and limit the potential God has for us by accepting these personality limitations. We really have to ask ourselves, are these ideas truth and do they align with the truth of God's word?

"Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash."

Matthew 7:24-27

As we look at Matthew 7:24-27 and the story that Jesus teaches about the wise and foolish builder, one who built upon the sand and the other upon the rock, it speaks very clearly as to where the foundation of our lives should lie and the result of choosing the right foundation. The foundation of our lives determines who we are and who we become. Your life can be compared to that of the building of a house. You have the foundation, the walls and the materials. Of what are the materials of your life made? Normally, our lives our founded on our families, careers, incidents that occurred in our lives, possessions, education and so forth which can be broken and destroyed, not one being solid. Jesus said that the wise man built his house upon the rock. Jesus Christ is our rock, our firm foundation that can never be broken, destroyed or washed away. The walls are made of the storms that come into our lives, (things such as divorce, health issues, natural disasters, death, etc.), the views that others have of us (parents, friends, TV, magazines, books, etc) and choices we make according to the world. The walls can be crooked and unreliable. On our own, we try to repair the damages done to our walls but because we are not the builder, the repairs we make will crumble with time.

When our foundation is built upon self and our walls are formed from worldly things, our personalities develop and they too are unstable. We begin to see the world's diagnosis as truth. We begin to label ourselves because that is what the world has told us is truth about ourselves. Suddenly, we become restricted and we restrict Christ living within us. We begin to use things like fear, idolatry, guilt, jealousy, people pleasing, our own ego, manipulation, laziness, twisted reasoning and so on as ways to define who we are without even realizing what we are becoming. These are all things that come from "the world", from walls built focused on self and not on God. When our walls are built with a focus toward God, our personality reflects that of praise, God-pleasing, biblical thinking, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control, humility, beauty, truthfulness, care for our "temple", zealousness for God, desire to minister and so on. These are the attributes of a God-focused personality.

When we become a believer, our life, our personality should change because we are no longer living on our own but have Christ living in us. He begins to change us from the inside out taking away all the old "junk" that we have used to repair those damaged walls on our own that have now become unsteady and unstable. He becomes our foundation making us strong and bold because He now lives within us and He replaces our damaged walls with new walls, which are now straight and secure. We are no longer afraid of the world or the people in it because we have a confidence that comes from our security in knowing Him and so the walls of the world no longer restrict us.

Are you wondering what your foundation is made of? Where is your security and foundation found? Do you crumble at the thought of the world and its view of you or are you confident in knowing who you are in Christ? Are you willing to step out of the comfort zone that the world has designed? Are you ready to step into a life that is abundant and full in Christ? Are you ready to be given a new life, a new personality? When we give Him control of our lives, He becomes our anchor and our rock and He gives us strength and courage to step out in boldness to do things that on our own we could have never accomplished. We are given a personality that is no longer of ourselves but a reflection of Him.

As for God, his way is perfect;
the word of the LORD is flawless.
He is a shield
for all who take refuge in him.

For who is God besides the LORD ?
And who is the Rock except our God?

It is God who arms me with strength
and makes my way perfect.

2 Samuel 2:31-33

"Father, make me a new creation in You. Help me to release the thinking of the world and to accept Your truth as the Only Truth. Give me boldness and courage to step out and do things to further Your kingdom that on my own I could have never done. May You always be the focus of my life."

What our transformation in Christ should look like:

The World View/Non-believer		The Wanderer/ The disobedient Christian		Truth/ The obedient Christian
Focused on self-Want to live life according to what makes us happy.	We hear truth, come under the conviction of the Holy Spirit, and are converted.	Focused on self-want to live life according to what makes us happy	We again hear truth and come under the conviction of the Holy Spirit	Focused on Christ-live life being obedient to God-Called to the Great Commission
In bondage to Satan-we are his		In bondage to self-not yet died to self and still living for self. We are afraid to step out of our comfort zone for fear of rejection and so we miss out on the blessings God has for us	and are then Sanctified (to be made holy)	In Bondage to Christ-turned life over to God and are now His making us confident and bold to go and do as He calls us.
Conviction of the Holy Spirit-being found guilty of our sin		Discipline of the Holy Spirit-Disciplined for lack of obedience		Controlled by the Holy Spirit-Given Him control of our lives and live to please Him above all others.
Christ is our Judge-even though one is not a believer, ultimately Christ is still the judge of what we do		Christ is our Lord and Savior-we are His children but have not turned our whole life over to Him		Christ is our life-He is our everything. We are secure in our life with Him.
Ruled by Satan-controlled by the world and its views		We co-exist with Satan-We struggle with our own worldly desires verses what pleases God		Attacked by Satan-He is on the attack because we are now choosing to live for Christ and he will do whatever he can to make us fall short/sin.