The Rock Solid Foundation
King
James Daily Bible Study Devotional
Message
Title:
The
Rock Solid Foundation
Date:
Thursday September 29, 2011
Chapters:
Zechariah 8-14, Proverbs 29, Psalm 106:1-24
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Hello
My Friend/Guest,
“Many
will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy
name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many
wonderful works? And
then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye
that work iniquity. Therefore
whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken
him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: And the rain
descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon
that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock. And
every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not,
shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the
sand: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds
blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall
of it.”
-Matthew 7:22-27.
The rock solid foundation of the Christian
life is none other than Jesus Christ Himself. Without Christ we might
as well be walking in quicksand because we are not going to get very
far. I remember years ago trying to open my own sandwich shop, I had
everything set up, the place, the equipment, the food, everything was
coming together nicely, but three weeks after I got approved for the
loan it fell threw. Of course, I moved on, but every once in a while
I wonder what would have come of my little sandwich shop if I just
tried a little harder. I come to realize that if I did have a
restaurant it would have taken up a lot of my time and I probably
wouldn't be where I am right now. You see, dreams come and go, but
when they are in God's will they last an eternity.
God
assures all of His people that if they believe in Him and follow His
Word that He would give them their desires. However, when those
desires become more important than what God wants you can be sure
that tribulation will come to wake us up. When the Jews came back to
Jerusalem they were instructed to rebuild the Temple first. However,
through a combination of fear and lack of motivation after the
foundation was laid the work ceased. Through Zephaniah, God stressed
to the Jews how important it was to get back to rebuilding the
Temple.
“Thus
saith the LORD of hosts; Let your hands be strong, ye that hear in
these days these words by the mouth of the prophets, which were in
the day that the foundation of the house of the LORD of hosts was
laid, that the temple might be built. For
before these days there was no hire for man, nor any hire for beast;
neither was there any peace to him that went out or came in because
of the affliction: for I set all men every one against his neighbour.
But now I will not be unto the residue of this people as in the
former days, saith the LORD of hosts. For the seed shall be
prosperous; the vine shall give her fruit, and the ground shall give
her increase, and the heavens shall give their dew; and I will cause
the remnant of this people to possess all these things. And it shall
come to pass, that as ye were a curse among the heathen, O house of
Judah, and house of Israel; so will I save you, and ye shall be a
blessing: fear not, but let your hands be strong.”
-Zechariah 8:9-13.
God assured the Jews as well as every one
of His people that they will be blessed for their labor. There is
nothing that we can not do for God that will be in vain, even
cleaning bathrooms for God blesses you. It is only when we use God
for our own glory that working for Him becomes vain and the reason
why many people will stand before Jesus and He will say, “Depart
from me.””Let
nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind
let each esteem other better than themselves...That ye may be
blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst
of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in
the world; Holding
forth the word of life; that I may rejoice in the day of Christ, that
I have not run in vain, neither laboured in vain.”
- Philippians 2:3,15,16.
Today,
we are God's Temple, through every trial, circumstance, and test,
piece by piece He is building upon the foundation of Christ and we
become more faithful, stronger, and more confident in God's ability
to help us through any of Satan's attacks. The hardest part about
being faithful to God is patience, we anticipate things to happen
quickly, however, God hardly ever makes things happen that fast.
Zechariah foretells the coming of Christ, he did not know when it was
going to happen, but he had confidence that whatever God said it
would happen.
“Rejoice
greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold,
thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly,
and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass. And
I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim, and the horse from
Jerusalem, and the battle bow shall be cut off: and he shall speak
peace unto the heathen: and his dominion shall be from sea even to
sea, and from the river even to the ends of the earth...And the LORD
their God shall save them in that day as the flock of his people: for
they shall be as the stones of a crown, lifted up as an ensign upon
his land.”
- Zechariah 9:9,10,16.
Five hundred and fifty years passed
when this prophecy was fulfilled
as
Jesus entered Jerusalem during the last week before His crucifixion.
“Tell
ye the daughter of Sion, Behold, thy King cometh unto thee, meek, and
sitting upon an ass, and a colt the foal of an ass.”
-
Matthew 21:5. This
was Jesus' formal presentation as King to His loyal supporters and
the common people.
Today, we have the anticipation of waiting
on Christ' return, until that time comes we need to be prepared
because He is going to come when we least expect it. God always
follows through with His promises. We just need to keep pressing
forward in faith and not only will we be in His will He will give us
everything we desire. “These
things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of
God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may
believe on the name of the Son of God. And
this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing
according to his will, he heareth us: And
if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have
the petitions that we desired of him.”
- I John 5:13-15.
Today's
Prayer:
Dear
God,
Lord, help us not to resent the storms of life or be fearful
of their effects. Much like we prepare for a raging storm by
anchoring valuables to a firm foundation, help us to anchor our
hearts in the firm foundation of Your Son, Jesus Christ. Only He can
help us withstand the tribulation and trials of life that are certain
to come our way. Even as a ship is proven to be seaworthy over its
lifetime, may our faith be proven trustworthy as we hold onto You,
the Anchor for our soul. In Jesus' name. Amen.
God Bless You,
I am praying for you,
Christina
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