Location Location Location!
Matthew 7:24-27 “Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock. 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. Everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act on them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and it fell—and great was its fall.”
In the physical world we would say, “Duh!” And yet, there would still be those who, despite the danger, would still fall in love and build the sand castle, ON THE SAND. When the ocean wiped him/her’s dream away, we would think but never say, “FOOL!”
In the spiritual world, the world where faith does the walking, Wisdom is the great equalizer among all of us. We continue to try to analyze with our eyes – our experience – our expertise, and find ourselves on shifting sand in the sand castle community. What happened!? Our house of faith seems to be shaking with the shifting, and we know our house is in grave danger. It WILL FALL when the floods come – or the tide comes in – and we will be left with no house of faith to care for, enjoy, protect, honor, the heart (our heart) that LIVES by faith.
And great was its fall… Some are laughing at me right now. “Come on Mary! There you go talking RELIGION, again! Grave Danger? It’s no more dangerous than Santa Claus, unicorns, and Alice’s wonderland!”
If I were talking about “Religion”, I would laugh too!
Im not talking religion, I’m talking faith! Matthew 6:21 for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
Treasure… the pot of all that is gold… the PROFIT you have gained from living your life. Profit that is the results of our faith, or as Hebrews 11:1 defines it,“(Now faith is) the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.”
Faith, the movement of our life toward that which we believe (with conviction) will satisfy the hope within us that is not a wish but a necessary demand of our heart. Everyone has faith! If you have life, you have faith. As long as you are alive you will pursue what you believe makes your life profitable… your treasure! Your Pot of Gold! Faith vs religion, NO COMPARISON!
Wow! I just looked up the definition of “Religion” and was overwhelmed. The dictionary on this computer had one quote I just have to use… “An increasing number of scholars have expressed reservations about ever defining the essence of religion.[60] They observe that the way we use the concept today is a particularly modern construct that would not have been understood through much of history and in many cultures outside the West (or even in the West until after the Peace of Westphalia).[61]” I’m just saying… we are not talking religion here!
We are talking faith! The ability to think, process, plan, the opportunity to choose to live, and the authority of how we will live this life. It is at the core of the greatest gift (next to love) created in and for ONLY humans. We may differ in our thoughts/process/plan, our choices of a rich life, and our the actions we decide to take in pursuing life, but if we are a human being, everyone of us has the FREE WILL to activate THEIR FAITH into the life THEY want to lead.
So where does God (still not talking religion!) fit into this blog?
LOCATION LOCATION LOCATION!
If the house we are talking about in our lead Scripture is our heart (the vault of all things treasure), and it is, there are a few facts we might want to take into consideration as we live out our faith in life.
The fact that a wise man who built his house on the rock…we might want to determine the identity of the SAFEST place to build in this world where evil has been given princely authority over the earth for a time. Evil is NOT THE ROCK, in fact evil will do whatever it takes to destroy and devour the heart, the soul, the life of a human creature. (Ephesians 6:12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.)
Who or for some, what is the rock you build your life upon? I vote for the One who loves YOU, will never leave nor forsake YOU, will be with YOU when the rain falls, and the floods come, and the winds blow and slam against YOUR house. The One who will never let Your house (heart vault) fall!
Or the fact that afoolish man who built his house on the sand… have you ever considered what the identity of sand might be?
Another human who can not or will not be there in and through every storm of YOUR life, nor will they have the ability or power to fix YOU after the damage is done.
Maybe it’s a church? Nope that’s just a building with nothing to offer YOU.
A religion? Too susceptible to potentially good food, the delight to the eyes, desirable to make one wise Genesis 3:6… we eat this stuff up like candy!
Maybe the sand is everything YOU. Maybe YOU believe YOU are the only one qualified to provide every object of faith YOUR life. Maybe YOU are the object of very core of YOUR faith? Prophetically speaking… when rain falls, and the floods come, and the winds blow and slam against your house… it will surely fall! And great was its fall… the greatest of all!
Location Location Location… For which one of you, when he wants to build a tower, does not first sit down and calculate the cost to see if he has enough to complete it? Luke 14:28 … Or what king, when he sets out to meet another king in battle, will not first sit down and consider whether he is strong enough with ten thousand men to encounter the one coming against him with twenty thousand? Luke 14:31
Location Location Location… choose wisely…
For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God. Ephesians 3:14-19
**All Scripture quoted comes from the “Bible Gateway” app and is the NASB version of the Bible unless otherwise noted.