Foundations

Living in a relationship with Jesus must never be a life that stands still. If we try to stand still in our relationship with Jesus, it will go backward. A house that is not maintained will fall apart. We are created by God for life and to grow in that life. If we are not busy being born then we are busy dying.

Jude 1:20-21

But you, beloved, building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life.

We are to build ourselves up.

The foundation for life with Jesus is our holy faith.

This is faith in Jesus, not just faith in faith.

Things just don’t “work out” because we have faith in some cosmic good fortune. God in His grace and mercy works in and through us.

So, what can we have faith in?

We can have faith in God’s love.

Romans 8:37-39 tells us that nothing can separate us from God’s love in Jesus.

I can have faith in God’s presence in my life.

Hebrews 13:5 tells us that God will never leave us or forsake us.

Isaiah tells us that Jesus is Immanuel or God with us.

I can have faith in what the Bible says.

The Bible reveals to us the:

Nature of God

Character of God

Mind of God

The Bible reveals to us all that we need to know to have real love and a trust relationship with Jesus.

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is having faith in God and His Word.

How do we develop faith in Jesus?

Spend time daily in God’s Word.

When we ignore the Word of God, we are unfruitful and ineffective in our life with God.

Spend time daily with Jesus in prayer.

The key to prayer is being radically honest with God and radically dependent on God.

Honesty frees God to graciously provide what I need.

Dependence shows God that I know it is all about Him.

When we pray in the Holy Spirit, it means we pray according to the leading of the Holy Spirit.

We never pray alone. According to Romans 8:26-28 when we don’t know what to pray, the Holy Spirit intercedes for us. He also takes all the circumstances of our lives (good and bad) and works them for our good.

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is allowing God to build the foundation in our lives through the Bible, prayer, and the Holy Spirit.

We are to keep ourselves in the love of God. 

We receive God’s love and we dispense His love to others.

The love God gives us is for us to experience and for us to share with others.

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is experiencing God’s love and giving His love to others just as He gave love to us.

We also build the foundation by receiving God’s mercy.

Mercy is not getting what you deserve.

You and I deserve, by our actions toward God, death and hell. God, in His mercy, provides a way for us to not experience death and hell.

Romans 6:23 tells us that the wages of sin is our death. The very best we can earn by our actions is death. The second part of that verse tells us that the gift of God is eternal life in Jesus.

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is relying on God’s mercy and receiving by grace eternal life through Jesus.

The last ingredient is obedience to the word and will of God.

We can believe God and His word.

We can spend time with Jesus.

We can keep our lives in God’s love.

We also have to obey.

Jesus says that obedience is our way of showing our love for Him.

Obedience is important to God because all of His commands are for our good. God wants our good, and obedience to His commands will bring us good.

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is obeying Jesus.

The three graces of faith, hope, and love enable us to grow in our relationship with Jesus. We are able to build on a solid foundation with materials that will not decay. Merely professing with words will not cut it with Jesus.

In Matthew 7 Jesus says that not everyone who says to Him, “Lord, Lord” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the person who does the will of the Father.

In Matthew 7 Jesus also tells the parable of the two men who built houses. One built on sand and the house fell; and one built on the rock and that house stood. He makes it clear that it is essential that we build lives on the person of Jesus.

Building the Foundation by Raising the Roof and Removing the Walls,

Joe