Storm Preparedness

On October 1, 2015   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Luke 6: 49

But the one who has heard, and has not acted accordingly, is like a man who built a house upon the ground without any foundation; and the torrent burst against it and immediately it collapsed and the ruin of that house was great.

Jesus was imploring his followers to not only listen to His words but also to act upon them. He tells us that by listening and acting upon his words, we build a strong foundation for our lives; a foundation so strong, in fact, that it can withstand all of the storms of life. Those who don’t listen at all and even those who listen but never put Jesus’ words to work in their lives will experience great ruin when the storm comes. What words is Jesus specifically talking about? The first is his commandment to love. We are also taught to be merciful and to forgive, to plant seeds. All we need do is read all of the type which is in red in the New Testament and we will have a great synthesis of the actions that should be evident in our lives. Jesus teaches us how we should behave. His teaching is designed to help us withstand the storms. In other words, it is for our own good that he teaches the things he does. He is not trying to take anything away from us. He is trying to give us life and that more abundantly.

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Dig Deep

On June 16, 2015   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Luke 6: 46 – 49

“And why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say? Everyone who comes to Me, and hears My words, and acts upon them, I will show you whom he is like: he is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid a foundation upon the rock; and when a flood rose, the torrent could not shake it, because it had been well built. But the one who has heard, and has not acted accordingly, is like a man who built a house upon the ground without any foundation; and the torrent burst against it and immediately it collapsed, and the ruin of that house was great.”

The first sentence of this quote is arresting. The easiest way to read it is to pretend that Jesus is speaking to someone else. Otherwise it is just too painful to read. However, it is true that most of us have fallen right here at one time or another. It is enough of an indictment on its own but when taken with the rest of today’s passage we begin to understand that some of the stormy times when we were washed to and fro were because we failed to do what Jesus said.

The other side of the coin is for us today. The past is the past and thank God for that. Today we turn over a new leaf and decide to dig deep. That is what Jesus is calling us to do. He said that there is one whom the storms of life will not rattle. This person is the one who dug deep and built a solid foundation. So the question would seem to be, “How do we build a solid foundation?” We dig into the Word of God.

Jesus said it, the strong foundation is what allows us to weather the storms. The man with the strong foundation, Jesus said, is the one who “comes to Me, and hears My words, and acts upon them.” So, there are three parts there. Hearken to Jesus, to his words and then do what he has said. This is the first of all things which he said. If you will obey him in what he said in today’s verses then all else will follow therefrom. You are going to be able to stand while others fall. The people around you will bow with every breeze but you will be a strong fortress in the Lord. 

I have a saying that I would like to share with you. There is an easy way and a hard way to do everything. Whenever possible do things the easy way. This advice from Jesus today is the epitome of doing things the easy way. You can fight and strain against the wind or you can just stand in the strength that is the Lord. The choice is yours. If you want to be able to withstand hurricane force storms, then you must dig deep.

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