-March 11, 2022-
Good morning, happy Friday,
“Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock.”
(Matthew 7:24).
Jesus just completed His Sermon on the Mount in Matthew chapters 5-7. His message was fresh, exciting, challenging, and encouraging. The people who heard it were amazed. Matthew 7:28 says, “And so it was, when Jesus had ended these sayings, that the people were astonished by His teaching, for He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.”
Prior to concluding His address, Jesus gives his listeners and us as well, a choice to obey His words and build on Him, the solid Rock, or to disobey Him and build on the sinking sand of this world. What would they choose? What do we choose? Christ is the solid Rock, the best foundation anyone can build upon. Building one’s life on the sinking sand of this world will only lead to a great and destructive fall.
When we get saved we choose to believe in Jesus as our Lord and Savior. For the Christian, there will be trials. Jesus said, “The rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house.” The person who builds his life on Christ can withstand whatever comes in life. His life, like a house, is build on Christ the Rock and will not fall but stand firm. Adversity will come, trouble will come, hardship will come, loss will come, and sorrow will come like a torrent. We must face it, but we face it with the Lord.
We think of Job and what he lost in one day: livestock, which was his business, servants, and worst of all his sons and his daughters. And just imagine, this happened to a godly man who never had trials before. His life was like a house that was severely and heavily hit, but stood firm on the Lord. His reaction is found in Job 1:21, “And he said: ‘Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return there. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; Blessed be the name of the Lord.’” Then things got worse: he got painful boils all over his body, head to foot.
The end of Job’s life was better than his beginning, for God gave him back more than he had lost. He learned so much about the Lord and himself through these great trials. He got very discouraged but never gave up and his faith held strongly to the Lord. Job 1:22 says, “In all this Job did not sin nor charge God with wrong.” He did not know that the devil was behind all these things and that God allowed them for a purpose. The righteous do suffer; bad things do happen to good people; and life isn’t always fair.
Let us build our lives on Christ the Rock. We can always count on Him no matter what. He is with us through all the storms of life. He is the Captain of our ship and will navigate us through to our heavenly shore. Are you experiencing one or more trials right now? If not, you have in the recent past or will in the near future. May we cling to the Lord, for the Captain is also our anchor.
Have a blessed day and weekend trusting the Lord through whatever we face by His grace. Stay safe and healthy.
In His everlasting care,
Dean
Dean Allen's Daily Devotional 