Build your house on Rock
What I understood from yesterday’s sermon?
Reference
St. Matthew 7:21-27
http://www.usccb.org/nab/bible/matthew/matthew7.htm
We are going to learn two things from this passage.
1. Just telling Lord’s name is not enough. We need to do what he asked us to do.
2. We need to strengthen our foundation
I was very impressed by second point.
How many times we show our house foundation to friends? Always we show the house. Everybody appreciates by it looks. Two houses constructed on sand and rock looks same. But we come to know their stability/strength only when storm comes.
We always have catastrophes in our lives.
What will happen when catastrophe strikes us?
1. Loss of friend/relative
2. Loss of job
3. Loss of relationships
4. Disease
5. Accidents
We have two opportunities to escape from this situation
1. Strengthen our foundation by doing what Jesus asked us to do. (Prevention)
2. Keep praying to recover and protect from further damage
What will happen, if we are not doing anything?
Our foundation weakens and we will collapse soon.
Why grief strikes us?
1. Many times it is our sin or mistake
2. Few times it is effect of Satan
When we keep praying, our sins will be forgiven.
When we keep praying, Satan won’t dare to touch us.
Many saints struggled without sin.
Those who suffer without sin, they will become saints.
Never forget the eight beatitudes of Jesus. (St. Matthew 5:3-10)
http://www.usccb.org/nab/bible/matthew/matthew5.htm
A good sailor never gives up his compass under any circumstances.
Jesus told that he is the light and path to our lives.
It is better to stick to him and his word to cross this ocean (life).
-o-
I agree with most of what you said. When we keep praying, our sins will be forgiven – it’s not just keep praying, it’s faith that God will forgive us of our sins. My step son is battling cancer and our relationship with Jesus and God has grown stronger. One thing that I have learned is in the area of faith. Faith is not just a knowledge thing (eg. it’s not a head thing), but it’s a matter of the heart. I can read the Word and know that I am saved and my sins are forgiven when I pray to God to forgive me of my sins, but that does not stop the devil from attacking us via our thoughts, telling us that we are not saved or forgiven. The bible says that it’s impossible to please God w/ out faith (Hebrews 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please him). So to get faith the word says in Romans 10:17 So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. I have found the best way of hearing and hearing the word is to speak it over and over again, thinking about the words and the meaning. Personalizing what the scripture means to me. By the way, that is called meditating on the word. So when the devil attacks me and says that my son is going to die, I just keep saying Isaiah 53:5 that by “Jesus” stripes “Tyler” is healed, over and over again. Doing this gets the Word into my heart, not just my head. I have found that doing this stops the attacks of the devil. By the way, when Paul said that the weapons of our warfare are not carnal in nature but mighty to the pulling down of strong holds, etc…, speaking the word is one of the weapons of our warfare – prayer is another. So yes staying in prayer is key to fighting the battle, but I believe that developing faith, by putting the Word of God into your heart, is just as much apart of the battle as well.
Good Blog you have going.
Dear Brother,
Thank you for taking time to share your thoughts.
Many times my faith was shaken.
But I was bounced back quickly with the help of Jesus.
I too meditate (keep thinking) on God’s word.
That gives me deep understanding of it.
Have a blessed day.
Thank you,
Bhavani