Pastor Stephen Dedman

Tag: faith

Founded On The Rock

Trust

Founded On The Rock

“And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock.”
‭‭Matthew‬ ‭7:25‬

The Foundation Of Obedience

There is a great advantage of building upon a firm foundation. A structure’s foundation is its most important element. And it’s the storms that test the durability and strength of what lies beneath the surface.  Jesus gives great advice to build on the rock.

Jesus was wrapping up His Sermon on the Mount and was giving the final take away. The large crowd that surrounded Him listened attentively to every word that was spoken.  The message that Jesus wanted them all to understand was that some listen and obey but some listen and do as they please.

He compared two men building a house. The wise man worked hard and dug deep into the soil to make sure that his house would stand the test of time.  But the foolish man was in a hurry and took short cuts so when the storm came his house didn’t stand. It’s obvious that the foolish man didn’t understand the importance of quality and endurance.

The rock of the foundation is obedience.  For a Christian it is important to obey the Word of God and keep it close to our heart.  Sometimes it is difficult to obey and remain righteous as Jesus instructs.  But it’s easy to disobey and fall into sin and live hypocritically.

It takes a foolish person to build a house on sandy soil as it’s also foolish for a person to know God’s Word and not obey it. It’s one thing to listen to instructions, it’s another to obey them. James 1:22 says, “But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.”  We must live obediently upon the biblical truth of Jesus Christ.

Prayer

Pray for the truth of God’s Word to embrace your life as you are tempted to take foolish shortcuts of disobedience.

A Good Conscience

Encouragement, Faith

A Good Conscience

Then Paul, looking earnestly at the council, said, “Men and brethren, I have lived in all good conscience before God until this day.”
Acts 23:1

A Clean Slate

If you remember the life of Saul before the Lord changed his name to Paul, you will remember how he was persecuting the church and killing Christians.  He was not considered a good person in our perspective.  But here in this verse Paul says to the Sanhedrin council, “I have lived in all good conscience before God until this day.”  How could he say such a profound statement?

Paul knew his past was not good.  But he also knew that he had received God’s forgiveness and grace.   Even though he had previously acted out violent persecutions against Christians, he was a new person in Christ.  He always used his testimony to show people how Jesus changed his life.  So Paul could honestly stand before the council and declare that he had a good and clear conscience before God.  His slate was clean and he was cleared from all unrighteousness.

That is a great way to live.  We should all seek to live before God with a good conscience.  The only way you can effectively do so is to confess your sins and turn from all evil.  A problem occurs when we confess our sin but keep doing the same sinful things.  We are to confess, repent, and turn away from repeating the same sins.  The only way to receive a good conscience before God is to be clean and free from sin.  Paul was able to let the past stay in the past and live in the present for the Lord.  Is there any sin in your life that is troubling your soul and keeping you from having peace with God? Confess and repent today.

Prayer

Pray and ask God to reveal any unconfessed sin and repent from it today.

The Lord Appointed

Trust

The Lord Appointed

And the Lord appointed a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.
‭‭Jonah‬ ‭1:17‬

Obedience Brings Blessings

Jonah was appointed by God to go to Ninevah to share the love of God. Instead of obeying and doing as the Lord instructed, Jonah chose to go the opposite way and do what he thought was best. So God also appointed a great fish to save him. Jonah was a man of God but had a few things wrong.

First, he had a problem with forgiveness. He didnt want God to forgive the Ninevites. Some scholars believe Jonah’s family was victimized by the Ninevites. Nevertheless, Jonah didn’t want God showing mercy on them.

Second, Jonah had a problem with obedience. When God told him to go to Ninevah he went down to Tarshish. He went where he wanted to go. He thought he could run away from God. After God got his attention he ended doing what God told him to do.

Third, Jonah had a problem with repentance. Through this entire story we never read that Jonah repented of his sin. He went and had a pity party and never made things right with God. One day we will know the whole story when we get to Heaven.

Let’s learn from Jonah’s bad experience and do what God tells us to do and go where God tells us to go. Sometimes our obedience to God will save our life and save the lives of others. We should learn trust God because He knows what is best.

Prayer

Pray and seek God’s guidance through the Holy Spirit. Ask God if there is anything He desires for you to do or anywhere for you to go.