SINKING SAND OR SOLD ROCK?

WORD

SINKING SAND OR THE SOLID ROCK?

The wise man and the foolish man

There were once two men, and each needed to build a house.

The first man was foolish, and chose to build on sandy soil where it was easy to access and easy to dig the foundations. In a few short weeks he was almost finished.

The second man was wise, and chose to build his house on a rocky hill, where it was very hard to access and to dig the foundation. He spent many months building his house

As time passed a huge storm came upon the houses of these men. After much rain, a flood swept through the valley and the man's house that was built on the sand was swept away. But the second man who had built on the rocky hill was safe. No matter how hard it rained or how fierce the floods were his house remained solid and immovable.

 Let's ask ourselves the question. What's the foundation of our lives? Are we like the foolish man, are our lives built on sand? Or are our lives built on the solid rock?

 Matthew 7:24-27

Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock:
And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock. 
And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand:
And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.
Jesus said that whoever heard his words and obeyed Him, would be like a wise man who built on a rock. And that house could never be torn down!!! It could never be moved!

But if we only hear the wonderful words of Jesus and yet still go our own way and don't do what He says, then we are like a foolish person, who builds his house on the sand! Just think about that, who would want to build a house on a sand-dune? It sounds very foolish doesn't it?

Perhaps the foolish man thought he was safe? His house was standing to start with and it was cosy and warm inside, everything was going just fine. But when the floods came he had no hope! His house fell flat, and great was the fall of it.

What about our lives? When Satan brings temptations and trials to us it may feel like we are being battered by a flood! The Bible refers to the enemy coming in like a flood:

Isaiah 59:19...when the enemy shall come in like a flood...
 Psalms 18:2 The LORD [is] my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust

1. Corinthians 3:11 For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.

Jesus is our Rock! He is the firm foundation that we can build our lives upon. And if we obey Jesus, and everything He tells us in his word, the Bible, we have the assurance that no matter what flood beats upon us, no matter how fierce the storms of this life may get we will never fall, we will never be moved.

 God wants us to build firmly
 upon the eternal Rock, the word of God. We have been only hearers long enough. Let us now put the important lessons of Christ into practice. He who is a hearer and not a doer of the word, Christ compares to the man who built his house upon the sand. It needs only the storm of temptation to break upon such, and the foundation they felt that was so secured is swept away.

 How great is the loss to these souls! They might have had eternal life,  if they had built upon the firm rock.
This lesson is also seen in the parable of the sower.
Matthew 13:20
20 But he that received the seed into stony places, the same is he that heareth the word, and anon with joy receiveth it;

21 Yet hath he not root in himself, but dureth for a while: for when persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he is offended.

 How do we build on this solid rock?
Heavenly race is not easy, it is not bread and butter at all...
to build our house on this solid rock it takes time.
It requires a gradual process, it is not something we achieve over night.
Jesus the word of God is the rock, we need to continually abide in him, so that he can abide in us. John 15:4)

By praying fervently and meditating on the word of God always.

Focusing our minds on the things of God
Seeking him first and his kingdom ( Matthew 6:33)

Obeying him and doing his will.

We build our faith daily as we study the word of God, especially when we study the lives of some people in the bible, the trials and temptations they passed through, it encourages us and strengthens our weaknesses. ( looking at the lives of Job, Abraham Jesus etc...all of them went through one trials or the other. But they all came out victorious by the grace of God, we all can too.)

Praying is communicating with God, and we talk to God regularly we draw close to him and he his near us, prayer helps us to over come temptation.
Jesus says " pray so that you will not fall into temptation"( Matthew 26:41)

"pray without ceasing" 1 (Thessalonians 5:16)
[6/8, 20:27] Nwokeohuru Loveth: A prayer less Christian is a powerless Christian.

When we do these and always listen to the voice and direction of the Holy Spirit, then we are building our house on a solid rock.

It's like two people preparing for their exams
The other has studied very well and he's fully ready for the exam.

 On the other hand, the other person didn't really study very well, who do you think will write well?

A day is coming when all we have been learning will be put to test, persecution is coming to Christians very soon, are we prepared? Let's prepare ourselves, our families for the terrible storm that is coming to Christians at this last days.
(Matthew 24:21-22)

We will be persecuted for our faiths, for the sake of Christ
Do not  think that we will escape this just as many people think, but rather now is the time to prepare ourselves.