Authoritative Faith

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Matthew 7:24-29  The Message

^24-25 “These words I speak to you are not incidental additions to your life, homeowner improvements to your standard of living. They are foundational words, words to build a life on. If you work these words into your life, you are like a smart carpenter who built his house on solid rock. Rain poured down, the river flooded, a tornado hit—but nothing moved that house. It was fixed to the rock.
^26-27 “But if you just use my words in Bible studies and don’t work them into your life, you are like a stupid carpenter who built his house on the sandy beach. When a storm rolled in and the waves came up, it collapsed like a house of cards.”
^28-29 When Jesus concluded his address, the crowd burst into applause. They had never heard teaching like this. It was apparent that he was living everything he was saying—quite a contrast to their religion teachers! This was the best teaching they had ever heard.

For Reflection

Christianity is not a self-help program!  Jesus Christ is not a motivational speaker!

The Gospel is foundational.  It is, as *Diana Butler Bass  puts it, "God is ...that which grounds us ...home is a divine place, and our lives are linked with our neighbors' and with those around the globe."  She continues to say that the gospel contains a "deeply spiritual theology that  relates to contemporary concerns, provides meaning and hope for the future, and possesses surprisingly rich ties to wisdom from the past."

God is the ground from which we spring and to which we cling.  Jesus Christ is the gravity that draws us to God.  God is here! God is now!


Pray

that you will be held so tightly to the ground of God that you will never escape God's pull.  Pray that you will face the storms of life with courage and trust in God.  Pray for the hope in the future which can only come from God.

*Grounded, Finding God in the World, a Spiritual Revolution, 2015