Years ago when I was a young child I would make card houses all the time, and whenever we decided to play cards we had a small folding table that we would use to play on , and this is also what I usually used as my “foundation” for my cards when I built my houses. I would vary my designs, with some houses I tried to make them as tall as I could, and others as wide as I could, but one thing almost always happened while I was building. Because the table that I was using to build on was the folding leg type, the table was very wobbly and not stable, not exactly the best foundation for me to build on. As a result sooner or later I would bump into the table, causing it to shake and subsequently all of my cards would come tumbling down.
You can imagine the frustration that ensued, but really I had only myself to blame. Eventually I got smarter, because when I chose to build my card houses on the floor, instead of the table, do you know what happened? Well I’ll tell you what didn’t happen: my cards didn’t fall down! The cards were on a firm foundation, unmovable on the floor.
That is how we want our faith in Christ to be. Strong, unmovable, and unshakeable. When we are founded on Christ, we will be firm and strong when we encounter times of temptation or persecution for our beliefs. Look at what happened to the apostles. They were thrown in jail, persecuted, stoned, and even killed for what they believed in. But did all of that persecution shake their faith in Christ or cause them to waver? No, in fact it filled them with joy that they were counted worthy to suffer for the name of Christ. (Acts 5:41). We too should be filled with joy when we are persecuted for our faith in Jesus.
Luke 6:22-23 “Blessed are ye, when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you from their company, and shall reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of man’s sake.
Rejoice ye in that day, and leap for joy: for, behold, your reward is great in heaven: for in the like manner did their fathers unto the prophets.”
We need to pray that our faith will be increased everyday, so that when times of persecution arise we will remain strong for Christ. When your faith is founded firmly in Christ, there will be no one who can cause it to fail. There will be no one who will be able to convince you to turn away from your faith in the Lord Jesus, because your faith is founded on the solid foundation of the scriptures.
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.”
Remember that they persecuted even Jesus, the Lord of lords and King of kings! So when you are persecuted for your beliefs you can know that you are standing up for your faith.
John 15:20 “Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also.”
Place your faith in Christ the Rock of our salvation, and stay strong, and don’t let your faith get knocked down!
In Christ,
Andrew
Teufer Lake King James Bible Church 