I trust you have journeyed with me on our series on the theme-A Firm Foundation, where we have emphasized the point that if it is important to build our physical houses on a firm foundation, then it is even more important to build our spiritual houses on a firm foundation in order to conquer the challenges and storms which would inevitably confront us in life.

So out focal point in this series is that we can only succeed in conquering the storms of life if we are intentional about building our lives on the firm foundation of the word of God. In the last 8 Episodes, we have looked at several topics and doctrines which I consider to be the building blocks for developing firm spiritual muscles and preparing for the storms and challenges which would necessarily confront us on the journey of life.

In this episode, we are concluding on the series by doing a recap on the building blocks discussed and responding to the question-What is the way forward?

The point we have made in the past couple of months is that if you want to build a firm spiritual foundation which would prepare you to confront the problems of life, you must align your beliefs, thoughts and the philosophy of your life to the following truths of the Word of God summarized below:-

1. Only the Word of God is truth, absolute and unchanging. You cannot afford to dilute the Word of God with any other idea or opinion if you want to build a firm foundation that would stand no matter what challenges come up in the future.

 

1. Love is the nature of God. The love of God is unconditional, unmerited, total, perfect, free and complete. God does not place any condition or demand any price from us for His love. It is impossible to build a firm spiritual foundation if you do not receive a revelation of the love of God for you.

 

1. Unless you believe and remain confident in the goodness of God, your spiritual foundation cannot be firm and you would not be able to stand in the evil day. Goodness is the nature of God.

4. The Grace of God is the unmerited favour of God. It is absolutely free! We do not have to and we cannot earn it. The Grace of God is a package of unmerited gifts and favour. It includes forgiveness of sins and the gift of salvation. It includes God’s promises of blessings and privileges. It includes the power and ability of God operating in us to enable us accomplish His plans and purposes for our lives. We should not struggle to impress God or to deserve the Grace and blessings of God because we cannot earn the Grace of God by our efforts.

 

1. While the bible states unequivocally that God is sovereign, it also places responsibility on the children of God for the plans and purposes of God to manifest. God does not orchestrate and control everything that happens on earth. He has shared His sovereignty with us and given us the authority to access His sovereign will and plan for our lives by taking up our responsibility.
2. A hardened heart is a heart that is indifferent and aloof to the word of God and God’s previous actions; a heart that is more responsive to the circumstances around it. Most of us have hardened our hearts against God by paying more attention to the circumstances around us. The cure for hardness of heart is a total commitment to keeping our hearts stayed on the Word of God and dwelling on His previous actions. To invest time in our relationship with God.

The seven topics we have considered are foundational to our spiritual growth and consequential to building a firm spiritual foundation to prepare us for the inevitable storms and challenges of life. I encourage you to revisit them if you can and to pay attention to their importance to your spiritual growth. In all the cases, we stressed that unless we get it right by aligning with the Word of God regarding these subject matters, we cannot succeed in building the kind of firm spiritual foundation that would strengthen us and enable us to face difficult situations.

How then do we ensure that we keep the lessons of the past 7 episodes fresh in our minds? What is the way forward?

The only way we can move forward and succeed is to commence the process of resetting our thinking or shifting our mindset in order to adapt our philosophy of life to the Word of God.

How do you reset your thoughts to agree with the Word of God so that the Word of God becomes your first response to issues confronting you? How do you reset your thoughts so that if you feel a headache coming on, instead of thinking paracetamol, you would think 1 Peter 2:24 and declare-I am healed by the stripes of Jesus-headache get out in Jesus Name. How do you reset your thinking so that if someone tells you, you have too many problems because God does not love you., you can quickly respond without even thinking-That’s a lie. God’s love for me is total and unconditional.

This is very possible and could be achieved over time if you continue to place the Word of God over circumstances. It depends on what, like I pointed out when we discussed –Hardness of Heart, you are feeding your mind routinely.

Romans 12:2, our popular scripture on this topic states- “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.”

 

If you constantly renew your mind by reading the Word of God, over time, your thought processes and responses would no longer be shaped by worldly patterns. For instance, accepting sickness and negativity as soon as they knock on the door of your body and circumstance are worldly patterns. Rejecting them immediately is a scriptural philosophy.

Many Christians have succeeded in gradually changing their responses to align with the Word of God and you can see the blessings and promises of God manifesting more and more in the lives of these Christians. It’s not because God loves them more or listens to them more. It’s because they are placing confidence in His Word, His love; His Grace; and His Goodness over circumstances. You also need to learn to ignore any circumstance or voice that questions His Word, His love; His Grace; and His Goodness.

Some practical steps you can take to reset your thinking include-

1. Fill your mind with Scripture. Philippians 4:6 says-“Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things”

Meditate on Christ’s perfection because that is where the truth lies. Deliberately think about things that are pure, lovely, commendable, excellent and praiseworthy. Refuse to dwell on negatives.

1. Guard your thoughts. Proverbs 16:3-9-“ Keep your heart with all diligence, For out of it spring the issues of life.

Be intentional about what you watch, listen to and dwell on. Many of the movies on the media do not help at all. I find so many Christian movies that one can watch on YouTube.

1. Pray for a Renewed Mindset-Ask the Holy Spirit to help you change your thoughts and perspectives to agree with the Word of God.
2. Be Deliberate about Embracing the Mind of Christ-Be intentional about resolving in your mind that the Word of God is 100% truth and that anything that disagrees with it, whatever it is, is unacceptable and must be rejected.
3. Note that Building your foundation is for a life time. You never stop building. You keep renewing your mind. And you do not give up even when you fail. You get up and keep going.

Resetting your thinking involves deliberately and consciously replacing negative and worldly ways of doing things with the truth expressed in the Word of God and allowing the Word of God expressed through His love, Grace, Goodness to transform you from the inside in order to develop a perspective that aligns with God’s thoughts and purposes for our lives. This is what we need to lay a firm spiritual foundation that prepares us for a bold and confident spiritual journey that conquers challenges.

 

Father, we are so grateful for the gift of your Word. We are grateful that your love, your Grace and your Goodness are total, complete-and unconditional. We pray for your consistenct help to reset our thinking so that we may move from worldly patterns to Christ-centered thoughts which will in turn enable us to lay a strong spiritual foundation to prepare us to face the storms of life.