Unshakable Christian

47“Everyone who comes to Me and hears My words and acts on them, I will show you whom he is like: 48he is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid a foundation on the rock; and when a flood occurred, the torrent burst against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built. 49“But the one who has heard and has not acted accordingly, is like a man who built a house on the ground without any foundation; and the torrent burst against it and immediately it collapsed, and the ruin of that house was great.”

Luke 6:47-49

This passage is another look at Scripture that I shared on Sunday post, but from Luke's standpoint. It is a very important passage because it tells us that important steps to becoming an unshakable Christian.
First we are called to "come to Him." And when we come - he will not cast us out.

All that the Father gives me shall come to me; and he that comes to me I will in no wise cast out.
John 6:37

 

Next we are called to hear God's Word .

Many times in the Bible it says:

 

"If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear."

Mark 4:9  Matthew 11:15 Mark 4:23 Revelations 2:7,11 are just a few examples

 

The place that I first noticed this phrase was in Revelations in the messages to the 7 churches.

 

1. The Loveless Church...Rev. 2:7

2. The Persecuted Church...Rev. 2:11

3. The Compromising Church...Rev.  2:17

4. The Corrupt Church...Rev. 2:29

5. The Dead Church....Rev. 3:6

6. The Faithful Church....Rev. 3:13

7. The Lukewarm church...Rev. 3:22

 

I would suggest that when you get a chance to spend some time studying what God has to say to these 7 churches- I believe that the very fact that the phrase "He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit say to the churches." Rev. 3:6 is used at the end of every one of these messages to the 7 churches makes it very important for us to not only read but to hear what is said.

 

We need to be careful that we are not caught as Isaiah 42:20 says:

 

"Seeing many things, but you observe not; opening the ears, but he hears not."
Isaiah 42:20

 

Last but not least we are told to be doers of the Word.

 

"But be you doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves."

James 1:22

 

We are told not only in Luke 6:47-49 but also in Matthew 7: 24-27 that if we are not only hears but doers of God's Word that we will have built on a firm foundation and therefore we will be unshakable Christians.

A Fun Outing

This post will be photo heavy- but I hope you enjoy it just the same!

Last week my husband took a couple of days off to spend with our granddaughter.
On one of the days we went to a town that is about an hours drive. Granbury is a really neat town. They have a town square that has several really cool antique stores that I love to visit when we get a chance. But this visit to Granbury was not a time to go to antique stores. Nope. This visit was for our granddaughter to have fun. We found 3 really cool things to do and today I wanted to share with you all the Granbury Doll House that we went to. Best part is that it was free!! You can't beat that!

 

Now note that it is not open all the time, just on specific days.

We went on a Friday.

This was the tallest doll that we saw at the Doll House:

 

 

These next two dolls - have a bit of interesting history to them.  

But first of all I wanted to say that my husband thought that they were kind of creepy.

 

These dolls were made by a local artist who used her nieces as molds for the faces of the dolls. That is why they are so lifelike. I think it would be cool to have photos of the girls when the molds were taken and then also photos of the girls now- since I understood it to be quite some time sine these dolls were made.

 

This older home in Granbury that houses the Granbury Doll House has 5 rooms full of dolls.

My favorite doll, of course, was the Little House on the Prairie dolls! Especially Laura!

There was a room that had cabinets with shelves that had lots of dolls from all over the world. Below is the photo - best I could get- of the dolls that they had from Germany:

They also had 2 dollhouses it looks like maybe I only got a photo of this one. If I find the other photo - I will share later. I am disappointed because the other dollhouse was made in the late 1800's.

This one is on a turn table so you can turn it around and look at it from every angle.

It also has a remote control that you can turn on and off the tiny light fixtures that actually work.

And the lady that donated this house - actually comes to the Granbury Dollhouse every season to change up the decorations and such of the house. She had recently decorated it for summer. I think it would be fun to visit the house again when it gets to be closer to Christmas and see how it is decorated. Might have to plan on that.

 

And I loved this doll. That smile was too sweet to pass up getting a photo of!

 

When we were fixing to leave the Doll House- my granddaughter noticed that there were dolls in the first two chairs on the porch but not the last chair(sorry I did not get the dolls in the chairs in the  photo) so she thought she needed to go check it out.

She had fun and enjoyed herself.

I would have liked to have stayed longer and really looked at the dolls. I would also like to get a count of how many dolls there are at this house. Maybe in our next visit I will be able to get that kind of information.

 

It's a God Thing

I love it when this happens!
As you know this past week I spent time studying about our foundation and how to be an unshakable Christian. Well in my newsfeed today on Facebook - I noticed this great photo that goes right along with this very topic. Tony Evans is a great pastor that I listen to on the radio sometimes and I thought it was awesome that this would be posted right when I was thinking and talking about it. When this happens I know it was a God Thing! :O)

 

Your Foundation?

Last week I heard the very last of what sounded like a great sermon- the pastor was talking about our foundation. One of the last things that the pastor asked was: would our foundation save us or destroy us? And I began to think about how to have a firm foundation and that is when I looked into the passage from yesterdays post from Matthew. I learned a lot of really cool things. And I am looking forward to sharing some. I thought today I would share the lyrics to a cute little song that I remember singing in Sabbath School as a little girl. Maybe some of you remember it as well.

The Wise Man Built His House

The wise man built his house upon the rock
The wise man built his house upon the rock
The wise man built his house upon the rock
And the rain came tumbling down

Oh, the rain came down
And the floods came up
The rain came down
And the floods came up
The rain came down
And the floods came up
And the wise man's house stood firm.

The foolish man built his house upon the sand
The foolish man built his house upon the sand
The foolish man built his house upon the sand
And the rain came tumbling down

Oh, the rain came down
And the floods came up
The rain came down
And the floods came up
The rain came down
And the floods came up
And the foolish man's house went "splat!" [clap hands once]

So, build your house on the Lord Jesus Christ
Build your house on the Lord Jesus Christ
Build your house on the Lord Jesus Christ
And the blessings will come down

Oh, the blessings come down
As your prayers go up
The blessings come down
As your prayers go up
The blessings come down
As your prayer go up
So build your house on the Lord Jesus Christ.

How to be Wise

  24“Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25“And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock. 26“Everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act on them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. 27“The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and it fell—and great was its fall.”

      Matthew 7:24-27

Here is a passage that I have been studying this last week. I have a few thoughts that I would like to share with you and I will as I get a chance to write out the posts. I hope you all are doing well. :O)

Blessed Hope

Last night after our granddaughter went home I was in the mood to watch a movie. What I watched ended up being a real tear jerker. Normally I do not choose tear jerkers to watch- but this movie's tag line enticed me.

"The Fault in our Stars" was the movie that I watched. And it was about 2 young cancer patients that travel to Amsterdam in order to talk to an author of a book that really spoke to them during their cancer journey. The movie seemed to promise some insight into living with cancer or so I thought. Although I had a little insight into some different aspects of the caner journey- I learned far more from what was missing from the movie.

When I watch movies I really like to write down and save profound quotes when I hear them. Sadly not all movies have this one did:

 

"Pain demands to be felt."

 

Physical pain is not the only kind of pain felt- there is emotional pain as well. As I went through my cancer "adventure" I experienced both of these kinds of pain and certainly in a degree of pain that demands to be felt. Both of these kinds of pain led me to reach out to God in a deeper way than I had every experienced before. Pain has a way of doing that. I was drawn into a deeper relationship with Jesus Christ. And all along the way He provided the strength and the courage that I needed. This is what was missing from the movie- a relationship with Jesus Christ and showing how when we allow Him to supply our needs - He will get us through. It is still a difficult journey but with Jesus in it there is Hope. And hope for a future. Maybe not a long one here on earth but one for eternity when we accept Jesus as our LORD and Savior- that is Hope - Blessed Hope!

 

"For I know the thoughts that I think towards you, says the LORD,

 thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope."

Jeremiah 29:11

I'm Not the Only One Waiting

I have shared recently how I have a list of person prayer requests that I am waiting for an answer still. I've also written how over the last couple of years I have come to realize that waiting is a part of the Christian walk. It seems like every now and then there seems to be time when you find yourself waiting for God to guide you to the next step in life or for an answer to prayer.

In reading my devotional this morning, I was reminded that not only do I have to wait, but that God also waits as well.

"And therefore will the LORD wait that He may be gracious unto you,

 and therefore will He be exalted that He may have mercy upon you;

 for the LORD is a God of justice blessed are all they that wait for Him."

Isaiah 30:18

 

I had always thought how unfair it seemed how long we often times have to wait for our prayers to be answered. But after reading my devotional I realized that the truth is God's been waiting much longer on me. It took me so many years to realize my true need for Him and to learn the importance of surrendering my life and my will to Him. And in fact I am sure that He is still patiently waiting for me. He who began a good work in my is waiting for me to allow Him to take me to the next level.

 

As I think over my life I wish so much that I had have learned the concept of allowing God to guide and direct me so much sooner. The sad truth is that I can no say that I did not know because I remember my Daddy always praying for God to guide and direct him and I think I have done the same as well. But there is a big difference between just saying the words and really meaning them. And I am thankful that I had the example and began to ask for the guidance because even though I did not totally allow God to guide me- I was at least asking for it and after waited and waited and waited, I finally came into the understanding of surrendering my life to Him. I don't totally have it all figured out and I still struggle with holding onto things that I should have surrendered years ago, but I am thankful that I serve a Savior who is willing to wait for me. Praise be to God.