Borrowed Truths

The Right Rock

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The Right Rock

What foundation are you standing upon, honestly, can you say in every area of your life that your trust rests upon the Lord and His leading of it, or do you have, as it were, one foot upon the rock and the other on sinking sand.

The analogy here is of the supposed Christian that is still relying upon the items of the world for their own personal satisfaction and confidence, their employment area to bring security into their life, both monetarily and for the value factor of their perceived need to be needed by others, the seeking of self being at the top, in other words, everything that is at enmity with the Lord. “Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? Whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.” (James 4:4) Just in case the meaning of this word escapes you for the moment, enmity means “actively hostile or opposed to something or someone,” and so to have one foot in the world and seemingly, one upon the rock of our salvation, is to say that this persons trust is not completely in the Lord and His provisions for them.

Notice that I did not say “not yet completely,” for this would infer that a certain amount of answers to problems and needs in this person’s life would need to be answered in the positive, and not the negative. If you have been saved for any length of time, you know full well that our lord answers our prayers as He sees fit, and it is our responsibility to accept His answers no matter the form that they arrive in, “Thy will be done.” You may want something that He does not want for you, and this should be one the lessons, a day-one lesson, if you will, that should be taught to every new believer, we are here to serve God, He is not here to serve us. It is a shame that so many who profess Christ cannot seem to come to grips with this truth, they ask amiss constantly, (James 4:3) they ask never truly believing, as the waves of the sea, (James 1:6) and so one foot remains in the false trust and security that the world offers, just like Satan wants.

Trust is of course earned, but just how many times and in how many ways does our Lord need to prove His trustworthiness to these individuals, far too many times I am afraid, in fact, over an entire lifetime for some. There is security in the known, and for most, earth and all that it offers, the things of the world, if you will, are the known, known well enough not to be questioned. The sun will come up tomorrow, your job will be there, you will always have your health, with only a minor hiccup along the way, it has always been this way, it will always be that way. Five years into the future is far too long for many to envision, much less an eternity, no matter where it is going to be spent. What we see we trust, past actions do not necessarily guarantee future performance, and so the Lord is asked to prove Himself to these individuals on a continuance level.

One foot on the sand, and this is the one that they trust the most, incredible. The one part of their lives that will not last, the things that they believe to be continuous are indeed the ones that will dissolve either in fervent heat, or be lost to them the day that they leave this earth, either way, their trust in in the wrong place. These individuals are the reason that the terminology “carnal Christian” was invented, someone, somewhere didn’t want to offend, did not want someone in their church to feel bad about not living completely for Christ, and so they came up with this word “carnal Christian.” It allows these individuals to feel alright about themselves, they can continue to live, at least partially for Christ in their mind, while retaining their desires for the things of the world and the perceived, though false, security that it affords them. They are considered brothers and sisters in Christ by some, though when the trials and tribulations arrive, they are seen for what they truly are.

“Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.” (Rom. 8:7) No one who calls themselves a Christian can be of two worlds, they will love one and hate the other, (Luke 16:13) and what these individuals are trying to do is live in both, one day they will love the Lord, at least their perception of love, and the next, when their prayers are not answered as they would have them to be, well, it is not exactly love for the Lord that is in their hearts that day. What do you believe the Lord thinks of these individuals, those who trust in the world, yet proclaim a faith in Him, those who seek to still prosper in the world and all that is has to offer them, while still showing up to church every weekend with a smile on their face?  “Surely thou didst set them in slippery places: thou cast them down into destruction. How are they brought into desolation, as in a moment! they are utterly consumed with terrors.” (Psalm 73:18-19)

The rock that these believe their one foot to be on is not the Rock of our Salvation, it is not the Lord Jesus Christ, it is an imagined religious structure that they have either fallen into the trap of, or an image of their own perception of what a Christian, a follower of the Lord Jesus is to be. They see nothing wrong with the false security that the world offers, for they do not see it as misleading, deceitful, to these it is in their own mind one of the ways that their god blesses. A strange form of prosperity theology that in a sense requires its adherents to seek those things of the temporal for an acknowledgement that they are blessed. In other words, their god blesses almost constantly through the temporal, the transitory, the things of the world, and so in their eyes it is wise to keep one foot in that world.

The other foot, well, they will not admit that it slips often, the thoughts of a savior that would allow them to suffer, either in spirit or materialistically is foreign to them. They are more than willing to put both feet on the sand quite often, but never in their lives have both feet been on the true rock, in other words my brothers and sisters in Christ, these individuals are not your brothers and sisters. They are exceptional at deceiving only themselves, and become more than a little adamant when approached in love with the truth of their lives. When the things of this world that they have come to expect, those things that they believe they deserve, are removed from them, their trust falters, when their prayers, which they know not are falling upon deaf ears, are not answered as they believe they should have been, the faith that they claim to have is removed from them, of their own accord. They serve a god, but they do not realize that this god resides in their mirror.

“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.” (Matt. 7:24-27) For those of you who have both feet upon the rock, I would ask that you look at three of the words in these verses, “And doeth them.” Pay attention to those three little words, for they are the key to following Christ, and you will easily recognize those who are following Him by these three words.

“The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower.” (Psalm 18:2)

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