In Pursuit Of Your Foundation

"Abraham reasoned that if Isaac died, God was able to

bring him back to life again. And in a sense,

Abraham did receive his son back from the dead".

Hebrews 11:19

Reasoning is defined as "the basis or motive for an action, decision, or conviction".

From this definition, it is safe to say that the basis can also be called the FOUNDATION for an action, decision or conviction.

The verse above shows that through reasoning, Abraham was willing to sacrifice his son. From His actions we see that Abraham reasoned within His mind that if He sacrificed his son, God will definitely raise Him up.

1 Peter 3:15 - gives us more proof that Faith is a reasoning process, for we have to be have thought it out so that we can explain the hope that we have in Jesus Christ. It reads "but sanctify in your hearts Christ as Lord: being ready always to give answer to every man that asketh you a reason concerning the hope that is in you, yet with meekness and fear".

Faith engages our thinking to establish the foundation for our believing in God. For instance, if there is sickness in the body, the basis for the hope and belief that God will heal, can be found in His word, in verses such as in Jeremiah 30:17a, which reads "For I will restore health to you And heal you of your wounds..."

The Greek translation of Faith defines it as the "substantiating of substance, the action that brings that substance into reality".

Now, with the understanding that faith engages our thinking to establish the very solid foundation of our belief in God, guess what the devil does with this same knowledge? Yes, you got it, he attacks that very foundation; the trust, hope and faith we have in God's word, When we go through trials, what we must realise is that enemy is not after our home, car, kids, family or wealth, he is after the foundation of our faith - the belief in God and who He is.

He is not after our joy, for the loss of joy is the outward manifestation that we have already lost faith. For if we have faith, then we have joy, but if we have no joy, then faith has left the building! When the joy comes from the assured faith we have in God's word. This is why we declare from Romans 4:21 "He was fully convinced that God is able to do whatever he promises."

So how does the devil attack our foundation, I hear you ask? He does this through the following ways:

• Doubt: He makes us question God's word and His goodness. I mean all you have to do is speak to someone on the street about the happenings in the world and you will hear " if God is love and if He is good, why is there war, why are people dying all over the place?" What they are doing is doubting God's goodness. But as believers we declare that God is good all the time. The world reason's their belief in God based upon what they see, but we reason our belief in God based on His word and His experience in our life.
  


• Discouragement: The devil tries to make us focus solely on our problems rather than God. When we do this, like Peter in Matthew 14, we start to sink and problems begin to look bigger than they are. The key is to keep our eyes on God. This can be achieved by reading His word, fellowship with other believers, hearing His word, meditating on His word, declaring His word and implementing His word.
  


• Diversion: He makes the wrong things or situations seem attractive. This is so that we would want them even more than the right ones. That very thing or situation that we thought was not right for us, suddenly looks good. It suddenly will be "good for food, pleasant to our eyes and have the desire to make us wise"!!. However, when we embrace this notion, lust manifests itself. Lust will encourage us to reason that we really need them. Lust does not, work along for along with it comes pride, who will engage us in reasoning to say that we not only need it, but we deserve it!. Reminds me of the advert "...just because you are worth it"! To avoid being diverted from God's will and promises, we must keep our eyes on God's word, with hope and expectation.
  


• Defeat: He makes us feel like a failure. For we might have tried a few times in what God has told us to do and we have failed. When we admit defeat, we stop trying. We stop trying to work on our careers, spiritual growth or discipline, marriages, relationships, ministry and much more.
  


• Delay: The devil makes us impatient towards God's timing. God's word says every word will be fulfilled as declared in Matthew 24:35. When we are impatient, we end up with an Ishmael, even though God promised us an Isaac as He did with Abraham. However, God is a good God, for we eventually end up with an Isaac. The only problem is that the Ishmael that we got ourselves and the Isaac God gives us now enter into conflict, making the journey into our purpose harder than it should have been!. We must remember that 'delay is not denial'. When promises are delayed, it works patience in us as Paul explains inJames 1:2-4. This patience also protects us from deception, for when we are desperate, we are most likely sin and stop the hand of God working things out the way He wants to.

Just as Jesus Christ prayed for Peter, that his faith will not fail him, Jesus is sitted at the right hand of the father, praying and interceding for us that our faith will not fail us as confirmed in Hebrews 1:3. This means we are already winners, but the key is to focus on God's word, constantly.

So I encourage us all to remember that whatever we might be going through, not to forget, that the sole thing the enemy is after is the foundation of our faith. Everything else He takes from us is just a bi-product or a bonus for him.

It is the foundation of our faith that we use to obtain blessings and favour from God, and it is the same that we use to sustain it.

I encourage everyone to focus on God's word and His promises for your life, as you start a new week under His grace. I encourage you to hold on to the very promises and plans He has for you. In so doing, you will be increasing the solidity of your foundation in God, whilst declaring His faithfulness and goodness along your way.

Much Love
Remi

***pictures by photobucket***