1Peter 5:10 That Jesus will personally restore, establish, strengthen and support.
Last week we looked at restore. God wants to restore, and as we come with an attitude of humilty, a willingness to focus on him and not circumstamce, and to be obedient, that Jesus will personally restore, establish, strengthen and support.
Last week.
This week we are taking a look at Establish:- what does God want to establish in our lives?
Dictionary definition.
es·tab·lish:
-to found, institute, build, or bring into being on a firm or stable basis:
-to establish a university; to establish a medical practice. to install or settle in a position, place, business, etc.:
-to establish one's child in business. to show to be valid or true; prove: to establish the facts of the matter. to cause to be accepted or recognized: to establish a custom; She established herself as a leading surgeon. to bring about permanently: to establish order.
These are helpful, but they don't really get to what Peter is trying to say when he says God will establish us. In 1 Peter 5:10, the word used means to make stable, to set fast, make firm, to render constant and to confirm as ones mind.
God wants to work in our lives to so that we are constant, set firm, stable. He wants us to be able, no matter the circumstance, to be steady and be able to withstand whatever is thrown at at us. He wants us to have a strong foundation in that is based solidly in him.
A building is strong when it has firm foundations. A building without firm foundations is damaged easily when it is shaken. The taller a building is, the deeper the foundations need to be. I looked up information on building foundations. There are many different types of foundations, and lots of information, much of it mathematical engineering stuff. But it was interesting, the following information particularly so.
Pile foundation-The most expensive and the strongest type of foundation, this requires specialist engineering to do. The soils are bored deep down into the earth and filled with concrete to be able to support loads of multistory building on top. Most skyscrapers are constructed with this foundation type, a waterlogged area of high building may also require this. It is the costliest hence it is used for high rise building mostly.
Building and establishing a solid foundation takes time and effort. It will cost us, but it will be worth it.
1 Cor 3:10-11
Because of God's special favour to me I have laid the foundation like an expert builder. Now others are building on it. But whoever is building on this foundation must be careful. For no-one can lay any other foundation than the one we have, Jesus Christ.
Jesus Christ is our foundation.
Eph 2:20
We are his house, built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets. And the cornerstone is Jesus Christ himself. We who believe ate being carefully joined together, becoming a holy temple for the Lord.
Our lives will be built on some kind of foundation. But as God establishes us, he reminds us that the only real foundation for our lives is Jesus Christ. The reason for a solid foundation is so that we can carry weight. Anything we choose to build in our lives will have a weight attached to it. God wants us to have firm foundations so that we can carry much weight. God wants to establish foundations in us so that we can build on those foundations something of worth and of value. The Corinthians passage goes on to say that we can build with many different types of materials, but God wants us to build with valuable materials. Materials that will last, that are able to carry weight.
What does God want to establish in your life?
1. Establish a foundation of Relationship through Discipleship.
God wants to establish a deep and firm foundation of Relationship with him. This is what we call Discipleship. Discipleship is a foundation. Everything we do depends on the level of relationship and discipleship we are prepared to develop in our lives. A disciple is simply : A person who is a pupil, or an adherent of the doctrines of another. So as Christians we are to be pupils who are followers of the doctrines of Jesus. It is possible to be a disciple of many things other than Jesus.
Are you a pupil of the doctrines of Christ?
Jesus says that his disciples do what he tells them, that they live in obedience to his word. We can only build a strong foundation of discipleship if we understand his Word, if we read it, listen to it and most importantly do it. A foundation of Discipleship is a lifestyle that is built and established in relationship with God, that is developed on an ongoing basis.
Col 2:6-10
And now, just as you accepted Christ Jesus as your Lord, you must continue to follow him. Let your roots grow down into him, and let your lives be built on him. Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught, and you will overflow with thankfulness. Don’t let anyone capture you with empty philosophies and high-sounding nonsense that come from human thinking and from the spiritual powers of this world, rather than from Christ. For in Christ lives all the fullness of God in a human body. So you also are complete through your union with Christ, who is the head over every ruler and authority.
Our relationship with God is the key element of that relationship. God has done his part for us by giving us Jesus. When we choose to follow him, it becomes an ongoing process of Discipleship through relationship. God develops strong foundations when we choose to dig deep, when we choose to develop the relationship with him. When we are saved, The process begins, but firm foundations develop when we dig deep; when we choose to become a true disciple; when we choose to follow Christ and to be a pupil of Christ. If you are a pupil, you are expected to learn something!
As a disciple, Jesus says that we will learn about him, about who he is, about what he says and what we are to do. If we are his pupils, we will learn from him how to live and he fully expects us to put it into practice. We have to make sure we have the basiscs right.
Phil 2:12
Make every effort to put into practice God's saving work in your life.
This is true Discipleship. God has already established his saving work in our lives, but he wants us to put it into practice. He says make every effort; the older translations say work out your salvation. He says put it into to work in your lives by being a true disciple, acting on what you know, developing an ongoing relationship with him.
John 8:31
Jesus said to the people who believed him "you are truly my disciples if you keep obeying my teachings".
God wants to establish his work in your life so that you can bear weight for the kingdom of God. The deeper our foundations, the more weight we will be able to carry without collapsing. The deeper the foundation, the stronger the building on top; and the deeper our discipleship, the more we are able to carry the real weight of the kingdom of God. Sometimes to build a strong foundation, you have to dig deep, to get out the muck that is in the way and to lay the foundation.
Have you laid the foundation of Jesus in your life?
Have you been prepared to get in and dig out the muck that is in the way so that your foundation can become solid and strong?
Are you willing to let God deal with the issues that you have and the challenges that you face, so that his foundation is not hindered?
Discipleship means being deliberate in our relationship with God. It means taking the time to spend time with him every day. Make sure you are building on the solid ground of obedience and discipleship that comes from true relationship with God. Last week when we looked at restore; we looked at choosing obedience to the will of God and his call. Jesus told his disciples that obedience to his word is building on a solid foundation.
Matt 7:24
Anyone who listens to my teaching and obeys them is wise, like a person who builds a house on solid rock. Though the rain comes in torrents and the flood waters rise, and the wind beats against that house it won't collapse because it is built on solid rock. But anyone who hears my teaching and ignores it is foolish, like a person who builds a house on sand. When the rains and floods come, and the winds beat against that house, it will fall with a mighty crash.
Jesus says that building on the solid foundation is wise. This solid foundation, based on Jesus is discipleship. You may wonder why some Christians are with-able to stand a pounding - and others collapse at the first sign of trouble - it depends on what they are basing their relationship with God on. Is it a firm foundation of discipleship, built in trust and obedience or on sand that gives way at the first challenge that comes?
How wise are you? How wise am I?
Are we choosing to build a solid foundation so that we are formly established in Christ?
Choose today to be a disciple in an ongoing relationship with Jesus.
2. Establish a foundation of God's reality.
We all have a reality of some kind. In fact as human beings we have a great capacity when left to our own devices to create our own reality. Jeremiah says that the human heart is deceptive - it creates its own reality and justifies its own decisions.
Jeremiah 17:8-10
“The human heart is the most deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked. Who really knows how bad it is?"
We all have a reality that is affected by the circumstances in which we live and exist. in fact we like to create our own reality usually so that we look good in it. But God wants to establish his reality in our lives. This is his truth, it is his perspective on life.
Isaiah 55:8,9
"My thoughts are completely different to yours", says the Lord. "And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. For just as the heavens ate higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts."
Have you ever met anyone who thinks so completely differently to you that it is incredible. God says his thoughts are so different to ours. His perspective is a very different one to ours. I would rather yield to God's perspective than persist in my own. That is why a foundation of discipleship is so important. Discipleship shows us God's truth, but we have to take his truth on for ourselves.
There can be a difference between fact and truth. Sometimes they are the same, in fact if you look up these words you will often find them interchangeable. We hear people say the truth is or the fact remains.... But God says there is a truth that is beyond the facts. It is the truth of who he his, the truth of his word, it is God's reality.
God wants to establish his truth in our lives. This is the truth of who he is. God says base your reality on my truth, on what I say about you and the world. God's reality, God's truth can sometimes seem paradoxical.
Luke 6:38
Give and you will receive
Mark 8:35
If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake and for the sake of the good news, you will save it.
Seek God first, don't worry about anything else and God will meet your needs.
Matthew 6:33 The Message (MSG)
30-33 “If God gives such attention to the appearance of wildflowers—most of which are never even seen—don’t you think he’ll attend to you, take pride in you, do his best for you? What I’m trying to do here is to get you to relax, to not be so preoccupied with getting, so you can respond to God’s giving. People who don’t know God and the way he works fuss over these things, but you know both God and how he works. Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. Don’t worry about missing out. You’ll find all your everyday human concerns will be met.
These all seem paradoxical, but they are truths of God's Word. The English definition of truth is - to show to be valid. God wants us to know his truth, for it to be shown to be valid.
2 Timothy 2:19
But God's truth stands firm like a foundation stone with this inscription - the Lord knows those who are his.
God's truth is a foundation for our life. Jesus says in John 8:32 - you will know the truth and the truth will set you free. When we have a foundation of truth in our our lives, we will live in freedom. God's truth frees us from worry and from anxiety. His truth tells us who we really are and and who he is. God's truth is the only truth that we can fully and totally rely on.
We live in a world where truth has become subjective - what is true for me, may not be true for you. God's truth is not subjective - God's truth is the true reality for our lives.
Conclusion
God wants to establish a basis of Discipleship and his truth in our lives so that we can bear weight for the kingdom, not tossed about by the circumstances of life, not tossed by false truth and doctrine, but established in relationship with him and in his truth.
