FOUNDATIONS

Today's piece will be about "Foundations" from one of my favorite books by Dr. Myles Munroe. I will start by a quote I absolutely love, "It is essential to note that the quality of a foundation determines the value of what is built upon it."

God built the male to found future generations and to be the foundation on which they develop. Having the qualities of a strong foundation is therefore essential for every man. Our foundation began with Adam, and not family, this shows that God created 'Adam' to be the foundation of the generations to come, to lay the bottom foundation of everything else. 

The human race did not start with a "couple" God did not build the human race on the basis of "family" foundations rather from "Man". He started with "Adam" the man, on the bottom as the "foundation." - (Gen 2:15-18, 21-23)

God did not give instructions to the female, but only to the male. (1 Corinthians 11:11-12) "woman is not independent of man, nor is man independent of woman. For as woman came from man, so also man is born of woman. But everything comes from God."

1. Cracks in the foundation lead to disaster.

A building is only secure as its foundation. If a crack is discovered in the foundation, it doesn't matter how nice the interior is, the building will need some serious repairs. 

Same applies, God laid man as the foundation of the family, so we need to be careful not to allow any cracks in our character. If you see a crack developing, fix it immediately. Letting it get bigger, the whole structure will collapse. 

Character lapse will not only affect you, but also those entrusted to your protection, teaching and care.  Evaluate the current state of your character and take steps to correct what you see. Strengthen your entire family in doing so. 

2. A Foundation functions without being seen. 

You can not see the foundation of a building because it's too busy carrying everything else.  Real men do not advertise their responsibility or go around telling everyone including their wives what they are doing for them.  

You just see the family functioning well and working together.  The "husband" is derived from am old norse word meaning "householder" He is meant to hold the house intact. He is the glue that keeps the family together, not the wife or woman.

This is the notion the world love to use that the mother is the glue of the house, but the word of God says, the man is the foundation, that means he is the glue. Real men are quiet about their responsibilities, so the important part of building is what you can not see. Become the man that your family, community and the nation can stand, regardless of what forces comes against you. 

3. An Anchor secures and brings rest.

Anchor means, "to fasten, to stop or to rest." That's what fatherhood is all about. Think of your family as a ship, and you as an anchor of that ship. A ship has no foundation of its own, right? So, the hull, the masts, the sails, the rigging , and even the helm can't fulfill that function. 

The ship might be beautiful but with no foundation. The only thing that secures a boat is an anchor. When its in place, the entire hull comes to rest, so whether the ship is beaten, twisted and torn by waves, a strong anchor will keep it from breaking apart and allows it to weather the storms.

4. An Anchor is tested during storms.

It is during intense time that an anchor is tested through pressure. If you break under pressure, your "Ship" will become a victim of these currents and storms. Its not enough to just say you have a strong anchor. You should ask yourself, what kind of storms and currents can you be able to handle. Decide to have a new anchor, strong anchor and never go out into the world without having your anchor already in place. Having a strong anchor takes the fear of the current away.

Do not worry if things fell apart, maybe your plans for your life or your family fell apart, and perhaps things have happened to you that you did not foreseen. Keep in mind God's promise. God will never allow something we are not able to overcome through His strength. God will verify your quality as an anchor by how you respond to the tests He allows to come to you. (1 Corinthians 13)

Stop thinking that this is the worst situation that has ever happened to you, God is telling you, this is the best revelation of how tough you are in Him. He has built you for it. If your test is greater than your neighbor's, its because, at the moment, your anchor's capacity is stronger. Otherwise, God would not allow that test.

You will not have tough times if you are not a tough anchor. You will have to be tested by the storms. God reveals the quality of our anchorage by the level of testing He allows us to go through. (James 1;3-4) So if you aren't going through much, either the quality of your mettle is still weak or you just need to wait a while, it will surely come.

5. Weakness is tested to insure strength.

A key principle of testing is that your tests are designed by your declarations. Meaning, if you don't want any tests, don't declare that you're going to do anything in life. That moment you make a declaration that you're going to do something, life will test your resolve. 

If as a man/woman you declare you will not have sex before marriage, all your ex's will appear from nowhere and every woman/man you walk past will appear very appealing and attractive to you. That declaration will be tested by obstacles and setbacks to see if you really mean it. - (Luke 22:31-33) The story about Peter, what he told Jesus. 

God will test before He entrusts. If He is going to trust you with something and use you to accomplish it,  He has to test you first. While satan is quite the opposite, he tempts us so that we give up when we make a declaration, the Bible says that God doesn't tempt us. He tests us and refines us. 

A test is more like the act of tempering metal, and tempering means testing for weakness to insure strength. And God doesn't need the tempering process in order to see your true character. 

He sees through you, He knows your secret spots, He knows your habits, the garbage you have hidden away. The tempering is for your sake. He allows you to go through trials and tests so you can recognize what is hindering your life. 

God will allow satan to tempt us but when we hold onto our Faith in Jesus Christ, we will overcome any kind of temptation that the devil throws at us. (John 21:15-19). God will always allow storms in order to expose our spots, and we must learn what they are and allow Him to remove them because we are only as strong as the storms we survive. 

So every time you survive a storm, a few more spots are beaten out of your life. The more the storms we go through, the more the spots are removed. And when the spots are purged, then God can call us His sword. He will hold us out as an example, saying, "This man will always defend my cause. I'm not afraid that he is going to break in the middle of the fight."

And most times when we make it out of the water and think the test is done, He will put us back in the fire because we need to be refined further for His own glory. Abraham was tested with his own son, to kill his only son, God told Abraham to sacrifice him and he trusted God and never questioned and doubted God.

God is telling you today, "give me your business, give me your life, give me your finances, give me your heart, give me your plans, trust in me for I am your God," but you doubt and question Him. You tell Him how you've worked so hard for these things. 

He is only telling you to love Him more than you love these other things. He tells you to spend more time with Him, in prayer, in fellowship, and in church. When you begin to complain, then He says, "If I can not trust you with this, so I will not trust you in bigger things. " Remember that the storms are only for a season. Let God refine you,  and a new man will emerge."