Firm Foundation with Bryan Hudson
2020-07
Episodes
Sunday Jul 26, 2020
Your Treasure. Your Heart. Your Words. Part One
Sunday Jul 26, 2020
Sunday Jul 26, 2020
Luke 6:43 “For a good tree does not bear bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit. 44 For every tree is known by its own fruit. For men do not gather figs from thorns, nor do they gather grapes from a bramble bush. 45 A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil. For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.
"Words have energy and power with the ability to help, to heal, to hinder, to hurt, to harm, to humiliate, and to humble." -Yehuda Berg
"If we understood the power of our thoughts, we would guard them more closely. If we understood the awesome power of our words, we would prefer silence to almost anything negative. In our thoughts and words, we create our own weaknesses and our own strengths. Our limitations and joys begin in our hearts. We can always replace negative with positive." -Betty Eadie
We know that words have power. The power of words begin with your heart, and your heart is the container of your character.
In verse 43 Jesus talked about our character when he said, “A tree is known by its fruit.” That character is expressed by words, but words can be deceiving, words can be empty. There are people who say they are going to do a certain thing, but those words are empty. Some people use words to manipulate and misrepresent.
The foundation for words is the heart. The heart is shaped by what He called “treasure.” Jesus said that this treasure can be good or it can be evil.
What is treasure? A treasure is the place where things are collected. A coffer or other receptacle in which valuables are kept.
We always think of treasure as the accumulation of valuable things. But treasure can be the accumulation of evil.
What we think, live, do, and say comes out of a place of accumulated things. Which is our hearts.
One of the self-deceptions with live with is the magical thought that we or people are going to suddenly start doing something that they have not been doing. People can only genuinely think, live, do, and speak from the treasure in their hearts. Certainly, people can fake it, but it won’t hold up.
To become really good at something, it has to come from an accumulation of knowledge and action. That’s the art of doing a good interview, is to ascertain if your words are hearing are coming from a place of good treasure.
In our world, we focus on words. But the best words come from the treasure of a person’s heart.v. 43 For a good tree does not bear bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit.v. 45 A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good
You don’t need to fret about some of the words you hear, because it is only a reflection of what is in the heart. And only God can change the heart of willing person.
Proverbs 26:4, Do not answer a fool according to his folly, or you yourself will be just like him.
How do you build a good treasure in your heart?
1. Pay attention to what and who you are listening to (Guard your heart)2. Repentance and forgiveness clears the heart3. When you show yourself who you are, believe it! Awareness is the beginning of change.4. Read the Bible and pray every day5. Keep up with messages from the word of God. God told pastors to: “Feed the sheep and preach the word.” He told all of us “Receive the engrafted word.” (James 1:21)Don’t miss messages from your pastor and leaders. It’s like not eating or not taking needed medicine.
Sunday Jul 12, 2020
Let God Be God.
Sunday Jul 12, 2020
Sunday Jul 12, 2020
Let God be God
Restoring Human Identity and Purpose
Psalm 86:10, For You are great, and do wondrous things; You alone are God. 11] Teach me Your way, O LORD; I will walk in Your truth; Unite my heart to fear Your name. 12] I will praise You, O Lord my God, with all my heart, And I will glorify Your name forevermore.
Exodus 20:3 You shall have no other gods before me.
We are living in a world where confusion reigns. Confusion leads to becoming lost. People are not lost because they are going to wind up in the wrong place. They wind up in the wrong place because they are lost. (Willard, Renovation)
Philippians 3:17 Brethren, join in following my example, and note those who so walk, as you have us for a pattern. 18 For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ: 19 whose end is destruction, whose god is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame—who set their mind on earthly things.
Belly means to be given up to the pleasures; the innermost part of a man, the soul, heart as the seat of thought, feeling, choice.
The person who is lost is obsessed with self and circumstances. They dismiss the Word while embracing their thoughts and feelings as divine direction. The “god” is their belly. (Phil. 3:19) The lost person does not want God to be God. He is insulted at the suggestion that he is lost, thinking “How dare you speak to me like that? God cannot be lost.”
It is the person who says, “I can do anything I want to do.”
There are three Gods:
1. There is the god made in the image of man. This is the god that people generally believe in—A god who has to serve them. This god does not exist.
2. There is the god what occupies our thoughts, our minds, guides our decisions, spending, and planning.
3. Then, there is the God who people forget. The living God whom we all have to serve who has a son named Jesus Christ. The God that exists and is the reason for our existence.
God being God offends human pride because He does not conform to the wishes of people. He doesn’t bow to our agenda.
Romans 3:18 says, “There is no fear of God before their eyes”
When the light of God is absent, the intellect become dysfunctional, trying to devise a truth that will be compatible with the basic falsehood that man is god. (Willard, The Spirit of the Disciplines)
Indicators of the True God:
Is from everlasting to everlasting
Known to Adam, Abraham, Moses and the pagans of every generation
Has the power to create, destroy, heal and reform
Passes final judgment
Knows the hearts of people
Knows the motivations of the heart
Has purpose that transcends the lifetime or sensual interests of people
Manifests His presence in the earth through the Holy Spirit
Has a son name Jesus Christ, who is God the Son
Keys to letting God be God in your life;
1. Allow Him to intervene into your deadness. Dead represents things separated from the life and power of God.
2. Understand the principle of separation from the world. This does not mean that we don’t engage with world, which we obviously and necessarily do. It means that we are controlled by the world, not even by the COVID, which can become a small “g” God.
3. Obey the Word of God quickly. Find a way to be a doer of the Word. God said don’t forsake assembling yourselves together. When we could meet physically, we met online.
4. Live from the inside out “Work out your salvation.” Don’t live from the outside in.
He who observes the wind will not sow, And he who regards the clouds will not reap. (Ecclesiastes 11:4)
5. Don’t believe the lie that says, “You cannot change.” Phil. 4:13, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.
6. Have no confidence in the philosophies of this world regarding the nature of man, evil and God.
7. Apply God’s word and lessons to your everyday life. Remember David’s words:
Psalm 86:10, For You are great, and do wondrous things; You alone are God. 11] Teach me Your way, O LORD; I will walk in Your truth; Unite my heart to fear Your name. 12] I will praise You, O Lord my God, with all my heart, And I will glorify Your name forevermore.