Week Eighteen, 2025
Truly my soul finds rest in God; my salvation comes from him. Psalm 62:1
She was a gift of the people of France to celebrate the first centennial of the United States. Made in France, then disassembled and packed in crates, she was transported to the United States to be assembled and placed on what is now known as Liberty Island. However, the United States had to do their part by creating the base on which she would stand. We call her “The Statue of Liberty.”
As Christians, we have a base for our faith. The base of the Christian faith is the death and resurrection of Jesus, without which there would be no Christian faith or salvation.
Undoubtedly, Jesus is the object of our faith. John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish, but have eternal life” (emphasis added). Acts 16:31 says, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved” (emphasis added). So, we place our faith in Jesus. The question then becomes, can we believe in Jesus apart from the Bible?
A foundation is the base or groundwork of something. The Christian faith has the person and work of Jesus Christ as its foundation: our faith is built upon Christ, the rock of our salvation and the chief cornerstone (Isaiah 28:16–17; 1 Peter 2:6). Jesus, God in the flesh, is a real person who came to earth at a specific time in history. His death and resurrection are historical events. At the same time, the person and work of Jesus cannot be understood apart from God’s Word, the Bible. Ephesians 2:20–21 tells us that our faith is “built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord” (emphasis added). Christ is the cornerstone of our faith, and our understanding of this is built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets—i.e., what they recorded in the Bible (Matthew 23:35; 2 Timothy 3:16).
The entire Bible points to Jesus (see John 5:39): the Old Testament reveals our need for a Savior, predicts His coming, and sets the stage for the significance of His sacrifice; and the New Testament describes His coming, His death and resurrection to bring salvation to our sinful world, and His ongoing work as we await God’s kingdom and the restoration of all things (Acts 3:21; Revelation 21:1). The Bible sets Jesus as our foundation and leads us to understand salvation.
Jesus gave us salvation, but He calls on us to live the base of our faith. He healed Lazarus but called on the crowd to unwrap the grave cloths.
Are you doing your part to live out the base of our Christian faith?
Sometimes True Stories
All our lives we have been told that the pathway to a prosperous, productive and purposeful life was through education. If we get that college diploma, we will have a ticket to that life. Then we realize that much of what was taught to us had absolutely no bearing on that.
Now we find that we can get educated in real life skills through trade schools and on the job training. A diploma wasn’t the only answer after all.
All along, though, God has had a plan for us. It is a plan that will prosper us by providing for all our needs. It is a plan that makes us productive by the people whose lives will be benefited by knowing us. It is a plan which gives us purpose in that we proclaim the Good News of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Our rewards are legion.
God’s Word is our educator. God’s Spirit is our enabler. God’s title for us is chosen, royal, holy and His own, written on the diploma of our hearts.
Enroll today. Rich Jensen
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Your story – QR on tombstone. QR codes on gravestones provide digital memories of those left behind. QR codes are everywhere these days — and now, they’re even turning up in cemeteries. Make a visit to your local cemetery and you might see a small, unobtrusive QR code attached to a gravestone. Tombstones have gone high tech. Even Amazon is on the trade.
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The enemy wants me to dwell on the negative, the anger filled moments, the frustrations, the disappointments, the lies of the devil.
Quotes You Can Use
We are destined for disappointment if we try and gain acceptance by pleasing and impressing others. Tony Ferguson
Adversity is not simply a tool. It is God’s most effective tool for the advancement of our spiritual lives. The circumstances and events that we see as setbacks are oftentimes the very things that launch us into periods of intense spiritual growth. Once we begin to understand this, and accept it as a spiritual fact of life, adversity becomes easier to bear. Charles Stanley
Faith in the promises of God leads to unity, prayer, and submission to God’s Word. Edgar Aponte
The greatest cure for discouragement is to get busy doing God’s work. Dan Shock
I cannot change what God has ordained. If I seek to fight against the plan of God, then I am destined to lose. Dan Shock
A woman is like a tea bag. You can’t tell how strong she is until you put her in hot water. Eleanor Roosevelt
Scripture is abundant with stories where adversity does not have the last word; instead, it serves as a catalyst for growth, transformation, and often- unexpected goodness. It emphasizes that even in the midst of trials, there’s always a nugget of hope to cling onto. Ed Thomas
How foolish it is to think that we can hide the truth from God. Dan Shock
Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Your purpose is to help others follow Jesus. Don’t get distracted. Edgar Aponte
Scripture is plain that we exist at the pleasure of the Lord and know nothing of our future except that it is in the Lord’s hands. That should be enough. Tony Ferguson
Happiness and moral duty are inseparably connected. George Washington
God delights in mercy. Dan Shock
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