How is your foundation?

Saluki downtime - How is your foundation?

Matthew 7:24-29

As an athlete what does it mean to have a strong foundation?

As I thought about it I came up with four things:

1. Athletic Position

2. Building your core

3. Strength and flexibility.

4. Heart and Mind

The Jordan River is a river that has wide banks and stays low most of the time. The Palestines would build their houses near the river and even on the river banks. It was hard when the river was low. It was a sand like substance that would harden almost like concrete.

Some would begin building and would build on the sand. Their foundation would seem to be on this hard surface and they would build their home with little to no issues.
Other would dig down deep and find the bed rock. They would go through this hard concrete like sand. It would take them much longer to build their home than the others.
When they both got done they look identical from the ground up. The used the same material. Their walls were the same. The roof was the same. Everything looked the same.
When the rains came, when the floods came, when the stream came, and when the wind came the houses that were built on a bad foundation were swept away quickly. The houses that were built on the bed rock were able to withstand the storm.

This is the same in our world as Christians. You can go through the motions and just barely scrape the surface in your life.

Pray when convenient.

Attend church when convenient.

Serve when convenient.

Read your bible when convenient.

These things do not lead to a strong foundation.

What does it take to get a strong foundation as an athlete?

To a good foundation: he searches diligently into the Scripture of truth; he constantly attends the ministry of the word; he inquires of Gospel preachers.

Nearly every aspect of the house of the wise man and the house of the foolish man is identical. Their houses are the same, the rains that fall on them are the same, the floods that rise against them are the same, the winds that blow against them are the same. There are only two differences—their foundations and their endurance.

It is not the structure that is wrong, but the foundation, that is wrong. God made you just like everyone else.

God made you in the image of Himself.

He knit you in your mothers womb.

He knows how many hairs are on each ones head.

So what is the difference?

All is well at first. The house on the sand looks as fair and solid as that on the rock. It even may look better because they had more time working on the looks than that of a the one on a the rock.

The people were astonished at his doctrine; it being something new, and unheard of, what they had not been used to; and coming in the demonstration of the Spirit, and of power, it carried its own evidence along with it, wrought conviction in their minds, and obliged them to acknowledge the truth of it.

Who are you listening to?

Does it have the authority of Jesus?

It is possible for people to admire good preaching and yet to remain in ignorance and unbelief; to be astonished, and yet not sanctified.

As an athlete you have to put in the time. You have to lift weights to get stronger. You spend time strengthening you core. You stretch to gain control over your strength and flexibility. You seek peace to protect your heart and mind.

God has call us to do the same. Spend time working on your relationship with God.

Don't focus on making it look good on the outside.

Focus on making it strong and on the right foundation.

Listen to the right authority.

Saluki DownTime July 24, 2023

 Saluki Down Time - July 24, 2023

Do you KNOW God? 

“Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.”

Psalm 46:10

Sit down and think about knowing God. Yesterday I was telling a friend of mine that another friend of mine knows Jesus. She immediately responded, due to the actions of the other friend, "you can know God and still be lost."

Do you know God or do you know God's heart?

God wants you to know who he is. He wants you to know how he will respond. His character. His love. 

How do you build a relationship with someone else? 

1. Spend time with them. 

2. Listen well to them. 

3. Communicate with them. 

You don't have to live not knowing whether God is going to care for you, provide for you, or love you. 

“I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them.”  - John 17:26

Jesus has made a way for us to get real access to our heavenly father. We don't have to wait or wonder if we can have access to him. 

David was a man after God's own heart. 

It is a pursuit. 

It is a daily grind. 

It is available.

 It is possible. 

The spirit of God is in you. You have access to God because he gave you the Holy Spirit. Connect the triangle and you will know God intimately. It will be a wonderful relationship. You will not have to worry about your life. You will get to know who you are in and through God. Your identity can be through Christ once you get to know God. 

What part of God do you not know? 

Rest in the presence of God. 

Have you thanked God for how available he is to you? 

You have full access to God. There is nothing else you have to do to get to know God. He is an open door. He wrote a book just for you. He will listen. He will love. He will be there for you. 

God is fully available. Take advantage of that in your life. 

DownTime July 17, 2023

 DownTime July 17, 2023

Wait for the Lord. 

God gives you strength  to sustain you and achieve victory over your enemies. 

Isaiah 40:31 contains a great promise of strength for the weary: “they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.”

Waiting takes practice. 

Waiting takes time. 

Waits is Godly

When we wait on God, we are able to do things in his timing. We are able to understand better. We are able to be protected through it. 

When you rush your life you are changing God's timing. It may not all be where it needs to be because God is not ready for you. God also knows you are not ready yet either. This is why God's timing is perfect. 

Where do you struggle in running ahead of God? 

Where do you lack patience in your life? 

What is an example of when you ran faster than God wanted you to? 

What is an example of when you ran with God's timing? 

When we get this wrong we are saying we do not trust God and where he has us. Trust is a heart issue. You actions come from the heart. When you don't want to wait you become stressed and stress is showing that you don't trust God. 

To fully experience God's promises of strength and guidance, you must learn to trust God. 

God knows you. 

God knows how to lead you. 

God knows how to protect you. 

Trust God. 

Let his presence in the moment be where you are. He is there with you always, let him be. God to him. 

Let God's presence be your foundation daily. 

Where do you feel scared or lacking in trust? 

God has given us the Holy Spirit. Ask the Holy Spirit: 

1. Help you trust in God's timing. 

2. Help you follow God's path. 

3. Help you listen. 

God promises to be your help and your shield. 

Psalm 37:28

Stay behind your God and experience renewed strength for every circumstance you come to today. 

Application for this week? 

Prayer

Share your week with me! 

Chris Duckworth

heartsandmindsministries@gmail.com

618.202.9963

Downttime July 10, 2023

 DownTime July 10, 2023

"What is your Mystery"

God wants what is best for us. God wants us to surrender anything that isn't best for us - FOR US! 

God is clear about wanting to work with us. 

God is clear about wanting to work for us. 

God is clear that you have to meet him for this "us" to work. 

In Him we have: 

    1. forgiveness 2. forgiveness 3. Hope

Jesus' death is how we have these things. Jesus was God's plan for us to be able to live out this plan in our life. There is no other way that it is possible. 

The Bible is clear that God desires for his people to continually know his will. 

1 Thessalonians 5:17 says Pray continually. Why? So that we can know God's will. 

Romans 12:2 - Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

How can you seek God's will in your life? 

What do you need to surrender (give up) in order to follow god's will? 

Ephesians 1:9-10 - he[a] made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, 10 to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfillment—to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ.

God will show you. You have to be committed to Him and committed to wanting to know. 

Where in your life do you need God's guidance? 

Listen to God for his guidance. 

How can you listen? 

1. Prayer 2. Reading the Bible 3. Other people 4. Worship

The more you do these, the closer you will become to God, the more like Christ you become, and the more you will know and live out God's will in your life. 

God wants to talk to you throughout your day. 

Your heavenly Father loves you. 

God wants the best for you. 

God wants to help you find the best for you. 

Live your life in response to the life-giving knowledge of God's will. 

Trust and listen Today. 

Downtime - July 3, 2023

 Downtime - July 3, 2023

Psalm 22:4-5 "In you our fathers trusted: they trusted, and you delivered them. To you they cried and were rescued; in you they trusted and were not put to shame. " 

What does trust mean to you? 

Trust means something different to everyone. Trust could mean answering your phone when they call. It could mean showing up when you supposed to be someone-where. Trust could mean that you are the provider. Trust could mean that you don't tell other people when asked not to. 

How do you define trust? 

We value trust. Trust is something we hang on to and usually are not willing to give away. When it is broken we hang on even tighter.

Trust is often associated with peace, joy, and love. 

Trust in the world is not the same as Trust in God. 

Now think about being trustworthy. Are you someone who can be trusted? 

Trust is a commodity of the heart. 

Jeremiah 17:7 - "Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord. 

What does trust provide you? 

God has already been there done that. God has proven himself over and over again for us. God us trustworthy. You can trust that God will. 

Isaiah 41:10 - "Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous hand." 

God is there for you. You can TRUST God. 

Who do you see as your provider?

Who do you see as your source of happiness?

Who do you see as the foundation for your future?

Matthew 11:28 - "Come to me, all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest."

Do you struggle to rest? 

What do you think causes this? 

God wants you to know that He's got you. He knitted you in your mothers womb. He knows the hairs on your head. If God was there for you then, how much more does he care about you now. 

Go to him. 

Where in your life do you need to work on trust? 

Do you do what you need to daily to have a relationship with God. 

Do you trust that God's got you?