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How To Check Your Spiritual Foundation Before Life Hits Hard · The Reality Is

0:00
SPEAKER_01: If Christ doesn't do another thing for you, hasn't he already done enough?
0:03
SPEAKER_01: Absolutely.
0:03
SPEAKER_01: Hasn't he done?
0:04
SPEAKER_01: I asked that to my kids.
0:05
SPEAKER_01: I challenge everybody with that question.
0:07
SPEAKER_01: And hear this: I challenge myself with that question.
0:10
SPEAKER_01: I have to challenge myself with a if God does not do another thing for me.
0:16
SPEAKER_01: Hasn't he already done enough?
0:19
SPEAKER_01: Why do I need God to do things for me in order for me to obey him?
0:26
SPEAKER_01: Like, no.
0:27
SPEAKER_00: The reality.
0:34
SPEAKER_00: The reality.
0:43
SPEAKER_01: Welcome to the reality is podcast, where we're here today to talk about real life and real faith.
0:48
SPEAKER_01: My name is Joey.
0:49
SPEAKER_01: I've got Richard over here with me.
0:51
SPEAKER_01: And before we get into this new series that we've been talking about, I'm going to ask you guys to do us a favor.
0:55
SPEAKER_01: Would you like, subscribe, share this with your friends, and ring the bell.
0:59
SPEAKER_01: That way you don't have to miss another episode of the Reality Is Podcast.
1:03
SPEAKER_01: So last week, we ended up a five-part series.
1:07
SPEAKER_01: And that one was talking about our spiritual lives.
1:09
SPEAKER_01: And we finished with walking in the spirit, which was really, really if, again, if you didn't see it, you may want to go back, watch that series because that's going to kind of lead up to what we're trying to do as we introduce this new series, which is walking on a foundation, which is Christ, which is going to be the Word of God.
1:30
SPEAKER_01: So we're looking forward to introducing the new series.
1:32
SPEAKER_01: But as always, I've got to have story time before we start.
1:35
SPEAKER_01: Okay.
1:36
SPEAKER_01: So, ah, I know you'll appreciate this.
1:39
SPEAKER_01: Some of y'all are going to appreciate this too, just because every year, it seems like at the men's retreat, everybody's got like knife jokes that they want to do with me because of the one incident where I didn't know everybody actually carried their own pocket knives, you know.
1:54
SPEAKER_01: So we get through our steak night and we're getting ready to have some wonderful steak.
1:58
SPEAKER_01: And a friend comes up to me and he says, Hey men, do you do you have a knife?
2:02
SPEAKER_01: I say, Yeah, yeah, I got a knife.
2:03
SPEAKER_01: And I pulled out the pocket knife.
2:04
SPEAKER_01: I showed him it's a nice pocket knife.
2:06
SPEAKER_01: And he didn't quite say it like this, but he goes, That's not a knife.
2:11
SPEAKER_01: Let me show you a knife.
2:12
SPEAKER_01: I just I hear Crocodile Dundee in my head as he's saying it to me.
2:16
SPEAKER_01: That's not a knife.
2:17
SPEAKER_01: And so he goes and he gets me a knife.
2:20
SPEAKER_01: And to be fair, he warned me.
2:23
SPEAKER_01: He says, Now I sharpen my knives really sharp.
2:26
SPEAKER_01: So so you have to be careful.
2:27
SPEAKER_01: Like, don't slip, don't tell.
2:29
SPEAKER_01: I got it.
2:29
SPEAKER_01: It's just whatever, whatever.
2:31
SPEAKER_01: You could still see the bark.
2:33
SPEAKER_01: So I'm slicing the baked potato open, and I promise you, I touched my thumb.
2:39
SPEAKER_01: I didn't come back hard.
2:40
SPEAKER_01: It literally touched my thumb, and blood just started coming out.
2:44
SPEAKER_01: I'm going, ah, dude.
2:46
SPEAKER_01: He's like, man, I look at you.
2:48
SPEAKER_01: Like I what was the last thing I said to you?
2:49
SPEAKER_01: You said don't slip.
2:51
SPEAKER_01: And it's very sharp.
2:52
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it was really, really sharp.
2:56
SPEAKER_01: Like, why?
2:57
SPEAKER_01: Like, what?
2:58
SPEAKER_01: I know you're a pocket knife guy.
3:00
SPEAKER_01: Like, what good's a dull knife?
3:02
SPEAKER_02: Oh my goodness.
3:03
SPEAKER_02: Does it really have to be that sharp?
3:06
SPEAKER_02: One that, or I can wear my arm out trying to something.
3:10
SPEAKER_01: Goodness, it was like so stinking sharp.
3:13
SPEAKER_01: I could not believe it.
3:14
SPEAKER_01: And so, of course, I have to wrap my thumb up before I can go in and eat some steak.
3:18
SPEAKER_01: But man, did we have some good steak that night?
3:20
SPEAKER_01: We did.
3:21
SPEAKER_01: We did.
3:22
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, for all y'all that didn't come, the teaching was great.
3:26
SPEAKER_01: Don't get me wrong, you missed out on some great teaching, but you missed a good steak, dude.
3:29
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
3:29
SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna tell you, you missed a steak.
3:31
SPEAKER_02: Well, it it was a good time.
3:32
SPEAKER_02: We had a wonderful time, and and uh I I just um I I'm saddened every year when I hear your knife stories.
3:41
SPEAKER_02: It's every year it's a different knife story.
3:43
SPEAKER_02: He Jamie gave me one last year.
3:46
SPEAKER_02: But I'm sitting here thinking that the it really all goes back to your lack of knowledge of who John Wayne is, and and since you don't have a basic American foundation, that's your struggle.
3:58
SPEAKER_02: Okay, you know?
3:59
SPEAKER_01: No Duke always had a sharp knife, no exaggeration.
4:02
SPEAKER_01: Just yesterday, somebody says to me, you know, Joey, he has a statue at the airport at the Santa Ana Airport.
4:11
SPEAKER_01: Okay, people, I get it.
4:12
SPEAKER_01: I don't know who this guy is.
4:14
SPEAKER_01: And I'm like, and I don't fly out of Santa Ana, I fly out of LAX.
4:18
SPEAKER_01: So I don't know who and why does he have a statue anyway?
4:22
SPEAKER_02: I have had more conversations with people about you not knowing John Wayne than I have about any other podcast we've ever done.
4:29
SPEAKER_02: I bet.
4:32
SPEAKER_01: I know Jesus.
4:33
SPEAKER_01: Okay, that's that's important.
4:35
SPEAKER_01: Oh, let's be spiritual.
4:37
SPEAKER_01: Let's be spiritual.
4:40
SPEAKER_01: Sorry.
4:41
SPEAKER_01: We we have a real podcast today that we want to talk about.
4:44
SPEAKER_02: New series, break us off.
4:46
SPEAKER_02: Okay.
4:46
SPEAKER_02: You know, we're we're talking about building on on a foundation.
4:49
SPEAKER_02: And when we talk about building, your foundation is the most important part of it.
4:54
SPEAKER_02: Uh it it doesn't matter how much time and energy you put into the structure.
5:01
SPEAKER_02: If you build that structure on a faulty foundation, uh the structure's going to be faulty.
5:06
SPEAKER_02: And and so it is what we're looking at when Christ gives us the idea of the foundation.
5:14
SPEAKER_02: Now, in this series, we're gonna go back and we're gonna put up walls and we're gonna put windows and doors in and we're gonna put a roof on.
5:21
SPEAKER_02: But you know what?
5:22
SPEAKER_02: None of that can be done until the foundation is built.
5:25
SPEAKER_02: And so that's where we're gonna begin.
5:27
SPEAKER_02: And what we need to recognize is is the foundation is so important because it's it's what we're putting in us, right?
5:36
SPEAKER_02: And and so it it's essential that we start on the right groundwork.
5:40
SPEAKER_02: And so Christ talks about that in Matthew chapter 7.
5:44
SPEAKER_02: He talks about building on the rock, and he and we're gonna come back and talk more about this, but he said, you know what, there were two builders, and and one of the builders chose the right location he built on the rock, and the other one chose the easy location.
5:56
SPEAKER_02: He he tried to build on the sand, and he said, Then a storm came, and when the storm came, the one on the rock stood and the one on the sand crumbled.
6:06
SPEAKER_02: And and so we're gonna talk about over the next four or five weeks, what are you building on?
6:12
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, what is your foundation?
6:14
SPEAKER_02: Uh, because I I'll guarantee you there are people listening to us uh on this podcast at some point in their life, either past or unfortunately even present, yeah, their foundations are faulty.
6:26
SPEAKER_02: And and they don't even know it.
6:28
SPEAKER_02: And and because they've they've bought into so much of the nonsense of the world, then and their foundation is sand.
6:35
SPEAKER_02: It's just shifting, it's changing, it's never dependable.
6:39
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and and I know that firsthand experience from a builder's perspective, because you know, we bought property which had nothing but trees on it, and then we had to clear the trees, and before they came and did anything, they had to lay the foundation before they built anything on our property.
7:00
SPEAKER_01: And it's just one of those things where it's like, well, can't you just take it and and just put it there?
7:05
SPEAKER_01: You know, a lot of people would think that.
7:06
SPEAKER_01: Can't you just take the home, put it right there?
7:08
SPEAKER_01: No, no, because it will fall apart, it will crumble, it will break.
7:14
SPEAKER_01: And you need to make sure your house is set on a firm foundation.
7:19
SPEAKER_01: Well, how much more so if we're putting a house, something that we're going to live in on a firm foundation, should our lives, should our spiritual lives be set on a foundation because that's eternal.
7:31
SPEAKER_01: Right.
7:32
SPEAKER_01: That's an eternal thing that we're talking about.
7:34
SPEAKER_01: And a lot of times people just blow right by it, you know.
7:38
SPEAKER_01: They say, Oh, well, I've got this, I've got this, I can do this, I can do that.
7:41
SPEAKER_01: It's like, well, can we get back to the the foundation of of who you are and what Christ has done for you?
7:48
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, and and and again, it you choose the foundation.
7:52
SPEAKER_02: Remember the the last we finished up the last series by walk in the spirit or walk in the flesh.
7:57
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
7:57
SPEAKER_02: Okay.
7:58
SPEAKER_02: It's choose the foundation, right?
8:01
SPEAKER_02: And I want you to notice that the difference that we're going to find in this foundation was not the weather.
8:08
SPEAKER_02: Okay.
8:10
SPEAKER_02: It was where they chose to build.
8:12
SPEAKER_02: Because by all indication, as you read in Matthew 7, it seems that these were built together.
8:19
SPEAKER_02: It it seems that the same storm hit them both, right?
8:23
SPEAKER_02: It's just one of them chose to do the hard work and one of them chose to take an easy path.
8:29
SPEAKER_02: And and so what are we doing?
8:31
SPEAKER_02: You know, the the foundation is is absolutely essential.
8:36
SPEAKER_02: And if you build a faulty foundation, as we've said, that then nothing is going to stand.
8:42
SPEAKER_01: It won't stand.
8:43
SPEAKER_02: And here's the thing about a foundation: no one sees it.
8:47
SPEAKER_03: Right?
8:48
SPEAKER_02: You're going to cover the foundation.
8:51
SPEAKER_02: Yes, you are.
8:51
SPEAKER_02: Right.
8:52
SPEAKER_02: And and so I want you to think about what we're talking about today.
8:55
SPEAKER_02: It's really stuff that nobody sees in your life.
8:58
SPEAKER_02: Absolutely.
8:59
SPEAKER_02: It's it's not something that I mean, I can walk up to you, for instance.
9:03
SPEAKER_02: So we we talk about you know the fruits of the spirit, right?
9:07
SPEAKER_02: I I can see that.
9:08
SPEAKER_02: That's that's the whole point of the fruit of the spirit, right?
9:11
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I can identify that.
9:13
SPEAKER_02: I I can see your good works, if you will, okay?
9:17
SPEAKER_02: But I cannot see your foundation.
9:19
SPEAKER_02: Exactly.
9:20
SPEAKER_02: So I don't know whether you're doing those good works from your desire to be known and recognized, or whether you're doing those good works from from based on what the Spirit of God's doing in your life.
9:30
SPEAKER_02: And that goes back to your foundation.
9:32
SPEAKER_02: And so, you know, when when we build a house, you you take and you you dig out the foundation, you dig down to solid ground, you pour your footers, you pour your your foundation.
9:44
SPEAKER_02: And like I say, though, after you do all that, you just cover it up and nobody sees.
9:48
SPEAKER_01: Nobody knows the thing.
9:49
SPEAKER_02: But I'll tell you what, don't put it there and and see what happens.
9:53
SPEAKER_02: Uh-huh.
9:53
SPEAKER_02: Right.
9:54
SPEAKER_01: Uh-huh.
9:54
SPEAKER_01: Especially when you go to refinance or do something.
9:56
SPEAKER_01: You know the first thing they come and do?
9:58
SPEAKER_01: They go through your crawl space and they want to see how is this house standing?
10:03
SPEAKER_01: Like, what foundation is it on?
10:05
SPEAKER_01: Because is it worth us even saying, yeah, we'll uh we'll do that for you or not?
10:10
SPEAKER_01: Right.
10:11
SPEAKER_01: Well, shouldn't we look at our spiritual lives and say, is that person even worth right?
10:16
SPEAKER_01: Oh, come on now.
10:18
SPEAKER_01: Like, okay, we do it for a house and we go, okay, yeah, oh, look at that.
10:21
SPEAKER_01: It's on pillars, okay, great.
10:23
SPEAKER_01: Oh, the cement goes or concrete, whatever you call it, goes all the way down.
10:26
SPEAKER_01: Okay, this is solid.
10:29
SPEAKER_01: We are now willing to say, yeah, we'll invest in that.
10:31
SPEAKER_01: Imagine if that happened in our lives, if somebody could see our foundation and go, yeah, that person's worth investing in, or that person's not like, woo.
10:41
SPEAKER_02: Oh, great point.
10:42
SPEAKER_02: Exactly.
10:43
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
10:44
SPEAKER_02: Just what if you could see it?
10:45
SPEAKER_02: What if you could see it?
10:47
SPEAKER_02: And and that is so important.
10:49
SPEAKER_02: And so as we look at this parable in in Matthew 7, I uh uh please take an opportunity to read it, right?
10:56
SPEAKER_02: We we just tell people, oh, Matthew 7, verses 24 through 27.
11:00
SPEAKER_02: We find two builders there.
11:01
SPEAKER_02: And Christ specifically says, you know what, one of these builders is wise, and one of these builders is foolish.
11:08
SPEAKER_02: Okay.
11:08
SPEAKER_02: And and he describes both men, and and he says, Here's what happens.
11:14
SPEAKER_02: The the wise one hears what I say, and and out of that he builds.
11:19
SPEAKER_02: All right.
11:20
SPEAKER_02: The foolish one, he hears what I say, but out of that he ignores and and he does his own thing.
11:26
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, right.
11:26
SPEAKER_02: And so you have the wise and the foolish uh as as you look at that.
11:32
SPEAKER_02: But you don't discover, as we've said, until the storm comes.
11:35
SPEAKER_02: All right, but there's a couple of things that happens, okay?
11:37
SPEAKER_02: So when we're talking about foundation, all right.
11:40
SPEAKER_02: So so let's just think about the parable, think about what Christ said, the wise and foolish.
11:45
SPEAKER_02: There's a couple things we need to know as as believers, as people.
11:48
SPEAKER_02: Everyone is building something.
11:51
SPEAKER_02: There you go.
11:52
SPEAKER_02: All right.
11:52
SPEAKER_02: Uh and so me, you, we're all building something.
11:57
SPEAKER_02: Notice Jesus doesn't say there was a builder and a non-builder.
12:01
unknown: Yeah.
12:02
SPEAKER_02: Okay.
12:02
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
12:03
SPEAKER_02: And it's very important for us to remember that.
12:05
SPEAKER_02: We're all building.
12:06
SPEAKER_02: The question is, what are you building?
12:09
SPEAKER_01: And how are you building it?
12:10
SPEAKER_01: What are you building it on?
12:12
SPEAKER_01: That's the key question.
12:13
SPEAKER_02: Well, in 1 Corinthians 3 and verse 11, it tells us, for there's no other foundation can anyone lay than that that is laid, which is Christ Jesus.
12:22
SPEAKER_02: So the question is is is am I building on the foundation that Christ left me?
12:27
SPEAKER_02: Am I building or am I building my own thing, doing my own way?
12:31
SPEAKER_02: Uh again, it can be good, but does that mean I'm doing what God called me to do, or does that mean I'm doing, hey, look at Richard, look good, look what I'm doing, and you know, and so I think key to to a lot of that, especially in your spiritual life, is uh even in the house illustration.
12:50
SPEAKER_01: Okay, both of them look good, right?
12:52
SPEAKER_01: Right?
12:52
SPEAKER_01: They both look good.
12:53
SPEAKER_01: Like here, here I am.
12:54
SPEAKER_01: Look at my life, look at all these things that I'm doing.
12:57
SPEAKER_01: But and I've shared this before on the podcast, and I'm not proud of this, and that's not why I'm bringing it up.
13:03
SPEAKER_01: I'm ashamed of this.
13:05
SPEAKER_01: I looked like a great worship leader because I was doing all the things that I was supposed to do that looked like it was worship.
13:17
SPEAKER_01: And then one time it was just one of those things where I just didn't raise my hands like I often raise my hands, wasn't as energetic.
13:25
SPEAKER_01: And somebody said, and and and this was not wrong of them to say, it was like, oh, was something wrong?
13:32
SPEAKER_01: I noticed that you weren't raising your hands like you normally raise your hands.
13:37
SPEAKER_01: Oh no, everything's fine.
13:38
SPEAKER_01: But what happened in my head?
13:39
SPEAKER_01: It clicked and said, Oh no, people are watching the way I worship.
13:43
SPEAKER_01: So now I have to look a certain way.
13:45
SPEAKER_01: So now here I am looking a certain way.
13:48
SPEAKER_01: And from the outside in, people are thinking, wow, look at that guy.
13:52
SPEAKER_01: Wow, look at him.
13:54
SPEAKER_01: He is so engaged in worship.
13:57
SPEAKER_01: Look at how that man, he must have a great heart of worship.
14:00
SPEAKER_01: No, that man had a great heart of saying, I better look like this or else other people are going to think.
14:05
SPEAKER_01: I was doing it for the appearance, and what happened with that, I've shared it before.
14:12
SPEAKER_01: Life crumbled.
14:13
SPEAKER_01: My whole life crumbled.
14:14
SPEAKER_01: My foundation wasn't set on the word and what God thought about me.
14:19
SPEAKER_01: It was set on what other people were thinking about me.
14:22
SPEAKER_01: I looked good though.
14:23
SPEAKER_01: It looked good.
14:24
SPEAKER_01: You would look at the other person who was on a firm foundation, and you would look at me and you go, Wow, look at those guys.
14:31
SPEAKER_01: They're so spiritual.
14:33
SPEAKER_01: While this guy over here, me, wasn't built on anything and it just kept sinking and sinking and sinking and sinking.
14:39
SPEAKER_02: Well, you know, which I mean a great point because you know what, a good looking house can have a bad foundation.
14:45
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
14:46
SPEAKER_02: And you can sit and you can look at it and say, wow, that's just and it could have a bad foundation.
14:53
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
14:53
SPEAKER_02: And so, you know, it it is one of the great dangers of our spiritual life to where we become a good looking house.
15:01
SPEAKER_02: And and and but our foundation is faulty and and you know, and and it'll come out.
15:08
SPEAKER_02: It'll come out, and you can count on it.
15:10
SPEAKER_02: It'll be it'll come out in in your marriage, it'll come out in your attitude, it'll come out in in your actions, it's going to come out everything you do, right?
15:21
SPEAKER_02: But it can start with a good looking house.
15:23
SPEAKER_02: Sure does.
15:24
SPEAKER_02: And and begin to crumble from there.
15:26
SPEAKER_02: The the problem is when you have the good looking house, it it makes it impossible for other people to look at our lives and think that's a weak Christian because it's a good looking house.
15:37
SPEAKER_02: It's when the storm comes that people can begin to identify.
15:42
SPEAKER_01: Amen.
15:43
SPEAKER_01: And when the storm comes and you're spiritually not set on something, your life will crumble.
15:49
SPEAKER_01: Period.
15:50
SPEAKER_02: Well, the the question is, what is your faith built on?
15:52
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
15:53
SPEAKER_02: Okay.
15:53
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
15:54
SPEAKER_02: Is my faith built on my circumstances?
15:56
SPEAKER_02: So, so when I'm having a really, really good day, then that means right.
16:00
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, everything's good.
16:01
SPEAKER_02: Is it built on another person?
16:03
SPEAKER_02: Am I, you know, I don't know how many people I've seen turned away.
16:07
SPEAKER_02: And even when I was a younger kid, I was turned away because of the action of a so-called Christian, right?
16:12
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
16:13
SPEAKER_02: And and so is my faith resting in a person?
16:17
SPEAKER_02: Is it resting in a church and a pastor and my health and my security, whatever the case is?
16:23
SPEAKER_02: All of those things that we're talking about have nothing to do with the foundation, but it does have to do with a good looking house.
16:30
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it sure does.
16:31
SPEAKER_01: And it can look really good.
16:32
SPEAKER_01: And how many times have we put our faith in the other person?
16:37
SPEAKER_01: Right.
16:38
SPEAKER_01: How many times have I looked on and said, oh, well, look, because I am here at this place, uh, I have access to the, especially at churches.
16:46
SPEAKER_01: People will come, like even to our church.
16:48
SPEAKER_01: Oh, I have access to because they're they're very benevolent, and oh, I have access to, oh, they're gonna take care of me.
16:54
SPEAKER_01: Oh, I have access to like they have access to all these things, and their trust, their hope, their faith have been put in the church.
17:04
SPEAKER_01: Is that a bad thing?
17:06
SPEAKER_01: No, I do want the church to be available, but if you are, if you are seeking the church first, then I think your foundation is completely off.
17:17
SPEAKER_02: Absolutely.
17:18
SPEAKER_02: You know, it and when you think about a bad foundation, uh, you know, the storm doesn't create the foundation, but it reveals the foundation.
17:27
SPEAKER_02: Thank you, it reveals the foundation.
17:29
SPEAKER_02: So so when we're talking about the proper foundation, okay, as we said, it can be a good-looking house built on a bad foundation, and and we got a problem when the storm comes, all right.
17:39
SPEAKER_02: It looks great until it's revealed for what it is.
17:43
SPEAKER_02: And and you know, in verse 25 of chapter seven, it it tells us, and the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew.
17:52
SPEAKER_02: Okay, so the storm came, and when the storm came, the type of house, whether it was built on the rock or whether it was built on the sand, was revealed.
18:04
SPEAKER_02: And and so that's what we just want people to understand as we start this series and we start thinking about that.
18:09
SPEAKER_02: Yeah um when you start looking at what happens in the crisis in my life, what happens in those quiet moments?
18:16
SPEAKER_02: What what am I looking at when nobody's looking at me?
18:19
SPEAKER_02: Okay, what what am I doing, thinking, saying?
18:22
SPEAKER_02: That's your foundation, and and that foundation is either built on the things of the world or it's built on the things of God.
18:28
SPEAKER_01: You you know what I get from you saying that storms will come.
18:32
SPEAKER_01: Oh it's not if a storm comes.
18:35
SPEAKER_01: No, the storm is going to come, and when the storm comes, where are you gonna land?
18:43
SPEAKER_01: Where are you going to be?
18:45
SPEAKER_01: Are you going to remain standing because the storm came, or are you gonna fall because the storm came?
18:52
SPEAKER_01: And now, again, if if you fall prayerfully, you've got some Christian brothers to come and help you rebuild, but but my prayer is that they help you build on a solid foundation.
19:02
SPEAKER_02: Well, again, it's a hundred percent because Christ said in John 16, 33, he said, I've spoken this to you that in me you can have peace.
19:15
SPEAKER_02: But he said, in the world you will have tribulation.
19:19
SPEAKER_02: And and not might, not could, will.
19:22
SPEAKER_02: You know, the best way I've ever heard it explained is you're either in a storm, coming out of a storm, or going into a storm.
19:29
SPEAKER_02: Yep.
19:29
SPEAKER_02: But guess what?
19:30
SPEAKER_02: Life's about storms.
19:31
SPEAKER_02: So when you think about it that way, you really go back and you say, Man, I need to consider the foundation that I'm built on, because I'm either in a storm, coming out of a storm, going into a storm.
19:41
SPEAKER_02: I've got all these storms all around me.
19:43
SPEAKER_02: What kind of foundation am I sitting on?
19:46
SPEAKER_02: Right.
19:47
SPEAKER_02: And and and so when you really think about that, and you know, when I when I lived in in Alabama, I I lived in Tornado Alley.
19:55
SPEAKER_02: And and so they call it Tornado Alley for a reason.
19:58
SPEAKER_02: It is not so fun.
19:59
SPEAKER_02: No, it's not.
20:00
SPEAKER_02: And so, you know, every year there would be neighborhoods that would be hit by storm, right?
20:07
SPEAKER_02: And and so one year a neighborhood like one street over from us, the tornado came that street.
20:13
SPEAKER_02: Uh and here's what I want you to know though, Joey.
20:16
SPEAKER_02: The the windows and the roof blew away.
20:21
SPEAKER_02: The foundations were there, still there.
20:23
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, okay, still still and and this is the importance of our foundation, right?
20:27
SPEAKER_02: Our our structure may get shaken, but our foundation is still there.
20:34
SPEAKER_02: And and we've got to understand that.
20:36
SPEAKER_01: Question for you on that is there a way, if you so you're listening right now and you go, man, I I don't I don't even know if I'm on a solid foundation.
20:45
SPEAKER_01: Is there a way to like, hey, I I am on a week, like say in a house, you go, wow, the storm came and and the wind's blowing.
20:53
SPEAKER_01: It wasn't a tornado, but but I'm feeling like the house is shifting spiritually.
20:58
SPEAKER_01: Do you think there's a way where you can start saying to yourself, man, I realize I'm not, I'm not on this phone because something happened and and I reacted this way or or I got and and now I'm going, wait a minute, where's the foundation?
21:11
SPEAKER_01: Like, can you do you think you can tell?
21:13
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I mean, absolutely, because it it's I you take, for instance, if you're talking about a literal structure, okay?
21:18
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, you you can begin to tell there's a problem with the foundation sinking, for instance, because you begin to see cracks in the walls.
21:26
SPEAKER_02: Okay.
21:33
SPEAKER_02: Right.
21:33
SPEAKER_02: And and you you begin to realize this thing isn't square, this thing isn't level.
21:38
SPEAKER_02: So there's some telltale signs there.
21:40
SPEAKER_02: Right.
21:40
SPEAKER_02: And and even when people take like when they're trying to sell something, they're trying to cover up the cracks, they're trying to cover up the the things, right?
21:49
SPEAKER_02: Well, we do the same thing in our in our spiritual life, but then we start saying, Okay, how do I react when pressure comes?
21:56
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
21:56
SPEAKER_02: How do I react when when when my luggage is lost.
22:01
SPEAKER_02: How do I react when my flight is delayed?
22:04
SPEAKER_02: How do I how do I react when somebody laughs at me?
22:10
SPEAKER_02: I wish I'd have known that there.
22:11
SPEAKER_02: Oh I'm glad you didn't.
22:13
SPEAKER_02: And so yeah, so absolutely.
22:16
SPEAKER_02: You know, there's there's a way.
22:17
SPEAKER_02: And here's what I was wondering.
22:20
SPEAKER_02: But sometimes in order to know the foundation isn't right, you see it from the inside, not from the outside.
22:26
SPEAKER_02: Okay.
22:27
SPEAKER_02: I I'm I believe with all my heart that that uh someone with a faulty foundation knows their foundation's faulty.
22:33
SPEAKER_02: Okay.
22:33
SPEAKER_01: And that's where I was trying to get to.
22:35
SPEAKER_01: So if you're listening right now and you're going, well I don't know.
22:38
SPEAKER_01: I think the truth, the reality is you do know.
22:41
SPEAKER_01: Absolutely.
22:41
SPEAKER_01: You do know.
22:42
SPEAKER_01: Right.
22:42
SPEAKER_01: And you're listening to us right now and you're going, oh man, how do they know?
22:46
SPEAKER_01: Because we've lived it.
22:48
SPEAKER_01: But but but seriously like as you're listening to this right now can you start just examining yourself?
22:54
SPEAKER_01: I think part of it is sometimes we just need to examine ourselves.
22:57
SPEAKER_01: Other people don't need to come in and look at our life and go, hey, you know what I see?
23:00
SPEAKER_01: Start examining yourself.
23:02
SPEAKER_01: Absolutely.
23:02
SPEAKER_02: See here's the reality the the storm doesn't put anything in you it simply uncovers what's already there.
23:09
SPEAKER_02: And and so when we really stop to think about that and we begin to to break that down even as you look at this Jesus isn't or hearing about Jesus isn't the same as building on Jesus.
23:23
SPEAKER_02: Okay.
23:24
SPEAKER_02: This both these guys heard the word of Christ.
23:27
SPEAKER_02: Both these guys heard my sayings is what Christ said.
23:30
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
23:30
SPEAKER_02: Okay so I heard about but that doesn't mean I built on.
23:35
SPEAKER_02: Yeah and and that's I think is what we're talking about too is is you got to go back and look okay what what am I actually building this on?
23:41
SPEAKER_02: Am I building this on because I've always gone to church am I building this on because um my my my mama went to church and my mama before my mama went to church and and so since or am I building it because this is what Christ has done in my life and he's my foundation.
23:59
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
24:00
SPEAKER_01: And and if you're hearing it are you doing it are you literally going okay I hear what you guys are talking about.
24:06
SPEAKER_01: I understand what you're saying but and that's the fear I have for some of the people that are listening like they're going to listen only I hear what you guys are talking about but and I don't like that.
24:18
SPEAKER_01: I'd rather you be saying okay I hear what you guys are talking about and now it's time for me to really start doing a self-evaluation looking within as you're saying inside of the house you can see the cracks you can see what's going on the floor is a little bit unlevel I can see what's happening and now I'm going to do something.
24:38
SPEAKER_01: Key example and and and again I'm ashamed of this storm like a legit storm coming hitting our house and you know this like rain hitting our roof leaks coming in the house and we're going man I can't believe that this must just be a really bad because that doesn't always happen and over time those leaks start getting worse.
25:04
SPEAKER_01: You would think I would listen to my wife who said you know we should probably do something about this the first time not you know years later for now I've got to replace the whole roof I've got to get rid of the mole we've got to do all this stuff where it could have been handled the first time.
25:22
SPEAKER_01: So my my fear is you're listening and you're going yeah right but and I'm talking a real situation with a roof you know I came to you complaining about the roof I had to redo this.
25:32
SPEAKER_01: But but if I would have just taken care of the situation early on I wouldn't have to be in the position that I place myself in later.
25:41
SPEAKER_01: Spiritually that's a much more we're talking about a roof but spiritually that's a much worse situation.
25:47
SPEAKER_01: Yeah yeah I see the leak I see the crack I I get it but let me see how much further I can get with it because I'm not willing to deal with the problem right now.
26:03
SPEAKER_01: And that's what it was I wasn't willing to deal with the problem spiritually you can't get there.
26:07
SPEAKER_02: No and and and when you read this parable it it one thing that really jumps out to at you both men heard one man obeyed okay and and see the difference in the builders wasn't the information they had it was the application of that information.
26:21
SPEAKER_02: So they both had the information and and it's exactly what you're talking about.
26:26
SPEAKER_02: I mean your your wife didn't have to tell you we really should fix that leak.
26:31
SPEAKER_02: I mean it was evident to you but when it wasn't raining it wasn't a problem.
26:34
SPEAKER_02: It wasn't a problem you know and it only happened during the heavy rain.
26:39
SPEAKER_02: Exactly it wasn't and and and we we say that tongue in cheek but at the same time it's very real true it only happened when it really was bad right yes see that spiritual and and and so what happens is there it there's something causing the problem.
26:55
SPEAKER_02: Yes right we we had the similar thing we bought our house and in heavy heavy heavy downpours we'd get a little bit of water in yeah and dude I I crawled all over that roof looking and found one nail that that was causing the problem right and and you they're hard to find but but see that's what happens but it only takes the one little nail doesn't it right and and so you hear the information but what do you do with the information right and so we we need to understand how important it is.
27:32
SPEAKER_02: When Christ said be doers of the word not hearers only but then he said if you're a doer of the word not hearers only and then he goes but deceiving yourselves.
27:41
SPEAKER_02: Yes you are right so the builder that was building on the sand I'll guarantee you he deceived himself into believing this will be okay.
27:50
SPEAKER_02: That's fine.
27:51
SPEAKER_01: Not and look at how great it is and for those of you who love the beach look at that I've got a great view those of you who love the mountains on the rock oh look at this I've got no view but I'm on the rock you know whatever yeah it's beautiful it's great.
28:07
SPEAKER_01: And when you think about it sand is attractive because it's easier okay it it's the easier path and and so yeah he wanted to build on the sand I mean I scratch down a few inches rake it down it's level right yeah the but he was foolish because he had nothing solid that he was building on and and what about people who like I'm looking on and I'm going man that guy's so solid that I I I what is he doing so that he could be like that or worse looking at him going man I don't need to do all that I'm I I know Richard gets up at oh dark 30 in the morning and does his study I don't need to get up at old dark 30 in the morning I can get up at 9 10 o'clock and rush myself to get everything done and to I'm I'm doing the same thing.
29:03
SPEAKER_01: Look at me I'm I'm getting the word I'm in I'm dedicated no no I can look on at you and easily say I don't need to do all that that's foolish but what is it like for you to look on at somebody and go man you're being foolish well you you you should be doing this well again most of the time outside looking in you can't see it till the storm hits.
29:30
SPEAKER_02: That's hard.
29:30
SPEAKER_02: Right?
29:31
SPEAKER_02: That's real hard which which kind of brings us to the idea of of you check your foundation before the storm not during the storm okay your foundation's going to expose itself during the storm.
29:44
SPEAKER_02: Yeah it does and so you got to go back um you know we don't wait till our marriage is struggling to find out if if I'm anchored in the word we don't wait till temptation has become so powerful that I'm I'm crumbling before I go back and say I have no foundation.
29:58
SPEAKER_02: We don't wait until we're spiritually dry to say I've been spending no time in the word yeah and so we check our foundation before the storm and and then we're not running around suddenly going my faith is weak.
30:13
SPEAKER_01: Well you can't at least if I'm thinking literal storm you can't do it in the storm anyway.
30:19
SPEAKER_02: Right.
30:19
SPEAKER_01: Like here I am in in the middle of the storm and and the the roof is leaking I am getting up on the roof during that time during the middle of the storm the check it same thing spiritually if I'm in the middle of the storm I can't check myself in the middle of the storm.
30:31
SPEAKER_01: That's why you prepare yourself before and you are ready for i'll i'll I'll tell you the best thing that happened after I got the roof done it dumped it dumped so hard and you know what we did we looked at each other and smiled and said we don't even have to worry because we know there's no leak nothing's gonna happen nothing's coming like we were able to smile we had a joy we literally started laughing at the storm going uh like there is no water getting in our house today and if it does I got a 50 year warranty they're gonna come and they're gonna fix it but spiritually you can get to that place and go the storm's here and you know what I'm gonna laugh at the storm because I ain't worried about the storm because I did what I needed to do to prepare for the storm.
31:23
SPEAKER_02: Exactly so if if I'm going to be prepared for the storm it means I've got to inspect my foundation.
31:29
SPEAKER_02: So let me give you just a couple of inspection questions.
31:31
SPEAKER_02: Uh oh what happens to your faith when God doesn't answer the prayer the way you want it answered the way you think it needs to be answered or should have been answered or in the time frame you think right uh that's an inspection question.
31:46
SPEAKER_01: I was wondering how long it was going to take for you to start offending people.
31:48
SPEAKER_01: Well you know uh no but I love the challenging questions I love when you challenge people like that.
31:54
SPEAKER_02: What happens when someone disappoints me?
31:57
SPEAKER_02: That's an inspection question.
31:58
SPEAKER_02: You know do I react scripturally do I react or do I react in the flesh?
32:03
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
32:04
SPEAKER_02: What happens when I don't understand what God is doing?
32:07
SPEAKER_02: That's good.
32:07
SPEAKER_02: The Isaiah 55 question about uh his ways are not my ways his thoughts are not my thoughts okay I I totally don't get it.
32:15
SPEAKER_02: In fact I can take that question one step further what happens when I don't think God is doing right and and so does my obedience depend on whether or not I agree with God you know we oh gosh a lot of times yeah the answer is absolutely a lot of times right and and so you know that that's that's that's a foundation question.
32:39
SPEAKER_02: So so otherwise it you know I I ask people this often is was things that you're trying to justify now at one point considered sin.
32:50
SPEAKER_02: Yeah right because they're sin as long as I'm not doing them.
32:55
SPEAKER_02: But when they become part of my life suddenly they're not sin anymore.
32:58
SPEAKER_02: Yeah okay and and then is my relationship with God based primarily on what he gives me or is it on who he is?
33:06
SPEAKER_02: That's a foundation question.
33:08
SPEAKER_01: And and and that's the qu I I asked it to the the guys at the group at the men's conference you probably remember that I said if Christ doesn't do another thing for you hasn't he already done enough absolutely hasn't he done I asked that to my kids I challenge everybody with that question and hear this I challenge myself with that question.
33:26
SPEAKER_02: I have to challenge myself with a question if God does not do another thing for me hasn't he already done enough why do I need God to do things for me in order for me to obey him like no absolutely you know I th I think it was Bonhoeffer that that was was credited with the the statement of to a prison guard who said you could get out if and and and you know Bonhoeffer simply replied is God not here right and it it's it honestly comes down to if I'm in the hard times, if I'm in the tough times am I am I always looking for my bailout or my way out or or can I say like that is God not here?
34:14
SPEAKER_02: Yeah right that's a foundation issue.
34:18
SPEAKER_02: And if the things I'm depending on change tomorrow, would Christ be enough?
34:24
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
34:24
SPEAKER_02: And and that is our foundation issue.
34:27
SPEAKER_02: And that's it.
34:28
SPEAKER_02: Psalm 127 in verse one it says unless the Lord builds the house they who labor in vain who build it right I don't want to spend time building something and labor in vain.
34:40
SPEAKER_02: And so we got to think about what that looks like.
34:42
SPEAKER_02: Man gosh that's good man so what does that look like within the now three minutes you have left well let me just seriously let me throw a couple of applications okay let me let me just challenge our listeners if they're sitting here listening they're going okay we're starting a series on foundation I've I've read Matthew 7 24 through 27 I see the wise man I see the foolish man yeah I see the rock I see the sand so what do I do?
35:08
SPEAKER_02: So let me give you this three very simple things.
35:11
SPEAKER_02: Number one, examine what you trust I'm I'm not talking about on the surface, okay?
35:18
SPEAKER_02: Pay attention this week to what gives you security and and be honest with yourself and and am I so worried about the economy am I worried about the election am I worried about world events am I am I so worried about all these things that somehow or another I think I'm going to be in so much trouble without these things.
35:40
SPEAKER_01: Examine what you trust Wow that's basically what are you putting above God because if you're trusting anything on this earth yeah you know what this is I I'm gonna break these down because I literally want to do that and hopefully next week and come back and say you know I I've I've reflected on this and and here's where I found myself.
35:57
SPEAKER_02: Well another foundational question is is not only examine what you trust but second of all identify one area because we all have them um where you know what God's word says but you aren't practicing it.
36:10
SPEAKER_02: Okay?
36:11
SPEAKER_02: Don't make this complicated maybe it's forgiveness could be generosity it could be prayer yep control in the tongue bitterness compromise it it's probably something God's already shown you.
36:23
SPEAKER_01: It already popped up in my head I don't need I don't need a week right I do not need a week I'm sure y'all don't need a week either what's the first thing that popped into your head there you go work on it.
36:31
SPEAKER_02: You make an idle out of me and I'm trying not to but okay so we we've identified we've identified money now we can move on so you know it it's what is that area that because again we all have them Joey and and if I know what God said about it and I'm not practicing it then then what does that look like and then we need to dig deep before you need the foundation and and so it's not a matter of saying oh my goodness now the storm's here now I'm going to dig my foundation it's dig deep before the storm before you need it right so pray now read my scripture now build relationships now learn to trust God now and these are all just questions we need to ask ourselves.
37:25
SPEAKER_01: I love that you use the word now.
37:27
SPEAKER_01: Yeah don't wait do not wait like these are things like okay well he said we have a week to exact don't don't like well in a week I'll in a way no now you already know right you've already identified I know some of you guys have looked on and said man this is the thing I'm struggling with this is the thing I'm chatting.
37:44
SPEAKER_01: Okay so right now start praying about it right now get into the word right now get around other believers who can actually dig deep into your life with you start trusting God right now.
37:59
SPEAKER_01: Right absolutely and so that's our foundation okay so we we're next week we're gonna come back and we're gonna build on this foundation but right now spend this week examining your foundation that's great man I love that what a great opportunity that we all have and that God's been given to us right now to just say hey here's what we've discovered about ourselves here's where we recognize and I'm sure guys girls listening to this podcast right now can say you know what just within the first I would say 10-15 minutes have already started going yeah I I can I can see where my foundation has been weakened and then the deeper we got into it you can say oh I'm seeing where the cracks are going before this thing falls over we're gonna we're gonna take care of that so even I love that you said right now start doing it now as we close this off would you just wrap this whole thing up for us in a pretty low boat.
38:54
SPEAKER_02: You know in Matthew 7 uh verse 27 it it says the man who built on the sand and it said and great was his fall yes okay great was the fall now I want you to think about this as as we wrap up okay it wasn't that the builder was stronger than the other builder okay it wasn't that the storm was weaker over at the rock than it was at the sand yeah it wasn't because life treated him better than it did all right it stood because of what it was built on.
39:23
SPEAKER_02: And when our lives are genuinely built on him on the firm foundation we will stand whatever comes and when we build on the sand great will be its fall.
39:34
SPEAKER_01: Wonderful man thank you so much and next week we're gonna be actually building walls like you said we're gonna start building on this thing.
39:41
SPEAKER_01: So please tune in next week you don't want to miss this five part series I think foundationally this is going to this is going to be so good for a lot of us it's good for me it's good for you.
39:52
SPEAKER_01: I mean you aren't just sitting here telling us what to do I know you challenge yourself with these things.
39:56
SPEAKER_01: You've you've often said look I I do these studies and I write these things down I start examining myself and go, oh do I really want to even tell other people about this so I want you guys to know this isn't just oh Richard's saying this and Joey's saying that.
40:11
SPEAKER_01: No, these are things that we are applying to our own life and and we're now just sharing them with you so you can have that same opportunity to build your life on the solid foundation which we call Christ the Word of God.
40:23
SPEAKER_01: So thank you so much for tuning in to the Reality is podcast where we're talking about real life real faith.
40:29
SPEAKER_01: Do us a favor like subscribe share this with your friends and ring the bell so that you will always be able to know when our next episode is coming up for now we'd like to say God bless you and have a great day.