Build Your House on Solid Rock. Saturday 23rd Week

Breakfast with the Word Saturday 23rd Week Ordinary Time of the Year B

 

 

Luke 6:43-49

 

 

 

Introduction.

 

When a house is on solid rock, it means the house is on a solid foundation. To build your house on solid rock means that the foundation of the house is unshakeable.

 

As we grow up, we build our lives around some people we love and admire. We try to emulate the way they live and mould our lives around them.

 

This may be because we cherish their lives. Hence, we take them as mentors. Sometimes we go online and download their nuggets and read whatever they write. if they are not online, we find it interesting to see them and hear them speak. We love whatever they say and write.

 

There are people we truly cherish no matter what. Sometimes we call them mentors, daddies, guides etc. And sometimes we build our lives around them. This is not wrong especially when the lives of the person is exemplary. Hence, we need also to build our lives on the Solid Rock. We have to build our house on solid rock. This is the first among all.

 

There are indeed people we do read their books daily and swallow their inspirational talks because of how good they sound. 

 

Do you know that surprisingly we do not have much time to read and reflect on the teachings of Jesus Christ?

 

Many Christians today cherish and respect the words of great men more than they respect and cherish the teachings of Our Lord Jesus Christ. Many people see the teachings of Jesus as worthless.

 

 

Some see it as a waste of time that they hardly open their bible to read them. Today, Jesus compares his words and teachings to a solid and mighty rock. He says that whoever abides by the word and lives according to the principles is like a man who builds his house on a solid foundation.

 

This particular foundation has been neglected and somehow branded as worthless. But behind what we neglect is the secret of wisdom, inspiration, power and grace

 

 Read More

 

 

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Do this Before You Do Anything in Life

 

 

 

Do Not Be Afraid of Doing Good

 

 

Jesus Does All Things Well.23rd Sunday Ordinary Time

 

Jesus As the Lord of the Sabbath

 

 

To bear Good fruits.

 

In the gospel, Jesus says to His disciples

 

“There is no sound tree that produces rotten fruit, nor again a rotten tree that produces sound fruit. For every tree can be told by its fruit: people do not pick figs from thorns, nor gather grapes from brambles. A good man draws what is good from the store of goodness in his heart; a bad man draws what is bad from the store of badness. For a man’s words flow out of what fills his heart”.

 

 

Every good tree can not but produce what is good. Every bad tree cannot but produce what is bad. In Matthew 7:15-20, Jesus warns His disciples to beware of prophets who come to them in sheep’s clothing but inwardly they are wolves. The only way to know them is by their fruits. For no one can get a grape from thorns. Therefore, what we produce, the souls we save and lead astray, the people we love and hate, the goodness and evil we exhibit is already a testament to who we are.

 

Just as we know every tree by its fruits, the only way to know who we are is by the fruits we produce.

 

 

Jesus compares His disciples to trees and what they do as the fruits. Through the fruits, one can know the tree.

 

It means that We cannot pretend to be true disciples of Jesus when the fruits we produce are different from who we are.

 

Is it good to pretend to be the best in going to church when we are filled with hatred and wickedness? One cannot pretend to be holy when souls are destroyed in his/her hands.

 

 

We cannot pretend we are God’s children when we are the causes of family problems and disunity.

 

 

One cannot pretend to be good when he/she goes at the back to stab people and cause mayhem in people’s lives and causing their downfall.

 

We cannot pretend to be good when we are the first to receive Holy Communion on Sunday but behind the scenes, we are diabolical and commit atrocities.

 

 

Jesus says “no good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit. We cannot be speaking in heavenly languages, praying down fire from heaven but we are the cause of every problem around where we are.

 

 

 

Paul says “If I speak in the tongues of men or angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal” (1 Corinthians 13:1).

 

 

If where we are, what comes out of us is evil, disunity, problems, bad plans, then know we are not motivated by the spirit of Jesus.

 

 

The fruits of the Spirit are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. (Galatians 5:22-23).

 

 

To produce good fruits we have to build our lives around the teachings of Jesus not by merely reading, cramming, and quoting them but by putting them to work. Everyone is known and tested by the fruits he/ she produces.

 

We do live our lives according to the person we model our lives around. Sometimes the word that we hear every day influences us. 

Therefore, when we build our lives around the words of Jesus, everything in us will begin to change. We would love to live like Him. Then we would bear good fruits. 

In John 15:3, He tells His apostles that they are already clean by the words they hear Him speak. Then in verse 5, He says “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing”.

 

Therefore, to bear good fruits we need the words of Jesus. We need to remain close to Him and live like Him. This is when you build your house on solid rock.

 

 

 

 

 

 

What Do We Produce?

 

 

In the midst of problems and difficulties, what do we produce? Faith or worry?

 

In the midst of quarrels and family disunity, what do we produce? More quarrels or peace?

 

 

In the midst of societal decay and immorality, what do we produce? More decay or righteousness?

 

In the midst of political and economic problems, what do we produce? Bribery or change? When people do wrong or sin against us what do we produce? more cases or forgiveness?

 

 

How to truly know that we are the disciples of Jesus is when the fruits we produce are nothing but good.

 

 

In the gospel, Jesus asks “Why do you call me, “Lord, Lord” and not do what I say? 

Therefore, to shout and pray, fast and speak in tongues but do not abide by His words is a sign that we are fake.

 How can we be praying to Someone we harden our hearts to? It means we are doing omume mmegharia anya (we are pretending).

 

Therefore, doing His word and putting them into action makes us true disciples of Jesus. For a disciple follows the master and as such builds his life around His principles.

 

 

 

What happens When We Build Our Lives Around Jesus.

 

 

Before they entered the promised land, Moses called the Israelites in the valley near Beth-Peor and said to them “Remember the long road by which Yahweh your God led you for forty years in the desert, to humble you, to test you and know your inmost heart-whether you would keep his commandments or not, He humbles you, He made you feel hunger, He fed you with manna which neither you nor your ancestors had ever known, to make you understand that man does not live by bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of God (Deuteronomy 8:2-3).

 

 

Jesus repeats this to the devil when he comes to tempt Him. In Matthew 4:4, Jesus says to the devil “man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that comes from the mouth of God”. It means that another secret of life is the word of God.

 

Then in the gospel Jesus says “Everyone who comes to me and listens to my words and acts on them – I will show you what he is like. He is like the man who when he built his house dug, and dug deep, and laid the foundations on rock; when the river was in flood it bore down on that house but could not shake it because it was so well built.

 

Therefore to ensure solidity, build your house on the Rock. This is building our lives around the teachings of Jesus.

 

 

Doing this is like building our houses on a solid foundation. This is also when we live according to His principles. This will make us spiritually strong.

 

 

 

When we do this, we can be able to win every challenge, and no amount of pressure, difficulties, temptation, etc can be able to pull us down. Hence, our faith will be strong. Then, we can be able to understand what it means to live in love and peace. We can be able to forgive and forget, we can be able to live our lives only in touching souls and not to destroy them. 

Always build your house on solid rock. This is when the word of God motivates whatever that we do.

 

 

 

 

To build your house on a solid rock means we can stand firm against the troubles and difficulties of life, we can withstand the challenges of faith, we can remain strong against temptations and hence live in peace and love of one another. 

When we do this, we can always be sure of victory, at last. We can be certain of eternal life.

Therefore, build your house on solid rock. Jesus is the Solid Rock. Let us mould our lives around Him.

 

 

 

 

 

May God bless you dearest and give us the grace to conquer temptations and live our lives only producing good fruits, may He never abandon you Amen