Saturday, October 6, 2012

The House of Truth

How can you build a house that will weather any storm?

My great grandfather built the house that I grew up in over a hundred years ago.  That house was built to weather any storm.  That house was built to last.

When he built the house he started by digging out a trench that went all the way down to the bedrock.  This trench went around the entire edge of the house.  He filled that trench with a large rocks and cement to create a very solid foundation.  One hundred years later, the only damage to the foundation was from the roots of an elm tree that had grown next to the house during the twenty or so years that it had sat empty after he died.

Not only did he build a very solid foundation but he also built everything from very good material.  He built the house completely out of hardwoods.  The frame of the house was made of 4" by 4" (10 cm by 10 cm) beams of oak.  There was not one knot in any of the boards that he used.

He built the house to endure the various storms that normally occur in the Ozarks.  He built the house on the top of a hill so it would not be hurt by floods.  When the normally dry creek bed at the bottom of the hill looked like a river after the winter snow melted and the spring floods came, there would be only small puddles in our yard.  He built the foundation of the house to rise about two feet above the ground so that the snow would never reach the wood which could lead to rot over the years.  He put a lightening rod on top of the highest point of the house so that lighting would never strike the house.  This was important since the house was at the top of a hill. Several times the trees in our yard and that lightening rod were struck by lightening when I was growing up.  He made sure that no trees were close enough to the house to damage the house if they fell over.  That house was built to weather any storm.

He did not build this house overnight.  In fact, he did not even build it all in one year.  First he built a single large room on the back right corner of the foundation where the entire family lived until he built a second room in front of that room that finished up the right side of the house.   Afterwards, he built the back left room and then the left front room that finished up the left side of the house.  Later he added a front porch, a sidewalk, a back porch and a cellar.  It took about eighteen years for him to build that house.

Why so long?

For one thing, he and his sons built the house themselves.  For another thing, they built rooms of the house as they got materials to build the house.  They acquired no debt in building the house.  They got the wood for the house from the farm that I grew up on.  They would cut down some trees and trade them to the lumber company for lumber.  As part of the deal, he got first pick of the lumber that was milled from the wood on his land.  He then took the best of his lumber to build the house and used the rest to build other structures on the farm like the three story barn.  He and his sons cleared off about 170 acres of woods using hand tools over a period of seventeen years in order to get the quality of wood that he wanted for his house.

Why did he go through so much trouble to build that house?

It was because he was not building that house for just himself.  He built a house that he intended to endure for generations after he left this Earth.  He knew that he would only live in that house for a short while but then he would spend eternity in another house.  He was building that house to take care of his children, his grandchildren, and his great grandchildren.  He was building that house for others.

That house was where we lived.  The house provided rooms for our needs.  The house was where we ate.  The house was where we escaped storms.  The house was where we slept.  The house was where we went clean up after getting dirty.  The house was where we were entertained.  The house was where we spent time with other people.  The house was where we studied.  The house was where we planned.  The house was where we made our decisions.  The walls of that house surrounded every aspect of our lives.

The Father of Truth (YHVH aka God aka THE LORD) has provided a foundation for us to build upon until we go to spend eternity in another house.  The start of the foundation is the Man of Truth (Yeshua HaMashiach aka Jesus Christ) (1 Corinthians 3:11).  The Book of Truth (The Bible) finishes the foundation because it is built around and on top of the Man of Truth since every passage in the Book of Truth tells about the Man of Truth (Ephesians 2:20).  This is a foundation cannot be moved and it will not crack (2 Timothy 2:19).  The foundation is made from the core teachings of the Man of Truth that everything else is built upon (Hebrews 6:1-2).

A house has to built upon a foundation for the foundation to be of any value. We must willing to pay the cost to build upon that foundation until the house is finished (Luke 14:28-30).  The Apostles of Truth began the house by laying down that  foundation so we could build upon it (1 Corinthians 3:10).  We are to continue to build upon that foundation until the house is completely done (Hebrews 6:1).

Even though the Father of Truth has given us a foundation to build our house on and given us the Spirit of Truth (Ruach HaQodesh aka The Holy Spirit aka The Holy Ghost) to guide us in building our house, we are still the ones that build our house (Hebrews 3:4).  Every choice that we make is building the house of our lives.  We are all building a house but not every house is built on the foundation that the Father of House has provided.  Not every house will weather any storm.
 
How do we build our house on the foundation that the Father of Truth has provided for us?

We build our house on the foundation provided by the Father of Truth when we live in obedience to the Father of Truth.  The house that can weather any storm is built by putting into practice what the Man of Truth has taught (Luke 6:47-48).  That house is built by no longer continuing in disobedience to the Father of Truth (2 Timothy 2:19).

It is not enough to hear the truth from the Man of Truth to build our house on the foundation provided by the Father of Truth.  It is not enough to read word of truth that is recorded in the Book of Truth to build our house on that foundation.  It is not enough to be guided into all truth by the Spirit of Truth to build our house on that foundation.  If we do all of that but do not put that truth into practice then we are not building our house on the foundation provided by the Father and it will not weather any storm (Luke 6:49).

When we build our house on the foundation provided by the Father of Truth then we will not live there alone.  We will live there with the Man of Truth (John 8:31).  We will live there with the Father of Truth and the Spirit of Truth (Ephesians 2:22).  The house that is built upon the foundation provided by the Father of Truth where we can live in the truth found in the Book of Truth with the Father of Truth, the Man of Truth and the Spirit of Truth is the House of Truth.

We must be careful to use good materials when building our house so that it will last (1 Corinthians 3:12-13).  Not everything that we are allowed to do is wise and not everything we are allowed to do builds up our house (1 Corinthians 10:23).  Only those things that are done for the Father of Truth will last (Hebrews 6:10-12).

We do not build our house in a day or even in one year.  It will take the rest of our lives to finish our house.  If we build our house as the House of Truth, then it will be built a little at a time from a solid frame, day by day, first finishing one part and then another so that it is always growing (Ephesians 2:21).  If we build our house as the House of Truth, then it will be built slowly, but consistently, by us continuing seeking after the truth found in the Book of Truth (1 Peter 2:2).  If we build our house as the House of Truth, then it will be built slowly, but consistently, by continuing to grow in our knowledge of the truth and putting that knowledge into practice (2 Peter 3:18).

When we build our house we are not just building it for ourselves.  If we build our house without the foundation provided by the Father of Truth then we will surely leave an inheritance of trouble to our children, grandchildren and great grandchildren (Numbers 14:18).  If we build our house on the foundation provided by the Father of Truth then we will surely leave an inheritance of good things to our children and grandchildren (Proverbs 13:22).

Our house is where we live.  When we are in the House of Truth, then the truth found in the Book of Truth surrounds us completely just as the wood found on the farm surrounded me completely when I was in the house that my great grandfather built.  When we are in the House of Truth, then what we eat will be based on the truth found in the Book of Truth.  When we are in the House of Truth, then we will run to the truth found in the Book of Truth for shelter when a storm comes.  When we are in the House of Truth, then we will lay down our heads in peace at night and be visited by the Man of Truth in our dreams.  When we are in the House of Truth, then we will be cleaned of every filthy thing that we ever did.  When we are in the House of Truth, then we will avoid every form of entertainment that does not please the Father of Truth and that we would not be comfortable watching, listening or reading with the Man of Truth.  When we are in the House of Truth, then we will spend time with the Children of Truth that really are our family and work to rescue those that are still in the family of the Father of Lies.  When we are in the House of Truth, then we will study the Book of Truth so that we can grow in our obedience to the Father of Truth.  When we are in the House of Truth, then the Spirit of Truth will guide us in all of our plans.  When we are in the House of Truth, then we will make all of our decisions based on the truth that comes from the Father of Truth, that was taught by the Man of Truth, that is recorded in the Book of Truth and that is revealed to us by the Spirit of Truth.  When the truth found in the Book of Truth surrounds every aspect of our lives like the walls of a house then we are living in the House of Truth.

We first come into the House of Truth when we surrender everything in our lives to the Man of Truth because we believe that His Father raised him from the dead (Romans 10:9).

Come into the House of Truth.

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