For no one can lay any foundation other than the one we already have – Jesus Christ.
1 Corinthians 3:11 NLT

What do you build on?

For many years … I found hope and joy from my next vacation or the next new, fun thing for my house or fancy meals eating out. 

I built my hope on the things money can buy.

But … in a crisis … the money stopped … Then what? My joy was … gone.

I had built my hope on the wrong things.

I considered this verse …

Because of God’s grace to me, I have laid the foundation like an expert builder. Now others are building on it. But whoever is building on this foundation must be very careful. For no one can lay any foundation other than the one we already have – Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 3:10-11 NLT).

In the crisis … I saw my own heart … and I saw God’s grace as I learned.

This is what crisis … testing does …

But on the judgment day, fire will reveal what kind of work each builder has done. The fire will show if a person’s work has any value. If the work survives, that builder will receive a reward. But if the work is burned up, the builder will suffer great loss.(1 Corinthians 3:13-15 NLT).

Testing … going through the fire … reveals my error.

I am so thankful … for God’s grace.

I made needed changes in the quiet of my heart with Jesus, changing what I placed … built … my hope on.

When my foundation is on Jesus, I am to build my hope on Jesus and on His Word.

And I saw this truth …

Don’t you realize that all of you together are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God lives in you? (1 Corinthians 3:16 NLT).

In the quiet of my heart , I could hear His Spirit … gently correcting me so that … now … I build my hope the right way, by becoming the temple Jesus builds with hope in Him alone.

Lord, in the quiet of my heart, You speak to me, teaching me that I am to build on the foundation of Jesus Christ with the Word of Truth and that I am to grow, mature, build on, and hope on what I have learned through Your Spirit. Help me listen to You alone. In Jesus name I pray, amen.

Stacy A. Davis