Solid Ground or Sinking Sand

My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus blood and righteousness; I dare not trust the sweetest frame, But wholly lean on Jesus' name. 
When darkness seems to hide his face, I rest on his unchanging grace; In every high and stormy gale, My anchor holds within the veil.
His oath, his covenant, his blood Support me in the whelming flood; When all around my soul gives way, He then is all my hope and stay.
When he shall come with trumpet sound, Oh, may I then in him be found; Dressed in his righteousness alone, Faultless to stand before the throne.
On Christ the solid Rock I stand; All other ground is sinking sand, All other ground is sinking sand.

"The Solid Rock" by Eward Mote (1832) is a commonly sung hymn in Baptist churches, but are we truly practicing this kind of whole hearted trust and obedience?  Am I being shaken by the circumstances around me or is my anchor so rooted on solid ground that I hold fast and am obedient to my call no matter the floods?

As I have mentioned before, our apartment building is directly on the beach front.  One of our favorite things to do is watch the daily progress of the re-construction of the shoreline.  We are not sure all the reasoning behind it, but a sand bar has been removed and two jetties or small peninsulas are being constructed.  Large stones are being moved from one side to another and various digging and dumping of sand and rock are taking place as far as we can see in both directions.  We have been told that the Emirate of Ajman is making the beaches more pleasant to the eye as well as safer for small watercraft and vacationers.  As this is the country that has constructed the famous Palms and Islands of the World, I would venture to say that they know at least a little of what they are doing.  However, it does seem a very temperamental task.  As spring storms come and the water levels change, much of what was constructed in one day is washed away in another.  I suppose this is all part of the process....packing down the sand to make it stronger.  I am not sure.  What I do know is that islands built by man will never be solid enough to weather truly significant storms. 

Even as I live on this side of the beach...you know solid ground...I was reminded of this truth as a 3-4 aftershock of the Iranian earthquake rocked my home this month. Yes, nothing of this world is steadfast. Storms come; disasters occur; everything changes; the earth moves, and life can shift like sand in an instant. We cannot place our trust in this temporal moment.

However, neither can we live in fear.  We are clearly told that as Believers we have a cleft in the rock that He covers with His hand. (He Hideth My Soul by Frances Crosby)  We can stand on His promises even when the howling storms of doubt and fear assail us. (Standing on the Promises by R. Kelso Carter)

Psalm 46:1-3 assures us, "God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging."

Jesus gives us in Matthew 7:24-27 a parable of 2 men, "Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock.  And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock.  And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand.  And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.”

Have I heeded Christ's words, or have I simply listened to them and yet ignored them in my obedience?

What is my hope built on today?  Nothing less than Jesus blood and righteousness....or am I trying to cloth myself in a little of my own and His....

On Christ the solid rock I stand; all other ground is sinking sand...AT

The Difference in Life and Death is but a Breath

As I look out the window today, the sea is calm and quiet with a greenish hue.  The tide is low and its surface stillness masks the dangers that lie beneath.  Could it be that it was just 2 days ago that before our eyes the waters seemed to reach up to drag a man under and take his life?  I can only find two newspaper articles on the incident.  Each report contains but a hand full of lines and even those sadly are not accurate.  One says that the man was struggling to swim.  No, he simply stopped swimming.  The other says that police pulled him out of the waters.  I wish that were the case.  The screams of the young girl that discovered the lifeless body still ring in my ears.  Seeing her father drag the man to the beach while the rest of us scrambled to contact emergency services and think of how to bring order to the chaos still plays in my minds eye.  The seconds felt likes hours and the minutes seemed to hang on our shoulders like weights.  Life became death in an instant, and it was over.  The ambulance came; the man was covered with sheet; the body was carried away; the tide rose covering the impressions in the sand .... and all was erased.  It was over.  Finished. 

Except....it wasn't.  I remember; my son remembers.  Did the man have family? Did he know the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior?  His life on earth had ended, but what now for him?  What now for us?

"I tell you, in that night there will be two in one bed. One will be taken and the other left.  There will be two women grinding together. One will be taken and the other left. Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left."  (Luke 17:34-36) I know that this verse is referring to the second coming of Christ; however, this is the feeling that I am overwhelmed with right now.  People are swimming enjoying the beach and in a breath it all changes.  One man is gone. We are left. 

Was he ready to stand before the Lord?  As we helplessly watched the events playing out before us, William says, "One more person dies and we didn't tell him about Eternal Life."  Wow! So heavy are our hearts!  Some would say, oh it is not good for William to feel so much responsibility.  I say, why do we not all feel more responsibility! 

If I knew that the woman standing waiting for the bus; the man at the corner store; my neighbors; my family members; were heartbeats away from eternity, what would I say to them?  Wish them good day; speak of the weather; tell them I am praying for them - or would I boldly give them life saving news.

1 Corinthians 15:51-77 is again about the second coming, but what a powerful reminder that this current life is fleeting and death is coming for all of us.  We will all put on imperishable bodies; however, for some there will be a sting in death that will never be relieved.  Are we willing to share with people how they can have a life without sorrow and pain - an eternal life of joy before the throne of Almighty God?  We are "left" here right now....what are we doing?  
   
"Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: 'Death is swallowed up in victory.' 'O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?' ..."

How many breaths do I have left?  What will I do with them?  Have I personally professed Christ as Savior and Lord?  Am I sharing that good news with people?  In the end, does anything else really matter .... I believe that there is a 61 year old Russian man that is answering that question right now.  AT