For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. (1 Corinthians 3:11, NIV)

I am back home in Oklahoma and it is springtime. Most of my golfing friends here are working on the fundamentals of their game after a long layoff over the winter. It is important when you are getting ready to play again to review the basics and make sure your thoughts are correct before you work on a flawed swing and make it permanent.

It is also important for us as believers to understand the foundation on which all other aspects of our faith are based. To be a follower of Jesus requires just that. We need to follow him in every area of our life. He is the cornerstone and without his death and resurrection we would have no foundation. To base our life on anything else will result in a flawed faith that will not work when it is put to the test.

If we believe nothing else but the truth of Jesus’ death and resurrection and the fact that he was the Son of God, we have everything we need to enter the kingdom of God. That is the basic truth we must hold to if we would enter into all that God has for us. When we get confused about what we should be doing with our life, our go-to thought should be how great God’s love is for us. Jesus is our example and if we want to be all that we are called to be, we would always return to what he said and did. He is our greatest teacher and best example. We would do well to read and study what he said about life.

Jesus’ teachings are paradoxical to the way of the world and our lives will be too if we truly follow what he taught. In a world where the first are the first, Jesus tells us the first will be last and the last will be first. The world tells us to take what we want and think we need; Jesus tells us to love our neighbor as ourselves and to lay down our life for our friends. The world tells us to defend our rights no matter what, while Jesus says to turn the other cheek and walk the second mile.

To say that Jesus is our foundation is to recognize that anything we do follows on what he has already done. Our salvation follows his sacrifice. Our move into an active, even radical faith follows his igniting the kingdom of God in our world.

Everything starts for us when we trust in Jesus. But be warned! This means change. Jesus wants to change us from selfish and cruel human beings into loving and selfless individuals who in turn change the world. The rest of our life will be a journey of ever-increasing knowledge of who he is and what he has in store for us. Trusting him gives us everything we will ever need to make it to the end of our race. Then we will see him face to face and know that he was always enough!

—
Linda Ballard
May 3, 2018
Copyright 2018 Links Players International
The Links Daily Devotional appears Monday-Friday at www.linksplayers.com.

For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. (1 Corinthians 3:11, NIV)

I am back home in Oklahoma and it is springtime. Most of my golfing friends here are working on the fundamentals of their game after a long layoff over the winter. It is important when you are getting ready to play again to review the basics and make sure your thoughts are correct before you work on a flawed swing and make it permanent.

It is also important for us as believers to understand the foundation on which all other aspects of our faith are based. To be a follower of Jesus requires just that. We need to follow him in every area of our life. He is the cornerstone and without his death and resurrection we would have no foundation. To base our life on anything else will result in a flawed faith that will not work when it is put to the test.

To say that Jesus is our foundation is to recognize that anything we do follows on what he has already done.If we believe nothing else but the truth of Jesus’ death and resurrection and the fact that he was the Son of God, we have everything we need to enter the kingdom of God. That is the basic truth we must hold to if we would enter into all that God has for us. When we get confused about what we should be doing with our life, our go-to thought should be how great God’s love is for us. Jesus is our example and if we want to be all that we are called to be, we would always return to what he said and did. He is our greatest teacher and best example. We would do well to read and study what he said about life.

Jesus’ teachings are paradoxical to the way of the world and our lives will be too if we truly follow what he taught. In a world where the first are the first, Jesus tells us the first will be last and the last will be first. The world tells us to take what we want and think we need; Jesus tells us to love our neighbor as ourselves and to lay down our life for our friends. The world tells us to defend our rights no matter what, while Jesus says to turn the other cheek and walk the second mile.

To say that Jesus is our foundation is to recognize that anything we do follows on what he has already done. Our salvation follows his sacrifice. Our move into an active, even radical faith follows his igniting the kingdom of God in our world.

Everything starts for us when we trust in Jesus. But be warned! This means change. Jesus wants to change us from selfish and cruel human beings into loving and selfless individuals who in turn change the world. The rest of our life will be a journey of ever-increasing knowledge of who he is and what he has in store for us. Trusting him gives us everything we will ever need to make it to the end of our race. Then we will see him face to face and know that he was always enough!

—

Linda Ballard
May 3, 2018
Copyright 2018 Links Players International
The Links Daily Devotional appears Monday-Friday at www.linksplayers.com.