"That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish."
—Ephesians 5:27
Jesus wants a glorious Church without spot or wrinkle. The spots and wrinkles are many different things: pride, jealousy, anger, and so on. There's one particular spot or wrinkle in the Church that has caused great confusion. It's what I call "rocket believers" or "rocket preachers."
"Rocket believers" start the Christian walk, zoom to fame and popularity overnight, and then disappear just as suddenly as they appeared, never to be seen or heard from again. They're just like rockets. That's what rockets do: They make a lot of noise, zoom up, explode, and disappear into thin air!
God doesn't want any of us to be rocket or roller coaster Christians—up one day and down the next. He wants us to walk in the high places with Him all the time. When we do, our success is guaranteed.
There are reasons why believers and preachers don't walk in God's high places and don't live successful daily lives. One reason is because they have not built their lives or ministries on the sure foundation: God's Word. When you build your life on the sure foundation, you will not fail.
Joshua 1:8 says,
"This book of the law shall not depart out of of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success."
Stay in the Word of God and you are guaranteed success! That's not a "money-back guarantee if not fully satisfied," either. God's Word works!
The Word of God is our sure foundation. If we stay on that sure foundation, we'll never fail. Many people today start off right, doing great things for God, but halfway down the road, they quit. Their world crumbles because they've not built their life or ministry on a good, strong foundation.
We know we can't build a strong foundation for a building in a haphazard manner, so what makes us think we can get away with it in our own personal life? We must lay one brick at a time, and lay it carefully. If you build on a quick, sloppy foundation, eventually the foundation will slip and disaster will follow. You simply can't build your physical home on a mud slide and expect it to stay there. (Ask a Californian; he'll tell you that's true!) Likewise, you can't build your spiritual home on shifting sand. Jesus said:
"Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock:
"And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock.
"And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand:
"And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it."
—Matthew 7:24-27
If we do what Jesus said, we will remain on the sure foundation. I want a foundation that's set correctly—one that is sure to stand—don't you?
Furthermore, you can't build a sure, strong foundation overnight. It just can't be done that way. It takes time. You can't climb God's ladder of success by hopping, skipping, and jumping three steps at a time. You have to put one foot in front of the other, taking one step at a time. That's the only way to build a foundation that will last.
Perfect timing also is involved in building a sure foundation. Construction workers know this. Concrete must be poured at a specific time. You don't start building on top of it until it's firmly set. We need to stay in the perfect timing of God. If we're building our foundation on His Word, we'll not get out ahead of God. If we let God build our foundation, we can't go wrong.
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