ARTICLES

THE IMPORTANCE OF YOUR PROPHETIC FOUNDATION

by Rodney W Francis

In recent times I have again been reminded of the importance of the foundation of our Christian life and calling. I am especially referring to those words that the Holy Spirit spoke to us in the very early days of our becoming a Christian. Those first prophetic words were “keys” to enabling us to know something of the call and direction that God wanted our life to take. Those first prophetic words still are keys for our lives and it is a good thing for us to stop and consider again what God spoke in those first times.
 
·  Have you realized the importance of those “first words”?
·  Are you building your life according to that which God spoke to you back then?
 
For me, the first time I heard the voice of God He made me to know that I was called to take the place of a preacher who had just died. I was in a backslidden state at the time the voice came, but it hit me with such clarity and reality that I knew that God was talking to me. Those words were: “Somebody has to take his place.” I knew it was God, and I knew that “somebody” was me. The power of that word turned my life right around from a state of backsliding to very quickly filling me with a hunger and desire to know God in a greater reality than ever before (and I have been seeking to walk closely with Jesus ever since).
 
The second time I clearly heard the voice of God was the morning I was sovereignly baptized in the Holy Spirit in the midst of a herd of cows. A heavenly language we call tongues poured out of me as though I had been speaking it fluently all my life! At the end of that initial baptism the Lord spoke these words to me: “I am raising you up to be a preacher of the Gospel. And My sign to you that I am raising you up to be a preacher of the Gospel is that I am going to open doors for you to preach straight away.” I was only 18 years and two months of age at that time, but it left me in no doubt that I was called of God to Christian ministry. Very shortly after that I started to preach, and I have been preaching ever since (at the time of writing this I am in my 49th year of preaching).
 
The third time God spoke to me in my first year of being a Christian He gave me the Prophetic Foundation for my life and ministry, i.e. the “blueprint for me to work from.” This is what He said: “If you will get to know My voice, and you will do what I ask you, there is nowhere in this world where you and I cannot go together, and we not be successful.” For a young man who grew up with a failure complex and dropped out of school because of it, that was very good news indeed! I no longer wanted to be a failure (no one really wants to fail)! God was showing me a way that I could be successful anywhere in the world as long as I obeyed what He asked of me. 
 
The above is the prophetic foundation of my life and ministry (The Gospel Faith Messenger Ministry). For all these years I have been seeking to walk according to the principles which God laid out to me all those years ago. I can honestly say that they work and that God is true to His Word. 
 
·  Foundations are very important ~ often much more important than we have realized. 
·  Right foundations give the necessary strength to fulfil all that God asks of us. God reveals His will to us by laying such a foundation in our Christian life.
 
But we then must demonstrate to God our love and obedience by building according to the pattern He has given us. When we do, we can withstand all the storms of life and come through the other side victorious, producing a lot of fruit to the glory of God as we go. If we have failed to build according to the prophetic foundation that God has laid out for us, then we are in danger of totally missing our calling, moving into frustration, then doubt and unbelief of the purposes of God for our life. The storms and pressures of life will cause us to make wrong decisions and we can miss out on a most wonderful journey through life listening to, and obeying, the voice of God. 
 
·  Friends, there is absolutely no substitute to hearing and knowing the voice of God, and obeying whatever He says! That way opens to us a life of supernatural provision, direction and calling, that enables us to impact thousands of people with the truth and reality of Jesus flowing in and through us.

The Sermon On The Mount

In the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew chapters five to seven) Jesus taught His disciples the way of Christian truth and principles. At the end He summarized what He was saying by telling us of the wise and foolish man. The words of Jesus were spoken equally to both of them before they commenced building their houses. They both heard exactly the same words from the mouth of Jesus ~ yet their end results were vastly different: one was a success, the other a miserable failure. The wise man quickly learned the importance of building on the right foundation. He quickly realized that there is really only one true foundation upon which we humans can build, and that is JESUS CHRIST HIMSELF. 
 
·  To build on Jesus Christ demands that we listen to what He says, and simply DO it!
 
The wise man was wise because he did just that. He built according to what He heard from the mouth of Jesus. He endured all the temptations and storms of life that came his way. His house and his life remained sure, for he had built firmly upon the right foundation; those things Jesus taught right at the beginning of his house building.
 
The foolish man, even though he received exactly the same instructions from the mouth of Jesus did not see the absolute importance of hearing and obeying. He set out, most likely thinking he had better ways, and thought that his new house was every bit as good as the wise man’s. It most likely was, but the issue was not the house but the foundation! Did you get that?
 
·  The issue was not the house but the foundation! 
 
We are told the foolish man built his house on the sand. It looked very impressive, but when those temptations and storms in life hit him (they come to us all), his beautiful house was ruined because the foundation did not withstand that which came against it. It crashed and, the Bible says, “Great was the fall of it” (see Matthew 7:24-29; Luke 6:46-49). Everything that is not in obedience to the words of Jesus is sand ~ sinking, shifting sand. It will eventually be under-mined and will fall. 
 
·  Be sure to build your life and ministry upon the words of Jesus Christ!
 
If you read these verses in context you will see that the foolish man was actually Jesus’ description of false prophets and those who depend upon their good spiritual works to obtain “favour” with God. Christianity is not based upon what we do for God, but our “doing the will of our Father in heaven” (Matthew 7:21-23). Jesus then goes on to describe the example of the wise and foolish man by the word “Therefore.” In the light of the previous-mentioned Scriptures, Jesus gives His word on the matters He has spoken about.
 
The foundation of the Christian life is JESUS CHRIST ~ there is no other way (1 Corinthians 3). Unless we are personally connected to Him, we will never be able to fulfil our destiny. And when we are connected to Him He speaks to US in a way that we know it is Him. It is then our decision as to whether we believe what He says enough to stake our life upon it and to build accordingly.
 
God speaks to us clearly at the beginning of our Christian life because He knows how vital it is for us to know how to build for our future. He does not leave us to casually try and sort out what way we should go and what we should be doing. He knows we need specific vision and direction if we are going to accomplish His purposes in our lives. So, be encouraged to recall those things that God spoke to you back at the beginning, and then ask yourself how well you are building your life accordingly? 
 
·  Foundations are all-important! The whole structure of life is determined according to how we build on the foundation. Success or failure is the direct result of what we do with the foundation Jesus has given us!
 
For further help on this subject I have a little booklet entitled, “Do You Know And Understand The Prophetic Foundation Of Your Life And Your Church?” May it speak to you of the importance of your knowing these things in your heart and life in all reality.
 
·       Do not miss the purposes and calling of God for your life!

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