THE STORMS

1. "and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock.
2. “But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand:
3. and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall.”
4. And so it was, when Jesus had ended these sayings, that the people were astonished at His teaching,"
   Matthew 7:25-28 (NKJV)

"So if you ignore the least commandment and teach others to do the same, you will be called the least in the Kingdom of Heaven. BUT ANYONE WHO OBEYS GOD'S LAWS AND TEACHES THEM WILL BE CALLED GREAT IN THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN."
Matthew 5:19 (NLT)

• Greatness of a believer is in obedience to the Word of God, and the teaching of it.

• Obedience to the Word makes you great in the kingdom.
  WHEN you OBEYS the Word of God and Lives It, you teach it to others through your lifestyle.
• The quality of the life you live depends on how obedient you are to the Word of God.
  THE quantity of the Word of God on the inside of you, that you PRACTICED, determines what your Life TEACHES others.
• When you daily feed on the Word of God, at a point It permeates your Life, Begin to spill over into every area of your LIFE, and to the Lives of others who relate or commune with you.

• When you listened to the Word of God and obeyed it, you PRACTICED It, you have built your Life on the solid rock: "Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I WILL LIKEN HIM TO A WISE MAN WHO BUILT HIS HOUSE ON THE ROCK" (Matthew 7:24).
WHOEVER failed to do, or obeyed the Word of God builds his or her life on the Sand (Matthew 7:26).

• When your life is built on the Word of God, you will be able to stand the challenges of Life (Matthew 7:25).
• Every believer's Life would be opened to challenges in their journey on earth, which such a believer should see as the norm, and should not be seen as strange: "BELOVED, DO NOT THINK IT STRANGE CONCERNING THE FIERY TRIAL WHICH IS TO TRY YOU, as though some strange thing happened to you" (Peter 4:12).
• If you actually wanted to live your life for Christ and for Him alone, trials await you: "Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution" (2 Timothy 3:12).
• And also, If you want to live a meaningful Christian Life, you want to bless other people; persecution and trials are inevitable.
  YOU need God and His Word more than any other THING!
• God's Word will give you whatever you are in need of, or are looking for; whatever the Word cannot give you should remain undone.
• Obedience to the Word of God is the key to a successful Christian living—victory in the kingdom.
  WHOEVER ignores the Word of God is not Wise!
• Those who go about looking for miracles would not get it because they have forsaken the source or fountain of living water, God and His Word, and are digging the broken cistern for themselves (Jeremiah 2:13).
• Indifference to the Word of God could make one a prey in the hand of the enemy, the devil.
  WHATEVER you need could only be found in the Word of God, thus, you need to sit down and be taught, for you to be strong and not be a prey in hand of the devil.

• Rain, floods, and winds of life would come to beat on every believer at one time or the other, but the only thing that would make you stand the tests is the strength of your foundation—what you build your Life on.

• The strength of a building is the foundation on which It stands.
• Your strength is in the amount of the Word of God on the inside of you, which your Life is built on.
  WHAT keeps you from falling in the time of tribulations or trials is the amount of the Word of God you have on the inside of you.

• It is not enough to read or listen to the Word of God

• Reading and Learning the Word of God without practicing it is like living in fool's paradise, that is, being in a state of happiness that is based on falsehood.
• Some believers who have a need would at times want to dodge the normal way of getting things from God, thinking they wanted to get themselves rid of the rigour of the Word, prayers, And possibly FASTINGS.
  SUCH may want to take a seemingly shortcut or an easier way apart from the way of the Word of God and PRAYERS, but it always would not work (James 1:22-25).
• The truth is, as you grow in Him, He begins to raise the standard with which you could receive from Him.
  WHOEVER is promising you a solution to your problems without obedience to the Word of God is deceiving you.
• Jesus likens those who ignored His Word to a fool (Matthew 7:26).

• Get acquainted with the Word of God.

• Give attention to reading, studying, and pondering or thinking on the Word of God.
  YOUR growth, greatness, and prosperity is in Obedience—doing of the Word of God.
  THEREFORE, it is not enough to read, study, and ponder on the Word of God, but to put to practice all you have learned.
• God blesses those who do what they have learned: "But he [she] who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, AND IS NOT A FORGETFUL HEARER BUT A DOER OF THE WORK, THIS ONE WILL BE BLESSED IN WHAT HE [she] DOES" (James 1:25).
• There is power in the doing of the Word!
  OBEDIENCE and practicing of the Word of God , makes you GREAT!

• You will not fail in Jesus' name.
Peace!