Untempered Mortar

Any person can build a house. If you have ever seen the show Holmes on Homes you can see that with little or even no skill you can build a home, fix a wall or replace a bathtub. Of course, the whole premise of the show is to show how poor the workmanship was done. Most times Mr. Holmes has to tare everything out and start all over.

As a Christian I would like my home to be built on Jesus. I want Him to be my foundation.  I want the foundation to be strong and be able to stand up against anything.  As I have come to realize a good foundation is not the only thing a strong home needs.

Look at the picture of the home above, can you just see this house in it's hay day. The dinner parties that would have lit up the windows at night. A fire in the fireplace reflecting off the walls in the bedroom. What personality that house must have had. The thrill the owners might have felt watching it go from the blue prints to the reality of walking through the front doors for the first time. Now after years of neglect, possible inferior materials, and trials of nature beyond their control. Here this house sits ready to fall over during the next breezy spring day.

Ezekiel 13:11

"Say unto them which daub it with untempered  mortar, that it shall fall:"

God warns us that if we build we need to build with good materials. Those that are inferior will not last. Building a family is an important thing in a marriage. That verse tells me it is in the details. The seemingly little decisions we make can make a strong family or a dilapidated family that can not withstand the trials that befall a family.

Here is what I learned.  I'll beit a little late. But I know God is not done with me yet. I am just on a different path now.

Get help.  Help with house cleaning. Help with organizing. Help with your health. If you have a problem get help. Do not take, "Your fine," as an acceptable answer. Google it, go to the library, talk to other women. Do not suffer in silence. Your Heavenly Father has more for you than this. Proverbs 11:14, "Where no counsel is, the people fall: but in the multitude of counsellors there is safety."

The Bible does not trump life. The Bible weaves itself into our reality. God wrote it for our lives. He wants to be apart of our life. Nothing is new under the sun. Read your Bible and find His answers for you. If someone who wants to give you Biblical advice but does not know your problem, Proverbs 18:13 says, "He that answereth a matter before he heareth it, it is folly and shame unto him."

Never give up. No one knows everything and no one can speak for God. You are a child of the King. You have Jesus as your mediator. You are loved more than you will ever know. As long as there is Jesus, there is hope.

Remember you can not control people. You are they only one that knows if you are right with God. Build your family from your inside out. Not every aspect of your life or mine will be all in sinc at the same time. Where would the challenge be in that? Build yourself and your family with quality material. Never stop learning and never stop leaning on God for the answers. He already knows what we need before we ask. Matthew 6:8, "... for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him."

Go Ahead, Take a Whack At It!



That statement works when you are hammering a nail or when you are at a child's birthday party hitting a pinata with a bat or stick.

It is not, however, a statement that should be used to describe the conversation you are having with someone.

I recently had a conversation with someone and I felt like that person had just whacked me up side the head. The person was attempting to do it with their Bible no less. Not literally, of course! But it left me reeling just the same.


This person did not know anything about me. But that did not stop this person. What are facts when you have the Bible? This person felt they did not need to know my life to know what God's will is for me.

As I endured this person's knowledge on everything to fix my problem (even though this person did not know my problem or even asked if I had a problem). I was thinking about Jesus.

If He were here to talk to people about their problems, how would he do it?

Take the woman at the well for example. He already her knew her situation and let her know that he knew all about her. He could have gone into a tirade on not being married and living with a man or being divorced. But that is not the conversation he chose to have with her. He did not even tell her go and sin no more like another woman he said that to.


He offered her refreshment. He offered her hope. He offered her life. I bet that did more for her then any lecture she could have received about immoral living.

She went away from that meeting excited and wanting to tell others of Jesus and what he can do for her and for them. She might have even gone home and got her house in better order.


When I was able to leave the one sided conversation I was having with this person I did not feel lifted up, drawn to Jesus or encouraged in anyway. I did not want to go out and tell others about Jesus' gift. I wanted to go home and lick my wounds from a careless person who just wanted to sound spiritual and whack me with their Bible but not take the time to talk with me about my life.


As Christians we should be drawn to each other for support and acceptance. To help each other along the way. No one knows the future and can not for certain tell you what God's will is for your life. We do not have the right to whack each other with the Bible. That is not what the Bible is for.

So the next time you want to take a whack at something, make sure it is not a fellow Christian or worse yet, a person who is not saved and does not even know the love of Christ.