The Blood Is The Foundation | Pastor Lanny Hayes

Devotional

Day 1: When Storms Reveal What’s Underneath

A vacation to white sandy beaches hides a sobering truth: what looks solid may collapse when tested. Foundations matter most when hurricanes hit. Just as engineers drill past soft soil to anchor skyscrapers, believers must dig past surface-level faith to the bedrock of Christ’s blood. Stability isn’t found in what’s visible but in what’s unshakable beneath. Storms don’t create weakness—they expose it. Where are you building? [02:25]

“Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock.” (Matthew 7:24–25, ESV)

Reflection: When life’s storms shake you, what cracks or shifts reveal where your foundation needs deeper work? How might Christ’s blood become your unyielding anchor today?

Day 2: Blood-Stained Concrete: The Only Mix That Holds

Concrete trucks don’t pour slabs on unprepared ground. Forms, rebar, and leveling come first. The blood of Jesus isn’t a metaphor—it’s the divine rebar reinforcing faith’s foundation. Without it, even grand spiritual structures crumble. Just as builders trust tested materials, believers must rely on the blood’s proven strength. What looks like weakness (a crucified Savior) is eternal durability. [13:45]

“But God’s firm foundation stands, bearing this seal: ‘The Lord knows those who are his.’” (2 Timothy 2:19, ESV)

Reflection: Where have you tried reinforcing your life with “cheap materials” (approval, success, habits) instead of trusting the blood’s finished work? How does His seal on your life change today’s anxieties?

Day 3: From Quarry to Living Heart

A stony heart can’t receive seed or sustain life. God doesn’t reform old hearts—He swaps them. Like replacing granite with fertile soil, He trades rebellion for responsiveness. This isn’t self-improvement but resurrection: dead stone becomes living flesh. Tenderness replaces resistance. What once repelled grace now absorbs it. The proof isn’t in perfection but in being pliable. [12:11]

“And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.” (Ezekiel 36:26, ESV)

Reflection: What relationships, habits, or attitudes still feel like “stone” in you—resistant to God’s touch? How might you cooperate with His heart-transplant today?

Day 4: Faith as Your Sixth Sense

Faith isn’t a Sunday accessory but daily perception. Like eyes filtering light or ears discerning pitch, faith interprets every moment through Christ’s victory. What the world calls “reality” becomes shadow; the unseen eternal becomes tangible. To walk, see, and hear in faith is to navigate life with heaven’s senses active. Distractions lose power when faith focuses. [40:36]

“For we walk by faith, not by sight.” (2 Corinthians 5:7, ESV)

Reflection: What situation are you judging by sight alone? How would faith’s “lens” reinterpret it through Christ’s promises and presence?

Day 5: The High Cost of “Good Enough” Foundations

Sand feels solid until weight and water collide. Compromise in small choices (a glance, a shrug at sin, delayed obedience) erodes stability. The fool in Jesus’ parable isn’t evil—just lax. He built near the rock but not on it. Eternal loss begins with minor adjustments to God’s blueprint. Survival demands ruthless alignment with Christ’s words, not nearness to them. [37:59]

“And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.” (Matthew 7:26–27, ESV)

Reflection: Where have you settled for “close enough” to Jesus’ commands? What one adjustment today would move you from shifting sand to solid rock?

Sermon Summary

The blood names the foundation of the faith, not sand. The image of towers on sugar-white beaches and bridges over swamp shows how anything set on mush collapses unless pilings are driven down to what is hard. Ezekiel 36 lays that footing. God promises a new heart and a new spirit, trading a stone that can absorb nothing for flesh that can receive the word, sprinkling clean water so the unclean become clean, not by ceremony, but by cleansing. The cleansing is the blood. The hope is Jesus. The life is Jesus. The text presses the question: is Jesus the foundation, or is the stack resting on pedigree, denomination, personalities, and a thin religious shine that storms will peel away.

The blood then builds a life. A law-and-grace dollar has two sides. Law is holy and grace is saving, and a false balance is an abomination. Grace without holiness makes license; law without grace makes despair. Holiness is not an opinion. Be holy, for God is holy. A heart God makes new does not talk like a sailor on Monday and sing like a saint on Sunday. If there is no change, there has been no birth.

Second Timothy says the foundation of God stands sure and the Lord knows who are his. A sealed life holds when the wind howls. Jeremiah promises a heart to know God, not just a pass to heaven later, but nearness now, a desire to see him in the garden, in the marriage, in the morning and at night.

Second Corinthians 5 declares a new creature. Old things pass away. If the old man still rules, the new has not come. Jesus in Matthew 16 builds on the rock of the confession, not on Peter as a man, but on “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Hell’s gates cannot break that rock. Matthew 7 draws the line clear. Not everyone who says “Lord, Lord” enters, but those who do the Father’s will. The wise hear and do, and the house stands. The foolish hear and won’t, and the fall is great.

Faith then becomes senses. Faith sees, hears, judges, and walks. Eyes are windows, so faith turns the head from what would seed lust and rot the soul. The Spirit’s clean water keeps washing, the word keeps forming, and the house set on the blood stays standing when the storm beats on it.

Key Takeaways

1. The blood is the foundation The footing is not ceremony or church brand. The footing is the cleansing blood that makes the unclean clean and fixes hope on Jesus alone. Forget the blood and the house sits on mush that will not carry weight. Remember the blood and the foundation holds when everything else shakes. [13:45]
2. A new heart means real change Ezekiel’s promise is not cosmetic. God removes a stone that cannot receive and gives flesh that can be formed by the word, so conduct shifts, speech shifts, loves shift. If nothing has shifted, the footing was never laid. New heart, new spirit, new walk. [10:07]
3. Law and grace stand together Grace saves, and law still speaks with holy standards. A false balance makes license or legalism, but a just weight fears God and delights in mercy. Holiness is not optional equipment for saints; it is the fruit of grace working in a tender heart. [16:07]
4. Build by hearing and doing Matthew 7 calls the wise to do what they hear. Rain, floods, and wind will come, so sand piety that only talks will crack fast, no matter the gifts or claims. Rock lives do the will of the Father and stand up under battering. [36:28]
5. Let faith become your senses Faith must see, hear, and walk, judging what enters the soul and where the feet go. The Spirit trains the eyes to turn, the ears to test, and the legs to refuse paths God forbids. When faith functions as sense, small seeds of sin do not get planted. [38:28]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[00:39] - Stirred in prayer, set apart
[01:40] - The blood named as foundation
[02:49] - Bridges, pilings, and solid ground
[05:34] - Concrete finishers and prepared footing
[07:34] - Ezekiel: a new heart and spirit
[12:29] - Sprinkled clean, not by ceremony
[15:41] - Law and grace, a just weight
[19:29] - The sure seal of God’s foundation
[22:53] - A heart to know Him
[26:27] - New creature, old things gone
[30:50] - Upon this rock I will build
[33:19] - Lord, Lord and the will of the Father
[36:28] - Wise builder on the rock
[38:28] - Faith as eyes, ears, and legs
[44:04] - Guarding the windows of the soul

Bible Study Guide

Bible Reading
Ezekiel 36:26-27 (ESV)
And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.

Matthew 7:24-27 (ESV)
Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was its fall.

Observation Questions

In Ezekiel 36:26-27, what does God promise to replace a "heart of stone" with, and what specific results follow this change?
The sermon compares building a life on sand versus rock. What examples were given to illustrate the danger of unstable foundations? [02:49]
According to Matthew 7:24-27, what two actions (hearing + ______) define a "wise builder," and what happens to those who neglect the second action?
How does the sermon describe the relationship between grace and holiness? [16:07]

Interpretation Questions

Why is a "heart of flesh" (Ezekiel 36:26) necessary for obedience, and how does this contrast with a "heart of stone"?
The sermon warns against balancing grace and holiness incorrectly. How might emphasizing grace without holiness lead to destructive outcomes? [15:41]
Matthew 7:24-27 emphasizes both hearing and doing. Why are both required for a life built on the rock, and what might "doing" look like practically?
How does the imagery of "pilings driven into hard ground" [02:49] relate to the idea of a transformed heart in Ezekiel 36?

Application Questions

What tangible changes in speech, habits, or priorities have occurred in your life that reflect a "new heart"? If little has changed, what steps could you take to examine your foundation?
Are there areas where you’ve treated grace as permission to ignore holiness (e.g., excusing sin) or holiness as a way to earn God’s favor? How can you recalibrate this balance?
The sermon warns against building on "pedigree, denomination, or religious routines" [10:41]. What practices or identities do you lean on for spiritual security instead of Christ’s blood?
What practical steps could you take this week to "guard the windows of the soul" [44:04] (e.g., turning away from tempting sights, filtering media, or avoiding harmful conversations)?
When storms hit your life (crisis, doubt, or temptation), what specific truths about Jesus’ blood or promises from Scripture help you stand firm?
The sermon says, "If the old man still rules, the new has not come." What "old" patterns or attitudes still feel dominant in your life, and how can you actively surrender them to Christ?
How could you intentionally "see, hear, and walk by faith" this week in decisions about relationships, work, or entertainment?

Sermon Clips

32s

“``You got to live a holy life. Can't live like the devil and go to heaven. That's right. Be holy for I'm holy. Come on. Right. You can't pretend to know God and do everything contrary to him. You're not on the foundation that God has planted under you. Praise God. If you are saved, you're gonna change. The word the word of God is gonna be your foundation, and you're gonna live a godly life. Come on, somebody. And you're gonna fear God, you're do the things God wants you to do.”

39s

“When I allow allow faith to come into my heart, the faith in Jesus, the blood of Jesus, Faith becomes my eyes. Think about that, a man. What I see, I see through faith. Okay? You understand what I'm saying? It's like faith is more important than my two eyes because it's where I function. It's how I move, the decisions I make. Faith in what Jesus did at the cross. Faith in his word to do what he says, to obey him. So I gotta see with faith.”

34s

“Listen. Let me tell you something. There's a lot of churches today, and I'm not gonna pick on church, but there's some of them building their foundation on on on on on on hopelessness. They're building a foundation on sand. Jesus is not the foundation to the for the church. It's the preacher or or the denomination or or, you know, whether you were baptized in a certain name or you could go on and on and on. You could find out, is Jesus your faith today? Is he is he your foundation?”

36s

“If if you have a problem with sin, get it right with god. Put it behind you. Put it behind you. Stand put it under the blood. Get it right. Don't gamble with it and say, well, everybody's doing it. Nobody's perfect. That's a sorry excuse, man, for somebody that don't wanna live for God. I'm sorry. It's just what it is. Sin is an offense to God. Sin is is is is wicked. Sin separates a man from God. Come on, somebody. Come on.”

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The Blood Is The Foundation | Pastor Lanny Hayes

Devotional

Day 1: When Storms Reveal What’s Underneath

Day 2: Blood-Stained Concrete: The Only Mix That Holds

Day 3: From Quarry to Living Heart

Day 4: Faith as Your Sixth Sense

Day 5: The High Cost of “Good Enough” Foundations

Sermon Summary

Key Takeaways

Youtube Chapters

Bible Study Guide

Sermon Clips

The Blood Is The Foundation | Pastor Lanny Hayes

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