🎵 The Upside-down Mountain of Blessings; Part 3
The dark clouds roll in with a thunderous crackle, and a howling wind blows blinding sheets of rain against the neighborhood. A flash flood violently surges over the riverbanks, ripping up trees and slamming directly into two houses. From a distance, the two structures look identical. But as the mud rushes over the foundations, their differences become obvious. One house stands completely unmoved against the torrent, while the other one collapses into a catastrophic heap of crushed bricks and broken wood. This is the closing cinematic scene of YahShua’s famous sermon.
After dismantling four millennia of religious chaos and bringing the focus back to its original purpose—grace—He ends with a sharp warning about an unavoidable storm. He forces us to look past the outward appearance of our lives and look directly at what is underneath them. Without explicitly asking Himself, He poses the question: What is your foundation?
Matthew 7:24-27 BSB
[24] Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. [25] The rain fell, the torrents raged, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because its foundation was on the rock.
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[26] But everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act on them is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. [27] The rain fell, the torrents raged, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell— and great was its collapse!”
https://bible.com/bible/3034/mat.7.24-27.BSB
So I ask you, dear reader, what is your foundation? Are you trusting in The Lord and built on a rock-solid foundation that is backed up in Scripture? Have you tested the beliefs that frame your spiritual life against the words of The Carpenter?
And if you’ve ever wondered what a house (and rock) made of knitted yarn looks like, check out this cute image…
I loved working on this study with Gemini because it brought up some focal points I may have missed if I’d spent the hours required to search all the sources the AI has access to. One great point was this: The wise builder didn’t build a house to earn the rock; he built on the rock because he trusted its strength. At least it’s a great point to someone who has spent many days and hours trying to perform flawlessly enough to keep the Rock in my life rather than causing Him to give up on me.
I also liked the notes on comparing our walk with Christ to a phone that needs to be charged. A phone doesn’t earn its power by working, it sits passively on a charger to receive power. But it receives power *so that* it can go out and run its apps. Good behavior and holy living are not a currency we pay to get God to love us—they are the natural fruit of a life that has finally let God and His love be the source of power.
Stopping the Grace vs Works Pendulum
We don’t obey God to convince Him we are worthy of His love; we obey Him because we have finally allowed Him to fully love us. His way. Based on His worthiness—poured out in blood at Calvary. We obey because, like a glass submitting to a vessel that’s pouring water into it, we trust Him to fill us up. Good behavior and obedience, including letting God serve us in healings and other blessings, is the fruit of that trust.
The balance of both grace and good works—with grace setting us free from struggling for a paycheck attached to our workload—stops the pendulum. Once we’re free from being servants of sin, we become like children who want to please our holy Father because we love and trust Him. We’re no longer swinging from one extreme to the other trying to figure out which lessons to follow to become perfect or shunning works all together as if they are a type of bondage.
Now, we’re praising God from the top of the upside-down mountain of blessings, and from the valley below. We realize blessings are His gifts of love toward us rather than rewards for our perfection. He pours out gifts because He wants to. No more begging; just receiving, trusting, and loving in all kinds of weather.
As we wrap up this journey on the Upside-Down Mountain of Blessings, look at your own spiritual foundation today. Are you still trying to climb the old mountains of performance, or are you ready to build on the Rock of Christ’s finished work? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below: Which part of this upside-down message speaks most deeply to where you are at in your faith journey right now?
Read Part 1 at: https://crystal-writes.com/2026/06/07/upside-down1/
Read Part 2 at: https://crystal-writes.com/2026/06/08/upside-down2/
And now, enjoy an old childhood favorite about the wise man and the foolish man…
And I’ll finish this in style with the beautiful song “God on the Mountain” by Lynda Randle…
Note: Parts of this study (and a few of the words) were assisted by Google Gemini, alongside website studies at Bible Hub and Got Questions, but I’ve edited and personalized all of it before publishing.
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