The Foundation

By Daniel Hawkins

The Foundation contains the basic foundational truths in the Word of God that every Christian should have knowledge and understanding of and thereby be able to rightly divide the word of truth.

Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. (2 Timothy 2:15)

Jesus is the word; therefore, our foundation has to be built upon the Word of God (John 1:14).

And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father) full of grace and truth. (John 1:14)

As we obtain the knowledge and understanding of the Word, we can then establish a more intimate personal relationship with Jesus and the Holy Spirit and thereby be fully persuaded that what God has promised, he is also able to perform.

And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform. (Romans 4:21)

For God has given us great and precious promises in the Word that we may be partakers of his divine nature.

Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. (2 Peter 1:4)

And thereby have faith to believe that if God has promised it in his word, then it's a done deal, for all the promises in the Word of God are always yes and in him. Amen!

For all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen, unto the glory of God by us. (2 Corinthians 1:20)

• Language: English
• Publisher: Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Nov 19, 2021
• ISBN: 9781098095390

Daniel Hawkins

Daniel Hawkins is a freelance graphic designer and illustrator based in the Pacific Northwest. He earned his BFA in applied visual arts from Oregon State University. In addition to serving the worldwide mission of the Nike Foundation, he has worked as an independent contractor for a variety of local, national, and global organizations. www.dhawkdesign.com

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The Foundation

Daniel Hawkins

ISBN 978-1-0980-9538-3 (paperback)

ISBN 978-1-0980-9539-0 (digital)

Copyright © 2021 by Daniel Hawkins

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods without the prior written permission of the publisher. For permission requests, solicit the publisher via the address below.

Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.

832 Park Avenue

Meadville, PA 16335

www.christianfaithpublishing.com

Printed in the United States of America

Table of Contents

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock:

And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock.

—Matthew 7:24–25

Preface: We Will Fall without a Foundation!

We Will Fall without a Foundation!

In the beginning, my plan for this teaching was to focus on three areas from the word of God: hope, the positive assurance of God’s word; dwelling, how we can consistently live in his presence; and meditating in his word, which will bring the spirit of the word to life and thereby manifest it into our lives.

But as it goes with many things we begin, God had other plans. You see, as my eyes and ears were opened and I received revelation and understanding in these areas, I then wanted to share these truths with everyone that I could and thus began the start of this book. But as I became more involved in the writing of it, God kept bringing me back to the foundations that allowed these revelations to be opened up to me in the first place. Therefore, as God’s word needs to be received precept upon precept, line upon line, here a little and there a little—that’s how he has led me to give it on to you.

For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little. (Isaiah 28:10)

Introduction

As I was finishing the final touches to this book, I had a few friends and family read it, and it seemed as though it took them a while to adjust to my method of writing.

I thought about changing how I had laid it out, but as I was doing so, God impressed on me that how I had laid it out is exactly how he had wanted it to be written. He did this by bringing to me the story of the sower and the seed.

God showed me my words are just the plow that prepares the ground (our heart) that will allow the seed (the word of God) to take root and therefore bring forth fruit.

So then, as you begin reading, you will see I will explain the concept (the plow), then it will be followed with the correlating scripture (the seed) that it may take root in our heart (the ground) and grow.

Just a note:

Now, I cannot state this strongly enough. Take your time while reading this book. It’s not our main goal to complete another book. Our goal is to form a better understanding of God’s word, which will bring us into a deeper, personal, and more intimate relationship with Christ and the Holy Spirit. Therefore, it is extremely important that you read and/or meditate on each scripture before moving on to what I have written about the next verse. You will find that as you do this, the Holy Spirit will speak to you! I’m not saying necessarily that you will hear an audible voice, but I am saying that when we are reading scripture and we feel it touch our heart, there’s something the Holy Spirit wants us to hear, and when this happens, stop reading! And take the time to listen/mediate on what he has to say before we continue.

So then, as we now begin to read, let us pray that God may give onto us the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him, the eyes of our understanding being enlightened that we may know what is the hope of his calling and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in us. Amen!

That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him.

The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints. (Ephesians 1:17–18)

Chapter 1

The Word

There have been many books written about God’s word, stories of how God has changed and miraculously blessed people’s lives, which is great. These books can give us encouragement and help us to continue to walk in the Spirit and thereby not fulfill the lust of the flesh.

This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. (Galatians 5:16)

But how do we continue to walk in his Spirit and not in the flesh? Well, it is true that when we are born again, we receive Christ’s spirit, but that is not the point Paul is making when he refers to us walking in the Spirit or flesh. For us who have been born again, walking in the Spirit or flesh is pertaining to our choices as to how we will now live our lives.

These choices are no longer a heaven or hell issue. It has to do with us renewing our mind to who we now are in Christ, and therefore, we will have the ability to walk in the Spirit and live in God’s perfect will.

And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. (Romans 12:2)

In our walk with God, we will always have paths to which we can choose, and those choices will be ours to make through our own free will, but God will always give us direction through the Holy Spirit as to which path we should take.

When he sets before us life and death, blessing and cursing, he will advise us of the right path to choose, but it will always be left up to us to listen and follow.

I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live. (Deuteronomy 30:19)

So will we continue to walk in the flesh (which is death) and is basically us thinking, speaking, and acting the way we did through our carnal/natural minds before we were saved? Or do we choose to walk in the Spirit (which is life) and is basically us thinking, speaking, and acting through our spiritually renewed mind as to who the word says we now are in Christ.

For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. (Romans 8:6)

Which brings me back to the point I wanted to make in the first place on the word. It is the word that brings faith. It is the key to the power that will allow change to our life. Therefore, regardless of what we read about God’s word and how it may encourage us, there is nothing, and I repeat, nothing, that will transform our life more than the literal word of God. Jesus states, The words that I speak onto you, they are spirit, and they are life.

It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life. (John 6:63)

Where is the only place we can get his word?

From our Bible!

With this in mind, you will notice that as you read this, I have focused all my writing on the Word! That’s because my writing will do very little for you. It is only by hope in the word that the substance of faith will come.

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. (Hebrews 11:1)

It is only when the substance (faith) of the word, has become real in our heart, that it will produce the abundant life, that God’s word promises.

The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. (John 10:10)

Peter knew we would need to be reminded on the importance of the word as he explains this in the following verses.

Christ had revealed to Peter that his life on this earth would soon be ending.

Knowing that shortly I must put off this my tabernacle, even as our Lord Jesus Christ hath shewed me. (2 Peter 1:14)

Therefore, Peter is saying, after his death, he wants us to always remember the things he has said. How will we remember? That’s why he wrote First and Second Peter, so we would have his word with us to keep us in remembrance.

Moreover I will endeavour that ye may be able after my decease to have these things always in remembrance. (2 Peter 1:15)

Peter is confirming that what he has said is the truth, and not something they had made up. He was there and had seen it with his own eyes.

For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty. (2 Peter 1:15)

He now gives an example of one of the things he was an eyewitness to when he tells the story of Jesus on the mount of transfiguration. (You can read about this instance starting at Matthew 17:1, Mark 9:2, Luke 9:28.)

For he received from God the Father honour and glory, when there came such a voice to him from the excellent glory, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. (2 Peter 1:17)

Peter is confirming where the voice came from and that they heard it personally.

And this voice which came from heaven we heard, when we were with him in the holy mount. (2 Peter 1:18)

He tells us these things to emphasize and help us to understand the surety and importance of scripture.

In the above verses, he stated they heard the voice of God; yet in this verse, he states, We have also a more sure word! He is referring to what is written in our Bible!

We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts. (2 Peter 1:19)

Now he explains why it’s a more sure word. The Bible was not written by any man’s private interpretation but by men who were moved by the Holy Ghost.

Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation.

For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. (2 Peter 1:20–21)

It’s easy to understand the surety, power, and authority of the word when we remember that Jesus is the word!

And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father) full of grace and truth. (John 1:14)

Timothy also confirms as to where scripture comes from and that all scripture is profitable and beneficial for us.

All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:

That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works. (2 Timothy 3:16–17)

Now don’t misunderstand what Peter is trying to say. He’s not saying that if we think we hear the audible voice of God, that it’s a bad thing and not to be taken seriously, but as Paul has warned us also. The devil can transform into the spirit of light and try to deceive us. He also has many of his ministers in this world spreading his deceptions, and if we are not careful, we could be deceived into thinking it was a word from God when it may have been a word from the devil.

For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ.

And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.

Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works. (2 Corinthians 11:13–15)

Throughout history, there have been people that have done terrible things in the name of God. That’s why he says not to believe every spirit, but try the spirits to see if they are of God.

Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world. (1 John 4:1)

So then how can we try (verify) if the spirit of what we hear is of God? This is why Peter is making this point about the importance of the word. So that if we ever hear an audible voice giving us direction or if anyone is trying to give us direction, we can compare what is being said to what is written in the Bible. God will never violate or contradict his written word.

My covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips. (Psalm 89:34)

God has magnified his word above his name! Therefore, we can trust, believe, and have total faith in his word!

I will worship toward thy holy temple, and praise thy name for thy lovingkindness and for thy truth: for thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name. (Psalm 138:2)

Now one of the ways the devil tries to deceive the church is very subtle. He will take parts of truths in the Bible and twist them just enough to change the meaning to render the word powerless, which, in turn, will weaken our faith, and it will give the devil inroads into our life to destroy us.

The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. (John 10:10)

An example of how the devil will try to twist the word to deceive us can be seen in Jesus’s temptation in the wilderness. Satan is quoting from Psalm 91:12, but he is misquoting this scripture pertaining to the Lord’s supernatural protection. He added at any time to the promise that God would give his angles charge over Jesus to keep him from dashing his foot against a stone. That’s not an accurate quote.

And saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone. (Matthew 4:6)

We see, the actual quote from God’s word in the book of Psalms, and we can clearly see it does not contain at any time.

They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone. (Psalm 91:12)

It’s a very small detail. But a crucial one and one that can get us killed if we are not careful. The protection of God does not work at any time and under any circumstance. We have to be dwelling with God and abiding under the shadow of the Almighty, which I will be going through in greater detail in chapter 13.

He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. (Psalm 91:1)

Also, if Jesus had tried to appropriate the protection of this verse just to tempt the Lord, that rebellious attitude would have opened the door to sin and that would have hindered the effectiveness of the word.

Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. (Matthew 4:7)

As I had stated before, if we are not careful, Satan can use the word against us, but he will always twist it in some way to try to deceive us. A casual knowledge of Scripture is just enough to get us into trouble. We need to study, to rightly divide the Word of God.

Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. (2 Timothy 2:15)

In Matthew 4:7 above, when talking about tempting God, Jesus said, It is written Where is it written?

Ye shall not tempt the Lord your God, as ye tempted him in Massah. (Deuteronomy 6:16)

This next verse shows we can also tempt God when we fail to fully believe and thereby doubt his word! The Israelites were angry with Moses, and they complained about being thirsty in the desert and tempted God when they doubted and asked if God was still with them or not.

And he called the name of the place Massah, and Meribah, because of the chiding of the children of Israel, and because they tempted the Lord, saying, Is the Lord among us, or not? (Exodus 17:7)

During the Israelites’ exodus from Egypt, the Lord had manifested his supernatural power and ability to them on many occasions.

And the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of a cloud, to lead them the way; and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light; to go by day and night. (Exodus 13:21)

Yet they still doubted, and as we can see, when we combine Exodus 17:7 (above) with Exodus 17:2 (below), the Israelites tempted the Lord by doubting not only that he was with them but also doubted that he would provide for them.

Wherefore the people did chide with Moses, and said, Give us water that we may drink. And Moses said unto them, Why chide ye with me? wherefore do ye tempt the Lord? (Exodus 17:2)

We are also not to tempt the Lord by foolishly doing something harmful to ourselves, such as handling poisonous snakes and/or knowingly drink poison just to prove a point. But if there is an accidental mishap, we can stand on the promises in God’s word to protect us.

They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover. (Mark 16:18)

If these things just happen, we can trust and believe that God’s protection and supernatural intervention will manifest through faith of his promises in the word. But if we purposely do these things, then that would be tempting God and his promise is hindered by our rebellion and it opens up inroads of Satan into our lives. Paul gives an example of this protection when a viper bit him on the hand.

And when Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks, and laid them on the fire, there came a viper out of the heat, and fastened on his hand. (Acts 28:3)

Paul’s reaction to this incident clearly demonstrates his relationship with Christ and the faith Paul had of the promise of God’s protection. One we should take note of when we stand on God’s promises. Paul merely shook the viper off his arm and didn’t give it a second thought. That’s because of the confidence, and trust, in the faith of God, that he had developed through his past experiences in his personal relationship with Christ. He had renewed his mind to only focus on the supernatural faith of God over any of the natural/carnal circumstances that he may face. This type of confidence only comes through an intimate relationship that develops by spending time with someone. We too can develop our relationship with Christ to have the same level of confidence and trust that Paul had and thereby have the confidence to stand on the same promises in the word for our protection.

And he shook off the beast into the fire, and felt no harm. (Acts 28:5)

These are foundational truths and promises that every Christian should have knowledge of and be operating in as we go through this life. These promises are activated by faith, and it is our responsibility to choose to believe God’s word; otherwise, we can reject this knowledge and be destroyed. Then blame God for the things that go wrong in our lives.

My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children. (Hosea 4:6)

Just a quick note about standing on God’s promises for healing:

Throwing away our medication will not manifest God’s promise for healing into our body. We need to have our mind renewed to the point that we believe God’s supernatural word more than we believe the natural/carnal circumstances we are facing. Then when we know through faith that we are healed, there is then no need for medication.

The best way is to be like Paul and have already developed our relation with Christ before the attack comes, and therefore, we will just cast it off.

But as many of seasoned Christians can attest to, we are not always where we should be, as to our relationship, in our walk with Christ. We too can become entangled with the cares of this world.

I have been attacked many times, and there were times I was prepared, and the fight was short. There were also times I was not where I should have been, and the fight took longer than it should have; but either way, I always knew it was God’s will that I walk in health and wholeness—and in the end, I was always healed!

It is always God’s best for us to walk in health. But I’ll tell you one thing: the times when I was not prepared and was dealing with doubt and unbelief, it was a whole lot easier standing for that healing when I wasn’t in pain, so yeah, there were times I took the medicine. God will meet us where we are at. If we need to take our medicine and allow time to grow in the understanding of God’s promises in the Word, then do it! God loves us whether we take medicine or not. Medicine can be a wonderful thing; just don’t rely only on the medicine more than we trust the word of God.

We can also pray over that medicine and allow it to work even better.

Now, the experiences from those times have taught me that we are in a battle and we have an adversary trying to take us out. Therefore, we need to study by getting into the word and gaining the knowledge and understanding of these promises so we too can be prepared as Paul was when he was attacked. Thereby, instead of just sitting around waiting for the next attack, we can study to shew ourselves approved unto God, rightly dividing the word of truth.

Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. (2 Timothy 2:15)

Grace and peace are multiplied to us through the knowledge and understanding we have of God and our Lord Jesus Christ. How do we get this knowledge? By spending time with Jesus through studying, dwelling, and meditating in the word!

Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord. (2 Peter 1:2)

Peter is saying, God has already given onto us everything we will ever need for life and godliness, but it comes through the knowledge we have of God.

According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue. (2 Peter 1:3)

And through this knowledge, we are able to receive the exceeding great and precious promises that God has given unto us that allow us to be partakers of his divine nature and escape the corruption of this world.

Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust (2 Peter 1:4)

But for the most part, the church is only teaching the promise of Salvation, which, don’t get me wrong, is the most wonderful gift of all, but why would we not want to partake in all the benefits God has provided for us?

The first step in manifesting these promises into our lives is our knowledge of them.

Chapter 2

Spirit, Soul, and Body

It’s hard to teach on just one part of God’s word without touching on the others. They are so interrelated we have to know one truth before we can properly receive another. Therefore, as we read in the last chapter, we need to rightly divide the word of truth.

Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. (2 Timothy 2:15)

So before we begin to search deeper into faith, grace, healing, or any of God’s promises that we received with salvation. We need to understand who we now are and how we now receive and manifest these truths.

This verse clearly shows that we are made up of three parts: Spirit, Soul and Body.

And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Thessalonians 5:23)

Yet many Christians have never understood this. Without this understanding, it is extremely difficult to consistently operate fully in the power and promises of God. Therefore, one of the first things we need to do is understand how each of these parts relate to who we now are in Christ.

When we are born again, we become a new person, old things passed away, and all things have become new.

If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. (2 Corinthians 5:17)

So what things have become new and what things have passed away? To help us better understand this, let’s take a closer look at each of our three parts and try to gain a better understanding as to whom we now are.

First, let’s discuss our body:

The Body

Our Human Physical Form

We all have a physical body; I believe everyone can understand that. We can feel and see it, we know when it hurts, and we know when it feels good. The reflection looking back at us when we look in a mirror is what we believe to be our physical body. I think we all can agree and understand that we all have a physical body.

After we are saved, we can look in the mirror and see the same image looking back at us and see it hasn’t changed. So clearly, it’s not talking about our physical body that will change when we are born again.

Our bodies won’t be changed until the Lord comes back. The dead, which died in Christ, shall be raised to meet the Lord in the air.

For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first. (1 Thessalonians 4:16)

Then we that remain (Christians who are still alive on the earth at the time of his second coming) shall be changed into our glorified/spiritual body and rise to meet the Lord in the air with them.

Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. (1 Thessalonians 4:17)

Paul also mentions this, explaining that we will be changed in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump when the Lord returns.

He states that with our corruptible flesh and blood physical/carnal bodies, we cannot enter into heaven. We will need to be changed into our glorified/spiritual bodies when the Lord returns.

Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption. (1 Corinthians 15:50)

When he states we shall not all sleep, he is referring to the people who are alive on the earth at the time of his second coming, who have accepted Christ and have not taken the mark of the Beast. We shall all be changed is referring to the fact that we all will need to have our physical bodies changed into our spiritual bodies.

Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed. (1 Corinthians 15:51)

Here Paul is explaining how and when we will be changed at the last trump and in the twinkling of an eye. The dead shall be raised incorruptible, then we will be changed into incorruptible. He is simply stating our corruptible physical mortal body must put on the incorruptible spiritual immortal body. This change from our physical body to our spiritual body will happen in a millisecond or, as it states here, in the twinkling of an eye.

In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. 53 For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. (1 Corinthians 15:52)

Paul just simply paraphrases the previous verse again so we don’t miss it.

For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. (1 Corinthians 15:53)

Now he is stating, when this happens, we will then have victory over death.

So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. (1 Corinthians 15:54)

So again, we can clearly see our bodies will not be changed until the Lord comes back, and therefore, we’re not changed at the time we were born again.

Next we will address an understanding of our soul:

The Soul

Our Mental/Psychological Reasoning

When we talk about the soul, that’s where most will start to get confused. We have a hard time distinguishing between our soul and our spirit.

The Soul contains our personality, our mind, and parts of our heart. It is the mental/psychological part of us. It contains our thinking and our emotions. Our soul can be affected by words we hear or things we see; it’s