Good morning,
No one else can change people the way Jesus can. When I think back on all of the years I’ve been a pastor, I’ve seen it happen over and over again. Jesus comes into a person’s life and a new foundation is laid, a need is met and something new can be built up. Even for people whose lives have been so dysfunctional before, things begin to fall into place once they meet Jesus.
That doesn’t mean that everything gets fixed right away. Sometimes big changes do happen at the same moment Jesus comes into your life, but for most people it means that a new foundation gets laid – or maybe you already have a portion of the foundation but the cornerstone Jesus hasn’t yet been put in place. You haven’t been able to receive love, you haven’t believed in your own talent, you have had a desire that has destroyed your life, you have had difficulty seeing the purpose of your life. But Jesus is the cornerstone that will allow you to begin renovations so that you can become whole.
Jesus is everything, and you can’t build on any other foundation than Jesus – it won’t hold up. That goes not only for a society or a church – that goes for every individual person’s life. The cornerstone has to be put in place; only from there can a person’s life begin to develop and progress in the right direction.
Your life will be tested, Paul writes, and “tested by fire,” which means that what you have built will be shaken and tested in a major way – sooner or later. What is still left standing is what will prove to be genuine.
Those of you reading this have been tested, and what is wonderful about you is that you are genuine! Otherwise you wouldn’t still be standing. You wouldn’t be reading my blog today. Maybe you don’t think you’re so great, but you are! Paul writes that you can only build with gold on the cornerstone Jesus. Which must mean that you are gold! You are something beautiful, something genuine, something God loves. If you didn’t have gold in you, your Christian life would have fallen apart a long time ago. So no matter what you think about yourself, remember: the simple truth is that you are gold!
Good morning,
Tommy
