09/08/2025
Do you feel particularly unworthy this morning? When you rose did you feel dulled by the world as if you had lost your spiritual sheen? Well, cast that feeling off because you are a living stone... a piece of heaven. When you look into the mirror rejoice and see yourself as a reflection of the Kingdom to come. You are most likely asking yourself if this is true and how you could possibly be a piece of heaven? Well to answer this we must first consider these questions... “Of what is the kingdom of God constructed?” and “what are the building blocks of glory?” The answer to each of these questions is the same… "You are!" So, friends, let’s rejoice!
“As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.”
1 Peter 2:4-5 ESV
We humble ourselves and as we endure the world we can lose sight of why we have been called. People around us in the world are quick to reject us, but their eyes are blind to the spirit, and their stone is still in the quarry. We on the other hand are the building blocks of God's Holy Kingdom. Though we suffer as our Lord Jesus suffered, we find the peace and joy of God in the midst of our travail. We are hewn from the rock to become holy, and Jesus is the cornerstone that aligns us as God's temple rises.
“built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord.”
Ephesians 2:20-21 ESV
Pay no attention to the rejection of this world and the dark one who is in it. Rejoice and set your sight on the glory that lies ahead and the promise and hope that we have been given in Jesus Christ, our Lord. We are no more rejected than He was rejected, and no more ridiculed, yes, even less so, than He was, and yet don’t we marvel at Him, and doesn’t He shine as bright as the sun?
“Jesus said to them, "Have you never read in the Scriptures: "'The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; this was the Lord's doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes'?”
Matthew 21:42 ESV
We are meant to be rejected, and those of the world are meant to reject us in their ignorance and disobedience of the Word. We are steadily being perfected in our faith... so, take heart in your trials, and rejoice in your suffering.
“So the honor is for you who believe, but for those who do not believe, "The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone," and "A stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense." They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do.”
1 Peter 2:7-8 ESV
Cutting stone requires that it be sawed, hammered, and chiseled, from where it was created, from its natural place. Each block removed bears the marks of the mason, and by His hand it is made to be perfectly placed. We leave the spiritual quarry by much sweat and effort, but once adjoined by the Architects vision, we rise and become the Temple of God. Do not moan or lose heart at the chisel's sting or wince at the hammer's ring. We are becoming the beauty of God's glory revealed. We are the temple which stands in heaven... and we are a piece of heaven itself. So, rejoice!
Pray for all those who reject you and show compassion to those who are the chisels by which you are being shaped. They are being continuously dulled against you and one day will be used up and discarded, but you will stand in glory forever. Rejoice!
“The Lord watches over the sojourners; he upholds the widow and the fatherless, but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin.”
Psalms 146:9 ESV
This morning when we rise, let’s rejoice in this day that the Lord has made, and praise Him for our marks and our stripes. Every stroke of the hammer, and every bite of the chisel has served to perfect us! May His will be done and the light of His glory shine upon us. Let our joy ring out with every blow we endure.
Prayer:
Father, thank you for the pain and suffering I endure each day as I am perfected for your use. Thank you for the tight fit that is made as I am placed in your temple. Make me secure Father and let no light escape between where I am laid and the other stones adjoin me. Never allow me to become disheartened as I am hewn into the shape you would have me take. Whether I am a foundation stone, a threshold, or the floor on which you walk... let me celebrate your purpose for me. Lord God, there are days when I need your comfort more than others; when I desperately need your encouragement before I can go out into the world. On those days I sit in my prayer chair and cry out to you, but your answer comes because you are faithful and lift me up. For your mercy and faithfulness I thank you Father and I praise you mightily. I ask you today that you continue to sooth me in my despondence and remorse and wipe away my tears. Give me courage to face each day and the trials that come in it. Heal my wounds Father and lift me by the hand once you have perfected me for placement in your temple. Hear me in that moment as I praise you and hear me as I rejoice and give you all the honor and glory for my place in heaven. In this I will worship you always! Holy, Holy, Holy are you my God and holy is your Son Jesus who is the cornerstone who orients me and all the other living stones who become your spiritual house… your temple. Praised be your names now and for all eternity as we, the living stones, begin to cry out!
Amen!
“And some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples.” He answered, “I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out.”
Luke 19:39-40 ESV
““If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.”
John 15:18-19 ESV
Rich Forbes