Wednesday, August 20, 2014

August 20, 2014 … Christ, Our Foundation

Daily Berry Patch Devotions in 2014 - Day 232

Devotional Song: Go to this link ...  and take the time to see a lyrical video of the group Hillsong singing their contemporary Christian hit … Cornerstone, proclaiming the reality of our hope in this life and our hope for the next is built on the foundation of our “Cornerstone,” Jesus Christ. 
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Highlight Passage: 1st Corinthians 3: 11 … [NKJV] …
11 For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 
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Highlight Context - NKJV: 1st Corinthians 3: 1-16 [NKJV] … GO TO THIS LINK
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Reference Passage #1 - NKJV: Psalms 118: 22-23 [NKJV] …  God’s prophesy, through Isaiah, of the Messiah as THE cornerstone of His eternal temple …
  22  The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone. 23  This was the Lord’s doing. It is marvelous in our eyes. 

Reference Passage #2 - NKJV: Isaiah 28: 16 [NKJV] …  This passage was quoted by all of the synoptic Gospel authors…
  16 Therefore thus says the Lord God: “Behold, I lay in Zion a stone for a foundation, a tried stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation. Whoever believes will not act hastily. 

Reference Passage #3 - NKJV: Matthew 7: 24-28 [NKJV] … GO TO THIS LINK  Jesus teaching on Himself as the foundation for the church …

Reference Passage #4 - NKJV: Ephesians 2: 19-22 [NKJV] … GO TO THIS LINK  Paul also declared Christ as the “cornerstone” of a building church …

Reference Passage #5 - NKJV: 1st Peter 2: 6-7 [NKJV] … GO TO THIS LINK … And Peter preached boldly in Acts 4 and in his first epistle about Christ as the foundation of the church, also quoting from Isaiah 28 and Psalm 118, linked above …

My Journal for Today: Today’s Our Daily Bread devotional entry, authored by Dennis Fisher, opened with an illustrative story …

"The Bavarian city of Nördlingen is unique. It sits in the middle of the Ries Crater, a large circular depression caused by the impact of a huge meteorite a long time ago. The immense pressure of the impact resulted in unusual crystallized rock and millions of microscopic diamonds. In the 13th century, these speckled stones were used to build St. George’s Church. Visitors can see the beautiful crystal deposits in its foundation and walls. Some might say it has a heavenly foundation." 

The story illustrates how the stone used to build the foundation of any structure is crucial to it’s stability and use as a functional structure. And any architect or builder would certainly agree with that premise. And this is why CHRIST, in both the Old and New Testaments, as well as from declarations from even Jesus about Himself (see above), is declared as the One from heaven, i.e., the Messiah, Who came to earth to become “the Cornerstone” for the building of His own Temple, as we can read in today’s ODB highlight passage from the Apostle Paul, … especially in 1st Corinthians, Chapter 3. verses 11 and 16.

The question becomes, from my devotional thoughts today, … ARE WE THE BUILDING BLOCKS FOR CHRIST’S TEMPLE WITH HIM AS OUR CORNERSTONE? … And we can only be such building blocks if we’re building our lives with our Lord as our foundation. I’ll be dealing that that self-analysis today. … How about you?

My Prayer for Today … Lord, help me to be a solid building block to your being my “Cornerstone” in building Your Temple, … the Church. … Amen

Blogger Note: Everyday during this year, my daily devotional blogs are influenced by the reading and study of the online devotional blog entitled Our Daily Bread [TGIF], distributed online via email by RBC Ministries. If you GO TO THIS LINK on the date of my blog, you’ll find a link to read the Our Daily Bread blogs; or you can subscribe to the blog via email at that site.

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