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It's not about us.
It's all about Him.

Richness in Christ

Words That Burn in My Heart

Riches, Intimacy and Cornerstone Communities

The cornerstone is the most important stone, or block, in the foundation of a building. It is the stone on which everything else depends, the stone that makes the difference.

Deep down inside, in the middle of the night, when my heart and mind are quiet and open to receiving, there is a calling and a drawing and an aching to be a living cornerstone-to make a difference. To truly and fully become what I was created to become even before the foundation of the world. I don't have a desire to build an empire or a dynasty; I just want to be sure that my life counts for something. I desire the peace of knowing that in the final analysis I have given everything I am to that which is solid, trustworthy and eternal. I desire that because Jesus calls us to "bear fruit", and the fruit he calls us to bear is Christ-likeness. In fact, he says that his true followers will bear much fruit. I desire to be a fruit bearing cornerstone because it is consistent with what God the Father has created and called me to be. He has planted his character within us and has set eternity in all our hearts.

In order to be a living cornerstone I need to surrender my life to some thing or some one much greater than I am, and to allow that person or thing to passionately direct everything about me. In the very center of my being I need to feel at peace about whom and what I am surrendered to. If I am to be a cornerstone, then my life needs to be surrendered to the One who creates cornerstones.

Today, I am able to peacefully and joyfully say that my heart has found that which fulfills my desire and longing to make a difference, count for something, and touch the lives of others in a truly meaningful way. It is not a thing; it is a relationship with a person-Jesus Christ. And I don't have to go looking for it; it just happens.

Let me explain. In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. God also created people and his innermost desire was that people would reflect his own image. People, however, rejected what God had created them to be. God then sent His Son Jesus to earth to show people how to live, and to be an example of what God is really like.

People, however, rejected God's Son Jesus and put him to death by nailing him to a cross. But God loved his people so much that still He would not give up on them. So God determined that the wounds in Jesus' body and the blood running from those wounds would be for the cleansing and the forgiveness of the sins of the whole world, for all people for all time, if only they would receive His Son Jesus as the center of their lives.

Jesus was buried in a tomb but three days later defeated death by arising from that tomb and once again living among God's people. Today, Jesus is in heaven and sitting at the right hand of God the Father Almighty, Maker of Heaven and Earth.

But there is more. In defeating death and living a new life, Jesus also made it possible for us to defeat the things that would crucify and bury us in order that we too may live new lives. God said that the way that would happen is for Jesus to be the cornerstone of our lives and for us to be living stones whose lives reflect Jesus, the cornerstone. Jesus is present and living among us today in the person of his Spirit. He desires to live in relationship with us, and offers us everything we need to live cornerstone lives.

Jesus Christ is Lord and Master of my life and is everything I need to live a life that truly counts. He gives meaning, purpose and direction to my every moment and I can truly and completely be at peace and rest in him for now and for eternity regardless of the turmoil that may be going on around me. Jesus is at the core of my being. He is life abundant in the midst of all that would kill and destroy me and render me useless, lifeless, non-existent. He is light in the darkness, peace in the tempest, direction in the midst of uncertainty, strength in weakness, relationship in the midst of loneliness, and ever so much more.

I desire Jesus to be the cornerstone of my life, and I desire my home to be a cornerstone home. I desire my life, my home, my relationships to be a light, message, invitation, and example to the world around me. I desire to live in Christ-likeness and I know that if I do that, if I surrender everything about me to Jesus Christ, then he will direct my steps and my path toward things that count, make a difference, and are eternal.

What about you? What is your desire? Do you, too, long for significance, want to know that your life counts for something? Do you wish to know a peace that passes understanding? Do you seek a quiet restfulness that is just indescribable regardless of all around you that seeks to destroy peace and rest? Do you desire to experience richness in Christ?

I invite you to pray this prayer with me: "Lord Jesus, I am tired of life as it has been. I'm tired of turmoil, emptiness, uncertainty and all else that is often part of my embattled life. I desire relationships that are real, a purpose that is eternal and right, in your eyes. In short, I want to surrender my life to you. Totally and completely I give myself to you, trusting you and you alone to lead me in a life that is pleasing to you. Help me to know and be a living stone that reflects you as the cornerstone. And lead me to relationships that will be pleasing and strengthening as I walk my journey with you. Help me to walk a Jesus journey, to live a cornerstone life in cornerstone community. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Lord."

Cornerstone lives cannot be lived alone. Cornerstone lives need cornerstone communities, other people who are also committed to Jesus Christ. I am a hospice chaplain. Every day I hear dying people and their loved ones review their lives. The place they all come to, when all is said and done, is that living a life centered on Jesus is really all that matters. Everything else is loss.

That is why God's message to me is, Chuck, I have given you the cause: 'God first in the nations'. I have given you the heart and core of cornerstone living: The Jesus Journey-the Way, the Truth and the Life. America will never be fully restored, and will never fully reveal My Light and My Glory to the nations until it walks with My Son Jesus. Now, I am giving you the process: Cornerstone Communities of cornerstone people walking the Jesus Journey. You have all you need. Take it to the nations.