Katey, you may think we sip the sweet milk of God’s Word for ages, before we grow up enough for the next step. But once we are weaned, it is time to go beyond, to spend time in studies with the Father as our teacher.

His school is firm and strict.

Because He loves us. He does not want us to grow up wrong. And we will not, if we pay attention and do our lessons…

As you come to him, (He, Who is the Word)

the living Stone—rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to him—you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house (no wonder we must throw aside all ugliness!)

to be a holy priesthood, (yes, even the women have priestly duties of an unsuspected kind. No kidding, we are to be priestesses to people, we hardly ever guess whom. We will talk about that part, later.)

offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. (Rom.12:1,2 says we do this because of His MERCY. We offer our bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God, our spiritual act of worship. And how? By not conforming to this world, but rather by being transformed by the renewing of our minds and by NOT thinking too highly of ourselves. Again. So we can fit together in the body.

It’s all about obeying, putting ourselves into position for fitting into the invisible church, in our places there, to build up, to fit together rightly. Over and over and over and over again, we are to be a part of something MUCH larger than we are, MUCH, MUCH larger than our own difficulties.)

For in Scripture it says: “See, I lay a stone in Zion, a chosen and precious cornerstone, and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame.” God is building something surpassing good that we cannot see, Katey. It is bigger than we are. It is founded on Christ.

The mortar is trust. And without that “trust” mortar, we, as stones, can slip out of the building He is building, and be put to shame.

I cannot emphasize it too much: The key is trust in Jesus.

• Trust in Jesus, not what you think.
• Trust In Jesus, not in what you see.
• Trust in Jesus, not in what you perceive are your husband’s abilities to hear God.

Only Jesus’ goodness and His Word are worthy of our trust. Not any person around us, not any doctrine, and certainly not any worldly notions of fairness or equity or position.

Just Jesus and His Word, coupled with our trust, is the Only way to be included in what He is building and the alternative is to be put to shame.

Now to you who believe, this stone is precious.

Katey, I believe.

That is why Jesus is more than precious to me.

That is where everyone needs to go, but He gives us choices.

He will never force you to put Him first. It must be voluntary.

His ways must be what you WANT.

He will ever-so-sweetly change your wants, if you ask Him, but He will not force you to love Him more than you “love” self. He will not force you to love Him more than you “love” your children.

He will not force you to honor Him. (At least, not until that Last Day.)

Because He is so precious to me, I obey Him. It is ONLY love for Him that can cause us to obey Him.

Fear is the earliest beginning of such wisdom, but love–oh sweet love of Jesus–is the culmination of it.

Please tell me you know you must love Him and trust Him enough to obey Him!

But to those who do not believe…,  I am sure this implies “those who do not love Him, those who do not honor Him, and those who do not obey Him…”

“…the stone the builders rejected  Katey, I imagine a few things, here.

I imagine a building site. You know how much mess can be around a building site. Lots of boards held for later use, lots of tools, lots of scraps, lots of heavy equipment.

You know precisely the picture I imagine, I am sure.

Well, it was no different back then.

Only, they built with stone.

Something to think about…