A gem is a naturally occurring material desirable for its beauty, valuable in its rarity,
and
sufficiently durable to give
lasting pleasure. Today in gemology, there are
four gems or stones that are labeled “precious”: rubies, diamonds, emeralds and
sapphire. The other stones are called semi-precious.
The chemical composition determines what kind of gem is produced. For
example, a diamond is formed from carbon. Rubies are composed of aluminum, oxygen and chromium. The
process that the mineral goes through determines whether you get a precious gem
or a rock.
You don’t just find gems lying on the street. Gems have to be mined and refined. You find gems hidden under ground
because they are formed beneath the earth’s surface. Rare gems have to be
formed. A jewel has been through a process that makes it valuable. Three things
go into that process and they are the same things that go into forming you into
God’s precious gem.
Pressure
The prayers of the righteous are
powerful and effective according to the book of James. When you feel the
pressure press into prayer, press into God’s Word, press into praise.
Be joyful in hope,
patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Romans 12:12
Forgetting what is
behind and straining toward what is ahead, press
on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called you heavenward in
Christ Jesus. (Philippians 3:13-14)
Heat
Time
Wait on the Lord and be
of good courage, he shall strengthen thine heart. Psalm 27:14
But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as
eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.
Isaiah 40:31
You see there’s a difference between a rock and a ruby. There’s a
difference between a stone and a sapphire.
Pressure
Gems
have to experience extreme amounts of pressure to be transformed. What’s down
deep inside the earth has to be pressured or pressed upward.
God
has to put pressure on us to bring out who we really are. You can never be an
overcomer if you never have to overcome something. In this life you will have
pressures and stresses. You will have pressure and problems. But when you feel
the pressure you have to press and push. I heard someone say PUSH means Pray
Until Something Happens. If you pray and persevere, something is going to
happen. God is going to change you, your situation or both.
Heat
To form a jewel you have to have heat. The bible says
in the book of Hebrews that “Our God is a consuming fire.” And sometimes God
may put you in some fiery situations. Like the Hebrew boys, Shadrach, Meshach
and Abedego, sometimes you’re going to have to go through the fiery furnace.
God is not going to rescue you from it. But like Hebrew boys, he’s going to be
walking in it with you. And when you come out, you’re clothes won’t be singed
and you won’t even smell like smoke. You’ll walk out of what destroyed others.
God will be praised and you will be promoted.
Time
Forming a jewel takes
time. Thousands if not millions of years. And it’s going to take some time for
God to have his perfect work in you. Only He knows how much time. We live in a
microwave society where we want everything right now and in hurry. But as the
old saints used to say, you can’t hurry God. Sometimes you just have to wait.
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