Hidden Treasures

Mining for Gold

2011-07-04T04:41:00.000-07:00

Aerial view of gold mining

There's a lot of interest in gold and silver these days, as the economic crisis grinds along. Many have chosen to invest in these precious metals as a way of protecting their assets. Gold and silver have always been considered valuable. But there is something even more valuable than either of these. The Word of God teaches us that wisdom and the knowledge of the Lord are of greater value.

Hidden Deep in the Earth
In the book of Job, we read: "Surely there is a mine for silver And a place where they refine gold. Iron is taken from the dust, And copper is smelted from rock. Man puts an end to darkness, And to the farthest limit he searches out The rock in gloom and deep shadow. He sinks a shaft far from habitation, Forgotten by the foot; They hang and swing to and fro far from men. The earth, from it comes food, And underneath it is turned up as fire. Its rocks are the source of sapphires, And its dust contains gold. The path no bird of prey knows, Nor has the falcon's eye caught sight of it. The proud beasts have not trodden it, Nor has the fierce lion passed over it. He puts his hand on the flint; He overturns the mountains at the base. He hews out channels through the rocks, And his eye sees anything precious. He dams up the streams from flowing, And what is hidden he brings out to the light." (Job 28:1-11)

A gold mine

This is a great description of the lengths that men go through to mine gold, silver, precious metals, and stones. These things don't normally lie on the surface. You've got to search for them and dig for them. Wisdom, understanding, and the knowledge of the Lord are a lot like that.

Where is Wisdom?
Job went on to say: "But where can wisdom be found? And where is the place of understanding? Man does not know its value, Nor is it found in the land of the living. The deep says, 'It is not in me'; And the sea says, 'It is not with me.' Pure gold cannot be given in exchange for it, Nor can silver be weighed as its price. It cannot be valued in the gold of Ophir, In precious onyx, or sapphire. Gold or glass cannot equal it, Nor can it be exchanged for articles of fine gold. Coral and crystal are not to be mentioned; And the acquisition of wisdom is above that of pearls. The topaz of Ethiopia cannot equal it, Nor can it be valued in pure gold. Where then does wisdom come from? And where is the place of understanding? Thus it is hidden from the eyes of all living And concealed from the birds of the sky. Abaddon and Death say, 'With our ears we have heard a report of it.' God understands its way, And He knows its place. For He looks to the ends of the earth And sees everything under the heavens. When He imparted weight to the wind And meted out the waters by measure, When He set a limit for the rain And a course for the thunderbolt, Then He saw it and declared it; He established it and also searched it out. And to man He said, 'Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; And to depart from evil is understanding.'" (Job 28:12-28)

No matter how far you search the earth or sea, you will not find wisdom or understanding. Job teaches us that we don't know their value and they cannot be found in the land of the living. You cannot put a price tag on them. They are priceless.

A gold nugget

That's why we are exhorted by Solomon to search diligently for wisdom, knowledge, and understanding. He wrote: "If you seek her [wisdom] as silver And search for her as for hidden treasures; Then you will discern the fear of the LORD And discover the knowledge of God." (Pro 2:4-5). So there's a quest you need to undertake personally in your own search for wisdom.

But where should you search? Well, according to the apostle Paul, we can find them in Christ "in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge." (Col 2:3). That narrows it down for us considerably. You can't get any more specific than that. It's like having one of those old pirate maps with the "X" on it marking the spot where the treasure is buried.

You don't need to go to Eastern mystics or New Age teachers. You simply need to go to Jesus Christ. Call upon His name, and ask Him to reveal Himself to you. Begin reading the New Testament Bible and ask God to show you the whole Truth.

If you already know Him, then go to the Word in prayer, and the Lord will give you wisdom. If you have never read the New Testament, begin there. But also supplement your reading with books like Proverbs. You can supplement your daily reading with a chapter in proverbs corresponding to the day of the month, and complete the entire book in thirty days.

Of course, knowing the Lord is not simply reading the Bible. It's a relationship with your Maker. You also grow in this relationship through worship, prayer, fellowship with other believers, being equipped for works of service, and receiving instruction in the Word. Another way you will grow in your relationship with Him is through serving.

Let me encourage you today to seek after wisdom from Jesus Christ through a personal relationship with Him. Then you will become one of the wealthiest people on earth.

If you enjoyed this post, you may also like the other posts in this blog available through the links in the side bar. You may also access my blog directory at "Writing for the Master."

Do You Want to Know Him?
If you want to know Jesus personally, you can. Your first step is to repent and pray like this from a sincere heart:

HEAVENLY FATHER,
I have sinned against you.
I want forgiveness for all my sins.
I believe that Jesus died on the cross for me and rose again.
Father, I give you my life to do with as you wish. I want Jesus Christ to come into my life and into my heart. This I ask in Jesus' name. Amen.

If you repented and prayed this sincerely from your heart, then you are a child of God. You have a relationship with the Lord. Now cultivate that relationship and produce the fruit of repentance. Like any other personal relationship, this one requires you to spend time with Him for it to grow more intimate. So spend time daily, seeking the Lord, calling upon Jesus name, repenting of any sin in your life, talking to Him and listening to His voice. Read His Word, the Bible, in order to see what God wants for your life and all the wonderful promises He has given you. As soon as possible, you need to tell someone that you have given your life to Jesus. Join with other loving believers who believe the Bible and preach the good news of salvation in Jesus alone, be water baptized, and find a place of service in that loving community. Be sure and share the good news of Jesus with those who don’t know Him, and live faithfully for the Lord all your life.

___________________________________________

Len Lacroix is the founder and Executive Director of Doulos Missions International. He is based in Eastern Europe, where he is helping leaders to be more effective at making disciples who multiply, developing leaders who multiply, and planting churches that multiply. www.dmiworld.org. You are invited to view his collection of blogs at Writing for the Master.

Resurrection Outworking in Us

2011-06-02T13:54:00.000-07:00

How many of you know what kind of processor you have in your PC? Unlike in the 1980's, today many people do know.

For example, mine is an Intel processor. How do I know? Well, there's a sticker right on the outside of the case that says, "Intel Pentium 4 HT inside." Intel processors played a central role in transforming the PC.

In fact, it was the tiny processor that drove the rapid increase in the performance of computers. Today, the Intel Core i7, clocks 3.2 GHz, which is incredibly fast!

Although the processor was only an individual component of the computer, Intel wanted the consumer to know it was inside. So the Intel Inside® Program was launched in 1991. They marketed this single component directly to consumers. Now Intel is one of the top ten known-brands in the world, up there beside Coke, Disney, and McDonalds.

Intel wanted the consumer to know what was inside their computer. Likewise, the Holy Spirit, through the apostle Paul, wants believers in Christ to know the treasure we have inside.

You can listen online to a recorded version of this message as I preached it on Resurrection Sunday at my home church in Manchester, NH, April 24, 2011. If you click on this link, you will find the message under my name, Len Lacroix, for that date.

For God, who said, "Light shall shine out of darkness," is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, so that the surpassing greatness of the power will be of God and not from ourselves; we are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. For we who live are constantly being delivered over to death for Jesus' sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. So death works in us, but life in you. But having the same spirit of faith, according to what is written, "I BELIEVED, THEREFORE I SPOKE," we also believe, therefore we also speak, knowing that He who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and will present us with you. For all things are for your sakes, so that the grace which is spreading to more and more people may cause the giving of thanks to abound to the glory of God. Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day. For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal. (2Co 4:6-18)

I’d like us to consider the practical outworking of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus in our lives.

Resurrection Power Inside
Because of His resurrection from the dead, we have Resurrection Power Inside! I should mention that this parody use of the Intel logo to the left is not to be confused with the actual Intel logo. The resurrection power inside of the believer is not for sale and it never will be. You can't buy it. And it's more powerful than any computer processor man could ever produce!

For God, who said, "Light shall shine out of darkness," is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. God has shone in our hearts. Jesus is the Light. He’s inside!

But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, so that the surpassing greatness of the power will be of God and not from ourselves. The resurrection power I'm talking about that we have inside is of God and not ourselves. That’s real treasure!

Life Inside
In addition to resurrection power inside, we have life inside. We are constantly being delivered over to death. “We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. For we who live are constantly being delivered over to death for Jesus' sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh.”

Ever wonder why bad things happen to God’s people? Paul had many hardships (listed in 2 Cor 11:23-29). He said, “We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure. In our hearts we felt the sentence of death.” (2 Co 1:8, 9a). He was hard-pressed on every side. (2 Co 4:8).

As believers we are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed. The Lord allows these things, so that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead. (2 Co 1:9). “We carry around in our body the death of Jesus.” “We are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake.” As a result, the life of Jesus is manifested in our mortal flesh. It's a new life! An eternal life!

Death works in us, but life in you. The apostle Paul had a great perspective regarding his afflictions. He wrote, “So death works in us, but life in you.” He saw every one of his hardships as being for the benefit of others.

If you are not seeing life coming forth in others, maybe death is not at work in you.
Is death working in you? If so, it will bring life to others. “Those who live should no longer live for themselves, but for Him…” (5:15) Are you living for yourself or for Him who died for you and was raised again?

“For to be sure, he was crucified in weakness, yet he lives by God’s power. Likewise, we are weak in him, yet by God’s power we will live with him in our dealing with you.” 2 Co 13:4. There's always this weakness-power, life-death paradox in the life of the believer.

Faith, Hope and Grace Inside
In addition to life inside, we have faith, hope and grace inside.

Paul said, “But having the same spirit of faith, according to what is written, ‘I BELIEVED, THEREFORE I SPOKE,’ we also believe, therefore we also speak.” We believe, therefore we speak (v.13) – That’s faith!

Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. Real faith produces actions. It is because we believe that we speak. If you believe, you will speak. “You will be my witnesses…” (Ac 1:8). You will speak to whomever the Lord wants you to speak to. You will speak wherever the Lord wants you to speak. You will speak whenever the Lord wants you to speak.

“Knowing that He who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and will present us with you.” He who raised Jesus will raise us (v.14). That’s hope!

We have the hope of the future resurrection of the dead. We’re not planning on dying, we’re planning on living forever in glory. “For we know that if the earthly tent which is our house is torn down, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For indeed in this house we groan, longing to be clothed with our dwelling from heaven, inasmuch as we, having put it on, will not be found naked. For indeed while we are in this tent, we groan, being burdened, because we do not want to be unclothed but to be clothed, so that what is mortal will be swallowed up by life.” (2Co 5:1-4). God has pledged it with the deposit of His Spirit, so it’s GUARANTEED (5:5).

“For all things are for your sakes, so that the grace which is spreading to more and more people may cause the giving of thanks to abound to the glory of God.” Grace may cause thanks to abound (v.15). That’s grace!

How often do we wonder why we are going through something? Sometimes the Lord says, “My grace is sufficient for you.” As Paul saw it, all the things that happened to him were for the sake of others. The grace of God inside of us, enabling us to go through these things, spreads to others. It causes more and more people to give thanks for the gracious favor granted to us in answer to the prayers of many (to the glory of God).

Putting it All Together
Now that we have considered the practical outworking of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus in our lives, we can see that because of His resurrection from the dead, we have:

Resurrection Power Inside (Jesus Himself, the Light has shone in our hearts)
Life Inside
Faith, Hope and Grace Inside

It’s a great treasure we have in earthen vessels. Let’s continually dial up that awareness.
Paul put it like this: “Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you—unless, of course, you fail the test?” (2 Co 13:5).

Let’s encourage one another in our hardships. Don’t lose heart. They’re producing something.

“Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day. For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.” (2 Co 4:16-18)

We may not be able to see what God is doing inside our hearts, but it’s eternal. On a scale, that glory far outweighs our temporary afflictions.

Look not at what is seen, but at what is unseen – that which is eternal.

Author's note: If you enjoyed this post, you may also like the other posts in this blog available through the links in the side bar.You may also access my complete blog directory at "Writing for the Master."

Do you want to know Him?
Perhaps you have never known Jesus. If not, then you don’t have the Treasure inside that I spoke about today. You may know about Him, but you don’t know Him. If not, then you have never experienced what I’ve been talking about today.

But what does it say? "THE WORD IS NEAR YOU, IN YOUR MOUTH AND IN YOUR HEART"--that is, the word of faith which we are preaching, that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation. (Rom 10:8-10)

If you want to know Jesus personally, you can. Your first step is to repent and pray like this from a sincere heart:

HEAVENLY FATHER,
I have sinned against you.
I want forgiveness for all my sins.
I believe that Jesus died on the cross for me and rose again.
Father, I give you my life to do with as you wish. I want Jesus Christ to come into my life and into my heart. This I ask in Jesus' name. Amen.

If you repented and prayed this sincerely from your heart, then you are a child of God. You have a relationship with the Lord. Now cultivate that relationship and produce the fruit of repentance. Like any other personal relationship, this one requires you to spend time with Him for it to grow more intimate. So spend time daily, seeking the Lord, calling upon Jesus name, repenting of any sin in your life, talking to Him and listening to His voice. Read His Word, the Bible, in order to see what God wants for your life and all the wonderful promises He has given you. As soon as possible, you need to tell someone that you have given your life to Jesus. Join with other loving believers who believe the Bible and preach the good news of salvation in Jesus alone, be water baptized, and find a place of service in that loving community. Be sure and share the good news of Jesus with those who don’t know Him, and live faithfully for the Lord all your life.

___________________________________________________

Len Lacroix is the founder of Doulos Missions International. He is based in Eastern Europe, where he is helping leaders to be more effective at making disciples who multiply, developing leaders who multiply, and planting churches that multiply. www.dmiworld.org

Hidden Treasures

2009-07-21T02:53:00.000-07:00

Have you ever stopped to think about where precious materials come from? Things like diamonds, rubies, gold, silver and pearls are treasures that were once hidden. I'd like to share some thoughts with you about how that relates to the believer in Jesus Christ, because the Lord has deposited treasure within us.

In the apostle Paul's letter to Timothy, he told him to "Guard, through the Holy Spirit who dwells in us, the treasure which has been entrusted to you." (2Ti 1:14). And when he wrote to the Corinthians, Paul said, "But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, so that the surpassing greatness of the power will be of God and not from ourselves;" (2Co 4:7). In fact, Jesus compared the Kingdom of Heaven to treasure when he said, "The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in the field, which a man found and hid again; and from joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field." (Mat 13:44).

So let's take a look at the treasures of the earth and sea and learn from them for our own lives as believers.

Gold
Gold is a beautiful metal on which we place very high value. Yet it's a treasure hidden beneath the surface of the earth. Someone needs to do the hard work of mining it. A man first needs to decide on a place to mine for gold, and then he has to purchase the land. If he decides to establish an underground gold mine in 2009, it will cost him a billion dollars. So he needs to make a calculated risk.

Then he hires a crew of men to bring in expensive equipment and he begins the mining. Once the gold is discovered and excavated, it needs to be purified. So it's put through a refining process, in which it's heated with intense heat in the fire and melted down. During this process, impurities rise to the surface as dross. The dross is then skimmed off and the gold allowed to cool. Later the gold is refined in the fire again and more dross is skimmed off. Through each successive round of heating, skimming and cooling, the gold becomes more and more pure. As it is purified, it become more and more illustrious. Eventually, you can look down at the gold and see your face in it.

It's no wonder we pay so much for gold and it has been valued so highly throughout the centuries. Much work must be done to find this rare metal and put it through a process until it is made into a neckklace around someone's neck or a beautiful watch on their wrist.

Silver
Much like gold, silver goes through a similar process of refining. It needs to be searched for, dug out of the ground, refined in the fire, and then formed into vessels that are both beautiful and useful. We often take this for granted when we eat from sterling silverware or enjoy looking at a silver beautiful tea set or silver candlesticks on the fireplace.

Diamond
Beginning as carbon deposits in the earth, this substance undergoes a natural process that involves just the right combination of high pressure and intense heat. Through this process, diamonds are formed far beneath the surface of the earth. And there are very few places on earth where diamond ore is known to exist.

The diamond ore is brought near to the surface through volcanic eruptions that originate deep inside the earth. Once the ore is brought near to the earth's surface, it can be mined. Again, someone needs to make a calculated risk to lay out the money and buy the land where they believe the diamonds exist. Since only a small portion of diamond ore consists of the actual diamond, once the ore is excavated from the earth, it undergoes a crushing process. This must be done carefully in order to avoid destroying larger diamonds inside the ore.

Rough diamonds at this stage appear quite unremarkable. They have rather blunt edges and they're covered with a gum-like skin. That's why the rough diamonds need to be cut and polished, which requires a specialized skill.

A cutter needs to look at the stone and determine exactly what type of cut would be best to bring out the beauty and luster of this stone. He considers the shape and size of the diamond to determine the best way to cut it. The cutting is especially important, because it is the type of cut made to the stone that determines how the light will pass through it. Therefore precise geometrical calculations are used to determine the cut. And due to the extreme hardness of these stones, diamonds are used to cut diamonds.

A pure diamond should appear as a clear, colorless crystal, because it transmits visible light. As the cutter makes his cuts at various angles, he does so with great skill, care, and knowledge of how these cuts will enable light to enter the stone from one side and refract through it at different angles, creating that extraordinary brilliance and fire.

Some diamonds do have color, but any presence of color in diamonds is due to impurities. These impurities are the result of certain minerals introduced into the stone during the high pressure formation process.

The surfaces of the gem are then polished smooth and the rough edges removed. Since diamond is an extremely hard stone, and it is so valuable, these gems are typically polished slowly. As with the cutting process, diamonds are used to polish diamonds, which requires painstaking techniques, and greater attention to detail must be given than with most other gemstones. Consequently, polished diamonds have extremely flat, highly-polished facets with exceptionally sharp edges. Eventually it is placed carefully in a setting such as a ring, a necklace, or an earring to adorn the one who will wear it.

Pearls
The pearl is another great example of this process. It originates beneath the surface of the ocean, hidden inside a living mollusk. There a grain of sand or some other irritating microscopic object enters the mollusk and becomes trapped in its mantle folds. The oyster secretes a minute, crystalline form of calcium carbonate and conchiolin substance that coats the irritating particle. This secretion occurs repeatedly, and in time more and more layers of this coating are added in concentric layers. This eventually becomes a pearl.

Jesus likened His kingdom to a merchant looking for pearls, saying, "Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking fine pearls, and upon finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and bought it. (Mat 13:45-46)

In the wild, real natural pearls are very rare. In days of old, wild pearls were the only kind that existed. That's why they were once so expensive. Of course, today the pearls we buy are made through human intervention on pearl farms, so it's not necessary to spend so much time killing thousands of mollusks in search of that one hidden, natural pearl. Unlike the natural pearls, however, these manmade ones are not 100% pure calcium carbonate and conchiolin. The manmade ones only contain a thin layer of this translucent nacre on the surface, while the body inside is mostly non-pearl substance.

But the rare, natural pearl is a great example of another hidden treasure of great price that is formed in secret through an irritation that is introduced into the life of a mollusk. When it is found, this white, round bead has a lovely luster to it that is caused by the refraction and diffraction of light through its translucent layers. It is eventually placed into a beautiful setting and someone pays the price in order it to wear around the neck or wrist.

Treasures in Earthen Vessels
Now let's look at how this applies to believers. The process God takes us through is much like the process He uses to form these rare and beautiful treasures that we consider so precious.

First of all, the Kingdom of Heaven is hidden from our natural eyes. Jesus Christ is also. The wonderful treasures in His Word are hidden, until the Holy Spirit begins to open the eyes of our heart and reveal these things to us.

We know that when we discover the Kingdom of Heaven, when we truly discover Jesus Christ, in whom "are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge" (Col 2:3), we are so overjoyed that we give up our very lives and everything else, in order to have Jesus in our hearts. As Jesus said of the man discovering this treasure, "from joy over it, he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field."

But that is just the beginning. That is the calculated risk. That is just the decision. But it is not the same as having the finished product such as the beautiful diamond necklace or the gold watch. There is a season of hiddenness, where this treasure is buried deep beneath the surface where most cannot truly appreciate what is there.

But with time, great skill, care and patience, our Heavenly Father does His wonderful work within us. We experience pressures in life at times that seem very intense. This is not unlike the pressures a diamond undergoes in its formation process. The apostle Paul experienced pressures every day from the churches he was responsible for. He wrote to the Corinthian believers, saying, "we are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing;" (2Co 4:8)

We go through fiery trials that seem unbearable sometimes. How many times are we surprised by the fiery trials we go through. We dont understand them. Yet the apostle Peter said, "Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you, which comes upon you for your testing, as though some strange thing were happening to you; (1Pe 4:12).

Peter also compared our faith to gold that is tested by fire when he said, "In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials, so that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ; (1Pe 1:6-7). So like the gold that undergoes a refining process in the fire, our faith undergoes a similar process to remove the impurities.

What we do in this process is crucial. This is the crucible, and we can try to run from it or we can submit to it. During this process, we will see ugly, impure things arise from our hearts and come out of us that we never knew were there. We should not despair or lose hope in these times, but rather go before the Lord and confess to him what He already knows. We should cry out to Jesus, asking Him to remove these things from us that ought not to be there.

And as if the pressure and the fiery trials were not enough, in addition we then go through times when we are being cut or polished and changes are being made inside of us that will remove the rough edges. Sometimes it is a tiny irritation that enters our life and becomes trapped there where we just can't seem to get rid of it. We may absolutely despise these times. Maybe it comes through an unpleasant relational issue with a loved one or through financial difficulties. But no matter how it happens, it is not pleasant.

During these times, we can get mad at God and blame it all on Him. We can give up or give over to the enemy. Or we can respond appropriately by going before the Lord in prayer, asking Him to go ahead and remove those things from us that he wants to cut off, as well as polish those edges and coat the irritation inside of us. This is what He wants us to do.

The Goal
We need to keep our eyes on Jesus and the joy He has set before us. We need to put to death the sinful earthly nature, allowing Jesus to reign as Lord in us. When His glory is revealed one day, we shall also be glorified. Like the cut and polished diamond, His light and glory will shine through us in ways we never thought possible. Like the gold that has been refined in the fire and purified until the refiner can see his own face in it, the Lord will be able to look down into our hearts and see Himself in us. His character and love will be seen in us by all, and He will receive all the credit. We must never forget the goal, because we will be tempted to do so.

Many of the things we see in this world will draw our attention and call to us to invest ourselves in them. But Jesus said, "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal; for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." (Mat 6:19-21)

To the rich man who came to Jesus asking what he must do, Jesus looked at him, felt a love for him and said to him, "One thing you lack: go and sell all you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me." (Mar 10:21)

Where are you storing up treasure today? Are you in that hidden place beneath the surface, where no one can see the treasure God has deposited inside you? Perhaps you're under intense pressure and you feel as though you will be crushed. Or maybe you're going through a fiery trial that has you bewildered. Are you being cut or polished to remove those rough edges? Is God using another diamond to do the cutting and polishing? Or is there some irritation trapped in your life that God is using to form you into a pearl?

Don't despair, my friend. Don't give up. The Lord knows exactly what He is doing. He is the perfect Goldsmith, the very best Refiner of Silver, the Supreme Diamond Cutter. Fix your eyes on Jesus, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross. You will not be disappointed.

Let me close by encouraging you with something we are all familiar with. We are all familiar with various vessels used in a large house. Some are valuable treasures that receive a place of honor in a glass cabinet or on a mantle. As the apostle Paul said, "Now in a large house there are not only gold and silver vessels, but also vessels of wood and of earthenware, and some to honor and some to dishonor. Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from these things, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified, useful to the Master, prepared for every good work." (2Ti 2:20-21)

As you yield to the process the Lord Jesus is taking you through, you will surely become a vessel of honor fit for His use. You will be a trophy of His grace on display for all to see throughout eternity. And every time someone looks at you or thinks of you, they will glorify the holy name of Jesus Christ.

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