[Friday's Devotional] - Diamond toughness

For our last material this week, we are looking at Diamond – probably the hardest material that exists.  The property of hardness means that when cut and polished into exotic shapes it looks beautiful and doesn’t wear down.  It is also used synthetically as a hard material to make cutting tools for machining any material.

 

We understand that the diamonds we find in mines today were created by compressing Carbon in the form of graphite (like the lead in a pencil) with extreme pressure and heat deep inside the earth, and have come close to the surface as a result of movements of molten rock or magma.

 

Diamond is rare, precious, tough and virtually unbreakable.  Disciples also need to be tough to keep shape in the face of the wear and tear of life.

 

When faced with the pressure to conform to the standards of the world, do you bend and flow to adopt the shape the world would push you into?  Or do you have a solid and tough character which is stable under intense friction or collision?

 

Are you a diamond in the rough? Or have you been cut and polished like a precious jewel?  Can you keep your character untainted in a world of conflict and un-Godly standards?

 

Lord, help me to be tough when I am faced with the pressure that would mould me into the shape of the world.  Keep me precious and close to you.  In Jesus name, Amen

Dave MacLellan

[Thursday's Devotional] - Scratch-proof Sapphire

“O you afflicted one,
Tossed with tempest, and not comforted,
Behold, I will lay your stones with colourful gems,
And lay your foundations with sapphires.
Isaiah 54: 11 [NKJV]

Sapphire is the foundation of Heaven, the New Jerusalem, second only in hardness to Diamond. It can be polished to a very high standard and is also mentioned as one of the gems in the garments worn by the High Priest.  The very throne of God is mentioned as being "the colour of sapphire".

You might not realise that sapphire today is not only used for jewellery but in man-made form it is commonly used as the cover or window for the camera in virtually all modern mobile phones – due to the scratch resistant nature, it means that you can take good pictures even when your phone has been kept in your pocket or handbag.

Scratches can dull the surface and spoil the appearance of a material, making it dull and unattractive.  In the same way as disciples we need to resist the scratches which will make it hard to see clearly through the window on our lens (through which we see the world).

Is your vision of the world clear?  Can you see through the mist?

We don’t yet see things clearly. We’re squinting in a fog, peering through a mist. But it won’t be long before the weather clears and the sun shines bright! We’ll see it all then, see it all as clearly as God sees us, knowing him directly just as he knows us!

1 Corinthians 13: 12 [The Message]

Lord, help us to be resistant to scratches and to see clearly what you would have us do.  Guide and direct us until we stand on the sapphire floor of Heaven.  Amen.

Dave MacLellan

[Wednesday's Devotional] - The Altar of Bronze

Bronze is the third material in the descending order of Olympic medals behind Gold and Silver.  It is composed of a mixture of copper and other elements (normally tin in Bible times).  It was used in the construction of the Tabernacle and later the Temple:

 

“Build an altar of acacia wood, three cubits high; it is to be square, five cubits long and five cubits wide.  Make a horn at each of the four corners, so that the horns and the altar are of one piece, and overlay the altar with bronze.  Make all its utensils of bronze—its pots to remove the ashes, and its shovels, sprinkling bowls, meat forks and firepans.  Make a grating for it, a bronze network, and make a bronze ring at each of the four corners of the network.
Exodus 27: 1-4 [NIV]

 

Bronze was chosen for the altar to withstand great heat owing to the high melting point of copper, and the material would be more suitable as it is cheaper and more readily available than gold or silver.  It also offers good resistance to weather, and was also used to make the wash basin in which the priests purified themselves, before offering sacrifices on the altar.

 

Although we don’t live in the time before Christ where burnt offerings were needed to cancel out the sin and be made right with God, we still need to come before God and seek forgiveness.  When did you last offer an act of repentance?  Do you need to get right with God today?  Take the opportunity to cleanse yourself in a prayer of repentance today.

 

Lord, I have sinned and need your forgiveness.  Help me to turn from my sinful ways and draw close to you again.  Thank you for the price paid in the perfect sacrifice of Jesus.  Amen

 

Dave MacLellan

[Tuesday's Devotional] - Silver Coins

Silver is the metal that was used in coin form as a currency even in Biblical times – and is the basis of the UK Pound Sterling (the oldest currency in the world that is still in use).  So, whereas Gold might be considered as precious, Silver is a more common currency, with a lower value than Gold. 

 

Judas Iscariot betrayed Jesus for 30 silver coins: 

 

Then one of the Twelve—the one called Judas Iscariot—went to the chief priests and asked, “What are you willing to give me if I deliver him over to you?” So they counted out for him thirty pieces of silver.  From then on Judas watched for an opportunity to hand him over. Matthew 26: 14-16 [NIV]

 

This was the same Judas that complained when Mary poured an expensive jar of perfume (about a pint of pure nard) over Jesus’ feet to anoint him, saying that it could have been sold to give money to the poor (John 12: 1-10).  Yet we are also told that he “helped himself” to the money that the disciples used as he was the keeper of the money bag.

 

Like Judas we have been entrusted with the resources (our money and time) that God has given us.  We have been given the freedom to choose what we give and what we keep for ourselves.  How do we use this responsibility?

 

As a disciple, I have a duty to serve God and not money.  How do you address this aspect of life?  Do you think about giving back some of what God has given you?  Or giving some of what is yours to God?  Who is the owner of your resources?

 

Lord, help me to be generous and honest in my financial dealings.  Give me the wisdom to allocate my resources according to your will and not my selfish desires.  In Jesus name, Amen.

 

 

Dave MacLellan

[Monday's Devotional] - Refined like Gold

This week we are looking at precious materials and relating them to aspects of our daily life as disciples, starting with the precious metal, Gold.  When Jesus was visited by the Magi from the East, the first gift given was gold, chosen to mark out the infant Jesus as Divine (coming from God).  Jesus was born to be King, with royal parentage.  What royal crown has ever been made without gold and precious gems? 

 

Solomon’s temple in Jerusalem was constructed using a large amount of gold, perhaps more than 21 tonnes of it was donated in one year.  Gold was, and still is, a valuable material, and whenever there is uncertainty about global currencies, the price of gold soars – and many national banks keep reserves in gold as a security which will hold a value more tangible than the global currencies which can be very volatile.

 

Solomon also made all the furnishings that were in the Lord’s temple: the golden altar; the golden table on which was the bread of the Presence; the lampstands of pure gold (five on the right and five on the left, in front of the inner sanctuary); the gold floral work and lamps and tongs; the pure gold basins, wick trimmers, sprinkling bowls, dishes and censers; and the gold sockets for the doors of the innermost room, the Most Holy Place, and also for the doors of the main hall of the temple.
1 Kings 7: 48-50 [NIV]

 

Gold is refined (made more pure) by melting which causes the less dense impurities to float to the surface where they can be easily removed.  In the same way, disciples are refined by spending time in the “furnace” of persecution, suffering or life-troubles.

 

Is the heat of the furnace affecting you currently?  Be sure that all times of refining will result in an increase in purity.

 

Lord, help me to be understand the precious nature of the way you created me.  Thank you for adopting me into your royal family.  Purify my heart in the refining fire of your crucible.  In Jesus name, Amen.

 

Dave MacLellan