“Jewels and Jewelry for Christmas”

The Christmas season advertising demonstrates the lack of recognition that it is the birthday of Jesus Christ not an opportunity to request and purchase all the items and trinkets that you desired all year long. It is also an opportunity to request that someone else pay for and purchase your heart’s desire. The items that seem to be most requested are jewels and jewelry.

The television commercials and magazine advertisements display those brilliantly sparkling jewels of every color, size and shape. The typical purchases are diamonds and sometimes birthstones and gems in settings of gold, silver and platinum. Each of these has a specific symbolism and meaning. This is also true of the precious jewels and jewelry mentioned in the Bible.

The Bible contains what is known as “emblematic jewels”. These jewels symbolize important symbols within the Bible. A symbol is a sign which suggests meaning rather than stating it. A symbol is similar in some way to the item it represents thus it gives you an impression that helps you to understand what is portrayed.

So, when asked “What do you want for Christmas?” Just say, “I want emblematic jewels”. That will certainly bring a response of “I never heard of those before. Where do you find that jewelry”? or “What store should I go to purchase them”? You can then say, “Glad you asked. They are very valuable, beautiful, durable, splendid and rare. But, you can’t purchase them. They are absolutely free”.

Let’s examine “emblematic jewels”…

Theme: “Jewels and Jewelry for Christmas”

Scripture Reading:

Ezekiel 28:13 – You were in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone adorned you: carnelian, chrysolite and emerald, topaz, onyx and jasper, lapis lazuli, turquoise and beryl. Your settings and mountings were made of gold; on the day you were created they were prepared.

  

Reflection:

The Bible has many references to jewels and jewelry. There is jewelry that is worn. There are jewels that surround; and jewels that complement. Each time jewels are mentioned in the Bible, they symbolize God’s love and the care and value He places on each of us. Each jewel mentioned represents how precious we are to God and how He wants the absolute best for us. Here are the jewels and jewelry of the Bible.

Jewels of “Knowledge” – Proverbs 20:15

Gold there is, and rubies in abundance, but lips that speak knowledge are a rare jewel.

 

Jewels of “Wisdom” – Job 28:18

Coral and jasper are not worthy of mention; the price of wisdom is beyond rubies.

Jewels of “Defense” – Isaiah 54:12

I will make your battlements of rubies, your gates of sparkling jewels, and all your walls of precious stones.

 

Jewelry of “The Breastplate of the High Priests” – Exodus 28:17-20

¹⁷ Then mount four rows of precious stones on it. The first row shall be carnelian, chrysolite and beryl; ¹⁸ the second row shall be turquoise, lapis lazuli and emerald; ¹⁹ the third row shall be jacinth, agate and amethyst; 20 the fourth row shall be topaz, onyx and jasper. Mount them in gold filigree settings.

Jewels personally inscribed on “The Foundations of the New Jerusalem” – Revelation 21: 14, 19-21:

¹⁴ The wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb; ¹⁹ The foundations of the city walls were decorated with every kind of precious stone. The first foundation was jasper, the second sapphire, the third agate, the fourth emerald, ²⁰ the fifth onyx, the sixth ruby, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth turquoise, the eleventh jacinth, and the twelfth amethyst. ²¹ The twelve gates were twelve pearls, each gate made of a single pearl. The great street of the city was of gold, as pure as transparent glass.

 

Jewels of a “Women’s worth” – Proverbs 31:10:

¹⁰ Who can find an excellent woman? She is worth far more than rubies.

Jewels around “The throne of God” – Revelation 4:3

³ The one who sat there shone like jasper and ruby. Around the throne was a rainbow shining like an emerald.

Praise God for how much value He places on your life as He compares you and desires for you the most precious and marvelous jewels there are in all creation. God views you as very valuable, beautiful, durable/capable, splendid and rare. So, if you don’t receive your desired jewelry for Christmas, remember all the beautiful jewels and jewelry you desire awaits you in Jesus Christ.

Amen!

“The Tragedy of Wasted Influence”

George W. Truett (May 6, 1867 – July 7, 1944) was a great American clergy man and writer. He penned the book, “A Quest for Souls”. In his book he tells the story of man who met the Lord later in life and was so inspired that he dedicated his life to reading, study, and living the Word of God.  The man had two sons and grandchildren.

His sons and grandsons had lived most of their lives with an unsaved father and grandfather. A father that placed importance on everything but church. But, then one day at the age of sixty-eight the man was confronted with the question, “Are you prepared to meet God?” The man that thought he knew everything and had accomplished much did not have an answer.

The question gnawed at the man, until finally he attended church and was convicted of his sin. The conviction was so strong that the man was determined to live his life for Jesus Christ and even better he would confront others with the question that changed his life, “Are you prepared to meet God?” The man decided he would first pose the question to his sons.

Let’s see what happened…

Theme: “The Tragedy of Wasted Influence”

Scripture Readings:

James 5:20 (NIRV) reads, “Then here is what I want everyone to remember. Anyone who turns a sinner from going down the wrong path will save him from death. God will erase many sins by forgiving him.”

Reflection:

The man in the story came to the startling and disappointing conclusion that “no man liveth to himself”. Today, we would say, “no man is an island”. This conclusion was drawn because as the man talked to his sons and invited them to attend church, the sons replied, “Well Dad I guess we’ll start going to church when we get to be about sixty-eight, like you.  Not, being able to convince his sons to go to church, he decided he would invite his grandsons.

The grandsons winked at each other as their grandpa invited them to church. The grandsons with a little wit in their voices said, “Well grandpa, we will start going to church when we turn sixty-eight or seventy”. The grandsons were quite pleased with themselves by their comment. But, their comments fell on the man, their grandpa, like a ton of cement. The man realized he had wasted not only much of his own life by waiting so long to come to Christ, but his influence on his sons and grandsons had also set the stage to waste their lives.

The man realized “The Tragedy of Wasted Influence”. The man had influence over his family, relatives, friends, and associates. But, his influence to bring others to Jesus Christ had been wasted all of his formative years and most of his adult life. When others saw him, what came to mind was his success in business and his well-to-do life. What’s more all of it had been accomplished by him without attending church and without any regard for Christ. This was a severe tragedy to the man. His influence to lead others to Christ had been wasted for far too many years. Now, as an elderly man, no one wanted to listen to his testimony of Christ.

The man was pained by the thought that his influence ruined the lives of his sons and their families? He wondered had his influence led his relatives, neighbors, and co-workers down a path that did not prepare them to meet God? The man was broken-hearted at the thought. So, what can we learn from this story?

Who is in your circle of influence and have you led a life that guided them to Jesus Christ? Are you living the tragedy of a wasted life, and have not realized it yet? If so, act now! It just might not be too late.

Amen!

“Self-Deception”

What is the biggest lie you have ever told?

Well, if you asked God to forgive you for telling that gargantuan (enormous) lie; God has forgiven you and He won’t keep bringing it up. And there is no need for you to keep bringing it up to yourself either. That is certainly the “Good News”. Praise God! One more time – Praise God!

The truth can be so daunting at times, that many people don’t bring their lies to God and ask for forgiveness. But, instead they make up a false story and begin to believe it themselves. They become self-deceived. When confronted with the truth they go into a fight or flight self-preservation mode. Both of those modes are an attempt to fool others and themselves.

Fighting occurs with arguments, denials, rationalization and finally prideful claims of self-righteousness. Flight occurs with avoidance, rejection, attempts to discredit others, and projection and redirection of lies on others. This certainly takes a lot of time, thought, and energy to accomplish.

Why is self-deception so prevalent? The answer is because we have the need for others to think well of us. 1 John 1:8 tells us, “If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us.” God’s Word also says in Galatians 6:7 (NIV), “Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows.” In everyday language Galatians 6:7 says, “Don’t fool yourself (be self-deceived), you can’t outsmart God”. It goes on to say using an agricultural metaphor, “A man gathers a crop from what he plants; or what you put in that is what you will get out”. You don’t plant corn and harvest potatoes; so, if you plant lies and believe them yourself, will get a harvest of self-deception.

Theme: “Self-Deception”

Scripture Readings:

1 John 1:8: If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us.

Reflection:

There is an old wise saying, “You can fool all the people some of the time, and some of the people all the time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time” — (saying from Abraham Lincoln). And rest assured you can’t fool God any of the time. God in the Hebrew language is “El Roi — The God that Sees Me (and you)”, not some of the time, but all of the time.

So, rather than believe your own lies to the point of delusion (being self-deceived), which can have devastating results such as:

• Becoming a pathological liar by believing the lies you tell
• Refusing to admit the reality of an unpleasant fact
• Projecting in which you admit the unpleasant fact exists, but blame someone else for it

Remember what you said as a little child, “Liar, Liar, Pants on Fire” which means there are severe consequences to lying. In some cases the warming of your behind, with a spanking.

Lastly, scripture in Revelations 12:11 tell us that we have overcome sin, by the sacrifice of Jesus and the power of our testimony. With that said, let your testimony (statement of truth) be genuine and know you will overcome the need to lie, and will receive deliverance by God, as He forgives you.

So, don’t let your lies take on a life of their own. Don’t be self-deceived!

Amen!