CAROL’S GEMS: APRIL BIRTHSTONE—THE DIAMOND

Every month has a birthstone. The birthstone for April is the diamond. And it reminds me of Jesus.

Have you ever seen a diamond in the rough? It’s not so thrilling. It resembles simple quartz—often dull and full of spots.

Sort of like us, before Jesus takes hold of our hearts and cleans us up from the inside out.

The diamond represents faithfulness, love, and purity, which is why the stone is traditionally used in engagement and wedding rings. But in gemstone symbolism, the diamond also symbolizes eternity. As does Jesus.

When shopping for diamonds, buyers are cautioned to always look for the “four Cs.” Those are color, clarity, carat, and cut. By focusing on the four Cs, a buyer can be assured of getting the best quality in this precious stone.

But as Christians, we too have the 4 Cs. They are the cross, Calvary, covenant, and command. And they are more precious than the most precious diamond.

The diamond is also the stone that represents a monarch’s sixtieth anniversary. Remember, Queen Elizabeth’s “Diamond Jubilee” last year? It celebrated her reign as Queen of England for the past 60 years.  There’s a bit of confusion relating to diamonds though, since they represent 60 years for royalty and 75 years for everybody else.

Tomorrow, I turn 60. Fortunately, as an adopted daughter of the King of the Universe, that means I’m royalty. It also means it’s my diamond jubilee. I don’t have to wait until I’m 75.

Then again, every day lived under God’s reign is a jubilee!

PRAYER: Heavenly Father, thank you for adopting us into your family. Thank you for making us royalty in your sight. Thank you that every day lived in your love is a jubilee! Amen.

WHAT ABOUT YOU? Do you know any diamonds in the rough who need some polishing? Is there anyone in your life who sparkles with Jesus’ love?

CAROL’S GEMS: GARNETS FOR JESUS

Every month has a birthstone. The birthstone for the month of January is the garnet. And it reminds me of Jesus.

The term "garnet" refers to a family of minerals. The garnet family contains gemstones that appear in every color except blue. The difference is what they are called and what extra minerals they contain. For example, within the mineral family of "garnet" are tsavorites (green), hessonite (orange, brown and pink), and rhodolite (purplish red). When we picture a garnet, however, most of us think of the deep blood red stone.

Blood red. The color of Jesus’ blood shed for us. A forever reminder of His sacrifice for us.

In gemstone symbolism, the garnet signifies eternal friendship and trust. Such as is found in Jesus, our eternal friend in whom we can place our trust.

Just like there are star sapphires, there are also star garnets. The "stars" are produced by a sphere of tiny rods composed of titanium dioxide. These rods reflect light back out of the garnet and appear to our eye as a 4 or 6-rayed star that moves across the face of the gemstone. Star garnets are only found in India and Idaho.


From Americanlisted.com
 

Star? With our celebration of Christmas still fresh in our hearts, it would be nice to have a star garnet to always light the way to Jesus.


The garnet is known for its luminosity and high refractive quality. Because of those qualities, early travelers carried garnets, which they believed lit up the night and protected a person from evil. Many extra biblical sources suggest that Noah used a lantern made from garnet to help him see through the storms while on the ark.

Evidently, the garnet reminded Noah of Jesus, too.

Happy birthday to everyone born in January—especially my super husband Jim, whose birthday is TODAY!

PRAYER: Heavenly Father, thank you for placing reminders in this world of who you are. Please open our eyes to see you in everything today. Amen.

WHAT ABOUT YOU? Do you own a garnet?

Today I'm cross posting with my friend, Chris Vonada. Please visit him often at www.ChrisVonada.com.

　

CAROL'S GEMS: SEPTEMBER'S SAPPHIRE

CAROL’S GEMS: SEPTEMBER’S SAPPHIRE
Every month has a birthstone. The birthstone for September is the sapphire. And it reminds me of Jesus.

　
The Sapphire is Strong

The diamond is the only mineral harder than the sapphire. I like that fact. It means you can wear sapphires every day, without having to worry about them cracking, being scratched or disintegrating.

We should put on the armor of God each day also. Jesus’ cloak of righteousness is not only beautiful; it is strong and durable, too.
　

Protection from Evil

According to folklore, the sapphire protects the wearer from evil and grants the wearer peace and joy. Its traditional blue color symbolizes truth, sincerity, and faithfulness, which is one reason women in many countries (remember Princess Diana and later, Kate Middleton?) prefer a sapphire engagement ring.

Jesus protects us from evil and grants us His peace and joy. Jesus is truth and sincerity and is ever-faithful.

　
Sapphires Remind Us of Heaven

Medieval clergy wore sapphires to symbolize heaven, while commoners thought the gem attracted heavenly blessings.　 The sapphire’s various shades of blue reflect the sky at different times of the day and night—from soft blue to twilight to midnight blue. Some ancient stories claimed our earth sat inside a large blue sapphire heaven.

Sapphires come in other colors than blue, however. In fact, the sapphire and the ruby are both in the same family of minerals—the corundum (see July "Rubies for Jesus"). The existence of additional mineral elements (such as iron, titanium, vanadium, chrome) in corundum, determine its ultimate color. When corundum contains chrome, it is called "ruby." All other colors of corundum are called "sapphires" and come in white (clear), black, yellow, pink, green, blue, and violet—basically the colors of the rainbow.

Speaking of rainbows…God created them as a reminder to us and to Him of His love for us. One more way sapphires remind me of Jesus.

Happy birthday to everyone born in September.

PRAYER: Heavenly Father, thank you so much for the great variety and excessive beauty you have filled this world with. Please help us see the beauty around us and be reminded that it is but a small reflection of your glory. Amen.

WHAT ABOUT YOU? What do you love about sapphires? Do you know someone born in September?

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Today I'm cross-posting at Chris Vonada's blog. Please visit him often.

CAROL'S GEMS: TREASURE HUNTING

“Carol’s Gems” is a glitter-loving gal’s way to find a place on a geologists’ blog site. This begins a year-long series that focuses on the birth stone for each month of the calendar and how they remind us of Jesus. It is a cross-posting with my Christian Writer colleague, Chris Vonada. Please visit him at: www.ChrisVonada.com

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When God created Earth, He filled it with beauty. Mountains, plains, oceans, lakes, rivers, creeks, ponds and puddles. The cloud-filled sky. The grass, trees, flowers, critters. All reflect God’s beauty.

But when God finished covering the Earth's surface with beauty, He still had lots of beauty left. So He hid some deep inside the earth.

Mankind digs into God's rich soil. Underneath the beauty at the surface of our earth, past the wiggly worms, gnarly roots and crumbly dirt, are sparkling, glittering treasures. We dig them up, dust them off and hold them to the light, exclaiming, "Beautiful!"

And we call them "precious."

We name those treasures diamond, sapphire, emerald, ruby. They are a reflection of God's glorious, excessive beauty.

Matthew 13:44 recounts Jesus' parable of the man who found a treasure in the ground. The man covered it back up and sold everything he owned. He then bought the land so the treasure could be his.

The treasure in Jesus’ parable was the Gospel, the priceless good news of our salvation through Christ.  

When I think of gemstones, I am reminded that God has placed His beauty all around me. It is in nature, in people, in God’s Word. Sometimes, His beauty requires us to dig. But when we find it, it is a sparkling, glittering, precious delight. And it is worth the seeking.

Hidden treasures also remind us that God has placed a sparkling, precious delight inside each of us. With God’s help we can dig through the dirt, past the worms and the roots and find it—our desire to know and love Him. And to become the people He means us to be.

God can dust this treasure off and hold it up to the light. Our obedience is a delight to Him. Our faith is a sparkling, faceted radiance, shining God's glory to the world.

It is worth the digging.

PRAYER: Heavenly Father, thank you for your glory and for the reminders of your beauty around us. Please work in us so that we are a delight to you. Help us seek your treasure above all else. Amen.

WHAT ABOUT YOU? What treasures in your life do you see as God's sparkling delights?

The series, “Carol’s Gems” begins next month with the June birthstone: the pearl and how it reminds us of Jesus.