Stay in the Pressure

Diamonds are some of the most beautiful things our eyes can behold, and they are some of the most valuable treasures in the world.

But they don't start the way we know and see them. And the way they are formed and produced is designed to be an encouragement to us through God's creative wisdom.

They form in the deep places of the earth, where atmospheric turbulence, extreme heat, and high pressure prevail. These rough conditions shape them. And when man first uncovers them, they can look ordinary, gray, brown, cloudy, greasy, dirty, and jagged around the edges. They do not automatically come into our hands shiny and smooth.

How a diamond is shaped, cut, cleaved, and interacts with light determines its brilliance, beauty, and worth. While people can grow diamonds in labs today, true diamonds, as God intended them to be made, are grown over time and in imperfect conditions.

I am sharing this about diamonds because it is the perfect visualization of the Word from God that Chief Apostle H.C. Gunn preached recently during service.

He told the saints: God said you can't give up because of the shape that you're in or the things you are going through.

He encouraged: Don't lose your grip. Don't throw in the towel or throw up the white flag. Don't ask, "What's the use of enduring or trying again?"

If diamonds are made too fast or without pressure, they won't fully become what God intended. The same for us. Chief Apostle Gunn said: If everything comes together too fast for us, works out too perfectly, or happens the way we want it every time, we are not going to stay in the process of fellowship with God.

Our salvation and walk with God is like the making of diamonds. Every part of it starts rough. Before God made us, the earth was void and without form. It was in disorder. The cross of Christ was rugged. The journey to stay on it was hard. The punishment He took so we can be set free from darkness was unimaginable. But, God’s plan of salvation that started in the garden and the blood Jesus shed still delivers us today! It makes us new and shine like diamonds (if we choose to stay under the covering of the blood).

Remember, one day to God is like a thousand, and vice versa. It may seem like we've been going through too long, but in God's timing we are at just the right temperature and position to be made brilliant. But you can't get there without longsuffering, trust in God, and enduring hard things. This is ministering to me as I type.

We can't expect to not go through, when our Savior, the King of Kings, went through. But what kept Him was His fellowship with the Father. That's why Chief Apostle Gunn said we must stay in fellowship with God. And, he said if we keep pleading and remembering the ever-working power of the blood of Jesus, we won't stay the same.

Chief Apostle Gunn reminded us: We may get down to the bottom of the pit or feel like we are, but the blood of Jesus conquered the very pits of hell. It never stays down; it never stops working. He explained: "We can be knocked down and even stay there for a while, but through Jesus's shed blood we can still be winners." We have to choose not to let shame, pain, doubt, discomfort, fear, pride, and the like stop us.

Be sure to listen to our recent radio broadcasts from Chief Apostle Gunn here.