"Real Christianity"

DAY # 78 - 'A Woman of Faith' Devotional

VERSE: "But now in Christ Jesus you who foremerly were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For He Himself is our peace." Ephesians 2:13-14

'Real' by definition is;

–adjective

1. true; not merely ostensible, nominal, or apparent: the real reason for an act.

2. existing or occurring as fact; actual rather than imaginary, ideal, or fictitious: a story taken from real life.

3. being an actual thing; having objective existence; not imaginary: The events you will see in the film are real and not just made up.

4. being actually such; not merely so-called: a real victory.

5. genuine; not counterfeit, artificial, or imitation; authentic: a real antique; a real diamond; real silk.

6. unfeigned or sincere: real sympathy; a real friend.
7. Informal . absolute; complete; utter: She's a real brain.
8. Philosophy .
a. existent or pertaining to the existent as opposed to the nonexistent.
b. actual as opposed to possible or potential.
c. independent of experience as opposed to phenomenal or apparent.
9. (of money, income, or the like) measured in purchasing power rather than in nominal value: Inflation has driven income down in real terms, though nominal income appears to be higher.
10. Optics . (of an image) formed by the actual convergence of rays, as the image produced in a camera (opposed to virtual).
11. Mathematics .
a. of, pertaining to, or having the value of a real number.
b. using real numbers: real analysis; real vector space.
–adverb
12. Informal . very or extremely: You did a real nice job painting the house.
–noun
13. real number.
14. the real,
a. something that actually exists, as a particular quantity.
b. reality in general.
—Idiom
15. for real, Informal .
a. in reality; actually: You mean she dyed her hair green for real?
b. real; actual: The company's plans to relocate are for real.
c. genuine; sincere: I don't believe his friendly attitude is for real.

A 'real' Christian is a 'genuine; not counterfeit, artificial, or imitation; authentic; sincere' Christian - one who sincerely follows Christ and is not just an imitation or artificial. Authentic means if held against a 'fake', one would know that you are 'real' -- as in diamonds. There are many superficial or zircon Christians out there, who are looking good on the outside, but not have the real value inside. We live in a world that tells you it's more fun to be say a 'ruby' than a 'diamond', and some are happy just being a 'zircon' -- one who looks like a real diamond on the outside, but is a 'fake'. A 'ruby' for example is a jewel that is still valuable (as we are all valuable to God), but it is in fact not the 'jewel' that God has called us to be. We all have a purpose in life, and the first step to finding out that purpose is to seek after God and a relationship with Him.
With a 'diamond' there are four classifications to know the 'realness' of it. The Cut, Colour, Clarity and Carat-Weight.

The Cut - Each diamond is still a diamond, whether it is an 'emerald', 'heart', 'marquis', 'oval', 'pear', 'princess', 'radiant' or 'round'. Each of us are 'cut' differently, we are still diamonds at heart, but our bodies, characteristics are all unique to being 'us'. The way a 'real' diamond is cut allows the light that enters to be reflected back up through the face of the diamond. If a diamond is cut too shallow or too deep the light exits through the bottom of the diamond, and does not allow the maximum beauty of the diamond to be known. Each of us as ' Real Christians' should allow the light of Jesus to be reflected back into the world.

The Colour - Diamonds come naturally in every colour of the rainbow, but most people are just excited about the ones in the white range. Sounds like the world of today, but no matter what colour we are, red or yellow, black or white, we are all precious in God's sight.  The best color for a diamond to be is infact no color at all. A totally colorless diamond allows light to pass through it easily, resulting in the light being dispersed as the color of the rainbow. When we come to God, he cleanses us, and become pure & 'colourless' only reflecting what He is made of, which infact can be seen as the colours of the rainbow, which is His promise to us!

The Clarity - Each diamond's clarity is determined by the amount of flaws, or blemishes. To see these to the fullness, you must view a diamond under 10X magnification. Most diamonds contain little 'inclusions' which are kind of like birthmarks. The 'inclusions' interfere with the light passing through, and therefore the fewer the inclusions, the more reflective and beautiful the diamond is or can be. Each of us are born with 'inclusions' or a sinful nature, and the more sin that we contain, the less that God can be seen, but when we allow God to remove our sin, the more beautiful we become. Diamonds, unlike any other gemstone can produce more brilliance because of the light reflected. A diamond that has no 'inclusions' or surface scars is very rare, and very valuable. Thankfully, we are all valuable to our Creator, but of course we are made the most brilliant and beautiful when we arrive in the presence of God when He once and for all cleanses us and makes us white with the glow of His glory in Heaven.

The Carat-Weight - Diamonds are all in different weights, and these weights are measured in carats. As the weight increases, so does the price, which also makes the weightier (higher carat) ones more rare. Two diamonds can be of equal carat-weight, but their value differs due to the other 3 classifications (Cut, Colour & Clarity). Now, first thinking would be our body weights, which we do vary in... but my thought is to the weight or the amount of the Spirit that lives inside of us. The one with the Holy Spirit in his life, just from salvation needs to be empowered by the same Spirit with the water baptism, and the baptism of the Spirit. Each of us are in different areas of our journey with God. "The purposes of a person’s heart are deep waters, but one who has insight draws them out. Many claim to have unfailing love, but a faithful person who can find?  The righteous lead blameless lives; blessed are their children after them." Proverbs 20:5-7 NIV

So a real and true Christian will have the cut, colour, clarity and carat of the Father. God is not leading us into the impossible (for all things are possible for and with God), and we can become the 'rare' righteous ones whom chase God with all our hearts faithfully, and according to Proverbs 20:7, so may our children (or the next generations) behind us!

(My church just celebrated it's 'Diamond [60th] Anniversary', so I pray that we all may become 'real' diamonds in the rough -- reflecting and shining the light of God in this dark world.)



AMEN and AMEN!

*Diamond information found online at http://www.4diamond.com/4Cs/ -- Information comparing diamonds to Christians inspired by Holy Spirit! :)*

BE BLESSED & BE A BLESSING!