Four decades ago I was taught powerful Life-principles by a professor in psychology [I call him Prof.J], mentoring me with “Psychology through The Bible”. Everything he taught and guided me in, have become powerful trailblazing golden nuggets (G-nuggets) which have become part of “My Life Guide”. The one I share with you now is, “You Are Who You Have Been Becoming!”
This Golden-nugget I trailblaze through my, “Diamond-Coal Life Principle”. To be a Diamond, and not a lump of Coal seemed cut-and-dry at first, until I experienced days when unexpected curved-balls, unstoppable hard straight-balls would head my way. Experience has taught me that if I do not want to become defeated by the unexpected or unseen, I must mindfully live this “Becoming Diamond-or-Coal Life Principle”, day-by-day.
When we lived in Jwaneng Town, where my husband, Charles worked at Jwaneng Diamond Mine, I came to see the absolute eternal value, worth and commanding respect of the Diamond. Two decades later, Charles began working at Exxaro Grootegeluk Coal Mine, very essential commodity of energy in great demand. However many living in a power generated community, develop and suffer from Ear-Nose-Throat problems through pollutants. Living in both, a Diamond-town and Coal-town, led me to compare and develop, ‘The Diamond verses the Coal Life Principle.’
Trailblazing the Diamond-verses-Coal living, has enriched and empowered my life to such a high degree, and I trust it will do yours to. Both these mines, the Diamond and the Coal, are of notable global significance and worth. However, they have very different applications and outcomes. When we understand this and adapt them to Prof.J’s Golden Nugget shared: “You Are Who You Have Been Becoming”, becomes very real and relevant and of great importance. Let us first do a general main-pointers trailblaze walk regarding Diamonds verses Coal.
DIAMONDS:
Diamonds are one of the most highly sought-after beautiful precious stones on Earth. Having been strategically and purposely formed deep in the Earth’s crust under immense heat. This intense heat causes this rock to form into a highly unique single carbon crystal structure called the Diamond cubic. The Diamond Cubic’s are known for their prism beauty of splendour. As a prism of light, the Diamond breaks white light into a glorious spectrum of brilliant colour display, categorizing them as a precious stones. This makes them a highly sought out precious stone of great long-term investment. Being one of the hardest precious stones, does not only make them desirable to wear, there is also great demand for Diamonds in industry. Diamonds, Diamond dust or Diamond paste are used in various industrial applications.
Given all of these notably great and various qualities of Diamonds, it makes sense to say, “Diamonds have a notable, long-term investment beauty, worth and value.
COAL:
Coal in turn, is a black or brownish-black sedimentary rock [rock strata that forms from dead plant and organic matters accumulation, compaction, and cementation of sediments on the Earth’s surface.] This carbonized fuel fossil matter formed Coal seams of Coal. Coal has no striking or desirable beauty at all. Its function is to burn Coal for energy, making it a commodity, that when burning produces non-renewable heat and light energy. Once used up, it is of no use, it is gone. The great global concern of Coal is its emissions and by-products. Whilst Coal is burning, it is destroying human lives [notable health problems] and Earth [major environmental destruction] as well as destruction to our Heaven [climate change – global warming, greenhouse gases, acid rain etc.]
Coal burns up becoming Coal ash or slag. Certain is used in cement manufacturing, concrete production, however the dangerous toxic by-waste is collected and sent to designated secure landfills or questionable ash dumps.
With all these alarming facts, one can see that Coal gives short lived happiness, resulting in long-term human, Earth and Heaven problems, resulting into various destruction.
💎 Let Us Now Trailblaze to understand This Diamond Or Coal Life Principle:
Our first Diamond-Coal trailblaze path I do, from Prof.J’s Golden-nugget: “You Are Who You Have been Becoming.”
Being a Life-Principle one has to ask: “What do I want to become? A notable Diamond? Or a Lump of Coal?”
There are many Bible verses, and famous quotes and philosophical teachings to help you with this. However, I invite you to trailblaze with me, from my guaranteed unwavering Life-Source, The Living Word of GOD:
- Proverbs 4:23 (esv): A Fathers Wise Advice
23 Above All Else, Guard Your Heart, For Everything You Do Flows From It.
- Luke 6:45 [43-45] (esv): A Tree and Its Fruit
43 “For no good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit, 44 for each tree is known by its own fruit. For figs are not gathered from thornbushes, nor are grapes picked from a bramble bush.
45 The good person out of the ‘good treasure’ of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his ‘evil treasure’ produces evil, For Out Of The Abundance Of The Heart His Mouth Speaks.
- Mathew 6:21 (esv):
21 For where your treasure is, there your Heart will be also.
I begin my Diamond-or-Coal Trailblaze Life Adventure by cementing the above verses 1, 2, and 3 together, to become The Diamond-Coal Life Principle Bridge, which I will lead you through in my “Diamond-or-Coal Life Principle Series”. This 3-verse_3-cord bridge we trailblaze to, I call “The Heart Bridge of Life”, which will stand the test of time, right into Eternity. The Word of GOD describes Solomon as the wisest man throughout, and thus I submit to you, his wisdom of the unity of three:
- Ecclesiastes 4:12 (nlt):
12 A person standing alone can be attacked and defeated, but two can stand back-to-back and conquer. Three are even better, for a triple-braided cord is not easily broken.
As we come to this “Heart Bridge of Life”, and stop and ponder these above verses 1-3, which is built from and upon. Before we can venture further, if we want our Hearts to succeed in Life, we have to make a decision:
Am I Ready To Take The First Step and Cross this Heart Bridge? For a more successful, a highly blessed life.
I truly believe that everyone who has not found, or fully achieved this yet, will cross this bridge, to go further.
In crossing our “Heart Bridge” according to these 3-fold verses, we can conclude:
- Our Hearts, determine the wellness of our being, what flows from out of our spirit, soul and body.
- Our Hearts, can be discerned by our fruits. From the words of our mouths, and the works of our hands.
- Our Hearts, are found by our treasures, our heart and our treasure cannot be separated, they go hand-in-hand.
When we hear or speak of treasure, one of the go to discussions we have is the worth of the treasure. We are going to trailblaze this through my “Diamond-or-Coal Life Principle”. Specifically seeking to discover our own self-worth?
Our great Worth, declared throughout by the HOLY SPIRIT through the written inspired Word of GOD:
- Genesis 1:26a (esv) [**my own added explanation]
26 Then GOD [**ELOHIM = Supreme CREATOR] said, “Let US [**The Deity = GOD Three-in-ONE _ FATHER, SON,and HOLY SPIRIT] _ make man in OUR image, after OUR likeness.”
- Psalm 139:1, 13-14 (esv)
1 O Lord, YOU have searched me and known me! 13 For YOU formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. 14 I praise YOU, for I am Fearfully and Wonderfully made. Wonderful are YOUR works; my soul knows it very well.
The Living Diamond Heart Trailblaze:
If we choose to take these verses to Heart and embrace that we are truly fearfully and wonderfully made by GOD. As we embrace, we believe, despite what we might negatively feel, or even believe of ourselves in the past, and start speaking that we are GOD’s unique and beautiful creation of great worth, over ourselves. As we further take on what the GOD of TRUTH declares about us in HIS Living Word, a new door opens. HE then begins to empower and enable us to discover and grow in our uniqueness of beauty, our self-worth and our strength-of-self. Step-by-step we start letting go of the lies we believed about ourselves and replace them with GOD’s Truth of our unique worth. This leads us to a new found Life of Love, Hope, Peace and Joy. Over the seasons we get to the place where we have a permanent Heart change, where our uniqueness of great worth becomes the permanent well-spring flowing from our Hearts, and we naturally, radiantly shine from within and without.
This will get us to the place where we want to help those around us, discover their uniqueness and worth, helping them shine. “Our Hearts become true ‘Living Diamonds’.”
The Dying Coal Heart Trailblaze:
On the other hand, if a person rejects to cross this Heart Bridge, this makes him or her, vulnerable of standing in danger of beginning to believe what a critical soul-crushing loved one, or leader or hero, or family, or a group, says about them. Creating insecurity making them susceptible to start believing these lies about their worthlessness, destroying and crushing the Truth of their uniqueness and great worth. Eventually these lies of become their Truth and weaken them, to the point of even speaking these lies of their worthlessness over themselves, becoming self-curses. Repeated lies and curses over themself will begin to dry up their Heart causing rejection. This causes such battering to their Heart causing such hurt, or bitterness, or abusiveness, or unforgiving, or unbelieving, and…and [this list of destruction to the Heart is endless].
If we do not Guard our Hearts, we place them in danger of becoming a toxic-heart, where Peace is a stranger, Hope is lost, Joy is an intruder, and real Love is a lie. This toxicity of Heart eventually becomes the person’s daily words and actions, into their full way of Life. People will begin to stay away, not because they are rejecting the deceived toxic hearted person as worthless, but because the person’s destructive toxicity begins to make people around them, feel uncomfortable and in extreme cases, even worthless.
It is safe to say that “The rejected, toxic Heart has become a Lump of Coal.”
💎 This Diamond-Coal Bridge to cross, and Trailblaze to walk, ends at a T-junction.
💎 This is where we have to either go left, The Diamond Heart Road, or we go right, The Coal Heart Road.
💎 Which way are you going to choose?
The Diamond Heart way of Life? or The Coal Heart way of Life?
🙏 Will you allow me to pray:
LORD GOD our Mighty Creator.
We Thank YOU for creating us as YOUR unique prized human beings, we are men and women, guys and ladies, boys and girls of great, great Worth.
I believe YOUR Living Word where the psalmist declares in Psalm 139 (verse no6.) that we surely have been Fearfully and Wonderfully Created.
I ….…………………………………………………………. am beginning to grasp and understand, that wonderful are YOUR works our GOD ALMIGHTY.
Beginning to see that at some point in our lives here on Earth, we will all come to some form of a crossroad of our self-worth.
Mine is right now, as I stand at this Diamond-or-Coal T-junction above.
I choose to go left.
I choose to take The Diamond Heart Road.
My LORD and SAVIOUR, JESUS CHRIST, if I struggle with doubt, please help me overcome.
I pray and ask that YOU help me, become that Living breathing Diamond of great worth, that YOU have created me to be, our GOD MOST HIGH.
💎 A Living Diamond of great worth within myself.
💎 A Living Diamond of great worth to the people around me.
💎 And most important, A Living Diamond of great worth to You, LORD my GOD.
I realize that I can only become The Living Diamond I am choosing To Become, through YOU, my Lord and Saviour JESUS. I need YOU, and I welcome YOU.
May YOU give me discernment that will keep me away from any trailblazes in Life, that lead to trails of Coal. Short term of happy contentment, however with destructive outcomes. I don’t want this my LORD.
I ask YOU to help me to become a Living Diamond.
I place the wellbeing of my Heart, where all the springs of my Life flow, and where my treasure is, in YOUR hands.
By this, may my new found Life of great Worth begin to flow and declare:
“I Am, what I have been becoming _ I Am A Living breathing Diamond, of great Worth”
Amen
