"Precious Gems"

"For we which live are always delivered unto death for Jesus' sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh." (2 Corinthians 4:11) Who are you in Jesus Christ? Are we 'Precious Gems' of His? Well, we know for certain that He has purchased us with His blood; therefore, we are His. And because we are His, He can make us whatever He wants us to be; He has that authority, and that ability. For those that are His, He has taken that sin, shame, and everything else which is not perfect, and has washed it all away. In case you did not know what 'washed it all away' means, it literally means that you can not see it anymore; well, maybe that is true for the Father, but we tend to keep looking for the stains! But the thing that keeps amazing me, is how much the blood of Jesus washes out. In fact, the stains which remain, are stains that we apply ourselves; which means that they were not there at all, but that we have placed them there by our own lack of faith. 'This too will pass away', is not a slogan for a trial, it is a slogan for this present body; because beneath this mortal flesh is a very precious Gem which belongs to Jesus Christ. He has purchased it, refined it, polished it up, and has even set it in Heaven; where nothing can disturb it, or remove it from the place it has been given. So, as we sit and ponder the things which we do, or don't do, we need to look beyond all that which has been done away, and look to the One who has made us into this precious Gem; because, like a gem in the ruff, 'This too will pass away'! "For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; while we look not at the things which are seen, but the things which are not seen: For the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal." (2 Corinthians 4:16-18)