The Cullinan diamond, discovered in South Africa in 1905, is the largest gem-quality diamond ever found. It was recorded at 3106.75 carat and 10.5 cm long.
Joseph Asscher of Amsterdam prepared himself for the greatest responsibility of his life: the difficult and risky cutting of the largest and most expensive diamond in the world. He spent SIX MONTHS doing nothing but studying the rough diamond from every angle.
We cannot imagine the tension, pressure and stress of such a work. After much preparation and special arrangements, 10th February 1908, Joseph Asscher placed the cleaving blade at the prearranged point of the diamond and struck the blade with his hammer with one decisive blow. To his horror the cleaving blade broke, but his horror changed to relief when he found the diamond was unharmed. He obtained a special, extra large cleaving blade. Failure was unthinkable! The tension must have been enormous as he tried again. This time it split perfectly into three large sections, just as planned. Each was closely studied and then divided into nine principal diamonds, ensuring each had a suitable cut and shape to give the most beautiful results in respect of their lustre, transparency, refraction and dispersion of light. It would be another 8 months before the polishing of Cullinan 1 was completed. Eventually 9 major diamonds and 96 smaller cut stones were taken from the rough Cullinan.
The largest polished gem from the stone is named Cullinan I or the Great Star of Africa. It is 530.4 carats and was the largest polished diamond in the world until the Golden Jubilee Diamond, 545.67 carats was discovered in 1985.
The stone was presented to King Edward VII on his birthday by the Transvaal government. Cullinan I is now mounted in the head of the Sceptre with the Cross. Cullinan II or the Lesser Star of Africa, is in the Coronation crown, both part of the British crown jewels.
There are times when we feel we have been dealt one decisive blow.
The nerves wince and the soul cries out in agony.
The blow seems an appalling mistake!
We know that every blood-bought, adopted child of God is precious to Him and that He loves us with an everlasting love and only wants the very, very best for us. We are His most precious possession – a precious jewel – and we are in the hands of the most skilled lapidary who cannot fail. We know His goal for us is to mould us to His plan of Christlikeness, and that one day we will be presented faultless before Him, only because of His work in us. Meanwhile, we can lie confidently and securely in His hands, for He knows just exactly what is needed to bring us to perfection.
1 Peter 1:7 [CEV]
Your faith will be like gold that has been tested in a fire.
And these trials
will prove that your faith is worth much more than gold
that can be destroyed.
Romans 8:28 [CEV]
We know that God is always at work
for the good of everyone who loves him
– the ones God has chosen for his purpose
Job 23:10 [ESV]
But he knows the way that I take;
when he has tried me, I shall come out as gold
Mr Anon says . . .
What we call adversity, God calls opportunity.
In order to realise the worth of the anchor,
we need to feel the stress of the storm.
There is no situation so chaotic that God cannot create something beautiful. He did it at creation. He did it at Calvary.
He is still doing it today in the lives of His children.
Annie Johnson Flint:
He giveth more grace when the burdens grow greater;
He sendeth more strength when the labours increase.
To added affliction He addeth His mercy;
To multiplied trials, His multiplied peace.
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Beautiful post…
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Thanks. All praise to our awesome God.
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Amen…
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Great post!! I love being thought of as a precious jewel to God..so I’m willing to be molded by Him!!
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Since God gave His most precious in order to redeem me, I must be VERY precious to Him.
Since God only desires the very, very, very best for me, I can confidently lay my life in His hands, trusting Him to mould me into His plan for me.
What an incredibly amazing God we know, love and serve!
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Yes!! So important to know that He is the Potter, we are the clay!!
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The rough edges conceal the beauty inside.
Thanks for helping us make sense of suffering.
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Thanks for adding that pearl of wisdom – ‘the rough edges conceal the beauty inside’.
May we ever be willing to have Him strip away those rough edges!
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Amen!
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One of the marks of a mature Christian is being able to sincerely praise the Lord for the difficult times that come our way. Looking back at my life, it was these difficult times that held the most blessings for me. Lord bless you and Myles, Angela. Thank you for your faithfulness to your Lord.
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I completely agree Rob. The most difficult times became the times of greatest blessings as He used them to ‘grow’ me. Without the refiner’s fire, we wouldn’t lose the dross.
I can’t pray for more troubles, or welcome them when they come, but I know that He will use them for my good and that I will be caused to praise Him.
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Reblogged this on My Delight and My Counsellors.
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Thanks for the reblog.
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What a precious word for us today, Mentor Angela. More and more I keep reading and understanding that those hard blows are not to be my undoing, but to help me. I still need help grasping this in the heat of the moment!
I read this quote the other day, by L. B. Cowman – What if God could not manage to mature your life without suffering?
Love and prayers! God bless you!
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Thanks for adding the Cowman quote Debbie.
As I finished posting this, I realised I had missed the most important lesson from the splitting of the Cullinan and decided I had to look at it from God’s angle . . . so, the next post was begun.
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