by Scott Gallagher
Remember the scripture that says that God is the refining furnace?
Well, Just like the metal worker works to melt the silver down to make it more pure. He puts a few chunks of coal under the ladle and uses the bellows to make the flames higher and hotter. Yet he has to watch that the fire doesn't get so hot that it burns the silver, if so it will be a waste. So he patiently and attentively watches. Once to its point the slag floats to the top to be discarded. In the same, God puts us through the fire to refine us. But he patiently and attentively watches to make sure that the fire doesn't get to hot, if it does, we will be thrown to the wayside with all of our anger and resentment. So he has to be watching and keeping the flame at the exact right temperature. Then all of our impurities come to the surface, our slag, for Him to remove. He knows it’s done and we are refined when He can look into the melted silver (us) and see Himself in us (his reflection). Then we are a masterpiece of the Maker!
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Let us go to His Word...
"The refining pot is for silver and the furnace for gold,
But the Lord tests hearts." ~Proverbs 17:3
"Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver;
I have tested you in the furnace of affliction." ~Isaiah 48:10
"Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you, which comes upon you for your testing, as though some strange thing were happening to you; but to the degree that you share the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing, so that also at the revelation of His glory you may rejoice with exultation. If you are reviled for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you." ~1 Peter 4:12-15
(New American Standard Bible)
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