Talking about refinement, John Bevere says, “God puts us through the process because he is more concerned about us finishing well than starting well.” Refinement is a product of grace and grace is God’s doing.
I have a 9-carat gold wedding ring on my finger. When I look at it, it appears to be gold but, in fact, my ring has only 9 parts gold out of 24 parts. The remaining 15 parts comprise other metals such as nicol, tin, silver and zinc. These metals are not as dense as gold. Therefore, if my ring was to be smelted in a crucible the gold would sink to the bottomwhilealltheunwanted metals would float to the top. I could then take a ladle and scoop off the 15 parts of impurity and be left with 9 parts pure 24-carat gold.
Sometimes difficulties in life can prove to be your crucible immersed in a furnace of fire. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego knew what it was like to face difficulty. They had denied the king’s edict to bow to a statue and were cast into a super-heated furnace. The king expected them to be incinerated but when he gazed into the fire he did not see three men, he saw four. The Lord himself was in the fire with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego. Charles Spurgeon said, “As sure as God puts his children in the furnace, he will be in the furnace with them.”
That’s God’s grace. Grace is God’s doing and grace rescues us from harm. When apostle Paul underwent this process, the Lord said to him, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my strength is made perfect in weakness.” Refinement is a product of grace and grace is God’s doing.
God-tracking is being refined by grace.
Get into the word of God and get the word of God into you!
1 Peter1:6-9 Daniel 3:19-25 2 Corinthians 12:7-10 “If grace is God’s doing then do it in me, O Lord, that I will come out finer than 24-carat gold.”
“Dear God I feel like I’m in the furnace today. Nothing is going right for me. It seems everybody is against me and I face difficulties on every side. Yet, I acknowledge you in all my ways, even in my difficulties. You are Lord of my life and I submit to this fiery furnace in the knowledge that your grace will refine me and pull me through. If grace is God’s doing then do it in me, O Lord, that I will come out finer than 24-carat gold. Amen.”
GodTracker is a weekly e-mail Christian motivational thought, written by Dudley Anderson, based on the premise that God has a plan for our lives. His Word calls us to seek his plan by acknowledging him in all our ways and by tracking — Born and raised in Johannesburg, South Africa Dudley Anderson began writing for radio in 1994. Dudley currently writes a weekly e-mail Christian motivational thought called GodTracker and has complied 2 devotional books based on GodTracker. More information at surereaity.net