Skip to main content

The refiners fire...

"He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver." Malachi 3:3

This verse puzzled some women in a Bible study

And they wondered what this statement meant about the character and nature of God.

One of the women offered to find out the process of refining silver and get back to the group at their next Bible Study. That week, the woman called a silversmith and made an appointment to watch him at work. She didn't mention anything about the reason for her interest beyond her curiosity about the process of refining silver.

As she watched the silversmith, he held a piece of silver over the fire and let it heat up. He explained that in refining silver, one needed to hold the silver in the middle of the fire where the flames were hottest! as to burn away all the impurities.

The woman thought about God holding us in such a hot spot; then she thought again about the verse that says:

"He sits as a refiner and purifier of silver."

She asked the silversmith if it was true that he had to sit there in front of the fire the whole time the silver was being refined. The man answered that yes, he not only had to sit there holding the silver, but he had to keep his eyes on the silver the entire time it was in the fire. If the silver was left a moment too long in the flames, it would be destroyed.

The woman was silent for a moment. Then she asked the silversmith, "How do you know when the silver is fully refined?" He smiled at her and answered , "Oh, that's easy -- when I see my image in it"

If today you are feeling the heat of the fire, remember that God has his eye on you and will keep watching you until He sees His image in you.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Praying Effectively - Learn from Nehemiah of Bible

How to Pray Effectively by Rick Warren Please remember what you told your servant Moses: “If you sin, I will scatter you among the nations.” Nehemiah 1:8 (NLT) Here are four secrets to answered prayer from the life of Nehemiah: 1. Base your request on God’s character. Pray like you know God ill answer you: “I’m expecting you to answer this prayer because of who you are. You are a faithful God. You are a great God. You are a loving God. You are a wonderful God. You can handle this problem, God!" 2. Confess the sins of which you’re aware. After Nehemiah bases his prayer on who God is, he confesses his sins. He says, “We’ve sinned.” He says “I confess . . . myself . . . my father’s house . . .we have acted wickedly . . . we have not obeyed.” It wasn’t Nehemiah’s fault that Israel went into captivity. He wasn’t even born when it happened and he was most likely born in captivity. Yet, he’s including himself in the national sins. He says, “I’ve been a part of the problem.” 3. Claim...
Post a Comment
Read more

Word of Authority

During the time when Jesus was on this earth, there was a Centurion in the city of Capernaum. One of his bond servants fell ill to the point of death. When he came to know that Jesus was in the city, he sent some men to request Jesus to come to his house and heal the servant. After some time, he sent some more men to implore him not to come under his roof, but just to speak word of healing. What made the centurion to change his mind? The centurion understood the power of word spoken with authority. In his daily life he had been experiencing it when he commands the soldiers and servants under him. "For I also am a man [daily] subject to authority, with soldiers under me. And I say to one, Go, and he goes; and to another, Come, and he comes; and to my bond servant, Do this, and he does it." Luke 7:8 The same principle he applied towards Jesus. He heard about Jesus - His word carrying authority to forgive sins and heal the sick people. He must have reasoned out that if my word...
Post a Comment
Read more

A life that lost it's focus

"Saul died for his trespass against the Lord [in sparing Amalek], for his unfaithfulness in not keeping God's word, and also for consulting [a medium with] a spirit of the dead to inquire pleadingly of it, And inquired not so of the Lord [in earnest penitence] ..." 1 Chronicles 10:13,14 Saul, the first king of Israel, began his walk very well. It was the ideal start any one could look for - with all the favor from God and Prophet Samuel, being the tallest one among the people, being the first king of Israel. But along the way, he lost the focus and the end was a miserable and sad one. I am sure you will agree with me that it is how you finish, is more important than how you start . It is definitely an advantage to start well, but finishing is more crucial. The above verse made me think on why Saul's end was a sad one? What are the lessons that I could learn from him? He disobeyed the specific command to destroy the Amalekites Not keeping God's word - In general...
Post a Comment
Read more