Note: the teaching will be available soon on the SHINE BRIGHT Church YouTube Channel.
In the beginning it wasn’t so. When GOD created paradise for Adam and Eve He intended them to be blessed perpetually – not experience the pain-filled world they inherited as a result of their sin. In the beginning there was serenity, not sorrow, suffering and struggle.
Sin – the monkey wrench that was tossed into GOD’s perfectly functioning order that caused everything to fall into chaos and corruption. “So, why doesn’t GOD fix it?”
GOD will, but in His time. He will create the New Heavens and the New Earth. All pain, sorrow and tears will be wiped away – how? In the new creation sin will be entirely absent. Holy and incorruptible reality will have come in and be here to stay!
The question for us saints is, “Can GOD ever use these products of sin – suffering, sorrow and struggle for any good?
ROMANS 8:28
And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.
That’s truth! It doesn’t change even when our lives go from bad to worse.
PSALM 12:6-7
6 The words of the LORD are pure words, like silver tried in a furnace of earth, Purified seven times. 7 You shall keep them, O LORD, You shall preserve them from this generation forever.
The Word of GOD is pure and everlasting. GOD ensures that His Word will endure to all generations (PSA 100:5). The Words of the LORD are purified seven times – that is to say, the Holy Scriptures are perfectly, completely pure.
“You are what you eat.” That’s true spiritually, not just physically! Consume the pure words of the LORD and they will have a purifying effect on you:
“Blessed are the pure of heart, for they shall see GOD” (MATT 5:8).
The Holy Word will wash you, sanctify you and by taking in the Word, specifically by faith obeying the Gospel, you shall be preserved, that is, granted eternal life. And as 1 THESS 2:13 points out, the Word of GOD works effectively in us who believe (and also read, love, practice, share and exalt) the Holy Revelation of GOD. The Word matures us as we grow in godliness as disciples of Christ.
“…silver tried in a furnace of earth.” That’s the Word of GOD – both the inspired Word of Scripture and the Incarnate Word our LORD Jesus Christ – the infinitely valuable treasure in us clay vessels:
2 CORINTHIANS 4:7
But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us.
And that’s how we live saints – by the power of GOD Who dwells in our hearts and lives, from here to eternity!
PROVERBS 17:3
The refining pot is for silver and the furnace for gold, But the LORD tests the hearts.
GOD tested Abraham. He tested Job. He tests you and I; He tests all of His saints, but also sinners. He tests us all to reveal what’s inside, to expose what’s hidden underneath.
GOD revealed the faith and obedience of Abraham when he was willing to offer up his only beloved son, Isaac. GOD revealed the faith and trust of Job when he endured the incredible afflictions that the LORD allowed into his life, still loving and worshiping GOD!
GOD tested Daniel and revealed his uncompromising devotion and faithfulness to the LORD in prayer, even when the penalty of death became law!
He also tested his three friends: Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah and revealed their solid commitment to YHWH when they refused to bow down to Nebuchadnezzar’s golden statue and were subsequently thrown into the fiery furnace.
At the same time GOD exposed what was in the Babylonian king, Belshazzar: “You have been weighed in the balances and found wanting.” Or as we might put it, “You ain’t got what it takes for GOD’s approval! You’re done!” Let’s turn to LAMENTATIONS (it’s right after the book of Jeremiah).
LAMENTATIONS 3:18-19
18 And I said, "My strength and my hope have perished from the LORD." 19 Remember my affliction and roaming, The wormwood and the gall.
Looking at these two verses in the original Hebrew is very enlightening:
LAMENTATIONS 3:18-19
“18 And I said, my confidence, my endurance, my victory, my expectation have been destroyed, perished, is undone from the LORD." 19 Remember my depression, misery and destitution, maltreatment, the [wormwood] this accursed, poisonous experience [and the gall] is a destructive venom.” Gall is extremely bitter to taste, unpalatable. So are the trials of suffering GOD leads us to endure…
Note here, it doesn’t say “my weaknesses and frailties are destroyed” but my strength and hope. Those things that come from my own human resources. In my early Christian years I had thought that when we went through fiery trials and forges they would destroy my weaknesses and reinforce my strengths, but GOD is intent to destroy everything concerning my own resources and replace my weaknesses and strengths (both of which are considered weak in the eyes of GOD) with His own strength based on His Omnipotent, Eternal resources He uses to transform us (ISA 40:31 “renew [exchange] their strength”).
Consider apostle Peter – what was he known for? His boldness, his readiness to get the job done (“ready, fire, aim”), someone who showed initiative, a born leader. He declared that even if the other 11 disciples forsook the LORD, he never would – so confident, so strong, and yet – we know what happened. His own human strength failed him. Ultimately, it always will. Mine has…
Our foundation must only have Christ plus nothing else (1 COR 3:11). And His resources instilled in us: His character, His virtues, engraved into our mind and our lives by consuming and living out His Holy Word. We are empowered by His Spirit as we yield to the LORD in every circumstance, humbling ourselves by enduring whatever cross GOD leads us to, that we may die to self in order to let Christ reign more fully in us and through us.
In the beginning it wasn’t so. When GOD created paradise for Adam and Eve He intended them to be blessed perpetually – not experience the pain-filled world they inherited as a result of their sin. In the beginning there was serenity, not sorrow, suffering and struggle.
Sin – the monkey wrench that was tossed into GOD’s perfectly functioning order that caused everything to fall into chaos and corruption. “So, why doesn’t GOD fix it?”
GOD will, but in His time. He will create the New Heavens and the New Earth. All pain, sorrow and tears will be wiped away – how? In the new creation sin will be entirely absent. Holy and incorruptible reality will have come in and be here to stay!
The question for us saints is, “Can GOD ever use these products of sin – suffering, sorrow and struggle for any good?
ROMANS 8:28
And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.
That’s truth! It doesn’t change even when our lives go from bad to worse.
PSALM 12:6-7
6 The words of the LORD are pure words, like silver tried in a furnace of earth, Purified seven times. 7 You shall keep them, O LORD, You shall preserve them from this generation forever.
The Word of GOD is pure and everlasting. GOD ensures that His Word will endure to all generations (PSA 100:5). The Words of the LORD are purified seven times – that is to say, the Holy Scriptures are perfectly, completely pure.
“You are what you eat.” That’s true spiritually, not just physically! Consume the pure words of the LORD and they will have a purifying effect on you:
“Blessed are the pure of heart, for they shall see GOD” (MATT 5:8).
The Holy Word will wash you, sanctify you and by taking in the Word, specifically by faith obeying the Gospel, you shall be preserved, that is, granted eternal life. And as 1 THESS 2:13 points out, the Word of GOD works effectively in us who believe (and also read, love, practice, share and exalt) the Holy Revelation of GOD. The Word matures us as we grow in godliness as disciples of Christ.
“…silver tried in a furnace of earth.” That’s the Word of GOD – both the inspired Word of Scripture and the Incarnate Word our LORD Jesus Christ – the infinitely valuable treasure in us clay vessels:
2 CORINTHIANS 4:7
But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us.
And that’s how we live saints – by the power of GOD Who dwells in our hearts and lives, from here to eternity!
PROVERBS 17:3
The refining pot is for silver and the furnace for gold, But the LORD tests the hearts.
GOD tested Abraham. He tested Job. He tests you and I; He tests all of His saints, but also sinners. He tests us all to reveal what’s inside, to expose what’s hidden underneath.
GOD revealed the faith and obedience of Abraham when he was willing to offer up his only beloved son, Isaac. GOD revealed the faith and trust of Job when he endured the incredible afflictions that the LORD allowed into his life, still loving and worshiping GOD!
GOD tested Daniel and revealed his uncompromising devotion and faithfulness to the LORD in prayer, even when the penalty of death became law!
He also tested his three friends: Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah and revealed their solid commitment to YHWH when they refused to bow down to Nebuchadnezzar’s golden statue and were subsequently thrown into the fiery furnace.
At the same time GOD exposed what was in the Babylonian king, Belshazzar: “You have been weighed in the balances and found wanting.” Or as we might put it, “You ain’t got what it takes for GOD’s approval! You’re done!” Let’s turn to LAMENTATIONS (it’s right after the book of Jeremiah).
LAMENTATIONS 3:18-19
18 And I said, "My strength and my hope have perished from the LORD." 19 Remember my affliction and roaming, The wormwood and the gall.
Looking at these two verses in the original Hebrew is very enlightening:
LAMENTATIONS 3:18-19
“18 And I said, my confidence, my endurance, my victory, my expectation have been destroyed, perished, is undone from the LORD." 19 Remember my depression, misery and destitution, maltreatment, the [wormwood] this accursed, poisonous experience [and the gall] is a destructive venom.” Gall is extremely bitter to taste, unpalatable. So are the trials of suffering GOD leads us to endure…
Note here, it doesn’t say “my weaknesses and frailties are destroyed” but my strength and hope. Those things that come from my own human resources. In my early Christian years I had thought that when we went through fiery trials and forges they would destroy my weaknesses and reinforce my strengths, but GOD is intent to destroy everything concerning my own resources and replace my weaknesses and strengths (both of which are considered weak in the eyes of GOD) with His own strength based on His Omnipotent, Eternal resources He uses to transform us (ISA 40:31 “renew [exchange] their strength”).
Consider apostle Peter – what was he known for? His boldness, his readiness to get the job done (“ready, fire, aim”), someone who showed initiative, a born leader. He declared that even if the other 11 disciples forsook the LORD, he never would – so confident, so strong, and yet – we know what happened. His own human strength failed him. Ultimately, it always will. Mine has…
Our foundation must only have Christ plus nothing else (1 COR 3:11). And His resources instilled in us: His character, His virtues, engraved into our mind and our lives by consuming and living out His Holy Word. We are empowered by His Spirit as we yield to the LORD in every circumstance, humbling ourselves by enduring whatever cross GOD leads us to, that we may die to self in order to let Christ reign more fully in us and through us.
You build your life on THAT foundation - Christ Who is the ROCK, the Immutable, the Almighty! No storm will destroy a house that's built on that foundation - all it takes is to hear and obey the Word of GOD (MATT 7:24-25).
Trials, afflictions, sufferings are bitter experiences, there’s no denying this. No shade of optimistic rose-colored sunglasses can alter this!
But GOD the Son endured The Most Bitter Experience as He hung on that Cross – the innocent, sinless, holy Lamb of GOD that bore all the sins of all humanity as GOD’s sacrifice for our salvation, Who Himself endured the judgment and wrath of GOD against our sin. We have no idea of the enormity of that suffering!
But that bitterest of all bitter experiences turned sweet three days later when our LORD rose from the dead! Redemption purchased! Victory won! Eternal Life granted to all who believe to the saving of the soul!
Likewise, GOD doesn’t intend for our bitter trials to endure but will continue only until the LORD’s purposes are completed in the life of His child! By faith, we wait upon Him, yielding to His testing, and have a hope unshakeable that this trial will bear precious fruit! And we rejoice because GOD is having His way with us.
20 My soul still remembers and is humbled [bowed down] within me. 21 This I recall to my mind, therefore I have hope. 22 Through the LORD'S mercies we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. 23 They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness. 24 "The LORD is my portion," says my soul, "Therefore I hope in Him!" 25 The LORD is good to those who wait for Him, to the soul who seeks Him. 26 It is good that one should hope and wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD.
If we bow down before the LORD, humble ourselves in the midst of our suffering – surrendering, not resisting the will of GOD, we may embrace the hope of growing in this “peaceable fruit of righteousness”. If we try to resist and wiggle our way off the altar as the living sacrifices GOD calls us to be (ROM 12:1-2), we will only become resentful and hard. Remember, depending on how you respond to trials, they will either make you bitter or better.
“…one should hope and wait quietly”. We don’t like waiting do we saints? We don’t enjoy having to exercise patience. In our modern society where information, gratification, supply is just about instantaneous, we’re typically unschooled in the learning of patience.
What good would a car be if an impatient buyer stopped its manufacture halfway through the assembly line? They need to wait until the process is completed!
It’s no good to call it quits halfway through GOD’s refining us saints! (turn to ISA 48).
Coming to your wits end, to the limits of your own strength, and have no will to continue. I did in this latest and greatest trial, but that’s when I cried out to the LORD in the midst of the most intense pain I ever experienced. He heard me, and gave me His sufficient, enabling grace to continue with confidence based on Christ, not me.
ISAIAH 48:10-12
10 Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver; I have tested you in the furnace of affliction. 11 For My own sake, for My own sake, I will do it; For how should My name be profaned? And I will not give My glory to another. 12 "Listen to Me, O Jacob, and Israel, My called: I am He, I am the First, I am also the Last.
The fiery trial isn’t something to avoid or to fear, and though it can be extremely unpleasant, even seemingly intolerably bitter, GOD uses these times for our good and His glory!
Israel had drifted into apostasy in the latter days of Isaiah and plunged in feet first during the ministry of Jeremiah. GOD saw the necessity of purging His people in “this furnace of affliction”.
We know that in these last days Israel, because they have for the most part rejected their Messiah, they will know their greatest trial during “the time of Jacob’s Trouble” (JER 30:7), what we call the Great Tribulation. Only a third of the Jews will survive that terrible time, will be refined, and prepared to meet their Messiah at His Second Advent (ZECH 13:9).
And just as the LORD is Himself the First and the Last, His work in the people of Israel by purifying them is a work He began and will complete when they finally repent and recognize and receive Jesus Christ as their King, LORD and Savior.
Likewise we, the body of Christ are assured that the work He has begun in us, He will ultimately finish it (PHIL 1:6) by the time of our death or His returns for His bride.
As we endure the furnace, or the forge we must remember: “The hotter the forge, the purer the gold”. The gold is the very Person of Christ indwelling us. That which impurifies gold is called “dross”, base metals that weaken and devalue the gold. Our sin nature is that spiritual dross that needs to be gotten rid of.
Do you know how a goldsmith can tell when gold tested in the forge is truly pure? When he can see his reflection in that molten precious metal. Saints, do we not desire to have the LORD reflected in our lives?
We, church of Jesus Christ need purging and purifying. By the blood of Christ, we are accounted pure and righteous, yes! Justified in Christ alone, by faith alone, in grace alone, no additives or preservatives! However, practically, we have sinful stuff polluting our lives – and I’m not talking about smoking and drinking and cussing so much as hearts of hatred, bitterness, unforgiveness, greed, lust, envy, even malice and on and on… those things that the “old you” loved and thrived on.
GOD chooses furnaces and forges for us New Testament saints in order to burn away human strengths, weaknesses and strongholds of sin, replacing these with His own strength, sanctification, virtues and victories.
ISAIAH 48:16-17
16 "Come near to Me, hear this: I have not spoken in secret from the beginning; from the time that it was, I was there. And now the Lord GOD and His Spirit have sent Me." 17 Thus says the LORD, your Redeemer, The Holy One of Israel: "I am the LORD your God, Who teaches you to profit, Who leads you by the way you should go.
Incidentally you can see the Trinity in vs. 16 – The LORD GOD, His Spirit… sent Me (Who’s the “Me” here?)
Remember the words our LORD spoke to Peter after His resurrection:
JOHN 21:18-19
18 "Most assuredly, I say to you, when you were younger, you girded yourself and walked where you wished; but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will gird you and carry you where you do not [want to go]." 19 This He spoke, signifying by what death he would glorify God. And when He had spoken this, He said to him, "Follow Me."
And the LORD leads us to not just carry our cross, but to die to self. Crosses are never comfortable. Our flesh wants to avoid them, but if we are wise, we will embrace them!
Why? Because it’s in the dying to self, letting Christ live more fully in us, that our sin nature is brought to heel (just like apostle Paul stated, “I keep my body under” (1 COR 9:27)) and the nature of Jesus is revealed in us in greater measure!
We experience more of that resurrection life after we endure the cross. We find liberty to serve the LORD in a more powerful, effective way. It’s as we are empowered by sanctification of the Spirit, enjoying resurrection life that we steal away weaponry from Satan who would use our own sinful habits against us.
And in the forge, any sword placed there will undergo refinement and thereby be strengthened and ready to use. An untested sword will become a broken, useless sword in the heat of battle.
So if you’re going through trials (how many are going through trials?) – rejoice in understanding that GOD intends to use you in greater and deeper ways!
Trials in the fiery hot forges brought to us by our Father in heaven have the purpose of refining us and strengthening us, to draw us closer to the LORD in fellowship and our dependence on Him, also to bring correction when we go astray. We mistakenly think that some of the troubles we face are trials from GOD when in reality we’re only suffering from foolish decisions we make.
What’s happening with me?
Back in early February I discovered a DVT or Deep Vein Thrombosis. I went to Urgent Care and the doctor confirmed that’s what it likely was but couldn’t determine the cause for lack of proper diagnostic equipment. He recommended I get checked out by my primary physician. They drew blood, took urine samples and found a likelihood of prostate cancer. Visits to a Urologist and Oncologist followed. After Cat Scans and MRI’s they discovered it had metastasized into my hip bone.
More recently after a full body scan (early June) they discovered liver cancer and determined that its at Stage Four – which has a survival rate of somewhere around 5-12%. It's a good thing GOD isn't bound by statistics! Glory to GOD!
I’ve been on blood thinners, taking medicine that’s keeping the cancer in check, but the chemo is what they recommend to (hopefully) put it into remission. I’ll be getting a port installed in my chest on July 16th so the chemo can be pumped down a major artery into my liver. I’ve also ordered a 3 month supply of ivermectin and fenbendazole because I’ve heard good things about how this can rid the body of cancer.
So it’s not like I’ve curled up into a ball and given up. I’m willing up to a point to fight this and by GOD’s grace and miraculous power (or through providential methods via medicine) overcome this.
But I know my days are numbered. So are yours. We all have a birth date, we all have a death date. And as we see on any gravestone, what falls between the day of birth and death is a little dash.
That little dash: that’s your life in this world. “A vapor in the wind”.
PSALM 90:12
So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.
We have one shot in this life to do for the LORD what He desires from us. I recognize EPH 2:10 as a sort of duty roster, something we are all working on for the LORD not out of a sense of obligation, but because of love and devotion, and in a certain sense indebtedness.
And when you have all those boxes checked off on your duty roster of good works, then – and only then – will you be called Home!
So, how many boxes do I have left to check off? Maybe just one or a few, maybe thirty? But if there is a substantial amount left for me to do, I’m going to need one particular thing to accomplish them: I need to be alive! So GOD will have to heal me if I have a lot still to do. Or if just one or a few boxes, then once done, the LORD will bring me Home. I’m content either way, because I love the LORD and will follow Him wherever He leads me.
So may I encourage you dear and beloved saints, my family in Christ that I love so very much: your life and all the days contained in it is precious; make every single day count. Live for Jesus with everything you have. Because the day is coming when your last box is checked off, you’ll be called Home.
1 PETER 4:1-2, 12-14
1 Therefore, since Christ suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same mind, for he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, 2 that he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh for the lusts of men, but for the will of God.
12 Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you; 13 but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ's sufferings, that when His glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy. 14 If you are reproached for the name of Christ, blessed are you, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. On their part He is blasphemed, but on your part He is glorified.
Trials, afflictions, sufferings are bitter experiences, there’s no denying this. No shade of optimistic rose-colored sunglasses can alter this!
But GOD the Son endured The Most Bitter Experience as He hung on that Cross – the innocent, sinless, holy Lamb of GOD that bore all the sins of all humanity as GOD’s sacrifice for our salvation, Who Himself endured the judgment and wrath of GOD against our sin. We have no idea of the enormity of that suffering!
But that bitterest of all bitter experiences turned sweet three days later when our LORD rose from the dead! Redemption purchased! Victory won! Eternal Life granted to all who believe to the saving of the soul!
Likewise, GOD doesn’t intend for our bitter trials to endure but will continue only until the LORD’s purposes are completed in the life of His child! By faith, we wait upon Him, yielding to His testing, and have a hope unshakeable that this trial will bear precious fruit! And we rejoice because GOD is having His way with us.
HEBREWS 12:11Then we have the awesome, well known words our LORD said to apostle Paul:
Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.
2 CORINTHIANS 12:9LAMENTATIONS 3:20-26
…My grace is sufficient for you: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
20 My soul still remembers and is humbled [bowed down] within me. 21 This I recall to my mind, therefore I have hope. 22 Through the LORD'S mercies we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. 23 They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness. 24 "The LORD is my portion," says my soul, "Therefore I hope in Him!" 25 The LORD is good to those who wait for Him, to the soul who seeks Him. 26 It is good that one should hope and wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD.
If we bow down before the LORD, humble ourselves in the midst of our suffering – surrendering, not resisting the will of GOD, we may embrace the hope of growing in this “peaceable fruit of righteousness”. If we try to resist and wiggle our way off the altar as the living sacrifices GOD calls us to be (ROM 12:1-2), we will only become resentful and hard. Remember, depending on how you respond to trials, they will either make you bitter or better.
“…one should hope and wait quietly”. We don’t like waiting do we saints? We don’t enjoy having to exercise patience. In our modern society where information, gratification, supply is just about instantaneous, we’re typically unschooled in the learning of patience.
What good would a car be if an impatient buyer stopped its manufacture halfway through the assembly line? They need to wait until the process is completed!
It’s no good to call it quits halfway through GOD’s refining us saints! (turn to ISA 48).
Coming to your wits end, to the limits of your own strength, and have no will to continue. I did in this latest and greatest trial, but that’s when I cried out to the LORD in the midst of the most intense pain I ever experienced. He heard me, and gave me His sufficient, enabling grace to continue with confidence based on Christ, not me.
ISAIAH 48:10-12
10 Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver; I have tested you in the furnace of affliction. 11 For My own sake, for My own sake, I will do it; For how should My name be profaned? And I will not give My glory to another. 12 "Listen to Me, O Jacob, and Israel, My called: I am He, I am the First, I am also the Last.
The fiery trial isn’t something to avoid or to fear, and though it can be extremely unpleasant, even seemingly intolerably bitter, GOD uses these times for our good and His glory!
Israel had drifted into apostasy in the latter days of Isaiah and plunged in feet first during the ministry of Jeremiah. GOD saw the necessity of purging His people in “this furnace of affliction”.
We know that in these last days Israel, because they have for the most part rejected their Messiah, they will know their greatest trial during “the time of Jacob’s Trouble” (JER 30:7), what we call the Great Tribulation. Only a third of the Jews will survive that terrible time, will be refined, and prepared to meet their Messiah at His Second Advent (ZECH 13:9).
And just as the LORD is Himself the First and the Last, His work in the people of Israel by purifying them is a work He began and will complete when they finally repent and recognize and receive Jesus Christ as their King, LORD and Savior.
Likewise we, the body of Christ are assured that the work He has begun in us, He will ultimately finish it (PHIL 1:6) by the time of our death or His returns for His bride.
As we endure the furnace, or the forge we must remember: “The hotter the forge, the purer the gold”. The gold is the very Person of Christ indwelling us. That which impurifies gold is called “dross”, base metals that weaken and devalue the gold. Our sin nature is that spiritual dross that needs to be gotten rid of.
Do you know how a goldsmith can tell when gold tested in the forge is truly pure? When he can see his reflection in that molten precious metal. Saints, do we not desire to have the LORD reflected in our lives?
We, church of Jesus Christ need purging and purifying. By the blood of Christ, we are accounted pure and righteous, yes! Justified in Christ alone, by faith alone, in grace alone, no additives or preservatives! However, practically, we have sinful stuff polluting our lives – and I’m not talking about smoking and drinking and cussing so much as hearts of hatred, bitterness, unforgiveness, greed, lust, envy, even malice and on and on… those things that the “old you” loved and thrived on.
GOD chooses furnaces and forges for us New Testament saints in order to burn away human strengths, weaknesses and strongholds of sin, replacing these with His own strength, sanctification, virtues and victories.
ISAIAH 48:16-17
16 "Come near to Me, hear this: I have not spoken in secret from the beginning; from the time that it was, I was there. And now the Lord GOD and His Spirit have sent Me." 17 Thus says the LORD, your Redeemer, The Holy One of Israel: "I am the LORD your God, Who teaches you to profit, Who leads you by the way you should go.
Incidentally you can see the Trinity in vs. 16 – The LORD GOD, His Spirit… sent Me (Who’s the “Me” here?)
Remember the words our LORD spoke to Peter after His resurrection:
JOHN 21:18-19
18 "Most assuredly, I say to you, when you were younger, you girded yourself and walked where you wished; but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will gird you and carry you where you do not [want to go]." 19 This He spoke, signifying by what death he would glorify God. And when He had spoken this, He said to him, "Follow Me."
And the LORD leads us to not just carry our cross, but to die to self. Crosses are never comfortable. Our flesh wants to avoid them, but if we are wise, we will embrace them!
Why? Because it’s in the dying to self, letting Christ live more fully in us, that our sin nature is brought to heel (just like apostle Paul stated, “I keep my body under” (1 COR 9:27)) and the nature of Jesus is revealed in us in greater measure!
We experience more of that resurrection life after we endure the cross. We find liberty to serve the LORD in a more powerful, effective way. It’s as we are empowered by sanctification of the Spirit, enjoying resurrection life that we steal away weaponry from Satan who would use our own sinful habits against us.
And in the forge, any sword placed there will undergo refinement and thereby be strengthened and ready to use. An untested sword will become a broken, useless sword in the heat of battle.
So if you’re going through trials (how many are going through trials?) – rejoice in understanding that GOD intends to use you in greater and deeper ways!
Trials in the fiery hot forges brought to us by our Father in heaven have the purpose of refining us and strengthening us, to draw us closer to the LORD in fellowship and our dependence on Him, also to bring correction when we go astray. We mistakenly think that some of the troubles we face are trials from GOD when in reality we’re only suffering from foolish decisions we make.
What’s happening with me?
Back in early February I discovered a DVT or Deep Vein Thrombosis. I went to Urgent Care and the doctor confirmed that’s what it likely was but couldn’t determine the cause for lack of proper diagnostic equipment. He recommended I get checked out by my primary physician. They drew blood, took urine samples and found a likelihood of prostate cancer. Visits to a Urologist and Oncologist followed. After Cat Scans and MRI’s they discovered it had metastasized into my hip bone.
More recently after a full body scan (early June) they discovered liver cancer and determined that its at Stage Four – which has a survival rate of somewhere around 5-12%. It's a good thing GOD isn't bound by statistics! Glory to GOD!
I’ve been on blood thinners, taking medicine that’s keeping the cancer in check, but the chemo is what they recommend to (hopefully) put it into remission. I’ll be getting a port installed in my chest on July 16th so the chemo can be pumped down a major artery into my liver. I’ve also ordered a 3 month supply of ivermectin and fenbendazole because I’ve heard good things about how this can rid the body of cancer.
So it’s not like I’ve curled up into a ball and given up. I’m willing up to a point to fight this and by GOD’s grace and miraculous power (or through providential methods via medicine) overcome this.
But I know my days are numbered. So are yours. We all have a birth date, we all have a death date. And as we see on any gravestone, what falls between the day of birth and death is a little dash.
That little dash: that’s your life in this world. “A vapor in the wind”.
PSALM 90:12
So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.
We have one shot in this life to do for the LORD what He desires from us. I recognize EPH 2:10 as a sort of duty roster, something we are all working on for the LORD not out of a sense of obligation, but because of love and devotion, and in a certain sense indebtedness.
EPHESIANS 2:10GOD has it all lined up for you saints – these good works prepared ahead of time for you to complete. You don’t have to go on a quest to seek them out. Just stay in the Word, in prayer, in godly fellowship, walking in the Spirit and be led by Him straight into those good works He will empower you by His grace to complete.
For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.
And when you have all those boxes checked off on your duty roster of good works, then – and only then – will you be called Home!
So, how many boxes do I have left to check off? Maybe just one or a few, maybe thirty? But if there is a substantial amount left for me to do, I’m going to need one particular thing to accomplish them: I need to be alive! So GOD will have to heal me if I have a lot still to do. Or if just one or a few boxes, then once done, the LORD will bring me Home. I’m content either way, because I love the LORD and will follow Him wherever He leads me.
So may I encourage you dear and beloved saints, my family in Christ that I love so very much: your life and all the days contained in it is precious; make every single day count. Live for Jesus with everything you have. Because the day is coming when your last box is checked off, you’ll be called Home.
1 PETER 4:1-2, 12-14
1 Therefore, since Christ suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same mind, for he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, 2 that he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh for the lusts of men, but for the will of God.
12 Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you; 13 but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ's sufferings, that when His glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy. 14 If you are reproached for the name of Christ, blessed are you, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. On their part He is blasphemed, but on your part He is glorified.
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