By Apostle Cathryn Ndyabagye
Zec. 13:9 And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, The LORD is my God.
A week ago a 20 year old man was sharing about a silversmith and there was one thing he told me that really touched my life. About how the power of God is as of fire, and how a silversmith holds raw silver over the fire. How some people wonder when the silversmith knows the silver is pure.
How does he know when it's all done being tried by fire and really pure? Well, the silversmith will tell you that it's finished and pure silver when you can see your own image in the silver. Your reflection will show.
I then started thinking of how God deals with us and tries us by fire...
In many ways he uses fire: To help us--like the pillar of fire by night for the Israelites, He sent fire down on Sodom & Gomorrah to purify the town and destroy sin. Yet, He didn't consume Lot and his family, for they were living a righteous life. He had them flee before the fire fell.
I thought of how God kept the fiery furnace from burning the three men of God: Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and was present in the fire with them.
We are purified with God's fire, until the image of Jesus is reflected from our life. God sends his fire to work in us, and through us. He rids us of all impurities and keeps us pure (as long as we walk in His Spirit).
He keeps us in line and shows us when we need correction. Not always a good feeling at times for it's hard when we have to face truth. Yet, truth sets us free.
Through Jesus Christ and his blood, he died that we might live and are cleansed through repentance.AMEN
This helps us when we do make mistakes, and we are humble before Him. This keeps us close to him in the Holy Spirit.
We become pure in His eyes. He can flow and reflect in our lives. When we are purified in Him. Tried by His fire.
People will see Christ in you, and by the fruit and your life. They will see Jesus reflecting from you. Just like the silversmith seeing himself in the silver.
Proverbs 25:4
Take away the dross from the silver, and there shall come forth a vessel for the finer.
Dross is the impurities...
Proverbs 26:23
Burning lips and a wicked heart are like a potsherd covered with silver dross.
God always disciplines his children, when we have to be corrected, and that means, he loves us!
So, we will draw close and depend on him more, we find victory when we keep our eyes on God and when we allow God to purify our lives.
Some people have their own plans (instead of God's plans) and it corrupts their ways.
Isa 48:10 Behold, I have refined thee, but not with silver; I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction.
Another words he helps purify us in trials.
Some are too stubborn to learn and listen to God. They hang onto the corruption in their spiritual lives. This separates them from Jesus. The whole point of living our life after salvation is by Jesus alone.God's lead. Not us. It's all about Jesus.
We are purified by God's Word:
Psalm 12:16 Amplified says, The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver
tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times.
Psalm 66:10 For thou, O God, hast proved us: thou hast tried us, as silver
is tried.
And what really hit me as I was studying these scriptures, God showed me that he loves to use Gold and silver in his temple. For it is pure for Him. And yet, He hates Gold and Silver to be used for idols or pagan practices.
He knows the importance of pure Gold and Pure Silver, and if you think about it, purified things should go in purified places.
That is why Heaven is made up of Silver and Gold, Pearls, along with countless gems and wonderful things we never even heard of before.
Oh God, I love You because you send Your fire on your people. You keep us on Fire for You! You keep us clean with Your Fire. AMEN
I can't wait to see the transparent gold streets. It's going to be awesome.
I think of all these people who buy big homes and mansions. And I think of how much I want to see my home in heaven, because no mansion on earth can
even touch what Jesus is preparing for His bride!
Did you know that God said that the Silver and Gold are His?
Read I Kings 20:3
Thy Silver and thy Gold are mine.
Think about it... Whenever Joshua or others went to take the things, (which God commanded from the enemy during battle). They always took the silver and gold and used it for the house of God.
God started purging the people of God in the Old Testament. Note in Malachi..
In Malachi3:3
And he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the LORD an offering in righteousness.
Why does God purge and correct us? Because he loves us and wants us to be right with God.
Deuteronomy 8:5
Thou shalt also consider in thine heart, that, as a man chasteneth his son, so the LORD thy God chasteneth thee.
Hebrews 12:1 Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth
so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,
The Fire of God is a good thing. It helps us, and makes us acceptable to God.
If we are not living right with God, the fire will not be a good thing--if we don't rid ourselves from the sins. If we let them pile up, it will destroy our testimony.
And you know, as well as I do, that everyone can tell if you are real or not!
For if we are not a good witness, and are full of sins and not living the ways God wants us to. We become as rust.
Let me share a scripture with you about rust...
James 5:3 Amplified says
Your gold and silver are completely rusted through, and their rust will be testimony against you and it will devour your flesh as if it were fire. You have heaped together treasure for the last days.
Let us remember the Fire of God and stay on Fire for Him.
1 Peter 1:18 AMPLIFIED You must know (recognize) that you were redeemed (ransomed) from the useless (fruitless) way of living inherited by tradition from [your] forefathers, not with corruptible things [such as] silver and gold,
God, helps us to always want your fire and to be purified before You.
The only way we can be on fire is to be honest with God and others about how we are living, and to get rid of what is holding us back to be on Fire For Jesus.
Giving our lives to Jesus and putting our faith in the Word. Pray in His presence and allow Him to put his in Us.
Never losing it nor becoming lukewarm, and to be on-fire 24/7 for God.
