Today's Thoughts: Refined and Tested
This third I will bring into the fire; I will refine them like silver and test them like gold. They will call on my name and I will answer them; I will say, “They are my people, and they will say, The LORD is our God.” Zechariah 13:9
I read a verse like this and ask the Lord, “Why do the ones that you choose and love need to be refined and tested?” In some strange way, I look at love so much differently.
It is not natural in the flesh to look at my children and think that I willingly plan to discipline them. I often succumb to discipline when their actions are not socially acceptable, and it embarrasses me. I really want to believe that they don't need me to discipline them and that they'll grow out of their stage. I want to believe that I can show love by having the self control to not discipline them and patiently wait for them to grow up. This is what my flesh wants to believe, that this is absloutely wrong because God is perfect love and He does not think that way. So, I need to align myself up with Him: both as a parent and as a child of God.
God says in this verse that He brings His own people into the fire. It is in the fire that we are refined like silver and tested like gold. If He is comparing us to precious metals, then we have to assume that the fire is pretty hot! The Lord does this for our good. He wants us to call on His name and know that He will answer because we are His people. His people have to be trained, disciplined, tested and refined to think His thoughts and to live in His ways. Because our flesh is so strong, we resist His work and end up turning from the Lord or blaming Him. We accuse Him of not being loving or caring. We wonder why He isn’t answering our prayers or rescuing us from those hot circumstances, without realizing that He is the One who has placed us there.
God loves you. He is all powerful and can absolutely rescue you but He cares more about you than you can care about yourself. He needs you to change to be more like Him. Unfortunately that takes time in the fire. Trust Him because this is only for a season. For when you are trained, you will produce a harvest of righteousness and a deep peace knowing that He is your God.
~Daily Disciples Devotional~
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Two Ways to Be Happy
Praise the Lord! How joyful are those who fear the Lord and delight in obeying his commands.
—Psalm 112:1
There are two ways that we can live our lives: the right way or the wrong way. There are two paths that we can take in life: the right path or the wrong path. The result is that we can live either the happy and holy way or the miserable and unholy way.
Everything you're looking for is found in a relationship with God. Take the story that Jesus told about the prodigal son. It appears from the story that he wanted nice clothes, great food, and parties. So he left home and spent all of his money. And then he returned home, empty-handed and miserable.
But what was the first thing his father did? He gave him some nice clothes. He ordered his servants to prepare some fine food. And then he said, "'We must celebrate with a feast, for this son of mine was dead and has now returned to life. He was lost, but now he is found.' So the party began" (Luke 15:23–24). Everything the son was searching for was in his father's house all along.
The way to be a happy person will be found in what you do and don't do. Psalm 1:1 says, "Oh, the joys of those who do not follow the advice of the wicked, or stand around with sinners, or join in with mockers." So these are things that happy people don't do.
But then the passage tells us what happy people do: "They delight in the law of the Lord, meditating on it day and night. They are like trees planted along the riverbank, bearing fruit each season. Their leaves never wither, and they prosper in all they do" (verses 2–3).
So happiness comes not only from what you do, but also from what you don't do.
Everything you're looking for is found in a relationship with God. Take the story that Jesus told about the prodigal son. It appears from the story that he wanted nice clothes, great food, and parties. So he left home and spent all of his money. And then he returned home, empty-handed and miserable.
But what was the first thing his father did? He gave him some nice clothes. He ordered his servants to prepare some fine food. And then he said, "'We must celebrate with a feast, for this son of mine was dead and has now returned to life. He was lost, but now he is found.' So the party began" (Luke 15:23–24). Everything the son was searching for was in his father's house all along.
The way to be a happy person will be found in what you do and don't do. Psalm 1:1 says, "Oh, the joys of those who do not follow the advice of the wicked, or stand around with sinners, or join in with mockers." So these are things that happy people don't do.
But then the passage tells us what happy people do: "They delight in the law of the Lord, meditating on it day and night. They are like trees planted along the riverbank, bearing fruit each season. Their leaves never wither, and they prosper in all they do" (verses 2–3).
So happiness comes not only from what you do, but also from what you don't do.
~Greg Laurie~
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Ever Present
The counsel of the Lord stands forever, the plans of His heart to all generations.
Psalm 33:11
The counsel of the Lord stands forever, the plans of His heart to all generations.
Psalm 33:11
| Recommended Reading Isaiah 40:6-8 |
Do you remember 2008? Unless you were married that year or had a child in 2008, that year may not evoke happy memories. Why? Because on September 20 of that year the Dow had its worst point drop ever. The sudden dramatic decline of stock prices resulted in a significant loss of wealth for people across the nation. This, joined with a drop in housing prices, caused people to owe more than their home was worth, and a domino effect began in our economy. In a time when everything man touches seems to change rapidly, the constancy of planet earth offers a benchmark of stability.
Don’t look now, but our planet is going to change one day as well. The apostle Peter writes that the day is coming when “both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up” as part of “the day of the Lord” (2 Peter 3:10-12). So is there anything permanent? Anything that will never change? Only one “thing”: the Creator of heaven and earth. God spoke through Malachi saying, “For I am the Lord, I do not change” (Malachi 3:6). God’s person and attributes are infinite and eternal. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Hebrews 13:8). Nothing except God is constant in our world. He is our ever-present hope.
~David Jeremiah~
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Romans 7:14-25
(14) For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am carnal, sold under sin. (15) For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do. (16) If, then, I do what I will not to do, I agree with the law that it isgood. (17) But now, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. (18) For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find. (19) For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice. (20) Now if I do what I will not to do, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. (21) I find then a law, that evil is present with me, the one who wills to do good. (22) For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man. (23) But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. (24) O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? (25) I thank God—through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin.
New King James Version
New King James Version
Paul is not confessing that he continually practiced sin in his daily life, but that the threat of practicing it was always with him. He always had to be on guard against it to keep it from breaking out. And, at times, it did indeed break out, reminding him not only of its presence, but also its strength. There is no doubt Paul was a mature Christian. Therefore, this serves as a reminder to us that, no matter how spiritually mature we become, human nature will still always be with us.
Paul died spiritually and was buried in the waters ofbaptism. Therefore, baptism and the receipt of a new nature by which we are to conduct life do not take human nature away. We, like him, sincerely desire to do the right thing. We believe God's Word. We love God and aspire to glorify Him. Nevertheless, because human nature is always present, we do not always follow through. Instead, human nature overpowers us; we are taken captive, as it were, and revert to following its drives instead. This can be very disturbing, piling guilt upon us and making us fearful of separation from God.
Thus, because we are similar to Paul, and despite the wretchedness we may feel, we have assurance, knowing we will be delivered from this peculiar situation, one that is somewhat akin to having a dual personality. Our deliverance is through Jesus Christ; there indeed is an end. However, unlike many Protestant groups that proclaim that we do not have to keep the law because all is done for us, we know that we must strive to walk even as Christ walked—and He never sinned. I John 2:3-6 emphatically states:
Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments. He who says, "I know Him," and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoever keeps His word, truly the love of God is perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him. He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked.
Though we are under no condemnation, we still must yield to the Spirit of God to our utmost abilities. We are to "go on to perfection" (Hebrews 6:1), endeavoring to grow "to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ" (Ephesians 4:13). Paul says, "I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 3:14). Despite the difficulties involved, any failures that occur, and any feelings of guilt that arise, we are still required to strive to keep God's laws as Jesus did.
~John W. Ritenbaugh~
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Resting Our Minds, Part Two
by Chuck Swindoll
by Chuck Swindoll
How could Joseph forgive his brothers who had mistreated him so badly? We saw it yesterday: plain and simple, he left all vengeance to the Lord. To use our terms, Joseph rested and relaxed, trusting in His God.
At the climax of this great story, we read the secret of Joseph's life:
His brothers also came and fell down before him and said, "Behold, we are your servants." But Joseph said to them, "Do not be afraid, for am I in God's place? As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present result, to preserve many people alive." (Genesis 50:18–20)
Question: How could Joseph respond like that? Why didn't he feel angry and seek to have them punished? Answer: He could forgive them because his mind focused on the sovereignty of God. Rather than nursing hatred and plans for revenge, he deliberately took the long view and realized that God, who "causes all things to work together for good" (Romans 8:28), had a plan for saving Joseph's own family—and that would never have happened had Joseph not been in Egypt where he was promoted to a role of leadership that gave him authority of that vast food supply.
To use our terms, he mentally rested and relaxed. Because he made the Lord his God the center of his focus, good resulted from all that evil. And in the meantime, Joseph enjoyed an inner peace rather than inner torment. It's exactly as the prophet Isaiah once wrote:
"The steadfast of mind You will keep in perfect peace,
Because he trusts in You.
Trust in the LORD forever,
For in God the LORD, we have an everlasting Rock." (Isaiah 26:3–4)
So much for Joseph—now it's your turn. For you to have that kind of "perfect peace," for you to enjoy a life of mental rest and relaxation, you need to lay aside the hatchet, erase your mental hit list, and forgive all those who have done you wrong. Start that process today.
Like, NOW.
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