II Timothy 2:11 Here is a statement you can trust: If we have died with him, we will also live with him. 12 If we persevere, we will also rule with him If we disown him, he will also disown us. 13 If we are faithless, he remains faithful, for he cannot disown himself. 14 Keep reminding people of this, and charge them solemnly before the Lord not to engage in word-battles. They accomplish nothing useful and are a catastrophe for the hearers! 15 Do all you can to present yourself to God as someone worthy of his approval, as a worker with no need to be ashamed, because he deals straightforwardly with the Word of the Truth. 16 But keep away from godless babbling, for those who engage in it will only become more ungodly, 17 and their teaching will eat away at people like gangrene. Hymenaeus and Philetus are among these; 18 they have missed the mark, as far as the truth is concerned, by saying that our resurrection has already taken place; and they are overturning some people's faith. 19 Nevertheless, God's firm foundation stands, stamped with these words: "The Lord knows his own," and, "Let everyone who claims he belongs to the Lord stand apart from wrongdoing." CJB

10.4.11

The Refiner's Hand

Here is a blogpost from a friend...as I prepare my heart and home for Passover, it has special meaning for me.  I want to be refined so that others can see my Master's image in me as well.  Got a ways to go...lol 

Malachi 3

1BEHOLD, I send My messenger, and he shall prepare the way before Me. And the Lord [the Messiah], Whom you seek, will suddenly come to His temple; the Messenger or Angel of the covenant, Whom you desire, behold, He shall come, says the Lord of hosts. 2But who can endure the day of His coming? And who can stand when He appears? For He is like a refiner's fire and like fullers' soap;
3He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and He will purify the priests, the sons of Levi, and refine them like gold and silver, that they may offer to the Lord offerings in righteousness.


A story goes like this:

Several years ago, a group of women studying the book of Malachi and pondered these verses. Curious as to how the process of smelting silver applies to God’s treatment of His People, one woman went to observe a silversmith at work.

As the silversmith held a piece of silver over the fire, he explained that he needed to hold the silver where the flame was hottest in order to burn away all the impurities. The woman, remembering the Biblical verse, asked if he had to sit there the whole time the silver was being refined. The silversmith responded that not only did he have to sit and hold the silver the entire time, but he had to keep a careful eye on it, because if the silver was left in the flame a moment too long, it would be destroyed.

“How do you know when the silver is fully refined?” the woman asked.
“That’s easy," he replied. "When I see my image in it.”

4Then will the offering of Judah and Jerusalem be pleasing to the Lord as in the days of old and as in ancient years.

blessings,

Gail

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