October 27, 2008
HOW
LONG DO I WANT TO REMAIN IN THE REFINER'S FIRE?
The Lord opened my spiritual eyes to see another deeper understanding of the
first eight verses in Isaiah 58:1-8. He showed me that there are some spiritual
REQUIREMENTS put in place by Him that we are to CONTINUALLY BE DOING so He can
will bring “RECOVERY” to our physical bodies, our broken homes, our broken
marriages, our mismanaged finances, etc., etc.
The Word of God says:
Isa 58:1 Cry aloud, do not spare, lift up your
voice like a trumpet, and declare to my people their transgression, and to the
house of Jacob their sins.
Isa 58:2 Yet they seek me daily, and delight to know my ways: as a nation that
did righteousness, and did not forsake the ordinance of their God, they ask of
me righteous judgments; they delight to draw near to God.
Isa 58:3 Why have we fasted, [they say], and you don't see? [Why] have we
afflicted our soul, and you take no knowledge? Look, in the day of your fast you
find your own pleasure, and exact all your labors.
Isa 58:4 Look, you fast for strife and contention, and to strike with the fist
of wickedness: you do not fast this day so as to make your voice to be heard on
high.
Isa 58:5 Is such the fast that I have chosen? The day for man to afflict his
soul? Is it to bow down his head as a rush, and to spread sackcloth and ashes
under him? Will you call this a fast, and an acceptable day to Yahweh?
When we go through afflictions and hard times, we often times become much
caught up IN OUR PROBLEMS and that is all we allow ourselves to see and think
about for the remainder of the time we walk through them. But that IS NOT what
the Lord wants us to do. He wants us to take our thoughts OFF OF OURSELVES and
continue to “do the work of ministry” while we continually, day by day and
hour by hour seek to draw closer and closer to “Him who us able to do
exceedingly, abundantly far more than we think or ask.”
The afflictions that the Lord allows to come upon His children are meant to be
used by Him, the “Refiner”, placing us in a “refining fire” from time to
time to help clean out of us little by little the impurities that keep us living
self absorbed and self seeking lives. These afflictions are never meant to
destroy our faith in God but to be used to CONTINUALLY REFINE our nature and
character to become more like Christ. For the Word says, “Many are the
afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord DELIEVERS THEM OUT OF THEM ALL.”
The LENGTH OF TIME we spend being in the refiners fire will be determined by our
willingness to work with the Lord on a daily basis to have Him remove the
“impurities” and “sins” that continually entangle us. My prayer for you
is to cry out to the Lord and plead with Him to help you to return to Him with
your whole heart and allow Him to do a “quick work within you.”
The Word of God says:
Isa 58:6 Isn't this the fast that I have chosen: to
loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the bands of the yoke, and to let the
oppressed go free, and that you break every yoke?
Isa 58:7 Is it not to deal your bread to the hungry, and that you bring the poor
who are cast out to your house? When you see the naked, that you cover him; and
that you don't hide yourself from your own flesh?
The Devil HATES it when he is allowed to assail us with various trials and
afflictions and we DO NOT become self absorbed, curl up in a ball and just cry
and lick our wounds. But we “come BOLDLY before the THRONE OF GRACE that we
might receive MERCY in our time of need.” The GRACE that God will give us in
these times of affliction are meant to DRIVE US TO HIM for our own needs to be
wonderfully met, but for us to continue to “do the work of ministry”,
praying for others, feeding the poor, clothing the naked, and ministering in
whatever way we can. When we focus on the Lord our God and continue to step out
IN FAITH to be a blessing to whomever the Holy Spirit would have us bless, our
situation might not IMMEDIATELY change for the better, but we will be given
“THE PEACE THAT PASSES ALL UNDERSTANDING” from the PRINCE OF PEACE, Jesus
Christ.
There
is NOTHING more powerful in the life of a person passing through the refiner’s
fire, than to be given the GRACE and the HEAVENLY PEACE that comes only from a
loving heavenly Father to sustain us during our time of refining.
The Word of God says:
Isa 58:8 Then will your light break forth as the
morning, AND YOUR HEALING (or RECOVERY) WILL SPRING FORTH SPEEDILY; and your
righteousness will go before you; the glory of Yahweh will be your rearguard.
Our LIGHT will break forth as the
morning. There is NOTHING more CONSTANT than our KNOWING that the SUN will come
up EVERY MORNING and its’ light will get brighter and brighter until it
illuminates the entire earth. When we do what God REQUIRES, saints and sinners
will see our heavenly light and give glory back to God, according to Matthew
5:16.
There is not a one of us while
going through the refiner’s fire of trials and afflictions does not want to
RECOVER our health, our marriages, our homes, our businesses, our finances,
etc., etc in record time. God had shown us WHAT HE REQUIRES of us to SPEED UP
THE RECOVERY TIME! We are to continually seek His face and continually follow
the leading of the Holy Spirit to MINISTER TO THE NEEDS OF OTHERS, THEN our
recovery will happen SPEEDILY.
When you and I get the repetition of being a Christian or a “righteous
person”, it will go before us and be seen by saints and sinners as our being a
true child of God and one who He is using to bless all in whom we come into
contact with.
When we read in Ephesians chapter
six about the “armor of God”, in that list, there is NO ARMOR to cover our
backs. That is because God has made NO PROVISION for us to act cowardly and turn
our backs and run for the forces of darkness. From the last verse above, God has
PROMISED that when we fulfill His RIGHTEOUS REQUIREMENTS to NOT focus on
ourselves and turn a blind eye to the continual needs of others, HE WILL BE OUR
REAR GUARD! He will not allow the Devil to sneak up on us FROM BEHIND.
I
pray that you and I will continually seek to drawn closer and closer to the Lord
through the good times as well as the adverse times.
I
pray that we will keep focused upon His REQUIREMENTS to bless others ALWAYS, and
for us to faithfully live in biblical expectation that He will DO WHAT HE HAS
PROMISED.
“God
IS NOT and man that He would lie.” “With God there is no shadow of Him
turning” (or changing)"Those who trust in the Lord will not be made
ashamed."
Be
Blessed!
Darrel
Mason