Fire Burns

To one of my readers:


"How is someone to learn to deal with them if it feels like they never stop And to me for someone who is trying to lead a good life and walk down the right roads comes to a place where they have no idea what direction they think should take. And when they do decide to make a choice will it be good or bad and while most people are hoping for the best are thinking they are going to get the worst." We can NEVER expect to get through this life and all of it's trials on our own. Sometimes it does feel as if the trials never end. Sometimes even when we do good or do the right thing, it seems as if the situation still turns around on us and bites us in the butt. BUT... there is HOPE. We are not expected to walk through this life on our own. First we must see that as truth. We must see that we NEED something more than ourselves and that we are NOT sufficient. So what is this thing that we need? We need Jesus Christ. That is the relationship I had talked to you about in the past. Being a good person, choosing the right path is important, but in the end... iIT'S NOT ENOUGH. We have to realize that we need Christ and we can lean on Him when we face those many trials. He wants us to depend on Him for help. I pray that God will start to reveal more of Him to you. He is REAL, He offers forgiveness for everything we could ever do... this includes everything. Believe me, He has seen it all. The point is... we can not go through it alone, God will provide, and trials are meant to make us more perfect. They are not fun. Trials are like fire. They burn, they are very painful sometimes. but in the end they are burning off all of the junk that make us dirty. Here is what I mean- out of the mouth of another: The Refiner's Fire Zechariah 13-14, Revelation 21 Key Verse: Zechariah 13:9 The process of refining metals is used in the Bible as a metaphor of spiritual purification. In a sense, if you have something made of pure gold or pure silver, it is made of the leftovers. Refining is a process by which everything else is removed and only the pure metal remains. It is accomplished through firing, putting the metal over the fire until it is a liquid from which can be drawn all the dross. Our lives are not pure gold by any means. God's desire is that we be holy as He is holy. That means there are things that need to be removed from our lives. It also means that He will assist in that process! God's intent is not to destroy us but to purify us. Sometimes His method is akin to the intense heat of the refiner's fire. Our response to the process is crucial. We can either allow Him to work in our lives, cooperating in removing that which is impure, or we can resist or rebel. To His people, God sent the message through the prophet Zechariah that He would "refine them like silver and test them like gold" (13:9). That is painful, but look at the promise: "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.'" The blessing will be ours. Don't resist or rebel against God's refining fire. Learn from the tough times. Look for the ways in which God is using your difficulties to refine you.

James 1:1-8

James, a bondservant (one who is bound to service without wage) of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad:  Greetings.


vs 2-8 My brothers, count is all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally without disapproval, and it WILL be given to him. But let him ask in FAITH, WITHOUT DOUBTING, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. For let that man not expect to receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man (divided in his interests or loyalties, wavering, uncertain, two-faced, half-hearted), unstable in All his ways.

Wow, so much to get out of this passage. James is one of my favorite books of the Bible. We ALL face trials. Trials of many kinds. Your trial may be just your day in general. Your trial may be one of your health. Your trial may be fighting the emotions inside you. Your trial may be your marriage. Whatever your trial, we all have them. A lot of times, we have many more than just one.

James tells us to "consider" it or "count" it joy when we are dealing with our trials. Who thinks that it is a joy to be in a trial? Certainly not me! He tells us this because our trials will ALWAYS produce patience. The purpose of patience is to make us perfect and complete, not lacking in anything.

James goes on to tell us to ask God for wisdom in our trials without doubting Him. How hard is it for me (and you) to not doubt our God when we are being tested by trials?

Faith- being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.

How do we know what we are to put our hope in? Of course we do not want to put our faith in something that does not exist or something that is going to fail us in the end. So the only things that I know as truth and things that are promised are things that God has given me from His word. These are the things I MUST put my Hope in. These are the things I must set my mind on. Especially in the midst of a trial.  I must ask with confidence. God will give me these things FREELY. He actually wants to give them to me!

Well these are my thoughts for the day:) Feel free to post your thoughts on this or even how this passage has spoken to you. I love to see how God is working in others' lives.