Through the Fire

• Printable Version - Share on Facebook - Posted by Dion Todd November 4, 2018 - Filed in Devotional - #Devotional  #Christian  #Victory  #trials  - 7,582 views

  RHM Devotional: Through the Fire from Refreshing Hope Ministries on Vimeo.

  In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls. 1 Peter 1:6–9 ESV

  Today I want to talk about Faith, the currency of heaven. If you want something from God, you get it by faith. Hebrews 11:6 tells us that without faith it is impossible to please Him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe 1) That He exists and 2) That he rewards those who seek him.

  Jesus had the faith to walk on water, calm storms with a word, and raise the dead by speaking to them. The Apostles after Him continued His work, and Jesus intended for us to continue on. He said this in John 14:12:

  Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father. Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it. John 14:12–14 ESV

  So why don’t we see miracles in our life? Because we can’t spiritually afford them. We, myself included, simply do not have enough of God’s currency: Faith. Matthew 17:19 tells of a demon that the Apostles did not have enough faith to cast out. When they asked Jesus about it, He told them this:

  Matthew 17:19-20 ESV: Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, “Why could we not cast it out?” He said to them, “Because of your little faith. For truly, I say to you, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you.”

  

  Faith is always illustrated as entity that grows. Jesus said in Mark 4:31 that mustard is the smallest of seeds but grows until the birds of the air can make nests in its shade. The tiny faith of the mustard seed, grows larger. Tiny faith means tiny miracles. Great faith means greater miracles. Faith is so important, but how is faith developed in us? How did the Apostles get more?

  Peter uses an example of gold refined in the fire to remove all of the impurities like zinc, copper, silver, and iron. The more that gold is refined, filtered, cleaned, and pure, the more value it has. So it is with our faith, but the fire, the testing is not pleasant. Too many times when God is trying to remove impurities from our life, we squeal, whine, and scream for Him to stop: “Oh woe is me, God has forsaken me.”

  All of our prayers are directed at getting out of the fire as soon as possible, and we want to keep as much of our impurities as we can, for as long as we can. Then we wonder why we have so little faith. We wonder why our prayers are ineffective. The difficulties that you face in life are purifying your faith, which is more precious than gold.

  When Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego stood in front of Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel 3 and refused to bow to the golden idol that he had made, they told him our God is able to deliver us, but even if He does not, we will not bow down to your god. God could have delivered them at any time, but He chose to let them enter the furnace. They met God in the fire and the only thing that was burned that day was the ropes that bound them. They came out as free men, with a testimony.

  There is no testimony without the test. There is no glory without the story. Don’t pray to skip your life; live it hand-in-hand with Him. In Acts 23, the Apostle Paul was in Jerusalem witnessing about Jesus, when he was beaten by a mob, arrested by the guards, and thrown into jail alone. It was a very dark time for Paul, and he thought that he might not make it out of there alive. In verse 11, Jesus appeared to Paul during the night and told him to cheer up, for he would also testify in Rome as he had in Jerusalem. Jesus encouraged him, did not let him out of prison that night. Paul was exactly where he was supposed to be.

  When we face difficulties, and we depend on Jesus to get us through it, and our faith grows a little more. It we fall away during the hard times, we are like the seed that fell on the rock in

  Luke 8:13 (ESV): “the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear the word, receive it with joy. But these have no root; they believe for a while, and in time of testing fall away.”

  Jesus met Shadrach and the others in the furnace. Jesus met Paul in the prison. He will meet you in the fire of affliction and you will come through the other side. Not even death can separate you from Him. The Lord gave us this promise in Isaiah 43:1-3:

  Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you. For I am the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior. Isaiah 43:1–3 ESV

  You will not be consumed. You will come through the other side better. You can pray this with me if you like:

  Prayer: Heavenly Father, please cleanse and refine me from the inside out. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me, and with You by my side, I know that I can face whatever is coming my way. I choose to believe that You are alive, that You love me, and that You are listening to me today. I want to ally myself with You, to be part of what You are doing, and to walk hand in hand. Come and be a part of my life today, in the name of Jesus Christ I pray. Amen.

  Note: Good morning, we hope that you enjoy this morning's video devotional, and look forward to your feedback! For those who missed the announcement, we also posted the latest entry for our ongoing Bible Study a couple of days ago, covering Acts, Chapter Twenty-three. Thank you for being part of RHM, and have a blessed day!