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!
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praying for both of you.
thank you brother...God bless you...
Praying for both of you, Silvina, and that He sends your husband His counsel, in a way that he will receive it <3!
thank you Sylvia...it seems he is getting worse in his depression....Only the Lord can heal his mind. I ask for healing too. I ask for God to save my marriage. He is already looking for another woman for his life and we are still married!. He refuses counseling and dont even want the fellowship of any brethren in our area....I wait on the Lord and submit to His will in our lives only...God bless you and pastor Dion for this wonderful ministry....
thank you pastor for this very uplifting sermon....pls keep me and my husband in your prayers.....
THAT GIVES ME STRENGTH TO KEEP ON KEEPING ON
Thank you paster dion ...i have been going through the fire almost my whole life ...but i know that its only a test ...i know things will get better
Thank you I just left a prayer request and got this.l have no words to describe this right now other than thank you
Amen Lord, amen
Amen!
I like the term you used for faith.....currency for heaven! Wonderful!!
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. Thank you Father.
Amen! I do not understand why going through the fire is so hard for people to grasp. Heavenly Father, please give us the strength to overcome.
I want to walk hand to hand with you God Amen
Amen!
Thank you Paster.God bless
Amen.
Amen
"Weeping may endure for a night but Joy cometh in the morning."
What a timely word. My son and us his family are going into court this morning (the furnace) to see if the judge is going to impose a protective order against my son Bryon. Please pray for us that Jesus and Holy spirit will be there with us and give us the right words to speak. I hope and pray that the Judge will see through the lies that my son's estranged wife is accusing him of and rule in Bryon's favor. I'm hoping and praying that the Lord will bless my son with victory over the other charges against him.
Our God is so great!
Father, I pray for more faith. I trust You, Amen.
Amen Father,please give my son and his family strength. In Jesus name
Amen!
Keep walking with us dear God. There is light now. Get us to the end of the tunnel. Thank you God. Amen.
Beautiful prayer, thank you.
Oh Holy Father, cleanse me and speak to me in a way I understand Your word. I need You and I honor You ,purify me and take all my impurities .In Jesus name I pray, Amen..
Wonderful and thoughtful inspiration, thank you Pastor.
Amen!!
Amen!!
PTL. This message is such a blessing. There is no testimony without a test,,,really struck a chord for me. Thank you.
This was like a mini bible study! I truly enjoyed today's devotionasl and the prayer strengthened me.Thanks once again, Pastor Dion!
Thanks for this timely message, Pastor Dion!
Praying this prayer this morning: 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 want to ally myself with You, to be part of what You are doing, and to walk hand in hand. In the name of Jesus, Amen!
Amen!
That is truly an awesome word. So true, we often pray to skip our lives. We just need to have faith that whatever we are going through is not a surprise to God and He will always have the last word in our situation. We just have to trust Him, even when we can't understand it. I pray everyone here gets a faith building event in their lives this week. Something that happens that can only be by the hand of God so that we can share it and build each other up to see how He is working in this community. Thank you brother for an awesome message today.
THANK YOU PASTOR DION FOR RIGHTLY DIVIDING THE WORD OF THE LORD, AND BRINGING THIS TIMELY MESSAGE TO ALL OF US. THESE ARE TROUBLED TIMES FOR SO MANY OF US, THE TRIALS AND CONFLICTS SEEM TO BE INCREASING ESPECIALLY FOR US BELIEVERS! IT OFTEN FEELS AS IF WE WERE IN A FIERY FUNACE, BUT THE FLAMES DO NOT CONSUME US! THANKS BE FOR YOU AND SYLVIA AND THE WORK YOU DO, AND HOW MUCH IS DONE BEHIND THE SCENE THAT WE CANNOT EVEN SEE!!!
iT WAS SOOO GOOD TO BE BACK WITH YOU ALL LAST SUNDAY, WHICH SETS THE COURSE FOR THE REST OF THE WEEK!!!
GOD BLESS YOU BOTH (L)
Amen. Praise God! Thanks Pastor Todd! Lord, purify me.