Malachi 3:3-4 “He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver; he will purify the Levites and refine them like gold and silver. Then the LORD will have men who will bring offerings in righteousness…”
DAILY READING – Acts 22:30-23:22; Judges 19; Psalm 44
As Christians, we are all required to go through a process of purification. God requires us to be cleansed and purged in order to be able to carry His glory. Purity comes as we pass through the refining fire.
Great worth and value are placed upon the coinage metals, which are gold and silver. However the process of refining silver and gold to become valuable metals is not easy. It involves putting the metals through intense heat that literally burns and consumes all the impurities in them. In refining silver for example, the silver smith, holds a piece of silver over the fire and lets it heat up. He needs to keep the silver in the middle of the fire where the flames are hottest so as to burn away all the impurities. He also has to keep his eyes on the silver the entire time it is in the fire. This is because, if the silver is left even for a moment too long in the flames, it would be destroyed. One silversmith was asked “How do you know when the silver is ready?” He said, “That’s simple, I heat it until I can see my reflection in the metal and when I see my reflection, I know it’s ready.”
That’s exactly how God works in our lives. Malachi 3:3-4 says “He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver; he will purify the Levites and refine them like gold and silver. Then the LORD will have men who will bring offerings in righteousness…”
A refiner’s fire purifies. It melts down the bar of silver or gold, separates out the impurities that ruin its value and burns them up. The real value of the silver and gold manifests after they have been passed through the fire. Likewise, it is after we have been cleansed and purified, that our real value in Christ will manifest.
Purification is essential because without being purged we will not become usable vessels to God. The more we are refined, the more we qualify to be used by God for greater works. God does not use unclean vessels to do His work. Everyone of us have a calling upon our lives, but that calling will only come into full manifestation when we have been refined. Therefore purification is important. And while God has different ways of purifying us, there is a personal demand on us to purge ourselves from carnal tendencies that inhibit the flow of The Spirit of God. This is why it is essential that we go through occasional seasons of fasting and praying. Going through self-denial in fasting and praying purifies us for the manifestation of God’s glory in our lives.
2 Timothy 2:19-21 says ‘let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity. But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood and of earth; and some to honour, and some to dishonour. If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honour, sanctified, and meet for the master’s use, and prepared unto every good work.’
There is so much work to be done in God’s kingdom. Indeed the harvest is much but the laborers are few. We must purge ourselves so as to be used mightily by God, especially in this end-times.
When we surrender our lives to God, He begins a process of continually purifying us. This may involve sometimes passing through seasons of trials where it seems we are in the fiery furnace. But whatever we go through, we should know that it is all for a reason and it will last only for a season. No matter how painful or unpleasant, the end result of this process culminates in our shinning forth as gold, even as God manifests His glory through us.
PRAYER: Lord, please as I come to the conclusion of this season of fasting and praying, let it culminate in the manifestation of Your glory in my life. Help me to be adequately purged and cleansed so as to be ready to be used mightily by You in this end-times in Jesus Name.
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Until you cry out in the place of prayer certain things won’t happen