Showing posts with label refiner's fire. Show all posts
Showing posts with label refiner's fire. Show all posts

Sunday, January 7, 2024

Be Anxious For Nothing

 

This is a little ditty I wrote more than twenty years ago. I still sing it. It is God speaking to me and now I'm sharing it with you. 

Be anxious for nothing:

I will provide for you.

You are My bride, my church, my wife.

Needs have I met for you,

My table is set for you;

Tested and tried

You've come forth as gold. 

It is taken from studying The Scriptures, some of which are these two passages, and asking God (praying) to reveal Himself to me and what He wants me to know:

Matthew 6:25-35

Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air: They do not sow or reap or gather into barns—and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?

And why do you worry about clothes? Consider how the lilies of the field grow: They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his glory was adorned like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?

Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles strive after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you.

Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Today has enough trouble of its own.

Psalm 23:5

You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.

    God tells us repeatedly in His Word to "worry not, fret not, fear not". But to fully trust in Him for everything. In every situation and circumstance in which we find ourselves we are "stand and withstand" Ephesians 6:13, "be steadfast and immoveable" Colossians 1:23. 

    He also tell us to seek Him out first. "Seek first the kingdom of God." Matthew 6:33 "In all your ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct your path." Proverbs 3:6 "O God, You are my God, Early will I seek You." Psalm 63:1. Great is the blessing which comes from putting God first in our lives. 

Ephesians 5:21-30 speaks of Christ's great love for His church. 

Being tested and tried is to be expected, for God sits as a Refiner of His people: Malachi 3:3. The Lord is Tester of Hearts: Proverbs 17:3. We are called to suffer and to suffer for righteousness' sake: 1 Peter 3:14. Only by going through the fire of His love can we expect to come forth as a vessel fit for use, whether we are gold or silver or wood or clay. However God wants to use us to advance His kingdom, we need to be willing partners with Him. Our hearts must align with His heart. And that will only happen if His only begotten Son Jesus Christ is living in our hearts. 

Are you ready to be tested and tried? Are you prayed up? Are you filling your hearts and your minds with The Living Word of God? No player goes onto the field without first meeting the requirements of basic game preparedness. No practice, no play. No studying of the game and how it's played, no play. No abiding by team rules and no listening to the coach, no play. If we refuse to obey The Holy Spirt, we will not be able to survive the tests and trials in which God places us for His purposes. 

Be anxious for nothing

I will provide for you

You are My bride, my church, my wife

Needs have I met for you

My table is set for you

Tested and tried

You've come forth as gold. 


REFINER'S FIRE 




Friday, December 9, 2022

Signs & Wonders of Christ's Arrival - - He Is Called Jesus


Luke 2:21
And at the end of eight days, when He was circumcised, He was called JESUS, the name given by the angel before He was conceived in the womb.

*Strong's Ex. Conc. No. 4059
Circumcise: to cut around, I cut around
From the Greek word 'peritemnó' (pronounced per-ee-tem'-no). 
Figuratively speaking, this means "Cutting off the "old life," in favor of the new which is in Christ (the Seed). This starts with being born again into God's family (personally entering His covenant)."



THE CIRCUMCISED FLESH
Genesis 17:12
Generation after generation, every male must be circumcised when he is eight days old, including those born in your household and those purchased from a foreigner--even those who are not your offspring.

*Strong's Ex. Conc. No. 4135
Circumcise: to cut off (the foreskin)
From the Hebrew word 'mul' (pronounced mool)

Being born of  woman, Christ is born under the Law. The Law requires all males to be circumcised on the eighth day. This is both a mandatory requirement to fulfill The Law of Circumcision and a shadow of things to come under The Grace of Christ. 
At the time of Abraham, when circumcision is first introduced, it is covenant between God and Abraham, Abraham's household, Abraham's seed. 
THE CIRCUMCISED HEART
However, there is another circumcision which takes place in our hearts, a circumcision which can only be done by God. A clean, pure heart from God leads to an eternity spent in His presence.
Deuteronomy 30:6
The LORD your God will circumcise your hearts and the hearts of your descendants, and you will love Him with all your heart and with all your soul, so that you may live.
Jeremiah 24:7
I will give them a heart to know Me, that I am the LORD. They will be My people, and I will be their God, for they will return to Me with all their heart.
Ezekiel 36:26, 27
36. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will remove your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.
37. And I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes and to carefully observe My ordinances.
THE NEW HEART
John 3:3, 5
3. Jesus replied, "Truly, truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again."
5. Jesus answered, "Truly, truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit."
2 Corinthians 5:17
Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away. Behold, the new has come!
Matthew 5:8
Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.
Psalm 24:3-5
3. Who may ascend the hill of the LORD? Who may stand in His holy place? 
4. He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to an idol or swear deceitfully.
5. He will receive blessing from the LORD and vindication from the God of his salvation. 
NEW HEART, NEW NAME
With a new heart comes a new name. Though the male infants were given their new names on the day of circumcision, the born again believer receives their new name from God. While we do not yet know our new name, God has one prepared for us. In addition to that name, His Name will be written on us.
Revelation 2:17
He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who overcomes, I will give the hidden manna. I will also give him a white stone inscribed with a new name, known only to the one who receives it.
Revelation 3:12
The one who overcomes I will make a pillar in the temple of My God, and he will never again leave it. Upon him I will write the name of My God, and the name of the city of My God (the new Jerusalem that comes down out of heaven from My God), and My new name.
 
As the psalmist has written, millenia before us, let this be our prayer today, as well, "Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me."


HE IS CALLED JESUS by Todd Agnew (Do You See What I See? album)


REFINER'S FIRE by Jeremy Riddle

HE LIVES classic hymn