DIR Return Create A Forum - Home
---------------------------------------------------------
Love God Only
HTML https://lovegodonly.createaforum.com
---------------------------------------------------------
*****************************************************
DIR Return to: Things of the Soul
*****************************************************
#Post#: 1281--------------------------------------------------
The Work Of Fire
By: Runner Date: October 28, 2012, 11:39 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
He shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver (Mal 3:3)
Our Father, who seeks to perfect His saints in holiness, knows
the value of the refiner’s fire. It is with the most precious
metals that the assayer takes the most pains, and subjects them
to the hot fire, because such fires melt the metal, and only the
molten mass releases its alloy or takes perfectly its new form
in the mould.
The refiner never leaves his crucible, but sits down by it, lest
there should be one excessive degree of heat to mar the metal.
But as soon as He skims from the surface the last of the dross,
and sees His own face reflected, He puts out the fire.
~Arthur T. Pierson~
“He sat by a fire of seven-fold heat,
As He watched by the precious ore,
And closer He bent with a searching gaze
As He heated it more and more.
He knew He had ore that could stand the test,
And He wanted the finest gold
To mould as a crown for the King to wear,
Set with gems with a price untold.
So He laid our gold in the burning fire,
Tho’ we fain would have said Him ’Nay,’
And He watched the dross that we had not seen,
And it melted and passed away.
And the gold grew brighter and yet more bright,
But our eyes were so dim with tears,
We saw but the fire—not the Master’s hand,
And questioned with anxious fears.
Yet our gold shone out with a richer glow,
As it mirrored a Form above,
That bent o’er the fire, tho’ unseen by us,
With a look of ineffable love.
Can we think that it pleases His loving heart
To cause us a moment’s pain?
Ah, no! but He saw through the present cross
The bliss of eternal gain.
So He waited there with a watchful eye,
With a love that is strong and sure,
And His gold did not suffer a bit more heat,
Than was needed to make it pure.”
#Post#: 1282--------------------------------------------------
Re: The Work Of Fire
By: Kerry Date: October 29, 2012, 5:40 am
---------------------------------------------------------
This reminds me of a passage translated in the KJV in a way I
find lacking. (I still like the KJV though. )
Genesis 22:1 And it came to pass after these things, that God
did tempt Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham: and he said,
Behold, here I am.
The word really means test, assay, put through the fire to prove
it purity; and I don't think God tests people to find anything
out for Himself. I think God tests us when He knows we are
ready to pass a test, giving us confidence and showing us we
have been on the right path and not to doubt it.
We should not think that God actually tempts men to sin.
James 1:13 Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of
God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he
any man:
I found an interesting parallel in thought between that verse of
Malachi and one in Romans about Abraham:
Malachi 3:3 And he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of
silver: and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as
gold and silver, that they may offer unto the LORD an offering
in righteousness.
Rom 4:3
it was counted unto him for righteousness.
#Post#: 1285--------------------------------------------------
Re: The Work Of Fire
By: Runner Date: October 29, 2012, 11:08 am
---------------------------------------------------------
I agree...He is not doing it to 'find out' where we are , He
knows...the 'fire' is so we know what is in us!
Exodus 16:4
"Then said the LORD unto Moses, Behold, I will rain bread from
heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a certain
rate every day, that I may prove them, whether they will walk in
my law, or no." A test that He already knew the answer
to...some would still gather more than manna for the one
day...and it stank.
Deuteronomy 8:2
"And thou shalt remember all the way which the LORD thy God led
thee these forty years in the wilderness, to humble thee, and to
prove thee, to know what was in thine heart.." He knew, they
needed to know.( yet except for Joshua and Caleb none of the old
guard went in, so it didn't CHANGE their hearts!)
For Job, the 'fire', testing and proving worked! God skimmed off
the dross and Job came out as gold. ( with twice as much)
I believe the disciples did too.
I think people like Mother Theresa choose to live 'in the fire',
and any dross was daily skimmed and she was pure gold.
Is this the "gold, silver and precious stones..or wood hay
stubble".....at the End? Probably.
Yet nothing in me wishes to say- " Bring on the fire" Ouch!
#Post#: 1287--------------------------------------------------
Re: The Work Of Fire
By: Amadeus Date: October 29, 2012, 11:26 am
---------------------------------------------------------
[font=courier]Before the sons of Levi, which includes the sons
of Aaron, could offer a sacrifice, or bear a holy burden, they
themselves had to be cleansed (refining fire?). The more
important the sacrifice (the closer to God), the greater the
necessity of being prepared to make it. The extreme example of
this given is when the "high priest" (Aaron, himself or his
successors) was to enter into the Most Holy Place once a year.
He alone was able to do that, but while he was chosen for that
duty, he could never presume that no preparation was necessary.
The preparation for the lesser levitical duties (carrying the
components parts of the tabernacle, ark of the covenant, etc,)
or for the lesser priests (daily sacrifices) did not make the
necessary purification less necessary. In order to get from one
place to the next (from one level to another), every step, every
bit of refinement, was necessary.
This preparation is necessary to eventually approach more
closely to God. These preparations, or cleansings, or
purifications, or refinements (as with precious metals), may be
seen as types or shadows of what it is necessary for you and I
to go through in order to move first into the outer court, then
to the Holy Place and finally, hopefully, to the Most Holy Place
in God. [/font]
#Post#: 1302--------------------------------------------------
Re: The Work Of Fire
By: James Date: October 30, 2012, 4:26 am
---------------------------------------------------------
In the case of Job did God have a smile on his face as he gave
back Job what he had before, after all it was job's wife who
said 'curse God and die' who had to bare all those children all
over again.
James
#Post#: 1308--------------------------------------------------
Re: The Work Of Fire
By: Runner Date: October 30, 2012, 10:55 am
---------------------------------------------------------
Thinking further on fire, cleansing etc ...the fire of
Judgment. Genesis 19:24 “Then the Lord rained upon Sodom and
upon Gomorrahbrimstone and fire from the Lord out of heaven.”
We know that God will judge every person in the world on the
last day.
Genesis 22:6 “And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering,
and laid it upon Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his
hand, and a knife; and they went both of them together.”
Maybe a life with no sacrifice for God has no real relationship
with God!
Exodus 3:2 “And the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a
flame of fire out of the midst of a bush: and he looked, and,
behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not
consumed.” This must be the same fire that the three Hebrew
young men were in...The God who turned water to wine, also
turned Nebuchadnezzar's fire into a non- consuming fire.
Fire changes things. The bush may not have been changed, but
Moses was!
And I am sure the three Hebrew men were!
Just as one fire causes judgment and cleansing, another fire
improves the quality of life! Either one can by the Spirit and
power of God makes our life better.
Exodus 13:21 “And the Lord went before them by day in a pillar
of a cloud, to lead them the way; and by night in a pillar of
fire, to give them light; to go by day and night.”
God did not just point the way. God became the way. “I am the
way, the truth and the life.”
"For the LORD thy God is a consuming fire, even a jealous God."
He can consume, or like with Moses bush and three Hebrews, He
also may not.
I think maybe the pillar of cloud and the pillar of fire were
the same pillar. In the daytime, God was concealed. In the night
time, they saw the fire in the midst of the cloud.
Thinking toward the Last Day...if the fire consumed Sodom, does
that mean we can say 'what was left then was good'. He burned
out the bad. He won't judge the same person twice surely, back
then in Sodom days, and also 'on the Last Day'!!
Still thinking more upon 'the fire'.
*****************************************************