Sunday Words of Encouragement January 17, 2016

This morning our Sunday school teacher is away with the Band of Brothers building the church in Haiti (in spite of obstacles thrown in the way by Satan). My husband is disappointed that his age causes him to be less able to help so he didn’t go.

Our Sunday school teacher’s father-in-law shared part of his testimony. He was not raised with church and a Bible, yet he was touched and called by God, first as a boy and then as a 22 year-old when he was saved at a tent meeting. It is fascinating and wonderful to hear the old tales of how God worked through lives and provided for ministers by unexpected gifts because they didn’t get paid large salaries back in the 40s and 50s. Brother Hall, now 90, will tell us more next week.

Pastor’s Sermon was titled “Changed by the Fire.” He noted that our bodies get older but our minds can continue to grow. The more of God we seek the more we can grow in our relationship with him. The prophet in the last book of the Old Testament tells us that God does a refining work on His people. Malachi 3:1-3.

God is portrayed as the smelter who takes the ore (or raw material) and heats it to the point that imperfections rise to surface and are burned or skimmed off. Gold is an incredible metal that is malleable and shiny. It can be beaten to a thin layer and one ounce can be stretched over 50 miles!  People like it best in its shiny form but to become something beautiful it must be processed and refined.

God has plans for us if we are willing to allow him to put us through the fire. We learn as we mature. God, the Holy Spirit, looks for teachable or open moments when we are willing to be stretched and changed. Many times we find that we cannot change ourselves, but if we surrender control, God can change us. There are times we must let God use trial and trouble in our lives to help us to reach a new level of relationship with Him. God is like the refiner’s fire. We are to trust Him and allow Him to direct our life. We can find joy in yielding and allowing Him to work in us.

I found this song, which is new to me, but fits the message today.
Refiner's Fire by Steve Green.

A Verse for today:
Zechariah 13:9 (NIV)
9 This third I will put into the fire;
I will refine them like silver
and test them like gold.
They will call on my name
and I will answer them;
I will say, ‘They are my people,’
and they will say, ‘The Lord is our God.’”

Lord God, I am thankful each day that You called me even in my childhood play time. Help me to continue to seek a closer relationship with you as I mature into my older years.