Refiner's Fire

Friday I was starting to feel a little bit down. During my quiet time God encouraged me as I was reading from Ps 118.
As I became quiet, I saw myself standing in God’s fire. The amazing thing was that the flames didn’t hurt me at all, and my heart was totally at peace and contented and my spirit was saying, "Burn your fire, Lord; purify me." I was happy to be cleansed, purified and made beautiful in God’s eyes.

This was very encouraging to me and reminded me of Isa 43:2 "When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze." as well as Mal 3:2 "He will be like a refiner’s fire.. He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver ... refine them like gold and silver.."

Then, as it turned out, my memory verse for the day was 1 Pet 1:7 "These have come so that your faith, of greater worth than gold, which perishes, even though refined by fire, may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory & honour when Jesus Christ is revealed."

I knew that, whatever situations in my life I was experiencing to be limiting or frustrating, were being used by God for his purposes in my life, that He was in divine control, and that the end result would be for His glory. That is enough for me. The Lord, once again, has proved to be my strength, my song and my salvation! All praise to him!

As the Rain ...

As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return from it
without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields
seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my
mouth: it will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and
achieve the purpose for which I sent it.

Isaiah 55:10,11

I love gardening. I love putting things in the ground and seeing them grow. You plant and plant and then, one day, you walk through the garden and, oh, the joy! - there’s a new leaf on that little slip. Or there’s a flower forming on that plant that you planted weeks - or months - ago. A sure sign that something has been happening all the time, even though you weren’t aware of it. The plants just keep on growing, as the rain drenches the soil around their roots and the lovely sunshine warms them. You don’t see it while it happens, but suddenly, one day - you see the results!

Some time ago the Lord just connected this gardening experience for me with his word in Isa 55:11. That is exactly how it is: We sow his Word in prayer, we speak his word over situations, and we don’t see the effect. But He is working. Then, suddenly, one day: there it is: the result of our prayer! When I pray and I don’t see anything happening, God reminds me that I don’t see plants growing, either, but they are growing, nonetheless. And the results will surely come!

Eternal Light

After a relatively spiritually dry period in my life, where I was isolated from friends and fellowship, God made a way where there seemed to be no way. Hy made a way for me to get wonderful fresh spiritual input and stimulation. He had been sustaining me so beautifully that I hardly noticed that I was going through a semi-desert, but once the mist cleared and I could see new horizons, it was like my soul was just flooded with the richness of His glory and grace, and I wrote this poem to celebrate it.

There’s a light in my soul -
warm, secure, comforting.
Your oil burning -
being filled, replenished -
moment by moment,
new every morning,
illuminating
world upon world
of your glory.
The radiance of your face,
the YES of your Spirit -
a light-stream from
the Eternal Source,
saturating me
with your
extravagant
LOVE.