Pastor's Corner

for Sunday Aug. 30th
Refined by Fire.
“He [God] will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver.” (Malachi 3:3) We all know that to refine silver it has to be refined in fire. This process brings the impurities to the top where the silver smith scrapes it off. Now, this is the cool part, when the silver smith can see his face in the molten silver he knows that he has removed all the impurities. So, when God says that He is like a silver smith refining us, two very profound truths are brought out. First, God through the “fire” of struggle and pain is removing the impurities from our lives. Those things that get in our way; those things that keep us from being all that God wants us to be are removed from our lives. And, these are things that only fire can remove. They are things that we do not let go of easily and so struggle and pain are required to make us let go of them. The second truth is that God wants to see His “face” in our lives! Who doesn’t want to reflect the image of God? So, this gives us a very positive attitude to struggle and pain in our lives. When I am a baby in Jesus there is too much of me and therefore the image of God is not very clear at all. A lot of selfishness and pride has to be removed before people can see God clearly. My hard and insensitive heart must be softened and then Jesus can be seen in me. Our times of struggle and pain are not easy times, but we can glory in these times knowing that “your reward for trusting him will be the salvation of your souls.”(1 Pet 1:9)
Pastor Don