ICS Daily Devotions
Refined As Gold
Titus 2:14 Who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works.
Malachi 3:2-3 But who can endure the day of His coming? And who can stand when He appears? For He is like a refiner’s fire and like launderers’ soap. He will sit as a refiner and a purifier of silver; He will purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer to the Lord an offering in righteousness.
We find this passage in the context of the Messiah that would come one day and do the work among His people. We like to be forgiven but we do not naturally like to be cleansed, formed, and go through the fire that purifies us. Just like God dealt with the people of Israel, He will deal with us as well in order to produce good fruit in our lives. He will purify us so that we are both righteous and showing the fruit of righteous living.
The biblical passage uses the example of purifying gold. One of ways to refine gold is by subjecting the gold to intense heat. The heat causes the gold to melt and its impurities to separate and come to the top, where they can be skimmed off. This process is repeated as many times as necessary in order to increase the quality and purity of the gold.
In a similar manner, God is in the process of refining His church and us as individuals. He wants a pure, beautiful bride that He can pour out His anointing and His power on. God desires to manifest Himself through His church so that each of us is able to do the things that Jesus did. For that purpose, God has to remove the impurities from our lives that hold us back from going all the way with Him.
Refining can be a difficult and uncomfortable process. At times, we may feel very much as the gold does when it is being melted. We experience heat and discomfort. Our flesh does not want to change and it can often feel discomforting to have to give up old habits or ways of thinking that are not in line with God’s ways. It is uncomfortable because we have to face our weaknesses and we have to face our fears.
In the Old Testament, “fire” is often associated with the presence of God. He comes as a refining fire to cleanse and purify us. The result is more of His presence in our lives and more of His work done through us. When we are refined, therefore, more of holiness and more of the presence of God comes into our lives. We will be able to accomplish the will of God more effectively.
God is looking for people to be set apart for Him. But are we willing to let Him do the work in us that is needed? Whenever gold is refined by fire, all impurities come to the surface. Satan comes around when God implements His purifying process upon you. He will accuse you how imperfect and dirty you are, observing the impurities of all kinds on the surface. The devil will tell you that you will never going to make it because you were living under the World for years and all you’ve got is dirt and uncleanness.
But as the gold is being refined and the dirt comes up on the surface, the surface will be swiped off when repentance comes to the heart. And underneath the dirt there is gold. The gold has been purified, and the more we allow it, the more intensively we will reflect the character of Jesus in our lives. So even though God may be dealing with different areas of our lives, we need the change in order to be all that God wants us to be. The temptation can be to give up and not go through the whole process, but we need to know that whatever God is dealing with, He will complete it and bring us even stronger to the other side. God wants to make us into vessels of honour for His name and His kingdom!
Sermon Series: God is Forming Us
