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THE DIVINE FURNACE

“Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver; I have tested you in the furnace of affliction.” Isaiah 48:10 (NKJV). Some things can only be refined, purified and shaped with extreme heat and pressure. It has practically become a cultural virtue to fantasize about self-importance. What a waste of precious time it is to idolize oneself. In the end, all that will matter is what we have done for God by doing good to others. Only in the furnace of a sold-out life will all that must be completely incinerated. Only there will God-given potential burn bright to the end, nothing wasted, all of its potential fully spent.  Isaiah 60:17 proclaims, “Instead of bronze I will bring gold, and instead of iron I will bring silver, instead of wood, bronze, instead of stones, iron," (ESV). This is transformation! Lord, Yours is the power to make me the man that pleases You. Blow upon the embers You have placed within me and cause my whole life to burn white hot for Your will in the earth.

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