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Daily Encounter: A Week-day Devotional by a staff of ACTS International. |
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Purification of Our Faith
And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell
about Gideon, Barak, Samson and Jephthah, about David and Samuel and the prophets,
who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was
promised, who shut the mouths of lions, quenched the fury of the flames, and
escaped the edge of the sword. Whose weakness was turned to strength, and who
became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies. Women received back their
dead, raised to life again. There were others who were tortured, refusing to be
released so that they might gain an even better resurrection. Some faced jeers
and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. They were put to death by
stoning, they were sawed in two, they were killed by the sword. They went about
in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreatedâ€"the world was
not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, living in caves and
in holes in the ground. These were all commended for their faith, yet none of
them received what had been promised, since God had planned something better
for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.1 Many of us would like to have a heroic faith like the saints
mentioned in Hebrews 11, their victories and accomplishments encourage us. But
verses 36-38 show us another reality: that faith is formed through trials and
sufferings, a process we do not always want to face. Imagine the Lord as a master sculptor in front of a block of
marble. That block is you. As you visualize the work of art hidden within the
rock, He lovingly and carefully removes everything that does not fit the
masterpiece He is creating. One of the first areas the Lord deals with is our character.
His goal is to mold us into the image of his Son. And his chisel exposes bare
roots of sin and selfishness. When anything or anyone becomes more important to us than
the Lord, we have an idol in our life. To protect us, God sometimes uses
adversity to remove everything we have relied on, so that we cling only to Him. The chisel hurts, and sometimes it seems like God is taking
away what we hold dear. But if we trust in His work and submit to it, adversity
will purify and strengthen our faith (James 1:2-4). Suggested Prayer: Dear Heavenly Father, the purification
process is painful, because it is about letting You work in Me. Allowing You to
break through what no longer serves to mold us the way You want. Lord, the
process hurts but I trust that adversity will purify and strengthen our faith.
I thank you, praise you, and bless you. In the name of Jesus, Amen. 1. Hebrews
11:32-40 (NIV). Today's Encounter was written by: Rosina N. |
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