This is the final installment of a message given in May at the Pembroke Fellowship Church Mother/Daughter Banquet. To read the first three parts, click on the links below.
The Refiner's Process
The Refiner's Process: Formation
The Refiner's Process: Refinement
The
Purpose of the Process
The process will make you or break you.
It will make you bitter or it will make you better.
The pain and the process has a purpose.
The ultimate purpose of your affliction is to see God and for you to look like
Jesus. The purpose of the refining process is to teach you God’s principles.
Principle
God wants to teach you a principle
during your process.
It was good for me to be
afflicted so that I might learn your decrees. Psalm 119:71.
You can wallow in pity or you can learn
the principle. What are some principles
God teaches you during the process?
·
The Lord will
provide.
·
He hears our
cries.
·
He’s close to the
broken hearted.
·
Trust in the Lord
with all thine heart. In all thy ways acknowledge him and he shall direct your
path.
·
He has plans for
me. Plans to give me a future and a hope.
·
Even if He
doesn’t deliver me from this fiery furnace, God is able. He’s able to do
exceedingly, abundantly, above what I can ask or think.
·
God loves me.
·
God is with me.
·
God is worthy of
the praise, even in the press of the process.
Praise
The process
produces praise.
These trials
will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and
purifies gold--though your faith is far more precious than mere gold. So when
your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise
and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole
world. 1 Peter 1:7
Presence and
Power
The process assures us of God’s presence and
demonstrates His power.
“I will refine them like silver and test them like gold. They
will call on my name and I will answer them; I will say, 'They are my people,'
and they will say, 'The LORD is our God.'" Zechariah 13:9
Promotion
And then the
purpose of the process is to give you a promotion.
For you, God, tested us;
you refined us like silver.
11You brought us into prison
and laid burdens on our backs.
12You let people ride over our heads;
we went through fire and water,
but you brought us to a place of abundance. Psalm 66:10-12
After you have
suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who called you to His
eternal glory in Christ, will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen and
establish you, (settle you, place you on a firm foundation). 1 Peter 5:10
Blessed is the
one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will
receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him.
James 1:12
Promise
That’s why you don’t lose heart. Because
the process comes with a promise. That’s why you don’t have to give up. Because
your process will be complete.
What God starts,
He finishes. He completes. In fact, the Lord has already finished whatever He
started because He is the Alpha and the Omega. The beginning and the end. On
the cross, Jesus said, “It is finished. Process complete. Three days later he
got up with all power in His hands. He was promoted because now he is sitting
at the right hand of God, making intercession for us. Don’t lose heart. You can
go through the process because Jesus went the process and He finished.
You are valuable to God and He has a
purpose for your life. God can’t shine through us until He has refined us. The
purpose of the process is for you to reflect the light of the Son. Your
brilliance comes from the Son, not the SUN, but the SON. The moon that shines
so brightly in the sky at night is not really shining of its own power. It’s
just a big rock. The moon is simply reflecting the sun’s energy and power.
Philippians 2:13
says, “For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do
what pleases him.” The Message Bible puts it this way: That
energy is God’s energy, an energy deep within you, God himself willing
and working at what will give him the most pleasure.
In the book of Revelation, John uses
imagery to give us a picture of the New Jerusalem where God will live with His
people. There will be no need for the sun or moon because God himself will be
the light.
The Bride, the wife of the Lamb, is
described as a precious jewel. The Church, those who believe in the redeeming
work of Jesus Christ and call Him Lord and Savior, is the bride of Christ.
Jesus is the bridegroom. We are the bride of Christ. If you have not accepted
Jesus Christ as your Savior, accept him today. Believe on him today so that you
can live with God for eternity. If you’ve believed on him, don’t despise the
process. Know that there is a purpose and He’s preparing you. He’s refining
you. He wants his precious jewels to reflect his brilliance.
So let your light so shine that others
may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in Heaven. (Matthew 5:16).
