Thursday: Silver, Gold, Platinum, Clay 4

He will sit as a refiner!

Good Morning, my dear brothers and sisters. It is a great morning here at the Southern Location of the North Pole. Yesterday I got the sleigh out of the garage and loaded it on a flatbed trailer for its trip to The Bridges where it will be used for a Christmas display. Yes, old Santa did this yesterday and it brings a smile on people when they see the sleigh on the trailer, see the license tag on my tow vehicle which reads IB SANTA, and then they look in the truck and see the real guy. Sorry about yesterday, I just never did get caught up. Also one or two days next week I might be off line as we have purchased a new computer and I will be TRYING to get it going.

Thursday is family day on the line so please pray for families, start with yours, and please pray for the family in the White House, and pray most of all for the family of God. Please keep praying for those on our daily prayer list. And remember to also keep praying for the missionary that is traveling in a foreign country. Also, is your marriage in trouble, or do you just want to bring it nearer to God? We have a couple on this line that would like to help. They are Rob and Martha Campbell from Newport Assembly of God and if you let me know you are interested, I will hook you up with them.

Silver, Gold, Platinum, Clay 4: Malachi 3:3 - He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver. (NIV)

Brothers and sisters, our Lord God will sit like a refiner of Silver. I had the following sent to me from my singing partner, Pam Bower...

(Begin) This verse puzzled some women in a Bible study and they wondered what this statement meant about the character and nature of God. One of the women offered to find out the process of refining silver and get back to the group at their next Bible Study.

That week, the woman called a silversmith and made an appointment to watch him at work. She didn't mention anything about the reason for her interest beyond her curiosity about the process of refining silver.

As she watched the silversmith, he held a piece of silver over the fire and let it heat up. He explained that in refining silver, one needed to hold the silver in the middle of the fire where the flames were hottest as to burn away all the impurities. The woman thought about God holding us in such a hot spot, then she thought again about the verse that says: "He sits as a refiner and purifier of silver." She asked if it was true that he had to sit in front of the fire the whole time the silver was being refined. The man answered that yes, he not only had to sit there holding the silver, but he had to keep his eyes on the silver the entire time it was in the fire. If the silver was left a moment too long in the flames, it would be destroyed. The woman was silent for a moment. Then she asked the silversmith,"How do you know when the silver is fully refined?" He smiled at her and answered, "Oh, that's easy - when I see my image in it."

If today you are feeling the heat of the fire, remember that God has His eye on you and will keep watching you until He sees His image in you. (End)

I think this tells it just like it is. Jesus wants to see Himself in us and when we reach that point others will also see Jesus in us. Folks, one of the best ways to witness for Jesus each day is to live for him and let others see Jesus in You. Now my big question for you. Can others see our Lord Jesus in You, are you walking daily by the Saviors Side, and are you indeed washed in the Blood of The Lamb? Folks, Works will not get us into heaven, but once we are saved we surely need to do work for the Lord. And we will be judged on those works and others will also be watching us. Look at it this way, if you are saying you need the Lord to others and then you are living in the swamp of life, what is that telling them? Before I was saved I had a person that would talk to me about Jesus, in fact he was a pastor, but his life was not being lived that way. He would cheat people in his working of another job. He was talking the talk, but not walking the walk. Walking the talk is not always easy but we must really work hard to do it...

Let's go to the Lord... Father in Heaven, I want to be refined like pure silver so that you can see your face in me. I want to walk with You and talk with You, and ask today that You clean me again of my sins and then hold me up so I don't slip and fall. I want to walk the talk, Lord. Please today be with families, all the families on this line including mine and, Lord, I pray for Your family also and I want to be part of that family. I ask in the name of Jesus, and Lord, I ask that You bless Rob and Martha on their marriage mission. In the name of the most high, our Lord and Christ, Jesus. Amen.

Now go forth, walking the talk, getting refined like silver and gold and platinum and sharing your blessings. Tomorrow we find out about clay... love ya, dan.