A refiner and purifier of silver . . .

Selections from The Holy Bible and personal essays and commentary

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Malachi 3:1 Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the LORD of hosts. 2 But who may abide the day of his coming and who shall stand when he appeareth for he is like a refiner' fire, and like fullers'soap: 3 And he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the LORD an offering in righteousness. 4 Then shall the offering of Judah and Jerusalem be pleasant unto the LORD, as in the days of old, and as in former years.

This verse puzzled members of a Bible study group and they wondered what this statement meant about the character and nature of God. The Bible study group decided to find out more about the process of refining silver.
That week, one of them called a silversmith and made an appointment to watch him at work, not mentioning anything about the reason for their interest beyond curiosity about the process of refining silver.
Later, as they watched the silversmith work, 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 onlookers thought about God holding us in such a hot spot; then they thought again about the verse that says:

"He sits as a refiner and purifier of silver."

Someone asked the silversmith if it was true that he had to sit there in front of the fire the whole time the silver was being refined. The man answered, yes, that he not only had to sit 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 group was silent for a moment. Then one of them asked the silversmith, "How do you know when the silver is fully refined" He smiled 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.

Pass this on right now. This very moment, someone needs to know that God is watching over them.
And, whatever they're going through, they'll be a better person in the end.

"Life is a coin. You can spend it anyway you wish, but you can only spend it once."
What a powerful statement!

If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land. II Chronicles 7:14:

The gift of eternal life is freely given to those who trust in Jesus as their savior. Those who believe, pray, read the Bible and allow themselves to grow in spirit and truth by trusting in Jesus and in the guidance of the Holy Spirit are brought into the family of God and will spend eternity with Him. You can read more about Jesus in the Gospel of John.

Topics.
The Good News - the Gospel of John.
The Sermon on the Mount
The Life, Death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Paley's Evidences of Christianity
Sherlock's The Trial of the Witnesses of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ
Words of wisdom and warning.
The Authority of the Holy Scriptures - the Bible.
The Sign of Jonah.
The Two Babylons.
Thoughts.
Thoughts for today and every day.
...a refiner and purifier of silver.
Prophecies confirming Jesus as the Messiah.
To the Jew first and to the Gentile - Come let us reason together.
The Way.
Spirit.
Atheism.
Belief in God or science?
Old fossils?
Evolution or devolution?
The Shroud and The Sudarium.
The Revelation of Jesus Christ.
Blood and Flesh.
Christmas.
Psalms, hymns and spiritual songs.
How should followers of Jesus live?
A praise and worship leader gone astray?
St. Valentine's Day.
The influence of feminism, new-age and pagan philosophy in the church.
God, the Father.
Marriage is for one man and one woman.
Touchy subjects.
The apostate church.
The last days.
Ancient conflict - Isaac vs. Ishmael.
A Tale of Two Films - The da Vinci code and The Passion of The Christ.
Current events and topics.
Fascism.
To veterans and to those who serve in the armed forces.
The world.


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