(Heaven Serenades are poems that are read or sung called, Psalms)

 

If you recall from our last blog, “In the Fullness of Time,” like our brother, Job, our Father uses everything in our life, especially suffering, for His amazing purposes. We also learned, He uses it to draw us into a deeper, more intimate relationship with Him. One of my favorite scriptures says,

 

“After you have suffered for a little while, the God of ALL GRACE [who imparts His blessing and favor], who called you to His own eternal glory in Christ, will HIMSELF complete, confirm, strengthen, and establish you [making you what you ought to be].” I Peter 5:10 Amplified Bible.

 

“For those who love God, suffering is a melting pot for the purifying of the soul and never for its destruction.”

 

 Always remember, our Lord uses our circumstances to transform the soul, He also uses them to purify the soul of its dependence upon the flesh, (man’s means of getting his needs met without Christ). Let’s take a look at the Lord, Our Refiner. Here is a blog first posted in 2018, enjoy.

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REFINER’S FIRE

 

Hebrews 12:28-29 (Amplified Bible)

Therefore, since we receive a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us show gratitude, and offer to God pleasing service and acceptable worship with reverence and awe; ²⁹ for our God is [indeed] a consuming fire.

 

When viewing this scripture through the lens of His grace and love, our Loving Lord is conforming and transforming our souls into His same image. Again, the challenges in life, the struggles, our disobedience to His words, and voice are all used to refine and purify the soul so it will no longer depend on getting its needs met through the flesh but by depending on the Lord; the TRUE source of Life.

 

June Hunt, a counselor and author with Hope for the Heart Ministries in Plano, Texas, has blessed me over the years with her beautiful picture of how our Father and Lord uses suffering and challenges in our lives to refine and conform our souls into the image of our Lord Jesus, who lives fully and completely in our spirits. I hope you enjoy her insight.

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The Bible is filled with word pictures explaining how God operates as a Heavenly and Loving Refiner in our lives, mirroring the process earthly refiners used to purify ore.

 

Step 1

The Brokenness. The refiner in biblical times broke up the hardened ore (our soul set in its ways and following the flesh to get its needs met) so that possible precious metals of gold and silver could be exposed to heat. In truth, we are all (the soul, in its dependence on the flesh… never our spirit) rough rocks in need of brokenness and God’s refining fire. “Is not my word like fire,’ declares the Lord, ‘and like a hammer that breaks a rock in pieces?” (Jeremiah 23:9)

 

 

 

Step 2

The Crucible. The refiner puts the broken, crushed ore into a crucible—a fireproof melting pot able to withstand extreme heat. Then the crucible is placed into the furnace. Our Refiner allows us to be put into a crucible (trials, circumstances, difficulties) and then into the heated furnace to purify our hearts. “The crucible for silver and the furnace for gold, but the Lord tests the heart” (Proverbs 17:3).

 

 

James Chapter 1 reminds us how precious our faith is… more precious than gold and how it is tested and purified in the fires of life. He also reminds us to count it all joy, even though it is not a joyous experience, instead of allowing the flesh to murmur and complain during our testing.

 

 

Step 3

The Dross. The refiner watches as the ore melts in the crucible and sees a layer of impurities—called dross—form on the surface. Then he removes the dross. For us individually, “dross” represents anything that keeps the soul from yielding fully to the Lord in the process. (The flesh is the enemy, holding the soul captive). “Remove the dross from the silver, and a silversmith can produce a vessel” (Proverbs 25:4).

 

 

Step 4

The Purification. The refiner skims the dross off the surface, looks into the crucible, and sees a dim image of himself (being revealed in the soul). Then he carefully turns up the heat and places the crucible back into the blistering furnace… again and again. . . up to seven times. Why the higher heat? He knows that only certain impurities are released at certain temperatures. “And the words of the Lord are flawless, like silver purified in a crucible, like gold refined seven times” (Psalms 12:6).

 

 

Step 5

The Reflection. To gauge his progress, the refiner looks for his own reflection on the surface of the melted silver or gold in the crucible. The more dross removed, the less distorted His image. Only when the refiner sees a clear reflection of Himself in the crucible is the process complete. The soul reflects the very same image as its Spirit, as it walks in harmony and unity as ONE. The soul no longer warring or battling with the Lord, but now lives with ONE WILL… Not my will Lord, but Your will be done, no matter, what I think or feel about the circumstances You may allow. ALL THINGS ARE WORKING FOR MY GOOD AND YOUR PURPOSES!

 

 

The Bible tells us Christ is our Life and lives within us: the flesh hides the soul from seeing its TRUE IDENTITY IN CHRIST. Therefore, we are being transformed and conformed into the image of Christ by the yielding more and more of our souls to Christ and less to the enemy, the flesh. As we trust God to use our pain and circumstances to purify our soul, the character of Christ in our souls will come forth as gold. 

 

“He knows the way that I take; when He has tested me, I will come forth as gold,” (Job 23:10)

 

And that, my friend, describes our Refiner’s loving intentions for allowing us to be in the “furnace of affliction.”

June concludes, “In my own life, the facts are clear: Time and again, God, through His matchless mercy and grace, has transformed my tests . . . into a testimony. And, friend, if God can do that for me, He can do it for you!”

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FURNACE FOR THE SOUL
Copyright © 2005 by Tresca S. Grannum

 

 

There is a furnace for the soul

Fiery trials burn to purify us as pure as gold

Because our souls have been marred and stained by sin

The flesh is its master, ruling our thoughts and emotions within

You see nothing of the flesh will ever please our God,

So through the waters and fire, we all trod.

Yes, we all trod.

 

 

We must enter through those doorways that sometimes lead to pain.

But the stay is only temporal, only a little while we will remain.

We must learn to trust, be still and yield our souls to God.

He will purify our souls until it lives forever abiding in His Heart.

Yes, abiding in His Heart.

 

Chorus

 

There is a furnace of affliction sometimes will make us cry.

It is only for the soul to partake of and be purified.

For it removes the dross, the putrid stained by the flesh.

So our souls can abide in Christ and enjoy her eternal rest.

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Enjoy Christ and Enjoy Life!