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Refiner’s Fire

Fit and Pleasing to God

PREVIEW: Fiery trials aren’t much fun, to say the least. But scripture often presents God as the great silversmith and you as the precious but unrefined silver. And when you are in the Refiner’s fire, be assured that you will never be left in the fire too long, but neither will you be taken out too soon. Rather, you will always be under the watchful eye of the One who fully understands the refining process. And when, as a result of the fire, your life reflects the image of Christ, you will be ready, purified like pure silver, fit and pleasing to God. So, if you are in a fiery trial, hang in there; you’re going to really shine when it is all said and done.

"Remember, if you are in a fiery trial, when as a result of the heat your life reflects the image of Christ, you will be refined like pure silver, fit and pleasing to God."-Ray Noah

A Journey of Worship // Psalm 66:10-12

For you, God, tested us; you refined us like silver. You brought us into prison and laid burdens on our backs. You let people ride over our heads; we went through fire and water, but you brought us to a place of abundance.

What is the difficulty that you are going through at this moment in your life? My prayer is that God will use this trial to develop deeper character in you.

I realize that trials aren’t much fun. But I also know that God uses problems and pain in our lives to do some of his best work. James 1:2-4 says, “Whenever trouble comes your way, let it be an opportunity for joy. For when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be strong in character and ready for anything.”

The psalmist saw the difficult situations God allowed Israel to endure in that light. I hope that you, too, will see your trying situation, above all else, as the work of the Great Refiner to bring about his pure character in you.

I came across this story of how a silversmith describing the process of purifying silver. I hope it gives you a whole new perspective:

The silversmith said, “To refine the silver, I sit with my eyes steadily fixed on the furnace, for if the time necessary for refining is exceeded in the slightest degree, the silver will be injured. I never take my eye off the silver in the furnace. I don’t want to take it out too early because if I take it out too early, it won’t be purified. But I don’t want to leave it in the fire too long, because if I do, it will be injured. When the silver is in the fire, I focus. I don’t let anything distract me. I let nothing take my focus off the silver. I watch the silver carefully, waiting for the right moment to take it out.”

The silversmith was asked, “How do you know when it is the right moment?”

And he said, “I know the silver is pure when I can see my face reflected in it.”

The Old Testament prophet Malachi describes God as a refiner and purifier of silver: “He’ll be like white-hot fire from the smelter’s furnace. He’ll be like the strongest lye soap at the laundry. He’ll take his place as a refiner of silver, as a cleanser of dirty clothes. He’ll scrub the Levite priests clean, refine them like gold and silver, until they’re fit for God, fit to present offerings of righteousness. Then, and only then, will Judah and Jerusalem be fit and pleasing to God.” (Mal 3:2-5)

What a profound picture of God, the great silversmith, and you, the silver. You are never left in the refiner’s fire too long or taken out too soon but are always under the watchful eye of the one who fully understands the refining process. And when, as a result of the fire, your life reflects the image of Christ, you will be ready, purified like pure silver, fit and pleasing to God.

Hang in there; you’re going to really shine when this is all said and done.

My Offering of Worship: If you are going through a fiery trial, change your prayers from “God, why me?” to “God, what now?”

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He’s All Ears

God Hears, So Why Not Ask

PREVIEW: What would you do if you worshipped a god who never heard your prayers? Or if you believed in no god at all? How sad, scary, and frustrating that would be! And yet billions of people on this planet live that way. But we have a God who hears us when we pray! How blessed are we that God has chosen us as his people, has given us the awesome privilege to come into his courts, and has invited us to pour out our hearts to him. And he hears us! But if we don’t take advantage of that privilege, as Phillips Brooks said, “it is an infinitely foolish thing.”

2024-01-15 He's All Ears

A Journey of Worship // Psalm 65:2-4

You, God, answer prayer, to you all people will come. When we were overwhelmed by sins, you forgave our transgressions. Blessed are those you choose and bring near to live in your courts! We are filled with the good things of your house, of your holy temple.

What would you do if you worshipped a god who never heard your prayers? Or if you believed in no god at all? How sad, scary, and frustrating that would be! And yet billions of people on this planet live that way.

Over the years, it has been my privilege to travel to many places and engage in missionary work, and one of the sobering things I witness wherever I go is a profound sadness and emptiness in the souls of people who don’t know our God.

In the former Soviet Union, I’ve talked with people who had been indoctrinated their entire lives with the communist propaganda that God didn’t exist. That Soviet system promised the Russian people everything, but in the end, it not only didn’t deliver, but it also robbed their souls of the joy, peace, and hope that comes only from being connected to the Creator. What I saw in their eyes was a bleak reminder of what happens to the human spirit when you take God out of the picture.

Russia isn’t the only place where that happens. I’ve witnessed desperate Hindus in Sri Lanka making sacrifices of food to their gods while their emaciated children played in a sewage-infested stream nearby. I’ve seen devout Catholics in Central America pouring out their hearts to icons and animists in Africa worshipping snakes, but none of them walked away from their respective religious rites with any sense that their prayers had been heard. And every day here in America, people worship their stuff, yet they crave more since, in reality, they are giving their worship to a god that cannot hear.

But we have a God who hears us when we pray! And like the psalmist said, how blessed we are that God has chosen us as his people, given us the awesome privilege to come into his courts, and invited us to pour out our hearts to him. And he hears us!

He hears our pleas for forgiveness—and answers: “When we were overwhelmed by sins, you forgave our transgressions.” (Psalm 65:3)

He hears our prayers for provision—and answers: “Blessed are those you choose and bring near to live in your courts! We are filled with the good things of your house, of your holy temple.” (Psalm 65:4)

He hears our request for intervention—and answers: “You answer us with awesome and righteous deeds, God our Savior, the hope of all the ends of the earth and of the farthest seas” (Psalm 65:5)

And even when we don’t ask, he still fuels this global ecosystem with what it requires to keep us alive: “You care for the land and water it; you enrich it abundantly. The streams of God are filled with water to provide the people with grain, for so you have ordained it…You crown the year with your bounty, and your carts overflow with abundance.” (Psalm 65:9,11)

How blessed we are—God hears us when we pray. As the Apostle John said, “This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him.” (1 John 5:14-15)

How blessed, indeed, that we are His, and He is ours!

My Offering of Worship: Since God hears and answers the prayers of his people, why not offer up your requests? As Phillips Brooks said, not to is an infinitely foolish thing.

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Complain, Complain, Complain

Let God Turn Your Whining into Worshiping

PREVIEW: Most of the time, God’s Word instructs us not to complain. Yet, there is a form of complaint that is not only acceptable but also quite therapeutic. David did it in this psalm; David does it a lot in the psalms: He gripes to God. The whining and griping we voice, for the most part, grates on the people who must listen to us. It does us no good—even if they give in to what we want, they have been pushed down the path to a negative opinion of us. But when we pour out our complaint to God, good things happen in us and for us, not the least of which is that our whining will turn to worshiping.

2024-01-12 Complaining, Complaining, Complaining

A Journey of Worship // Psalm 64:1

Hear me, O God, as I voice my complaint.

One of my favorite stories is of the monk who joined a monastery and took a vow of silence. After the first ten years, the abbot called him in and asked, “Do you have anything to say?”

The monk replied, “Food bad.”

After another ten years, the monk again had an opportunity to voice his thoughts. He said, “Bed hard.”

Then, at the end of thirty years, once again, the monk was called before his superior. When asked if he had anything to say, he broke his silence and blurted out, “I quit.”

The angry abbot shot back, “It doesn’t surprise me one bit. You’ve done nothing but complain ever since you got here.”

Great story. Like the abbot, I’m not a big fan of complaining or complainers. My unspoken response to those who complain is what a friend once said to me when I was complaining: “Build a bridge and get over it.” Once in a while, I will actually say that if I feel a jolt like that, it would be good for the griper.

Most of the time, God’s Word instructs us not to complain. Paul said to the Philippians, “Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe.” (Philippians 2:14-15)

Yet, there is a form of complaint that is not only acceptable but also quite therapeutic. David did it in this psalm; David does it a lot in the psalms: He gripes to God. The whining and griping we voice, for the most part, grates on people who have to listen to us. It does us no good—even if they give in to what we want, they have been pushed down the path to a negative opinion of us. But when we pour out our complaint to God, things happen.

What things? First, we get out what, by and large, shouldn’t be bottled up inside. Second, voicing our upset gives us a chance to evaluate whether we should really be upset or not. Third, we put what we can’t control in the hands of the One who is in control of all things. And fourth, as we are asking God to change the circumstances we are griping about, God does something even better—he changes us.

Notice in this psalm how David starts off with whining (Psalm 64:1-7) and ends up worshiping:

[When God acts on our behalf] then all mankind fears; they tell what God has brought about and ponder what he has done. Let the righteous one rejoice in the Lord and take refuge in him! Let all the upright in heart exult! (Psalm 64:9-10).

That is usually what happens when you follow the psalmist’s plan for problem-solving: whining is replaced with worshiping. And anytime you end up worshiping, you are in a good place.

My Offering of Worship: Are you complaining about a matter? Stop griping and go to God. He will listen. He will act. And he will give you a better perspective. But at the end of your complaint session, make sure your whining has turned to worshiping.

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Desert School

It’s Where faith in God Alone is Forged

Give It Some Thought: Every hero of our faith got wilderness school. And each would tell us that the desert was the most productive time of their lives. You see, the desert is the place where you get stripped of every false dependency while, at the same time, your faith is forged in God alone. That is never a pleasant process. Frankly, it is the toughest thing a believer is forced to endure. It requires solitude, involuntary insignificance, forced simplicity, soul-searching, patience, and desperation, to name a few—the necessary ingredients to an altogether deeper dimension with God, ingredients that are only extracted and catalyzed in the blast furnace of the desert. The desert is where the rebel soul learns the ways of God.

A Journey of Worship // Psalm 63:1

O God, you are my God, earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you, my body longs for you, in a dry and weary land where there is no water.

David wrote this psalm in the desert—not the kind of place you would first think of as the perfect setting for such an eloquent prayer like this. But if you were to study the lives of all the greats in God’s Hall of Faith, you would find that, almost without exception, each had spent a season in the desert.

The most famous desert dweller, Moses, spent forty years on the backside of the Sinai wilderness. He, however, was only one in a long line of many: Abraham was schooled in the desert, Elijah got it, too, and so did John the Baptist, Peter, and Paul. God’s people, Israel, spent forty years wandering in the desert; forty years it took for God to drain 400 years of Egypt out of them.

Even Jesus, God’s own Son, spent forty days and nights fasting and praying in the dangerous and desolate Judean wilderness. Now, if the very Son of God needed wilderness school, guess what? The desert is going to be core curriculum in your school of spiritual maturity as well.

My sense is that each of these heroes of faith would tell us that, in hindsight, the desert was the most productive time of their lives. How could that be? Well, the desert is the place where you get stripped of every false dependency, while at the same time, faith in God alone is forged in the core of your being. That is never a pleasant process. Frankly, it is the toughest thing a believer is forced to endure. It requires solitude, involuntary insignificance, forced simplicity, soul-searching, patience, and desperation, just to name a few—the necessary ingredients to an altogether deeper dimension with God, ingredients that are only extracted and catalyzed in the blast furnace of the desert. Andrew Bonar, a nineteenth-century Scottish preacher, said,

In order to grow in grace, men must be much alone. It is not in society that the soul grows most vigorously. It is in the desert that the dew falls freshest and the air is purest. The backside of the desert is where men and things, the world and self, present circumstances and their influences, are all valued at what they are really worth. There it is, and there alone, that you will find a Divinely-adjusted balance in which to weigh all around you and within you.

All the greats were driven into the desert, and there they found God. It seems that in our day, we’ve done our best to avoid the desert, which has only left us devoid of deepness with God. Maybe we need to reconsider the desert; it may not be such a bad place after all. The desert is where the rebel soul learns the ways of God.

My Offering of Worship: In retrospect, where has God put you through desert school? And what were the spiritual lessons you learned there? Once you have rehearsed them, offer up a prayer of gratitude for the invaluable faith lessons that God has taught you that only came in your desert.

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A Trust & Faith Sandwich

How to Master Your Feelings

Give It Some Thought: Your feelings are neither good nor bad; they just are what they are. But you have not been called to follow your feelings. Those feelings, rather, are simply meant to be a reminder, a catalyst, if you will, that in any particular moment of pain, you need to realign your life by faith and in trust to God’s perfect plan. So, the next time you get an emotional ouch, go ahead and say, “That stinks!” but refrain from attaching a judgment from the hurt too quickly. Take it to God, and yes, pour out your heart, but don’t forget to make a holy sandwich out of it—a trust and faith sandwich!

A Journey of Worship // Psalm 62:5-8

Let all that I am wait quietly before God, for my hope is in him. He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress where I will not be shaken. My victory and honor come from God alone. He is my refuge, a rock where no enemy can reach me. O my people, trust in him at all times. Pour out your heart to him, for God is our refuge.

A while back, I was with a good friend who had been through an especially rough stretch in his life. His world had been rocked, and he had been deeply disappointed by people who had been close to him. Yet he had landed upright and was now in a very good place spiritually, emotionally, and professionally. In fact, in my observation, he was in a better place than before his disappointment. Truly, God had been a shelter for him in the time of storm; much like David, he had found refuge in the God who turns bad into good for his children.

I asked my friend, in hindsight, to share with me the biggest takeaway from his experience. I thought his response was nothing less than profound. I’ll paraphrase what he said: “I learned that my feelings were simply my feelings. I was hurt and disappointed, but that was okay—those were just my feelings. But I learned not to attach judgments too quickly to those feelings. Though I felt bad, I learned not to think or say, ‘this is the end of the world”, or ‘those people who did hurt me deserve to suffer.’”

In other words, he learned to detach from how he felt at the moment in the sense that he gave the circumstance time to be reworked by the God in whose hands his life was held. In the rearview mirror of life, he was able to assess his painful past in a whole new and much brighter light. The things that hurt and the people who disappointed me are now a cause for thanksgiving.

That is what David is doing in this psalm. It is likely that Psalm 62 was written during or shortly after the personal upheaval that he experienced with his rebellious son, Absalom. On the one hand, David is pouring out his feelings to God (“Pour out your heart to him,” Psalm 62:8b)—which is good—but on the other hand, he is placing his faith in the One who is master over both feelings and the circumstances that led to those feelings (“O my people, trust in him at all times … for God is our refuge,” Psalm 62:8a and c).

Interestingly, David sandwiches his feelings (“pour out your hearts”) between a statement of trust (“trust him at all times”) and a declaration of faith (“for God is our refuge”). By the way, that is a great way to master your feelings and bring them under the dominion of God’s sovereign will for your life: Sandwich them between trust and faith!

You see, feelings are neither good nor bad—they just are what they are. But we have not been called to follow our feelings. Our feelings, rather, are simply meant to be a reminder, a catalyst, if you will, that in any particular moment of pain, we need to realign our lives by faith and in trust to God’s perfect plan.

So the next time you get an emotional ouch, go ahead and say, “That stinks!” but refrain from attaching a judgment from the hurt too quickly. Take it to God, and yes, pour out your heart, but don’t forget to make a holy sandwich out of it—a trust and faith sandwich!

My Offering of Worship: If you are experiencing pain, disappointment, or some sort of devastation, then do what David did: complain to God—tell him exactly how you feel, because he can handle it—then commit your circumstance to him, offer up thanksgiving, then fully commit your trust in him to redeem your hurt for your good and his glory.

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Everything I NeedTo Know About God

I Learned in Genesis 1

Give It Some Thought: Good morning, and Happy January 2. If you began the New Year yesterday with a “Through the Bible” reading plan, you likely started at the beginning, Genesis 1. And in this opening chapter, we find all that we really need to know about anything and everything, which is simply yet profoundly this: God did it! In fact, in the Bible’s opening line, the first thing we discover about God is that he is the creator of all, and the second thing we learn is that he hovers over the chaos, bringing order, beauty, and glory from it. And that should be of great comfort as we begin the journey into an uncertain year ahead, for that is God’s ongoing, unstoppable, flawless work in me—and you, too!

Moments With God // Genesis 1:1-2

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was formless and empty, and darkness covered the deep waters. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters.

The first thing we learn about God in reading the Bible is that he is the Creator. The second thing we learn is that he hovers over the chaos and brings order, beauty, and glory from it.

Now the writer of Hebrews tells us that “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever” (Heb 13:8). Jesus, who is God, whom John tells us was the agent of creation (John 1:1-4), is still actively creating and ordering in the lives of his followers.

I am grateful that through Jesus, creating and ordering is still God’s activity in my life. He still forms beauty and glory from my unruly, empty, dark, chaotic life. And while it seems that I am a long way from being finished, I am at the present moment his workmanship (Eph 2:10).

Thank God for a Creator who finishes his work, for “he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” (Phil 1:6).

Enough said. God did it! God is at work! God will finish it. Cheers to the year ahead!

My Offering of Worship: What do we learn from Genesis 1? Simply this: God did it. He started it all from nothing; he is shepherding what he started; he will bring it to the completion he desires—he will finish it in fine fashion. That includes his work in your life, too. Take a moment to offer your gratitude for the Author and Finisher of your faith.

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The Right Motive

Delight Yourself in the Lord

PREVIEW: King David is unashamedly praying for God’s blessing on his life and on his reign as king over Israel. He asked for it all: Divine favor, protection, success, and even long life. He clearly understands that he can do nothing without God: he can’t be an effective king, he can’t even live a decent life if God doesn’t grace him with what only God can give. So, he aggressively, boldly, pointedly asks. In everything David did, and in every prayer request he lifted to God, his motive was that God’s name could be lifted high throughout the earth and throughout every generation. When your motive, like his, is to squeeze the last ounce of glory for God out of your one and only life, then you, too, can unashamedly ask the Lord to empty heaven’s treasury of blessing nd pour it out upon you.

“If your heart delights in the Lord, expect the Lord to delight your heart.”

A Journey of Worship // Psalm 61:5-8

You have given me an inheritance reserved for those who fear your name. Add many years to the life of the king! May his years span the generations! May he reign under God’s protection forever. May your unfailing love and faithfulness watch over him. Then I will sing praises to your name forever as I fulfill my vows each day.

King David is unashamedly praying for God’s blessing on his life and on his reign as king over Israel. He asked for it all: Divine favor, protection, success, and even long life. He clearly understands that he can do nothing without God: he can’t be an effective king, he can’t even live a decent life if God doesn’t grace him with what only God can give. So, he aggressively, boldly, pointedly asks.

But David had a great motive for asking. It wasn’t just so he could reign as king over Israel more successfully, or just so he could have a problem free ministry, or just so he could live a longer life. All that was fine—and there is certainly nothing wrong in asking for any of it. What David mostly wanted was to squeeze the very last ounce of glory for God out of his one and only life. In everything he did, and in every prayer request he lifted to God, his motive was that God’s name could be lifted high throughout the earth and throughout every generation.

That’s a great motive for asking. It is also a sure way to receive from the Lord. In Psalm 37:4, David wrote, “Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.” What do you desire in your heart? What do you seek in prayer? Make sure the Lord factors first and foremost in all you are hoping for—not because he needs that from you, but because he deserves that from you—and he will pour out his unlimited supply of heavenly grace upon your life.

God looks for people who are wholly bent on glorifying his name. And when he does, the treasury of heaven will open to that person in uncommon ways. The chronicler said, “For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him.” (2 Chronicles 16:9).

When the Lord looks today, may he find that person in you. And may you be blessed beyond your wildest imaginations!

My Offering of Worship: Memorize Psalm 37:4-5, “Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you your heart’s desires. Commit everything you do to the Lord. Trust him, and he will help you.” If your heart delights in the Lord, expect the Lord to delight your heart.