The Refinery Fires

The end of the book of Zechariah is about the Day of the Lord and what will happen when Jesus returns to the earth to reign for 1,000 years from Jerusalem. Of course, He will defeat the enemies who will be attacking Jerusalem, but He will also separate out one-third of the believers as a godly remnant. Then, He will send them through the refinery fires to purify them, so they will have a close relationship with Him. (Zechariah 13:9) He will send them through the fires of trouble, so they will have the impurities of their souls removed, and they can truly be His people, and He can be their God. This is still God's practice today for us, as believers.

God sends troubles into our lives to refine us. If we are not heated up in the refinery fires, we will never have the sins in our lives brought to the surface, so we can confess them and be cleansed. (I John 1:9) Therefore, God sends the trials, and He longs for us to listen to Him, trust Him, and draw close to Him in that process. If we are ever going to listen to God, it is when we are in the midst of our troubles. Then, we see our weaknesses, our sins, and our failures. When we do, we bring them to His feet and lay them down, asking for cleansing. God sees our sincere confession and repentance. Then, He is so glad to say, "That's my People," and we are so ready to say, "God -my God." This process of refining goes on until we reach heaven. That way, we never stop becoming more like Jesus while on this earth, if we will allow the Spirit to refine out our sins.

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Tomorrow, I intend to read Malachi 1-4.