Week Twenty-One, 2025
But he knows where I am going. And when he tests me, I will come out as pure as gold. Job 23:10
We boarded the elevator and as it descended, everything was dark. We passed the one mile mark and then stopped at the second. We were then two miles below the surface of the earth. It was over a hundred degrees, with friction heat caused by the shifting of the earth’s platelets. We then boarded a mining train and stopped at the source and there it was…… sparkling gold. We watched as they loaded the ore trains to begin the process of removing the ore to the surface.
Gold refining is a process that transforms crude gold, containing impurities, into a highly pure form. We walked through each process. Each ounce of gold recovered requires the processing of about 100,000 ounces of ore…… that’s 3.125 tons. Finally, we got to the pots of melted pure gold and saw it poured into forms where it cooled and could be removed as a gold brick weighing seventy-five pounds. At today’s price, each brick was worth several million dollars. I saw mounds of discarded trash that grew as the refinement gets closer to pure gold.
There is a spiritual parallel here. The gold ore represents our salvation. When we confess that Christ is Lord and are saved, we attain the “gold” of life. It is forever until we stand before Christ at life’s end. It represents a new life we gain to live on earth and pass into eternity.
But then, there is sanctification, a growing process. It is one where we refine our relationship by off-loading the sin and yuck in our life. It piles up as we cast off the impurities in our life…… thoughts, actions, language, habits and all the things that don’t belong in the life of a saved person.
Brothers and sisters, I could not address you as people who live by the Spirit but as people who are still worldly—mere infants in Christ. 2 I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready. 3 You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere humans? 1 Cor 3:1-3
The Bible uses the refining of gold as a metaphor for spiritual purification and testing. It suggests that trials and hardships can refine and purify individuals, much like how gold is refined by fire to remove impurities. This process of refinement leads to greater spiritual maturity and value, both in this life and in eternity.
Where are you in your refinement process and what do you need to throw out in your life?
Sometimes True Stories
We know that salvation is found only through faith in Christ (cf. John 3:18; 14:6; Acts 4:12). But here’s what many evangelicals get wrong: We lead people to trust in Christ as their Savior but take them no further.
This is like parents who bring a child into the world and then leave it at the hospital. The “new birth” is only the beginning of the Christian life. Jesus wants us not only to be saved from hell, but to experience the transformation only He can make in our lives.
He did not call people to be “believers”, but “disciples,” consistently inviting them to “follow me” (Matthew 4:19; 8:22; 9:9; 16:24; 19:21). The Greek means to “walk with me, going where I go.” It describes not just a “decision for Christ” but a lifetime of experiencing Him in an intimate, transforming way. Jim Denison
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No matter what letter may follow their name, those elected into governmental positions and those appointed have embraced only part of what it means to be a public servant. Many are more than willing to adapt to the public part by gravitating to the cameras when on, but nearly all have neglected or completely rejected the servant part.
We have the perfect model of a public servant in Jesus Christ. His ministry was certainly very public, yet His demeanor and actions were that of a servant. And He could have asserted His divine sovereignty at any time.
If Jesus is our model, are you husbands a servant leader to your wife and family? Are you wives a servant leader to your husbands and family? Are you employers’ servant leaders to the needs of your employees? And so on.
Jesus didn’t give up His position of authority to display servanthood. Neither must we. But He was a servant first. And so should we be. Be like Jesus. Rich Jensen
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During your years in school did anyone ever hold up wisdom, discipline and insight as important goals for your life? If you are like me, it never happened. We learn a lot of so-called facts, but there is little attention given to wisdom, discipline and insight. The truth is these three attributes will do more to help our lives than all of the facts we could ever learn. Wisdom will give you the right answers to the questions of our lives. Discipline will form and protect our lives, and insight will give us a great understanding. Remember, God doesn’t expect us to understand everything. He asks us to trust Him! That’s wisdom. Tony Ferguson
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The number of Americans who believe our country is on the right track is now the highest it has been in 21 years.
Quotes You Can Use
Life is ten percent what happens to you and ninety percent how you respond to it. Lou Holtz
Our walk with God should always be progressing. Dan Shock
The only thing we should covet is a closer relationship with God. Dan Shock
For death is no more than a turning of us over from time to eternity. William Penn
If you look for truth, you may find comfort in the end; if you look for comfort you will not get either comfort or truth only soft soap and wishful thinking to begin, and in the end, despair. C. S. Lewis
Some people put religious activity before obedience to the Lord. They are wrong! The Lord wants us to do what is right and just as a first priority! It is really a matter of the heart. If we truly love the Lord, we will do what He says and not try and impress Him and others with our religiosity. We will never regret doing the right thing. Tony Ferguson
If passion drives you, let reason hold the reins. Benjamin Franklin
How different things look when our spiritual eyes are opened. Dan Shock
God has never over-promised or under-delivered. Edgar Aponte
Speech is great; but silence is greater. Thomas Carlyle
Jesus told us that what the world believes to be highly esteemed, is often detestable in God’s eyes. Dwight Short
Life without God is like an unsharpened pencil…. It has no point. Billy Graham
In this time… Choose worship over worry. Choose faith over fear. Choose peace over panic. Pray that God will protect our nation, our families and us as individuals. Marty Stubblefield
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