Picture taken by Kinpuffs"And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of His Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers."
Bei2 gave me this verse over Thanksgiving break when I went through a really hard time. God works for the GOOD of those who love Him...at that time, I was thinking that God would bestow blessings upon me to comfort and help me overcome the tough trial. It was only this morning, when I had a lunch date with Clementine, that I realized the "GOOD" is being "CONFORMED TO THE LIKENESS OF HIS SON." Yes, be like Jesus.
Many times, God allows painful experiences in our life for a very beautiful reason. Sadly, for most of us, it takes HEART-THROBBING SUFFERING for us to understand His precious blood, for us to be conformed to the likeness of His Son. It took me making the biggest mistake of my life.. to truly understand His grace, His goodness, His faithfulness.. for me to understand intimacy and obedience. All the pain, all the discipline, all the ripping away of idols..all to be more like Jesus Christ.
Dana & FloJie gave me an analogy once during FRF. A refiner puts gold into the fire to chip away the impurities. Likewise, God puts us through painful fires to rip away the ugly things that don't belong. A refiner knows to pull the gold out of the fire when he sees a reflection of himself on the gold. Jesus pulls out out of suffering when He sees that the fires have molded us into a REFLECTION OF HIM. It's crazy that we're all ambassadors..all vessels of our Lord. We're truly suppose to reflect HIM.
"In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith- of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire- may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory, and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed."
Lord God, I come before You this today.. completely open to any fire You're willing for me to go through. Evonne and I talk about being on our knees every morning as a reflection of our HEARTS being on its knees. My heart is on its knees, yielding to YOU. Lord, You are my Refiner, my Master, my King, and my Authority. Do to me and through me as You will. Please continue to mold me, no matter the pain or suffering, to the likeness of Your Son. Thank You, Lord Jesus :]
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