[Feature Story] How to Pass the Refinement with True Faith “Refinement is blessing and God’s love.”
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July?17, 2022 |
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We should firmly believe the love of God until the end.
1 Peter 1:7 says, “so that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” Why is God of love refining us believers? It is because He earnestly wants us to receive praise, glory and honor in Heaven forever and ever in the future by having faith like gold while living their life of faith on this earth. In order to have the faith like gold, we should fight against sin to the point of bloodshed and cast away every form of evil. In order to die daily like the Apostle Paul did, we have many things to endure in the Lord, and we sometimes suffer for no reasons.
In such a case, we can win only when we realize the great love of God the Trinity who wants to lead us to a better heaven, always rejoice, give thanks for everything, and pray without ceasing. We must also firmly believe in God’s love until the end. If you doubt thinking, ‘Why can’t God help me? Does He really love me?’, you may resent and complain. So, we should keep the love of the cross deeply in our heart and be patient. It says in James 1:4, “And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.” Only when we realize the great love God the Trinity who meticulously intervenes, we can fully endure and bear valuable fruit by faith.
We should believe that it is a shortcut to making our dreams come true.
As it is said in Romans 5:3-4, “And not only this, but we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance; and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope;” the refinement is like a shortcut to quickly fulfilling our wishes. During tribulation, we may feel tempted to give up, but if we persevere in the Lord and receive refinement, we will be quickly changed in hope, and we can become the perfect children who resemble God. Therefore, we should rejoice in the midst of tribulation and try to pass it with faith, hope and love following the example of forefathers of faith who were martyred with joy without escaping under any circumstances.
Man wants to go on a more comfortable and easier way, but God the Trinity refines His beloved children and works all things together for good. If there are people around us who are teasing about everything, we probably don’t want to meet them. However, if we do not turn away from that person, persevere in hope despite the discomfort of meeting them, and try to truly understand and forgive the person, any of us can be quickly changed. Realizing that refinement is a shortcut to fulfilling hope, we should endure everything boldly with joy, and move forward with faith in hope.
We should only think good and do good only.
God is alive and He rewards us according to our deeds, and we reap what we sow. However, some people wonder and say, “I have acted according to the Word, but why does the situation not change and God does not work?” They think they are faithful and pray earnestly, but in God’s eyes, they still have sin and evil in their hearts. That’s why the situation doesn’t change yet. In reality, trials and tribulations seem to come from people or certain circumstances, but from a spiritual point of view, they are brought about by the evil enemy devil and Satan. Therefore, in order to win the spiritual battle, we should fight according to the spiritual law. We should not fight against people, but we should only overcome evil with good(Romans 12:21).
When we do good, it seems as if we lose right away and lose money, but good always wins because God, who is just and god, governs the life and death of man according to the spiritual law. No matter what trials, tribulations, and persecutions come, if we do good, we can overcome them. When an unbelieving family member persecutes you, if you try to persuade and overcome that member thinking, ‘Why is he or she so evil?’, the temptation may become greater or longer. Rather, you should strive to impress him or her by praying with love and serving in the Lord. In this way, when you think good and do good in any situation, God can defeat the enemy devil and Satan and give you answers at the best time by controlling the heart of that family member.
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