From The Crucible (by Pastor Linda Pugsley)

Something can look like pure gold but that won’t be seen until it goes into the fire. If it is pure gold, there is no junk (dross). And so it is with us. As we encounter various fiery trials (our crucible), either our fleshy Adam nature rises up or the pure nature of God shines forth.

There is no such thing as "almost" pure. Even if something is 99.9% pure, that 0.1% makes it impure. If any part of the flesh is there, at that moment you are not pure. Let’s be reminded here, Jesus was never polluted, not even 0.1%. Not so for us, unfortunately, we were born that way, but in Christ, we are made acceptable to God...100% pure. Without Him…it’s “dirt city”! Why is that important…because NOTHING UNCLEAN can be in the presence of God! Oh, oh.

That is why we must have some of these “fiery trials”. The heat of the moment, the pain, the challenge, the loss, etc. is needed to cause the “dross” to come out and those impurities to rise up allowing God (the perfect refiner) to skim it off.

We all want that fiery trial only once in a lifetime; sadly, we have a lot of impurities ingrained in us from our world, our backgrounds, our culture and any and all ungodly influences that are passed on down or have seeped in. Sorry ‘bout that…no free ride…the heat has to be applied! But you can trust God to know what He is doing. Any good refiner knows that if the heat is too low, all the impurities won’t come out; and if the heat is too high, it ruins the properties of the element. Even when we want to jump out of the fire…don’t do it…stay right there and you will be purified and strengthened beyond measure.

Let us then strive to put away any defilement of sin (physical, mental, spiritual)...remember…even if it is as small as 0.1%, it’s not pure. No excuses…just do it! Endure the fire...it's producing pure gold!

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