Revealing of the dross

“Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver; I have tested you in the furnace of affliction.”

Isaiah 48:10

The Covid-19 pandemic lockdown caught us all and my family by surprise and required us to adapt to changes and to embrace transformations. There was no running away during moments of conflict. Tempers flared frequently over the smallest things at home, and our patience began to wane as the days passed. It was hard. Most times these tensions between family members simply revealed deeper issues that had yet been resolved and swept under the carpet for years. They were just too uncomfortable to speak about.

It was as if the lockdown was a catalyst to the revealing of areas the Lord desires to see realigned and restored in our lives individually, and as a family. In Isaiah 48:10, the Lord tells Israel that He has purified her in the fire. He has tested her in the furnace.

The purification of gold or silver requires the refiner to place it into a furnace, and the heat soon separates the dross from the precious metal. What is left after the great heat is a precious substance – clean and pure, after it has come forth from the fire.

Indeed, He is not just revealing deeper issues to us in the fire, but also calling us to respond by allowing Him to remove the dross from our lives. - By EL

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Pray Father, come and deal with the dross in my life. I surrender my struggles into Your hands. May You give me a fresh impartation of Your grace.

Hello God, can you hear me?

“Rejoice always…for this

is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”

1 Thessalonians 5:18

Perhaps you have experienced a time of grief from losing a loved one or a time of agony of a crushed dream. Feeling utterly helpless, you cried out to God, “Hello God, can You hear me?”

It was just another day during the week after dinner, where I shared about prayer to my two little boys. Their eyes opened wide in amazement when I explained that prayer is not just talking to God but hearing God’s voice. My older boy asked, “Mommy, you mean God can hear me, and I can hear God’s voice?” “Yes, honey.” Since that day, my boys have been praying to God and they started in this journey of hearing God’s voice.

There’s something about the childlike faith in children that is not tainted by the harsh realities of life that adults have experienced. The Apostle Paul says, “Rejoice always…for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” (1 Thessalonians 5:18). God wants us to respond with childlike faith and obedience by rejoicing always, in every situation.

God is not the initiator of all things, but He can turn all things around for good for those who love Him and are called according to His purpose (Romans 8:28). We can come boldly to God’s throne of grace to obtain mercy and find help in our time of need (Hebrews 4:16). - By DQ

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Pray Father, I know that You hear me, and I thank You for strengthening me through Your grace that I may rejoice in every situation and to be more than an overcomer through Christ who strengthens me.

Modelling God's Love

“Love is patient, love is kind…”

1 Corinthians 13:4

While I was pregnant, I had difficulties wearing my sandals. One day, my little son noticed and said, “Mummy, let me help you.” He knelt and gingerly put on my sandals onto my feet. Right there, God showed me the many times I had helped put on my son’s shoes, modelling love to him.

Parenting has taught me unconditional love. From pregnancy, mothers endure incredible bodily and birth pains. After birth, the days and nights of infant care seem endless. Once our babies become toddlers, temper tantrums come to test one’s patience. At times, our children fall ill, and we nurse them back to health. As they grow up, exam stress, teenage hormones, relationship issues, etc. set in. There is no easy love with parenting. The NKJV translation of “makrothumei” is “suffer long” – to persevere, to be patient – that’s often what parenting is.

We love as God first loved us. (1 John 4:19) As a child of God, I have been a recipient of God’s unconditional love and relentless patience, despite my countless moments of rebellion and wrongful ways.

Likewise, our children love as we first love them, unconditionally and patiently. As my son reciprocate his love through this touching gesture, I am freshly encouraged to keep loving my children well, and model God’s love to the world around me. - By WT

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Pray

Father, let Your love be perfected in me, and let me be a model of Your love to others.