SCRIPTURE:"Take away the dross from the silver, And there comes out a vessel for the smith;"
(Proverbs 25:4)
OBSERVATION: Until you remove the dross, the vessel will never be what it could be and more importantly it will never be fit for The King's use!
*Dross is something that is worthless or of a low standard or quality, it is the scum formed on molten metals
APPLICATION: As I read over this verse several things came to mind. I'll share them with you but know that they are in no particular order.
I apologize in advance for not including the source of all these quotes, I simply do not remember where they all came from. Because I believe each of these quotes speak for themselves I will not be expounding on any of them at this time.
"The world's finest china is fired in ovens at least 3 times the normal heat, and some many more. Dresden china is always fired three times. Why is it forced to endure such intense heat? That intense heat causes the gold, crimson, and other colors to become brighter, more beautiful, and permanently attached. "
"If Joseph had never been Egypt's prisoner, he would never been Eygpt's governor. The iron chain that bound his feet brought about the golden chain around his neck."
"John Bunyan's voice was silenced for 12 years in a jail cell. And yet it was there he wrote the second greatest work in the world (Pilgrims Progress). He said, "I was at home in prison, and my great joy led me to sit and write and write and write. Fair weather faith is NOT faith at all."
"Enduring hardship - Some people may be put in prison by the world, but their treasure will be locked away with them, for true treasure cannot be locked out of their lives. Their material condition may look like a desert, but the desert and the parched land will be glad, the wilderness will rejoice and blossom (Is.35:1)"
"There is a divine mystery in suffering. When a person who suffers reaches a point where he can be calm and carefree, inwardly smiling at his own suffering and no longer asking God to be delivered from it, THEN the suffering has accomplished its blessed ministry, perserverance has finished its work (James 1:4) and the pain of the crucifixion has begun to weave itself into a crown. The main thing is to suffer without becoming discouraged."
"Thou has enlarged me when I was in distress (Ps.4:1). This statement of thanksgivingt for having been set free NOT from suffering, BUT rather through suffering."
"If you aspire to be a person of consolation, if you want to share the priestly gift of sympathy, if you desire to go beyond giving commonplace comfort to a heart that is tempted, and if you long to go through the daily exchange of life with the kind of tact that never inflicts pain, then you must be prepared to pay the price for a costly education -for like Christ, you must go through testing by fire." Frederick William Robertson
I don't know about you, but it's getting HOT in here to me!
PRAYER: Father God, although in some ways I want to stay far away from this type of prayer I know that in order to be like you I too must suffer. So I pray that you will turn up the heat and in so doing please remove all the dross that I may be a vessel fit for the King.
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