You are chosen in the furnace of affliction

You are chosen in the furnace of affliction


Isaiah 48:10 Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver; I have tested you in the furnace of affliction.

The great evangelist and teacher Charles Spurgeon had a plaque on his bedroom with the words written on it, "I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction."

Spurgeon, writing about the trials and afflictions that the saints endure, said, "It is no mean thing to be chosen of God." He continued, "God's choice makes chosen men choice men … we are chosen, not in the palace, but in the furnace. In the furnace, beauty is marred, fashion is destroyed, strength is melted, glory is consumed; yet here eternal love reveals its secrets, and declares its choice."

In the midst of trials and tribulations comes the burning question: "Why do the righteous suffer?" Some answer with theology, others with platitudes; C.S. Lewis offers a rhetorical, "Why not? They're the only ones who can take it!"

One friend suggests, "Suffering was the personal choice of God at the beginning of creation. [Revelation 13:8] If I want to know Him personally and intimately how can I not embrace it?"

Embrace your trial and the suffering involved, but only if you want a deeper relationship with your personal savior.

https://www.worthydevotions.com/christian-devotional/you-are-chosen-in-the-furnace-of-affliction

You judge me by human standards, but I do not judge anyone.

For I have not come to judge the world, but to save the world.

John 8:15, John 12:47

Whoever claims to live in God should live their lives as Jesus did.
1 John 2:6

The plans of the heart belong to man, but the answer of the tongue is from the LORD.
Proverbs 16:1

In Contrast

Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers. Galatians 6:10


“Your life, your choice.” Sounds simple enough. However, if we follow Jesus with our actions and words, our choices will collide with the world’s norm.

It’s a dog-eat-dog world! Look out for number one. What can you do for me? “What do you want me to do for you” (Matthew 20:32)?

Straighten up! What’s done is done. Nobody can do anything about it. “Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn” (Romans 12:15).

Fight for the top spot! Show them who’s boss. Don’t let anyone stand in your way. “Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant” (Matthew 20:26).

I’ve worked hard for what I have. I deserve a little fun. Why should I help others? “Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not people” (Ephesians 6:7).

Say anything and then do what you want. Do as I say, not as I do. Whatever. “Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth” (1 John 3:18).

You’ve got to be kidding. That task is beneath me. I won’t do it! “Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet” (John 13:14).

It’s my life. I’ll do as I please. Nobody’s going to tell me what to do. “Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends” (John 15:13).

He’ll never amount to anything. Look at all he gave up—and for what? “His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’” (Matthew 25:21).

Your life, your choice. Choose well so you won’t have to endure the consequences.

http://www.christiandevotions.us/viewblogentry/1201

Sacrifice unto the Lord and giving thanks unto Him

Make thankfulness your sacrifice to God, and keep the vows you made to the Most High.

... giving thanks is a sacrifice that truly honors me. If you keep to my path, I will reveal to you the salvation of God."
Psalm 50:14,23

For You do not delight in sacrifice, otherwise I would give it; You are not pleased with burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; A broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise

Psalm 51:16

Speak to one another with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your hearts to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Ephesians 5:19-20

Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God--this is your true and proper worship.
Romans 12:1

My heart has heard you say, “Come and talk with me.”
And my heart responds, “Lord, I am coming.”

Psalm 27:8

But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. 

2 Peter 3:8

Luke 18:1-8

Jesus told his disciples a story to show that they should always pray and never give up.


Unlike mystery novels where you never know who the villain in the story is until the final pages, in Jesus’ parable of the persistent widow, we’re clued in right at the beginning that the judge is a shady character. Jesus sets the stage by informing us that there “was a judge in a certain city . . . who neither feared God nor cared about people” (Luke 18:2). This judge didn’t waste a moment thinking about God or about anybody other than himself. He was selfish, small-minded, and power-hungry.


Jesus introduces us to another character, however, a widow who was destitute and who came to the judge’s court day after day. She repeatedly asked him for a ruling against someone who had wronged her. Time and again, the judge rebuffed her. Yet the widow refused to take no for an answer. Finally the exhausted judge decided he’d had enough. “I don’t fear God or care for people,” the judge admitted, “but this woman is driving me crazy. I’m going to see that she gets justice, because she is wearing me out with her constant requests!” (Luke 18:4-5).


And this is where Jesus drives His point home: If a judge as awful and evil as this can be moved to intervene, then think about how much more powerfully God’s heart and strength will move on your behalf (Luke 18:6). If even this scoundrel finally helps the poor woman, how much more, Jesus asks, can we trust that “God will surely give justice to his chosen people who cry out to him day and night?” (Luke 18:7).


Keep praying, Jesus insists. Keep bringing your entire heart to God. Bring your hopes and disappointments, your desires and needs, your confusion, your dismay, your brokenness. Keep praying, and never give up. Your God hears you and He will answer.

Daily devotion from https://www.ourdailyjourney.org/

He’s Over All

God governs all human plans and acts.

1. Proverbs 16:9 says, “The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps.” Just a general statement.
2. Proverbs 20:24 reads, “A man’s steps are from the Lord; how then can man understand his way?” A general statement about all his steps.
3. Proverbs 16:33: “The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the Lord.” Human beings decide all kinds of ways to make a decision. They try rolling dice, and they draw lots, and they put out pieces of cloth on the ground — whatever. The point here is whatever means they use, it’s going to be God’s will in the end. Every decision is from the Lord.
4. Proverbs 19:21: “Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand.” Whatever humans anywhere in the world are planning and doing, what stands is God’s will.
5. Jeremiah 10:23: “I know, O Lord, that the way of man is not in himself, that it is not in man who walks to direct his steps.”

All of those passages sweepingly say that everything that human beings do is, in the end, the will of God.

http://www.desiringgod.org/interviews/does-god-control-all-things-all-the-time