Purified part 3
Three Hebrews boys went into the fire. And only their bonds were burned off. Because there was a fourth man in the fire. And He looked like the Son of God. Because He WAS the Son of God. Because God IS the purifying, consuming fire. Nebuchadnezzar thought the fire would destroy Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. But, like Joseph before them... "But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive" (Genesis 50:20). And, really, that's where you get to when you've been purified. You get to that place of maturity. Where it doesn't matter what someone else does, or what they mean to do. You stop taking things personally, even if they are personal. You rise above all the noise and you begin to hear the still, small voice of God saying (with every beat of His heart in your chest), "I love you, I love you, I love you." You stop fighting against things and you start turning the other cheek. You stop letting things get into you, and you start letting what's REALLY in you come out. You begin to love one another fervently out of a pure heart. When you understand how big, and how good, and how all-powerful love is, you see that there's not room for anything else. The consuming fire consumes everything BUT itself (Himself). God is light, and there is no darkness in Him at all, right? And as He is, so are we in this world, right? So WE are light and there is no darkness in US at all. We have been washed with the Word (which is Jesus, which is love). We have been purified. Transformed. Conformed into the image of God's beloved Son in whom He is well pleased. That's our true identity. That's the inner man. The hidden man of the heart. And when we know and believe the love of God... when we receive it and release it... when we receive it BY releasing it... that's when the hidden man of the heart is no longer hidden. That's when we come out of that fire smelling like a rose. The process may have been a bit uncomfortable, but we know it was for our good. ALL things work together for our good. Even (especially?) the things that seem the worst. Being sold into slavery by your brothers, for example. But a setback is really just a setup for a comeback. And who doesn't love a good comeback story? So I think what I'm trying to say is: Don't get discouraged. Don't get down on yourself. You ARE who you're supposed to be. And while it might not seem like you're exactly where you're supposed to be all the time... its a never-ending life-long journey into the heart of the matter. Which is the heart. Like I said before, God's heart beating in your chest. Beating with love. Love is the incorruptible seed that Jesus planted in us with His death on the cross. And that seed has (and is, and will continue to) bear fruit. The fruit of the Spirit. Which is love. He showed us what love really is by laying His life down for us. Giving us everything He had and everything He is. So that we can have it. So that we can, in turn, give it away. That's what pure love looks like--giving everything you are and everything you have. And not worrying about getting anything back. I think that's where I'm going to be tomorrow: Loving people no matter what. Loving people anyway. Because that's how God loved us. He didn't put any demands on us. He just loved the hell out of us. And by doing so... He purified us!