Refining Fire 1 Peter 1:1-12

Have you noticed the cost of gold lately? It is at about $1500 an ounce. Not bad. I went to a gold party recently and brought some gold chains and old rings that I had. It didn’t have much because most of my jewelry has a sentimental value to me, but I still made a couple hundred dollars.

A few of the items I brought I wasn’t sure were real gold and others I wasn’t sure the quality of the gold. The jeweler was able to tell me exactly what it was though. He knew immediately what I brought and told me its value.

Our scripture passage today says, “Pure gold put in the fire comes out of it proved pure; genuine faith put through this suffering comes out proved genuine. When Jesus wraps this all up, it's your faith, not your gold, that God will have on display as evidence of his victory. “

The pure jewelry I brought survived the jewelers test. Our faith is tested daily. At some point we will all probably experience deep suffering. Times of hardship and suffering cause us to take a deep look at our faith and evaluate if God is who He says He is. We find out if we believe in God because he is God or because we want an easy life?

1 Peter says that our faith will be displayed as evidence of his victory. God knows our suffering will stretch us, but He wants us to trust the Holy Spirit to refine our faith so that when the day of testing comes we will survive the fire.

Read today's passage at Biblegateway 1 Peter 1:1-12

No More Test Anxiety, 1 Corinthians 15:1-8

Has your faith ever been tested? James chapter one says to consider it pure joy… because the testing of your faith produces perseverance and maturity. Going through seasons of testing are not a reflection of poor faith but rather an opportunity to strengthen it.


In our passage today, Paul is telling the church in Corinth to, “Remember the message that I preached and that you believed and trusted. You will be saved by this message, if you hold firmly to it. But if you don't, your faith was all for nothing.”

Paul understood that testing and even temptations, which are not from God, would come. Temptations would try and pull believers away from the faith, while tests are designed for us to cling to our faith.

I believe my father’s faith was tested in the last days of his life. He and my mother would sit and talk about what was going to happen after he died. Facing his mortality he was struck with questions. It wasn’t a result of a lack of faith though, he and my mother would just sit and recount the message that had been preached to them, the message they both believed and trusted.

They both held firmly to the message during that difficult time, and now this Easter Sunday my father will experience, like never before, the power of the resurrected Christ.

Read today's passage at Biblegateway 1 Corinthians 15:1-8

Jesus Tempted in the Desert - Matthew 4:1-11

Have you ever wondered why Satan spent time trying to tempt Jesus? It seems like a fools errand, doesn't it? Jesus was baptized, He fasted for 40 days and nights in the desert, then Satan approached Him in an attempt to get Jesus to do three things:

1. Satisfy His hunger
2. Use His heavenly power to do His earthly bidding
3. Bow to Satan and be rewarded with material things

What Satan didn't count on was Jesus recognizing Satan and using Scripture to combat all of the evil one's schemes. Do you recognize any of these tricks? Does Satan try to get your attention with food or power or compromise?

Satan was hoping to convince Jesus to work independent of His Father. Satan knew Jesus was God and understood the power He has. He wanted Him to go rogue. Can you sometimes relate as well? Do you feel under attack when you are most vulnerable? That is how Satan works. We can learn much from this scripture text; lean on the Word of God, call upon familiar verses from your reading time and God will show you a way out. Satan always wants us to work independent of the Father.

The final scene in this story finds the angels attending to Jesus' every need. "The Test was over. The Devil left. And in his place, angels! Angels came and took care of Jesus' needs." (Matthew 4:13 MSG)

To read the complete text for today click here .  To return to this posting hit the back arrow.

Would You Pass The Test? Genesis 22

Has God ever tested you? This week has been a test for me. I have been dealing with a clogged sink, which resulted in a hole in my kitchen floor, a week of eating out, and a weekend without water to do dishes or laundry. Ok I admit, I don’t mind that I can’t cook, but I’m going to run out of clothes soon.

It seems to be one hit after another and I feel as if God is testing my reaction. I am constantly going to Him needing wisdom. I want to be a good witness without being a push over. I believe this is a test because self-control or should I say holding my tongue is a struggle for me.

Today’s scripture shows how Abraham was tested by God. Today’s passage makes my test pale in comparison. Abraham is commanded by God to sacrifice his only son. Could you do that? I can’t help but think that I would doubt it was God speaking. Abraham is obedient and God blesses him my giving him his son back.

Why would God do this? He teaches us through his testing. He knows the areas where we need to grow. One comfort I receive is that God won’t ask us to do anything He isn’t willing to do. He proves that by sacrificing his own son for us.

Read the entire scripture on Biblegateway Genesis 22