We should not think that it is a strange or unusual thing when fiery ordeals or testings come upon our lives. It is necessary for God to refine His people before they can receive the power and anointing of the Holy Spirit to become His witnesses. We must come to the place of Christlike-ness, knowing that we can do nothing of or by ourselves, but all things are accomplished by God through the Holy Spirit in us.

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Show Notes:

As believers, we must realize that God uses testings in our life in order to humble us, teach us, discipline us and prepare us for His purposes. This is difficult for us to hear, but it is very necessary in our lives and in the church today.

In our Christian walk, God speaks wonderful things. He has provided all things for us pertaining to life and godliness. He gives us all the great and precious promises by which we are able to obtain His divine nature. Yet at the same time, we must necessarily go through the testings of God in order to prepare us, to discipline us, and to perfect us. Because when these words are spoken to us, we are not ready to walk in these things.

Through testings and trials, God is able to bring us to the place where we can absolutely trust Him, where we are not afraid to follow Him wherever He leads, where we are not afraid to put our lives in His hands—because then we will know that it is His strength, His grace, and His enabling that allows Him to pour out His Spirit upon us, so that we can walk out His purposes in our lives and be His witness to the nations.

Scriptures:

• 1 Peter 4:12–14. “Do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you.”
• 2 Timothy 3:12. “All who desire to live godly…will suffer persecution.”
• Luke 22:19–24. “And there arose a dispute among them.”
• Hebrews 9:28. “Christ…having been offered once to bear the sins of many.”
• Luke 22:58–62. “While he was still speaking a rooster crowed.”
• Luke 24:32–34. “Were not our hearts burning within us?”
• 1 Corinthians 15:3–5. “He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.”
• 1 Corinthians 15:6–8. “He appeared to more than 500 brethren at once.”
• John 21:12–17. “Jesus said to him, ‘Tend my lambs.’”
• John 21:18. “When you were younger, you used to gird yourself.”
• John 21:21–22. “If I want him to remain until I come, what is that to you?”
• 1 Peter 1:7. “The proof of your faith being more precious than gold.”
• 1 Peter 4:1–2. “He who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin.”
• 1 Peter 4:7–15. “If you are reviled for the name of Christ, you are blessed.”
• 1 Peter 5:6–9. “Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion.”
• 1 Peter 5:10–11. “Christ will himself perfect…and establish you.”

Quotes:

• “The carnal mind, the heart, the arrogance that we hold within our flesh nature is so strong and so inbred into us that it takes a lot for God to crush it and bring it to an end. But either we fall on the rock and are broken, or the rock falls on us and grinds us to powder.”
• “God did not write the Bible in such a way that the apostles look like fabulous, perfect men of God. Instead, He shows us their errors and problems because we face the same things—and we know that if He was able to work the miracle of His grace in them, He likewise will and can work the miracle of His grace in us.”
• “It has only been for the grace of God that the Western church has been saved from persecutions for so many years. But I see on the horizon that those days may be ending, and we need to prepare our hearts to go through what we must go through.”

Takeaways:

1. It was only after Christ experienced the fiery ordeal of temptation in the wilderness that He emerged in the power of the Holy Spirit as Messiah.

2. Following the crucifixion, the apostles who walked with Christ throughout His whole ministry also experienced 50 days of fiery trials, and then they were endued with power from on high by the Holy Spirit.

3. As we witness growing signs of rejection and persecution of Judeo-Christian values in the cultures around us, we must remember that the testing of our faith is more precious than gold and through it, the Lord will perfect, confirm, strengthen and establish us.

4. As the end of all things grows near, we should not be surprised at the fiery ordeals we will face, and let us believe that at the end of our trials we will be also filled with the power of the Holy Spirit to fulfill our callings and destiny in God.