The Refiner!

 The podcast discusses the metaphor of God's refining fire, highlighting its role in purification and transformation rather than destruction. Scriptural references from Malachi, 1 Peter, Zechariah, Job, and 2 Corinthians emphasize the process and purpose of trials, illustrating God's attentive and patient nature as He purifies believers. The message encourages trust in God's process of refinement, ensuring that trials lead to spiritual growth and the reflection of Christ's image. Listeners are reminded to embrace and trust the divine process, knowing that it produces enduring character and eternal glory.

Episodes now
Monday, Wednesday, Friday, @12:00pm
Divine Revelations - Saturday @ 3:00pm

Contact: suggestions, comments, topics, ministeringangelpodcast@gmail.com

Thank You For Listening.

Transcript

Introduction: The Desire to Be Used by God

 Welcome to the Ministering Angel Podcast, where you'll deepen your connection with Jesus Christ. Whether new or returning this podcast is your guide to unlocking potential and overcoming challenges. Ronald, along with various hosts, shares divine messages that inspire strength, wisdom, and resilience.

More than a podcast, it's a sanctuary of faith and miracles. Get ready to be inspired and empowered.

 Every believer desires to be used by God, to carry His glory, and to walk in His purpose. Yet few of us truly understand the process required to get there. God does not place His treasure in vessels that are untested. He purifies, He shapes, and He refines.

In Scripture, fire is often a symbol of trial, testing, and purification. To the world, fire represents destruction, but in the hands of the Refiner, fire becomes a tool of transformation. Malachi 3:3 tells us, “He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and He will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, and they will bring offerings in righteousness to the Lord.” This verse paints a picture of a God who is not hurried or careless. He sits, He watches, He waits, until His work is complete.

A silversmith knows that silver is ready when he can see his reflection in it. In the same way, God keeps us in the fire until the image of Christ is seen in us. The fire you are in today is not meant to consume you, it is meant to purify you. The pain you feel is not without purpose, it is producing something far greater than you can see.

The question is not, “Why am I in the fire?” The real question is, “Will I trust the Refiner while I am in it?”

1.The Purpose of the Refiner’s Fire

Fire in the natural burns, destroys, and consumes. But in the hands of the Refiner, fire has a higher purpose. It is not designed to kill you, but to cleanse you. It is not meant to break you down, but to burn away what does not belong.

Peter writes in 1 Peter 1:6-7: “In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith, more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” Notice the phrase: “if necessary.” God does not waste fire. He only allows it when it is necessary to produce something in us that could not be formed any other way.

The Purpose Behind the Fire

The fire is God’s tool to expose what is hidden. Just as impurities rise to the surface in melted silver, trials cause the hidden motives of our hearts to appear. Pride, fear, doubt, compromise, all these things rise up in the heat. And once exposed, God begins to remove them.

Zechariah 13:9 declares, “I will refine them as silver is refined, and test them as gold is tested. They will call upon my name, and I will answer them. I will say, ‘They are my people’; and they will say, ‘The Lord is my God.’” The purpose of the fire is intimacy. It brings us to the place where we call on Him, and He responds.

So when you find yourself in the fire, don’t confuse it with abandonment. The very fact that you are in the fire means God is at work. The fire is not punishment, it is preparation. It is positioning you to shine, to carry His image, and to walk in greater purity and power.

Key Point: The Refiner’s fire doesn’t come to destroy you, it comes to develop you.

2. The Posture of the Refiner

Malachi says, “He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver.” The posture of the Refiner is important. He does not pace back and forth in anxiety. He does not step away to attend to other matters. He sits.

A silversmith never leaves silver unattended in the fire, because just one moment too long would destroy it. The fact that He sits tells us two things: He is present, and He is patient. God watches the process with eyes fixed on you, making sure that the heat is never more than you can endure.

Isaiah 43:2 says, “When you walk through the fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you.” This promise reminds us that while the heat may be intense, the fire has boundaries set by God Himself. The flames are under His control.

When the trial feels overwhelming, remember the posture of your Refiner. He is seated, calm, and in control. He is not caught off guard by what you are facing. His presence in the fire is the guarantee that you will come through it.

Key Point: God is never absent from the fire. His posture proves His care and control.

3. The Process of Refinement

Refinement is never instant. It is a process. When silver is heated, the impurities rise to the top. The silversmith then skims away the dross until only the pure metal remains. The fire continues until the reflection of the smith can be clearly seen in the silver.

In the same way, God allows the fire to bring hidden things to the surface: bitterness, unbelief, selfishness, pride. You may have thought they were gone, but the fire proves what is still in you. Only then can God remove it.

Job 23:10 declares, “But He knows the way that I take; when He has tried me, I shall come out as gold.” Job recognized that the trial was not the end. It was the process leading to purity.

And 2 Corinthians 3:18 tells us, “We all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another.” The process is ongoing. Every fire is meant to shape us a little more into Christ’s image.

Do not despise the process. Do not pray away the very thing God is using to purify your soul. When the trial is complete, when the fire has done its work, you will shine with the reflection of Christ Himself.

Key Point: Refinement is a process that continues until Christ’s image is seen in you.

4. The Promise of the Refiner

The fire is never the final chapter. The promise of the Refiner is that you will not remain in the heat forever. His purpose is not to destroy you but to bring you forth as pure gold.

2 Corinthians 4:17 declares, “For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison.” What feels unbearable in this moment is producing something far greater, something eternal. The fire strips away what is temporary so that you may carry what is eternal.

Paul also writes in Romans 5:3-5, “We rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.” Every trial you endure has a divine outcome: endurance, character, hope. The fire produces what comfort never could.

The promise of the Refiner is that when the process is finished, your life will reflect His image and carry His glory. You will not just survive the fire, you will be transformed by it. The impurities that once held you back will be gone, and the weight of His presence will rest upon you.

Job declared with confidence, “When He has tried me, I shall come forth as gold” (Job 23:10). That is not wishful thinking, it is a divine guarantee. The fire is temporary, but the purity it produces is eternal.

Key Point: The promise of the Refiner is transformation, when He is finished, you will shine with His glory.

Conclusion: Trusting the Refiner

The fire is not easy. It burns, it stretches, it tests. But it is not without purpose. The Refiner never allows the flame to consume what He intends to preserve. He only allows the fire to consume what cannot remain in you if you are to reflect His glory.

We’ve seen the purpose of the fire, it reveals and removes impurities. We’ve seen the posture of the Refiner, He sits, attentive and present, never leaving you unattended. We’ve seen the process, it continues until His reflection is seen in you. And we’ve heard the promise, when it is finished, you will come forth as pure gold.

The enemy wants you to believe the fire is proof that God has abandoned you. But in truth, the fire is proof that God is working in you. He loves you too much to leave you unrefined. He desires to see His image in you, and He will sit with you until it is done.

So the call today is this: trust the Refiner. Do not run from the heat. Do not fight the process. Lean into the One who holds the flame in His hand. The same God who allowed the fire will also bring you through it, and when you emerge, you will be more radiant, more pure, more like Christ.

Let Job’s declaration become your own: “When He has tried me, I shall come forth as gold” (Job 23:10). That is your testimony in the making. The fire will not have the final say. The Refiner will.

 Thank you for joining the Ministering Angel Podcast. Stay connected, stay inspired, and continue growing in faith. Until next time, be blessed and keep shining your light.