Tried in the Fire, Rachel V.

Tried In The Fire

By Rachel V.

“...But he knoweth the way that I take: when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold.” (Job 23:10)

One time, my family went to a historic remake of an old town. It was really neat! There were ladies dressed up in pettycoats and an old General Store. But what really interested me was the blacksmith. It was so neat to see them making various things, such as nails and coat hangers, minurature hammers, horse shoes, and even metal flowers (roses and lillys)! I was watching them making a lilly, and it was amazing how they did it!

They put the piece of metal into a 18,000 degree fire and waited. Then they took it out and punded at it. Then they put it back in the fire then took it out and pounded at it. They did this for the longst time, and I rememeber thinking, how would the piece of metal ever turn into a distinguished lily?  

Dear one, do you ever feel like this? Do you ever feel the pain from the things God is sending to you? Do you feel like Job's wife and want to say “Curse God, and die” (Job 2:9)? 

I know, feeling the heat is not easy. Trust me, if you've never felt like this, it's hard to bear. I've had my own troubles recently, and I've thought that nothing can work out for my good. There's no way. What comfort do you have when everything is turned against you, sickness has come upon you, your own friends, instead of comforting you in your time of need, tell you something must be wrong with you,  and your own wife tells you to curse God and die?

Well, Job seems to have a comfort that is hard to obtain. “The righteous also shall hold on his way, and he that hath clean hands shall be stronger and stronger.” (Job 17:9) “For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God” (Job  19:25-26)  “I know that thou canst do every thing, and that no thought can be withholden from thee.” (Job 42:2)

Psalm 42:5 says: “Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted in me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him for the help of his countenance.”

Jesus says in Revalation 3:18a, “I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire...” “Behold, I have refined thee, but not with silver; I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction.” (Isaiah 48:10) “And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, The LORD is my God.” (Zechariah 13:9)

Do you know the process of purifying gold? Gold, before being refined, has many impurities. Just like us. To take out those impurities, it has to be melted down by temeratures over melting. Then, when cooled, it is pure.

Back to the blacksmith example. I asked those blacksmiths why they put it into such a hot fire. They told me that the hotter it gets, the softer the metal is, and therefore it is easer to mold into shapes and such. They said that when metal is so hot, it is just like clay, and is able to be molded into something beautiful.

Dear ones, you may wonder at the hardships in your life, the struggles and perplexities, but as the prophet says in Isaiah 64:8: “But now, O LORD, thou art our father; we are the clay, and thou our potter; and we all are the work of thy hand.” “O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter? saith the LORD. Behold, as the clay is in the potter's hand, so are ye in mine hand, O house of Israel.” (Jerimiah 18:6)

Brethren, God puts you in these hard times so you will come forth as gold. As “silver tried in the furnace seven times” (Psalm 12:6) And so also you can be molded into the image of Him who created you. Like that iron that was put into the fire, without the heat and dicomfort, it wouldn't have been so easily molded by the blacksmith's tools into a beautiful piece of artwork.

So be comforted by Christ's words “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” (Matthew 11:28) We may not see what God has in plan for us, we can not see what all these troubles will do for us, but trust me, God has a plan to make “all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” (Romans 8:28)

Do not give up hope. Do not curse God. His plans are good, and true, and just. Trust and obey, for there's no other way, to be happy in Jesus.

“My life is but a weaving
Between my God and me.
I cannot choose the colors
He weaveth steadily.

Oft’ times He weaveth sorrow;
And I in foolish pride
Forget He sees the upper
And I the underside.

Not ’til the loom is silent
And the shuttles cease to fly
Will God unroll the canvas
And reveal the reason why.

The dark threads are as needful
In the weaver’s skillful hand
As the threads of gold and silver
In the pattern He has planned

He knows, He loves, He cares;
Nothing this truth can dim.
He gives the very best to those
Who leave the choice to Him.”

~Author Unknown

So-Called “Contradictions” of the Bible Which Unbelievers Will Use against You: Introduction by Rachel V.

Have you ever had that experience where an unbeliever caught you off guard? Were you dumbfounded, confused, befuddled, maybe even scared? Did you feel like you didn’t do the Christian faith justice, or that you could have done better?

If you answered “yes” to any of the above questions, you’ve come to the right place.

If you’re like me, witnessing can sound a bit scary.  What if I don’t know the right answer?

But studying the bible can be the best thing in your life to cure this phobia…trust me.

Don’t know the answer to a tough question of the scripture? Study it. Think about it. Turn it over in your mind, and God will bless you.

“Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” (2 Timothy 2:15)

“But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear.” (1 Peter 3:15)

“The heart of the righteous studieth to answer… “ (Proverbs 15:28a)

Also, you should know a very important definition before we start this series: Apologetics means “defending the faith”.

In addition, I highly recommend listening to Greg Koukl’s lecture series entitled “Tactics for Defending the Faith” from Stand to Reason Ministries. It is extremely useful for helping you to be better acquitted in defending the faith, how to control the conversation, and how to be courteous about it. He states: “We want to be on the offensive without being offensive”.  His tactics, including the Colombo tactic (asking questions), will greatly help you the next time you are witnessing to an unbeliever.

In this series, I will be bringing before you some so-called “contradictions” that unbelievers might stump you with. PLEASE NOTE: I am not in any way whatsoever saying that there are ANY contradictions in the Word of God. I am, in fact, saying quite the opposite. This whole series is to prove that there are none in the Bible.

Study with me and be blessed.

Sowing the Seed

Sowing the Seed

Rachel V.

Matthew 13:1-9

The same day went Jesus out of the house, and sat by the sea side.

And great multitudes were gathered together unto him, so that he went into a ship, and sat; and the whole multitude stood on the shore.

And he spake many things unto them in parables, saying, Behold, a sower went forth to sow;

And when he sowed, some seeds fell by the wayside, and the fowls came and devoured them up:

Some fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth: and forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth:

And when the sun was up, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away.

And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprung up, and choked them:

But other fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, some an hundredfold, and some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold.

Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.

Recently, some friends and I were passing out flyers for a church event. We were going through an apartment complex, and since one of the friends lived in an apartment there, we took a quick break. When a car pulled up to one of the doors, we watched to see what they would do with the flyer. They got out, pulled the flyer out of the door, crumpled it up, and tossed it aside.

Now this is so discouraging, and trust me, I’ve learned from experience. We are trying so hard to please our Lord; put people don’t give us, or God, the slightest thought. They just brush us aside, and laugh at us for being zealots.

But Jesus said this would happen. In Matthew 13:1-9, He tells us about a farmer who sows some seed. Some falls on the wayside and birds eat it up. Some falls in the stony ground, and it springs up, but it withers, because the dirt is too shallow. Some falls in the thorns, and gets choked.

All that good seed on the stony, shallow, thorny, crow infested ground. I’m sure the farmer was feeling discouraged, and thinking it was a waste of his time.

But some seed fell on good, fertile, rich ground, and brought forth a whole crop! Now had the farmer gotten discouraged, and not gone out to sow seed, would he have all that food? Of course not. You won’t get anything if you don’t try.

So don’t give up sisters in Christ! Keep planting the seed, even if it doesn’t seem to bring forth a whole crop at once. God will use your faithful hearts!

1 Corinthians 3:6 I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase.

The Famous Saying: Busted!

The Famous Saying: Busted!

By Rachel V.

How many of you have heard the famous saying: Which came first, the chicken or the egg? I know I have, and lately I’ve been thinking about it. Most people think it’s just one of those things that someone came up with just to be funny. At least I thought that. But really, which came first?

Once you start thinking about it you can’t come up with an answer. You think, the chicken came from the egg…but then the chicken laid the egg. Which came first? But if you know your bible, and if you think logically, the answer is very simple.

You can find the answer in Genesis chapter 1.
Genesis 1:21 says:

And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good.

Guessed it yet? It’s very simple. God made the chicken, and he told it to bring forth abundantly after its kind. So therefore…the chicken came first!!!!!

Everything can be followed back to the Bible. Even this little saying (which I really think Evolutionists came up with). So anyways, the next time someone jokingly asks you which came first, the chicken or the egg? You can simply say…the chicken! If they ask you what’s your proof? Tell them…the BIBLE!!!