Good morning. It is July 22, 2024, the 8th day of our 30-day devotional challenge. I hope you caught the message this Sunday. If not, go to our app (click here) and listen again. What is the quality of your faith? It has many different levels. The tests are a blessing because some things only grow or are refined in the furnaces. Peter, the lead disciple of Jesus, was as familiar with trials as James was. Read on...
Today's Reading:
Isaiah 36,37; Psalms 76; 1 Peter 1
Scripture
“In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed” (1 Peter 1:6-7).
Observation
We’ve all been given a “measure of faith” (Ro. 12), which is enough to exist. But if we want faith to be more than a byword or a minimum standard, even a quality of faith the size of a mustard seed could move mountains. That is when the disciples cried, “Lord, increase our faith!"
Application
This is my cry as well. In today’s topsy-turvy world, we need a quality of faith that can move mountains. There are yet many mountains left to move! God will refine us in the same way as gold is refined. The goldsmith turns up the heat until the dross surfaces; when it does, he scrapes it off. Then, what’s his second step? He turns up the heat again until every drop of dross surfaces and is removed. Only then can he stamp it as 100% "pure gold."
Prayer
Lord Jesus, I am asking for the highest level of faith that is pure, and I know that it will cost... and the currency I will pay with is obedience, self-control, disciplining my mind, submitting to wise counsel, prayer, and frequent repentance. I want to protect my inheritance and not barter it away like Esau did. Teach me, oh Lord, I pray, so that I may apprehend what You have planned for my life: a preferred future, a godly legacy, fruitfulness, and to hear on that Day the words, "Well done, my good and faithful servant."
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