Chip off the old block

Our Daily Bread
I have this silly joke with my coworkers when they talk about their children - the fruit doesn't fall too far from the tree.  Ha!  I don't even have to say the whole thing now.  I have hand signals that express it and we chuckle.  ha!  The sons are a chip off the old block.

God has a theme for my entry today -- trusting him through everything.  The devotional talks about how Jesus should be the foundation of our lives.  Unlike Plymouth Rock, we can't chip away pieces of him and reduce his impact on our lives.  He is unchanging.  He is the cornerstone that was rejected by the builders.  All of these images remind me that we can trust him to be the center of our lives.

Check out the Purifying silver posting below.  God lead me to that this morning.  I have used the purifying metaphor several times.  I could not verify the last few sentences of the process, but they seem to be true from the other silver purification process web sites I read.  I pray for each of us that we will let God purify us so he can see himself when he looks at us!

Lord, we don't understand your ways.  Please help us build our lives on you, our firm foundation, and let you purify us so we can glorify you!  Praise God!

Simply Saturday
I found this posting on the montney.com web site, a family web site that has a variety of content.  It includes a page of inspirational stories.  I didn't see the original source of these stories, so I will just list the montney.com site as the source for my purposes!  Check out this article called "Silver".  It is what I am feeling.  It opened my eyes to the process that God is using with us.  Read and see what you think.

Purifying Silver

There was a group of women in a Bible study on the book of Malachi.

As they were studying chapter three, they came across verse three which says: "He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver...". This verse puzzled the women and they wondered what this statement meant about the character and nature of God.

One of the women offered to find out about the process of refining silver and get back to the group at their next Bible study.

That week this woman called up a silversmith and made an appointment to watch him at work. She didn't mention anything about the reason for her interest in silver beyond her curiosity about the process of refining silver.

As she watched the silversmith, he held a piece of silver over the fire and let it heat up. He explained that in refining silver, one needed to hold the silver in the middle of the fire where the flames were hottest as to burn away all the impurities. The woman thought about God holding us in such a hot spot - then she thought again about the verse, that he sits as a refiner and purifier of silver. She asked the silversmith if it was true that he had to sit there in front of the fire the whole time the silver was being refined. The man answered that yes, he not only had to sit there holding the silver, but he had to keep his eyes on the silver the entire time it was in the fire. If the silver was left even a moment too long in the flames, it would be destroyed.

The woman was silent for a moment. Then she asked the silversmith, how do you know when the silver is fully refined? He smiled at her and answered, "Oh, that's easy--when I see my image in it."

If today you are feeling the heat of the fire, remember that God has His eye on you and will keep watching you until He sees His image in you. - Author Unknown

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“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths” (Prov. 3:5-6).