Refinement w/Christ

“Trust [confidently] in Him at all times,

O people; Pour out your heart before Him.

God is a refuge for us. Selah.”

~Psalms 62:8

During our alone time with God, we not only get to know Him better, but we also begin to know ourselves better. Our time with God can sometimes be the first place where we feel completely free to be ourselves.

It doesn’t matter if you have 1 million followers or 1 follower. How many people can you truly be yourself with?

For some people, the answer is no one.

Some relationships have conditioned us to be someone we are not. In some relationships, people have used us for our talents, our popularity, our resources, or simply because it was convenient for them. Over time, we can become so accustomed to being who others need us to be that we forget who God created us to be.

But with God, we don’t have to be anyone but ourselves—the good, the bad, and the ugly.

In that real and raw relationship with the Father, He begins to show us things we may not have realized were not good for us. We may find ourselves in jobs, relationships, environments, or habits that are hindering us from becoming who we were always created to be.

He may reveal lies we have believed about ourselves or about others—lies that have kept us from loving ourselves and others the way we were always meant to love.

Truly loving ourselves and others the way Jesus modeled for us can become the catalyst that helps us fully walk into our calling with God.

God will also begin to show us areas where we may be sinning.

You might be living with your boo. You might be getting drunk every weekend. Or you might simply be numbing the pain of life with too much food, social media, TV, or alcohol.

Even doom scrolling can become a way of avoiding what is happening within us. How often have you lost 30 minutes because of a “3-second check” on Instagram or TikTok?

Whatever it may be, God begins to reveal these things—not to punish us, but because He loves us.

He wants to lead us into something better.

He is truly our Father. He loves us and wants the best for us. He does not want to control us. He wants to gently help us see ourselves the way He sees us—as His beloved child.

He loves us too much to leave us bound by sin or trapped in habits that could lead us down a dark path that may become increasingly difficult to escape.

And when we begin to experience freedom from addiction, lust, destructive thoughts, and anything else that pulls us away from God, we begin to experience what it truly means to be FREE IN CHRIST!!!!

Anything that advances the kingdom of darkness and intentionally pulls us away from God is something we should surrender to Him.

You are free to be yourself.

You are free from the heartache and darkness that Satan has tried to keep you bound in your entire life, so that you would never become who God created you to be—a beautiful child of God.

As that darkness begins to fall away, something changes within you.

You begin to look lighter.

You begin to feel lighter.

You begin to experience a deep and genuine joy that cannot be manufactured by the world.

As you become more and more filled with His love and His presence, you begin to shift the atmosphere around you. You begin to walk with purpose. You begin to walk with boldness. You begin to carry the love of Christ into every sphere of influence—not only through what you say, but through the way you live and love.

So, with an open heart, go to Him.

Trust Him.

Release the junk you have been carrying in your heart.

He is waiting for you.

Every single day, He is waiting for His son or daughter to come to Him with open arms—to bring Him the highs, the lows, the victories, the failures, the questions, the pain, and the joy.

God is better than the best earthly father. He is always waiting. Always listening. Always wanting to hear from His beloved child.

So go ahead.

Run to His feet.

Let Him refine you with the fire of God.

Gold does not become pure without refinement. It has to go through the fire.

And sometimes, God allows us to go through the fire—not to destroy us, but to remove everything that was never meant to remain.

Let Him refine you.

Let Him restore you.

Let Him reveal who you really are in Him.

Because on the other side of refinement is freedom.

Scriptures to Meditate On

“He will be as a silversmith who sits refining and purifying silver. He will purify the Levites, refining his priests until they are like pure gold and fine silver. Then I, Yahweh, will have those who bring me offerings in righteousness.” ~Malachi 3:3

“Search me [thoroughly], O God, and know my heart; Test me and know my anxious thoughts; And see if there is any wicked or hurtful way in me, And lead me in the everlasting way.” ~Psalms 139:23-24

“For the Spirit that God has given you does not make you slaves and cause you to be afraid; instead, the Spirit makes you God's children, and by the Spirit's power we cry out to God, “Father! my Father!” God's Spirit joins himself to our spirits to declare that we are God's children.” ~Romans 8:15-16

“Therefore if anyone is in Christ [that is, grafted in, joined to Him by faith in Him as Savior], he is a new creature [reborn and renewed by the Holy Spirit]; the old things [the previous moral and spiritual condition] have passed away. Behold, new things have come [because spiritual awakening brings a new life].” ~2 Corinthians 5:17