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FORGED
You let men ride over our heads; we went through fire and through water; yet You have brought us out to a place of abundance. Psalm 66:12
In Christ, our situations and circumstances in this life are filled with trials, tribulations, and persecutions. They are allowed by the wise and perfect will of a sovereign God. As kings of nations have waged war upon Israel, wicked and godless men have arisen to oppress the children of God in Christ’s church; nevertheless, our God is sovereign in allowing it to happen (You let men ride over our heads). While the fire of trial and the flood of waters found in our difficulties take place on earth, the Lord Jesus uses those circumstances to shape us and temper us as tools for His use. Like steel in the forger’s hand, the Lord Jesus Christ places us into the fire of God’s purifying presence to soften us, and next, pounds us into shape upon the anvil of God’s Word, and then quenches us through the cooling water of the Holy Spirit, so that we become a tempered tool, ready for the Master’s use. Having fashioned us thus, He places us in the heavenly tool box at His right hand, just as we are seated together with the Lord in heavenly places (Eph 2:6). There, at the throne of grace, Christ Jesus has brought us out of a place of lack and scarcity and into a place of abundance. Because He has fashioned us as it has pleased Him, we are tools abundantly used of the Lord because we are tools abundantly loved by the Lord. He, who is the Chief Architect and Master Builder keeps the tools He has forged close to Himself, ready for His use however and whenever He deems fit. Therefore, we are abundantly blessed. Hallelujah! What a Savior!
You let vile men ride o’er our heads,
Through both water and fire;
But, Lord, You’ve abundantly bless’d,
For You have brought us high’r.
Online Bible Audio/Readings Links (ESV)
9/17 Reading Portions: 2 Samuel 13; 2 Corinthians 6; Ezekiel 20; Psalm 66-67
