Open Heaven 24 November 2023: When God Purifies I
MEMORISE: And he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the LORD an offering in righteousness. Malachi 3:3
BIBLE READING: Ezekiel 36:24-26 (KJV)
For I will take you from among the heathen, and gather you out of all countries, and will bring you into your own land.
25 Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you.
26 A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.
Read Yesterday’s Open Heaven Devotional here
When gold is found, it is in its raw state. It is undesirable and filled with impurities. Raw gold must first be purified with fire before it reaches its full potential and becomes useful.
Our Bible reading for today says that after God has taken you out from the heathen, He will pass you through the process of purification.
When you met Christ, you were in your raw state. God cannot leave you in that contaminated state because you can only be useful to Him after you’ve been purified.
To purify you, He will need to introduce fire. There are two types of fire God usually uses to purify. The first one is the fire of the Holy Ghost.
Peter was one of the first people called by the Lord Jesus Christ in Mark 3:13-19, but he had one little problem: he was always afraid, and the devil discovered this weakness.
That is why, on the day Jesus was arrested, the devil brought three people to test Peter, knowing that he would be too afraid to identify openly with Jesus. Indeed, Peter denied Jesus three times.
The devil was happy that he had gotten Peter but thankfully, Jesus had prayed for him so he repented and found his way back to God.
Now, if Peter was going to be useful to God, Jesus needed to do something about the fear contaminating his heart, so He purified him by fire.
On the day of Pentecost, when the fire fell on all the disciples, Jesus was purifying them to make them useful.
Immediately that fire sat on the head of Peter; it consumed the fear in him (Acts 2:1-47). The man who used to be afraid suddenly became very bold.
The contamination was removed by the fire of the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Ghost Baptism is a refining fire that takes away impurities in the life of a believer.
If you are truly baptised – that is, after sanctification (setting oneself apart for God), then that fire will burn off all impurities in you.
Note that a person may speak in tongues, but if he is not yet fully surrendered to Christ, if his heart is still after the things of this world, he cannot be purified.
Sanctification must happen first before the fellow can truly be purified by the fire of the Holy Ghost.
KEY POINT: Father, please purify me with Your fire today.
BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Romans 1-3
Thank you for studying today’s Open Heaven – When God Purifies I – written by Pastor Enoch Adeboye
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Open Heaven 24 November 2023
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