O God the Lord, what an awful thing it was that Israel had become dross to You; that Your people would turn from You and corrupt themselves so that they became vile and worthless to You- they became wasted, polluted, unfit, unclean and filthy in sin. But such is man, O Lord, and such are our ways. And sadly such was Israel. O God, the Lord, keep us in Your strong grace from the sins that Israel walked in and by which they had become dross to You. Cause us to be purified, as though passed through a fire and made clean, pure, holy and acceptable-as through a fire that purges us of our guilt and burns away all impurities-Your refining fire that sets us apart to You. May we be as precious silver and gold that is refined in this manner for Your enjoyment. May we be as a priceless metal that delights You. And if this requires that we endure many fiery trials by which we are sanctified, then give us grace to endure the painful and necessary furnace of affliction that gloriously changes us. O God our King, to be judged as dross and to suffer Your just punishment and rejection is an unbearable thing to us. To suffer such dishonor as to be cast out as dross by Your mighty hand of judgment is unthinkably horrible to us! To please You, to be pleasing in Your sight, is our blessing O God! Make us to be well-pleasing to You. Cause us to shine forth and reflect Your glories back to You-turn our faces to You in Your faithfulness, love and grace and we shall give You glory! Blessed are You Lord! And blessed are Your ways! To be a vessel of Your mercy for God is wonderful and to be graced by Your kindness is to be made worthy for God’s presence. Change us today and ever yet more fully, day by day, by Your grace and we shall return to You the glory of Your name, O God, and we shall honor You. Fill us repeatedly by Your Spirit and we shall bless You and obey You and glorify You! We shall then love You, Lord of all! You alone are worthy of our love and honor O Lord! Cleanse us from our dirtiness and we shall be clean. Purify us and we shall be pure! Magnify Your name in us, Lord, and we shall do what is right in Your sight. In ourselves we are sinful and worthless for we have failed to love You and we fail to do so…but Your more powerful grace is our hope and strength. Glory to you Jesus, O Lamb of God, and all praise to You for You are the pure, holy and righteous and worthy Man whose blood cleanses us sinners and brings us to God! In Christ’s name, Amen.
Jim and Kappy Robinette with Mission Africa "Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble and to keep oneself unspotted from the world." James 1:27 NKJV.
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