Refined in the fire

Refined in the fire

Bible:1 Peter 1:6-9

These trials will show that your faith is genuine (V.7 NLT).

Reading

As a teenage gang leader, Casey and his gang broke into homes and cars, robbed corner shops and attacked other gangs. Eventually, he was arrested and sentenced. In prison, he became a ‘shot caller’, someone who handed out homemade knives during riots. Sometime later, he was put in solitary confinement. While daydreaming in his cell, Casey experienced a ‘movie’ or vision replaying key events of his life— and of Jesus, being led to and nailed to the cross. In his vision, Jesus told him, “I’m doing this for you.” Casey fell to the floor crying and admitted his sins. Later, he told the prison chaplain what had happened. The chaplain explained more about Jesus and gave him a Bible. “That was the start of my journey of faith,” Casey said. Eventually, Casey was released into the mainline prison population, where he was bullied and attacked for his new belief in Jesus. But he felt at peace, because he “had found a new calling: telling other inmates
about Jesus.” The apostle Paul talks about the power of Jesus to change lives in his letter to Timothy: God moves us from a life of selfishness to a life of following and living for Jesus (2 TIMOTHY 1:9). When we trust Him and see Him changing us, we’ll want to tell others. The Spirit inside us helps us to talk about Jesus and to keep going when we suffer in our mission to share the good news (V.8). Like Casey, let’s live out our new life for Jesus.

WE WHO ARE ALIVE ARE ALWAYS BEING GIVEN OVER TO DEATH FOR JESUS’ SAKE, SO THAT HIS LIFE MAY ALSO BE REVEALED IN OUR MORTAL BODY.
2 CORINTHIANS 4:11

YouTh Edition – Our Daily Bread Ministries