"IN THE FIRE!"

1 Corinthians 6:9-11               (ESV)
"9 Or do you not know that the unrighteous WILL NOT inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality,
10 nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.
11 And such were some of you. But you were washed (CLEANSED), you were SANCTIFIED, you were JUSTIFIED in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God."



The "Atkins Diet" has become more of a lifestyle change for me over the past months.  I try to avoid an abundance of carbohydrates MOST of the time, although I do have an occasional Blue Bell craving that has to be quenched.  Eating a large amount of meat is the most efficient way of staying on the diet.  My desire is to lose down to what my weight was when I was about 30 years old.

While cooking my ground beef yesterday, I found my meat was a little too pink in one end of the hamburger pattie.  I had not left the meat "IN THE FIRE" long enough to assure it was cooked enough.  The meat needed to be put back "IN THE FIRE" to make sure I didn't get sick from the raw meat. Learning to have the patience to make sure the food says "IN THE FIRE" long enough is something I need to work on!

The lessons learned from this escapade of being "IN THE FIRE" can be great.  GOD sometimes has to expose us being "IN THE FIRE" to get us to where HE can use us.  Our HEAVENLY FATHER is not a novice baker and HE knows when we have been "IN THE FIRE" long enough, and when we still need to be cooked a little longer.  HE is a Master Chef and will not let us be burned!

The act of SANCTIFICATION can be an uncomfortable experience. Regardless of what some people teach, we were not created for our glory! We are created for HIS glory!  We might want to take our meat out of the fire before it has been cooked long enough?  But GOD in HEAVEN knows just how long we need to stay "IN THE FIRE" to glorify HIS name!  My prayer is that I will have FAITH in GOD, and that I will trust that HE will leave me "IN THE FIRE" until I can glorify HIM S NAME!