Brilliantly Pure starts out Ugly

In May, I had the incredible privilege of touring the great country of Israel with some dear church family members.  We stayed in Jerusalem for a couple of days and then made our way to the western side of the Sea of Galilee, where we stayed at a beautiful resort in Tiberias.  I certainly enjoyed the entire trip, but having a thing for water, you can imagine why I soaked up Tiberias...

Looking South:  View from our Hotel in the Afternoon

And if the afternoon was not quite soothing enough, perhaps you would fall in love, like I did, with the invigorating sunrises over the Sea of Galilee....

Sunrise over the Sea of Galilee - Looking due West from the Resort

Little do many from our trip know, however, that there was something even more beautiful happening within my room.  Late one evening, a woman from our tour came to my room and prayed with my roommate and I.  We talked for a while and discussed life.  And we prayed hard.  We prayed hard, the three of us, to break down walls and seek God for turning points in our life.  And we broke down walls, spiritually speaking.

My prayer that night was to see Jesus' face more clearly in my life.  I want to focus on what is right and push aside what is wrong so I can "achieve my destiny", if you will, according to God's plan for my life.

My prayer wasn't bad.  But my prayer requires an answer that is not quickly forthcoming.  How much have you lived, like I, hoping for an answer to really just slip out of nowhere?

Recently I read an old devotional entry from Smith Wigglesworth's Devotional dated May 20:

"In the melting pot, He removes the skimmings until His face is seen.  When the metal reflects Him, it is pure."  

Remember how I mentioned I wanted to see Jesus' face more clearly?  Well I finally figured out the key to this task: Give God time and expect some heat.  There's always fire involved in a purification process.

So I'm doing that.  I'm choosing to make changes in my life that will give me more focus on the One I love and that will help me develop that lasting relationship where, even when the burner's on and I'm boiling, I'm still getting brighter.  This is why I can be called brilliantly pure: because I'm choosing to face the fire for the gold.

Will you?