Refined - Finding Joy in the Midst of the FireSample

You are not the only Christian on the enemy’s radar screen, so do not get prideful and believe that this is all about you. The devil has never taken kindly to men and women of faith, and what he is actually attacking is faith in its purest form. The devil doesn’t actually care about you and your life, because what he wants to devour is your faith so that you are unable to walk in the power and authority that you were created to walk in.

The devil wants to steal your joy, which is what enables you to be the strongest version of yourself. The devil wants to devour your peace, so that you will be unable to trust the Lord. The devil wants to abscond with your wisdom, so that you will act foolishly. To the enemy, you are simply an unknown, unnamed ends to a means. The devil’s chief goal in your life is to diminish the glory of God that is inside of you.

In every century, during every epoch, the enemy has endeavored to intimidate the people of God. Ask Daniel what those hungry lions sounded like! Ask David about the colossal size of Goliath! Ask Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego about the searing temperatures of the fiery furnace! Ask Moses about the loneliness in the wilderness! Ask Jonah what the inside of a fish smells like! Ask Paul about the turbulence that occurred just before a violent shipwreck!

And while you are at it, ask Corrie ten Boom about the cruelty in a concentration camp. Ask John and Betty Stam what it felt like to be beheaded in China. Ask Richard Wurmbrand what it was like to be tortured for Christ. Ask Jim Elliot what it felt like to be on the other end of a sword from an Auca Indian.

Every hero and heroine of the faith who has met the enemy in the back alley of torturous circumstances will respond to our interrogation with determined truth and with power: “God was with me! He never left me alone! His joy surrounded me like a shield, and I found His presence to be more than enough!”