Hello Everyone, this week I had an interesting experience.
While we were knocking doors on Saturday we came upon a man. He offered us a New Testament Bible for a Book of Mormon stating that "He'll read ours, if we read his". We simply told him that we study from the New Testament as scripture, but that we are here to teach another Testament (The Book of Mormon) we bore a solid testimony of it and we traded books. He then asked us if we believed in the Trinity. We told him "No". We believe that Christ and God are separate beings, but are one in the same. He began to start bashing with me, and attempted to tear apart my beliefs. Me being the stubborn hot headed person I am, wanted to lay into him with every account in the Bible that I could think of. But as soon as I opened my mouth to speak, no words that made ANY sense came out. But a still small voice prompted me to testify simply of the Resurrected Savior, the Restored Gospel here on earth, and that Heavenly Father leads prophets and apostles today just like in times of old. I like to say that the man accepted my Testimony and wanted to know more, but he didn't. The lesson I learned that day was Humility. If I would have started Bible bashing; the spirit would have been gone, and my testimony probably would have been shaken Slightly, their would have been nothing that ever came of it other than a painful anguish, and sorrow. The Lord taught me to love that man with all I had and to put my pride to rest. It was a tender reminder that I am called to teach the restored gospel and to call men to repentance in doing so.
I came across this story about the Refiners fire this week. It really made me ponder exactly what it meant to be refined.
There was a group of women in a Bible study on the book of Malachi. As they were studying chapter three they came across verse three which says, "He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver." This verse puzzled the women and they wondered what this statement meant about the character and nature of God.
One of the women offered to find out about the process of refining silver and get back to the group at their next Bible study. That week the woman called up a silversmith and made an appointment to watch him at work. She didn't mention anything about the reason for her interest in silver beyond her curiosity about the process of refining silver. As she watched the silversmith, he held a piece of silver over the fire and let it heat up. He explained that, in refining silver, one needed to hold the silver in the middle of the fire where the flames were hottest so as to burn away all the impurities.
The woman thought about God holding us in such a hot spot - then she thought again about the verse, that He sits as a refiner and purifier of silver. She asked the silversmith if it was true that he had to sit there in front of the fire the whole time the silver was being refined. The man answered that yes, he not only had to sit there holding the silver, but he had to keep his eyes on the silver the entire time it was in the fire. For if the silver was left even a moment too long in the flames, it would be destroyed.
The woman was silent for a moment. Then she asked the silversmith, "How do you know when the silver is fully refined?" He smiled at her and answered, "Oh, that's the easy part -- when I see my image reflected in it."
One of the women offered to find out about the process of refining silver and get back to the group at their next Bible study. That week the woman called up a silversmith and made an appointment to watch him at work. She didn't mention anything about the reason for her interest in silver beyond her curiosity about the process of refining silver. As she watched the silversmith, he held a piece of silver over the fire and let it heat up. He explained that, in refining silver, one needed to hold the silver in the middle of the fire where the flames were hottest so as to burn away all the impurities.
The woman thought about God holding us in such a hot spot - then she thought again about the verse, that He sits as a refiner and purifier of silver. She asked the silversmith if it was true that he had to sit there in front of the fire the whole time the silver was being refined. The man answered that yes, he not only had to sit there holding the silver, but he had to keep his eyes on the silver the entire time it was in the fire. For if the silver was left even a moment too long in the flames, it would be destroyed.
The woman was silent for a moment. Then she asked the silversmith, "How do you know when the silver is fully refined?" He smiled at her and answered, "Oh, that's the easy part -- when I see my image reflected in it."
This is the perfect example of what the Lord does for us. If today you are feeling the heat of the fire, remember that God has His eye on you and will keep His hand on you and watch over you until He sees His image in you. It is easy to think Satan is winning in the world right now. There is a lot of wickedness keeping Heavenly Father's children from knowing and coming to the Savior. However, if we can help them come to a knowledge of Him--not just activity in the Church, but gain a testimony and an understanding of the Gospel and a real relationship with Jesus Christ--then they will be made 'full' over time, and their testimonies will become pure and thick and deep.
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-Elder Greenburg
Missouri Independence Mission
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