Refined for a Purpose

[One Soul]

While we move to our next step in our walk with Jesus it is wise to consider the reason for each step we take. We must be intentional in those steps and to understand why we are taking them.  All too often many of us get stuck in a rut of wondering why we are steeped into a circumstance or what God is doing in our lives. But all the while God has a purpose for each of us individually – to reveal His Son in us in order that He may be revealed in others.

It is our hope as you have moved through the last few weeks in your Flourish Group, that you have come to the ultimate conclusion that your growth, your refinement, everything that you have learned will start your journey in missional sisterhood.  But what is “missional” sisterhood?  As you know, we have embraced a culture here at East Coast Christian Center and proudly proclaim,“If you are a woman, you ARE sisterhood!” Sisterhood is a collective. Sisterhood isn’t a singular activity, it requires more than one person. Missional sisterhood depends on us to look outside of ourselves and go after that ONE SOUL! It requires us to turn our refining process into a mission. A mission that reflects the love of Christ to a lost and dying world.  When we go through the refining process it should always lead us to a place of deepened strength in Jesus. We have all heard the cliché, “She’s a diamond in the rough.”  Most likely, the image of a person being transformed into the best version of themselves comes to mind.  Transformation equals change. It requires a process.

So, let’s consider this cliché by first looking at the refinement process of the diamond. Before a diamond becomes the beautiful glass-like gem we all desire to attain, it must go through an intensive amount of heat and pressure. A refining process takes place naturally beneath the earth, but is only one step in a diamond’s transformation. Once it is pulled from the mine, if it is going to give anyone the pleasure of a beautiful piece of adorning jewelry, the diamond must go through another extensive refining process of cutting and smoothing.  A diamond can remain underground forever and never grace the fingers or earlobes as adornment, but why wouldn’t it want to be taken through a refining process to bring others joy?  Our lives are much like the diamond. We have the potential to be women who shine brightly in our sphere of influence. But before we can have impacting influence, we must go through a refinement process that will include heat, pressure, cutting, and smoothing.

Knowing we have a mission allows us to embrace refinement instead of resisting it.  The change we experience will ultimately allow others to encounter the One who came to restore their souls. The Bible says we are new creations, that the old has gone and the new has come. Refinement takes one thing and changes it into something new just as pressure and heat take the elements of the earth to bring to the surface a beautiful diamond. Your mission in every stage of refinement is to allow its pressure and heat to turn you into that bright, shining gem in someone else’s life. Your refinement reveals His Son in you so others may know Him. Your willingness to flourish will be the answer someone else needs – that is your mission in Sisterhood!  God Bless, sweet friends.

Let's Talk About It

1. Read this scripture:"Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit," Matthew 28:19 NIV

After you have read the scripture above, consider the last month as you have chosen to press in a little closer to Jesus. How is your willingness and obedience tied to the destiny of others?

2. What are some ways you have seen how your refinement has been used to bring someone else life-giving change.

3."That God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. 20 We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. 21 God made him who had no sin to be sin[b] for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God." 2 Corinthians 5:19-21 NIV

How does 2 Corinthians 5:19-21 tie in with the “Great Commission” in Matthew 28:19 that says, "Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit."