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Men of Integrity, Nov/Dec 2000
Fred's Furnace, Part 1
This Week's Theme: Surviving Storms
Thursday, December 14
Key Bible Verse: See, I have refined you, though not as silver; I have tested you in the furnace of affliction (Isaiah 48:10).
Bonus Reading: Romans 8:17-23
When I asked Fred Whiteman how old he was, he replied "I'm 47 on the outside, 31 on the inside. I've had more trouble than most senior citizens, and I still look at life through the eye of a child."
What kind of an answer was that? Chronologically, Fred has seen 47 birthdays. Within his chest cavity beats the heart of a man 31 years old—the result of having had a heart transplant. And within a six-month period, Fred lost his best friend from liver cancer, his mother died, and his wife died, having gone to work perfectly healthy one morning and dying later that day in a freakish accident. In addition, Fred's heart failed him; and even then, following a successful heart transplant, Fred faced surgery for cancer, as well as being sued by the bank where his wife had worked! And all of this happened to one man in a period of months.
Has all this left Fred bitter and cynical? Not at all. But you sense you're talking to a man who has nothing to fear from life because he's faced its bitter challenge and found God's strength to meet the challenge. Anyone who faces the fire as he has either comes through refined or burned up by the heat.
—Harold J. Sala in Heroes
Respond:
What's the key to being refined rather than burned up?
Thought to Apply:
There's nothing written in the Bible … that says if you believe in Me, you ain't going to have no troubles.
—Ray Charles (musician)
Adapted from: Heroes (Promise, 1998).
NOTE: For your convenience, Heroes is available in the ChristianityToday.com Shopping Channel.
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Prayer for the Week |
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Thank you, Jesus, for being there when I fall.
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