----THE GLASS ARTIST~~

--"And he shall sit as a refiner and purifer of silver; and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver,
that they may offer unto the LORD an offering in righteousness." --[Malachi 3:3] ~~

~~On one of our family excursions we visited a glass artisan's shop. We watched with keen interest as the craftsmen made vessels of various kinds. These glass artists were quite incredible as they took a glob of glass, then turned it and blew through a tube to form the desired object. It was so intriguiing that we watched them again and again. One important thing was needed in this work and without it nothing could be done. That was heat from an intense fire. A glass artist had to make a ball of glass red hot and keep it at that temperature, or he could not work with it.

Our Lord is like a glass blower. He has a design in mind for each of us. He wants a beautiful vessel when His work is finished. But He can't work on us without heat. Because we are cold and indifferent, He needs to put us in the fire to warm and soften us, and then He is able to mold us as it pleases Him. Sometimes we wonder what God is doing in our lives when the heat gets turned up. God wants to conform us to the image of His Son, and that usually happens only with heat. Problems arise that we don't know how to solve except by turning to Him.

After the forming was finished, the blower heated the vessel one more time; then he gave it a spin and put a beautiful flare on the top edge. Let's not complain when life gets "unbearable hot" and spins out of control. God knows what He is doing. He knows how much heat is needed to make the vessel as He wants it. He may be putting on a finishing touch that will bring great glory to His name! Yes, we have a Savior who listens, Jesus Christ.
"For all things are for your sakes, that the abundant grace might through the thanksgiving of many redound to the glory of God [2 Corinthians 4:15]. ~~

--'But we have this treasure, in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us." -[2 Corinthians 4:7] ~~

--BSW/KN~--"God Who Listens"// Chris Tomlin (ft. Thomas Rhett/ lyric video) //<https://youtu.be/m1khJCXGcUI>
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