This word is submitted by Teresa Seputis (ts@godspeak.org)

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                        In The Fire

Child of Mine, do not mistake My fire for My displeasure. They are not
the same thing. I do require each of My children to go through My 
refiner's fire, even those who please Me greatly. I require this
to remove impurities and to take away from you the things that would 
hold you back in your walk with me. Have you not read in My word how 
I am your heavenly Father? As a good father, I must address the areas 
that hinder your walk with Me. I must remove the chaff that prevents
you from receiving and moving in the fullness of what I have for you.  

You must die to the old nature so that My new nature may consume you.
And the process of dying to the flesh is never easy and it must be 
forged in My refiner's fire.  I do not send the fire because I am angry 
with you. I send it that I might perfect you and form the character and 
image of My son in your life. And I often allow adversity and hardship 
during this transformation process. I permit you to enter into My 
refining fire, but it is not to punish you and it is not to destroy you.
It is to perfect you.

Even in the natural, when a blacksmith would forge iron he must first 
heat it so that the iron becomes soft and pliable in his hands. He is 
not angry with the metal, he is merely transforming and preparing it so
that it will yield more easily to his will as he forms it. I do the
same with you, child of Mine. My fire is not a sign of My displeasure --
it is a sign of My working My nature and character in your life. It 
is a sign of Me rooting out that which is of the flesh and removing it
from you, that it trouble you no more. It is a sign of Me working My
strength and a greater measure of faith into your life, that you may
enter into the fullness of My good plans for you.

Child, I was not angry with Joseph when I allowed him to be sold into
slavery and later cast unfairly into prison. Rather, I loved him 
dearly and had great plans for him. I permitted that fire in his life 
so that I might smooth out the rough edges and prepare him for the destiny 
I had chosen for him. I did not abandon him in the fire of adversity 
and unfair treatment. I was with him in the midst of the hardship and 
I prospered whatever he put his hands to as a sign of My pleasure on him.  
And in the midst of My pleasure, I still permitted him to go through My 
refiner's fire, that I might perfect his character for the task that lay 
ahead of him. And I did not leave him in the fire any longer than was 
necessary -- just as a blacksmith does not heat the metal more than is 
necessary.  

Likewise, I will not leave you in My fire longer than necessary and I 
will not abandon you in the mist of it. I must work My refinement in 
your life. I must prepare you to enter into the destiny that I have
selected for you. At times, I use the fire of adversity or difficult 
circumstances to prepare My children. I do this in order that I might 
form you into the perfect vessel for My service.

So do not fret when you are in the fire.  My refinement in your life is 
not a sign that I am displeased with you. Rather it is a sign that I 
have a call and a destiny on your life, and that I am actively preparing 
you for it. Be encouraged child of Mine. I love you greatly and I am
with you in all things. I will not abandon you in midst of the fire.