The Process of Refining, Sifting and Perfecting

UV3371/10000 The Process of Refining, Sifting and Shifting
For behold, I am commanding, and I shall shake and sift the house of Israel among all nations and cause it to tremble like grain is shaken in a sieve removing the chaff, but not a kernel of the faithful remnant shall fall to the ground and be lost.

Amos 9 v 9

The Lord is always involved in process of refining, sifting, perfecting the faithful. Though we are saved by faith in Jesus and His finished sacrifice, we are not to be complacent but eager to change ourselves to conform to the image of God, the image of Christ imprinted in us. Our perspective alters our paradigm of thinking, feeling and behaviour. It is also called "leader-shift". We are to voluntarily and enthusiastically participate in the refining process, upward shifting of our perspectives and paradigms, getting rid of the chaff or the wasteful aspects of our lives. Then the enemy will not get permission to sift us. If we do not, things will happen that might shake our faith.

Instead of inviting the disciplining of the Lord, we should subject ourselves voluntarily to discipline. By staying focused on the locus of life- Jesus, His word and His ways, we can avoid many of the locusts that eat the grain and lay waste whole fields of crops. We can ask the Holy Spirit to show us the areas in which we need to change, the things we need to get rid of lock, stock and barrel, root, shoot and branches. The more we yield to the Lord, the more He will increase our yield. Simultaneously, we also need to resist the enemy of our souls.

The uni-verse promises us that if we remain faithful, not a grain will be lost. When we go through difficult times, instead of chafing against the Lord, we should only examine ourselves and get rid of the chaff. Instead of struggling with God like Jacob or running in the opposite direction to His call like Jonah, we need to obey His will with regard to our sanctification and growth to spiritual maturity. The process becomes less painful and long drawn when we remain sensitive at all times to the voice of the Holy Spirit speaking to us.