We’ve been through fire,
Seen it all,
Watched our friends die.
Lives were torn,
Hearts betrayed,
All for freedom.

Well was the fight worth the cost?
What about all the ones we’ve lost?
In the haze of smoke and war,
Now the Truth means so much more.

Ashes to ashes,
Dust to dust,
We return from whence we came.
Only the ones who counted the cost were faithful and remained.
It was not in vain, it was not in vain, it was not in vain.
Only the ones who count the cost will remain.

We’ve been refined,
Purged of dross,
Had our hearts changes.
Arms were strengthened,
Trained for war;
We bent the bronze bow.

With our friends at our sides
We met the Enemy in his den.
With our King in the fore
Darkness trembled at His roar.

Ashes to ashes,
Dust to dust,
We return from whence we came.
Only the ones who counted the cost were faithful and remained.
It was not in vain, it was not in vain, it was not in vain.
Only the ones who count the cost will remain.

Dear God, when we get to Heaven the pain will fall away;
But for now, God, please keep us strong,
Father of Lights, hear our prayer.
Keep us faithful, keep us pure,
Give us courage for the long road;
We need Your grace, we need Your wisdom, we need Your power.

Ashes to ashes,
Dust to dust,
We return from whence we came.
Only the ones who count the cost are faithful and remain.
It is not in vain, it is not in vain, it is not in vain.
Only the ones who count the cost will remain.

~ c. 2015 ~

Forged in flame, hardened through adversity; purer, cleaner, stronger, more whole, more alive than you’ve felt in a long time. This is what the Most High’s refining Fire does in the lives and hearts of His children. Going through it is wickedly painful but the feeling of freedom and Joy and wholeness and life and closeness to God is worth the cost.

When the Fire’s raging, everything becomes clear. We see what really matters. Friends we thought would never waver, fail and wither and drift away in the flames…lost. Everything looks different when the Fire’s raging. Masks and facades fall away. Truth takes on a new, more personal meaning as Bible passages meet us in the fire and we learn things we thought we already knew. We wake one day only to discover that the Fire’s purged us of our dross, its left us feeling lighter as the impurities have been burned away. Growth is painful ’cause we’re losing our darkness, the bits of us that have become so twisted and sinful over time and, in our blindness, we haven’t even stopped long enough to notice.

Thank the Maker He doesn’t leave us in our blindness! He loves us enough to put us in the Fire. He wants to purge our dross, evaporate our darkness, bring us into the Light, and fit us for service in His Kingdom. To the uninitiated, the worldlings, this paradox seems sadistic but to the Sons and Daughters of the Kingdom, to the Oracles of Fire, it all makes sense because we know Jesus Christ and yeah, that changes everything.

 

| But He knows the way that I take; When He has tested me, I shall come forth as gold. | Job 23:10 |

| I will bring the one-third through the fire, Will refine them as silver is refined, And test them as gold is tested. They will call on My name, And I will answer them. I will say “This is My people”; And each one will say, “The Lord is My God.” | Zechariah 13:9 |

| For You, O God, have tested us; You have refined us as silver is refined. You have brought us into the net; You have laid affliction on our backs. You have caused men to ride over our heads; We went through fire and through water; But You brought us out to rich fulfillment.| Psalm 66:10-12 |