thought this might be interesting to some, i was feeling a bit “hungry” and so went here for a bit of a snack:
bible.com/scripture-detail.php?juli=2456090&dtype=Scripture
i just thought this refining that God promises is by no means hopeless. and the thought of my tin being purged away and my silver being cleaned of its dross so that i can walk freely in a wealthy place really was a nice thing to hear today
it sounds quite fearful, but leads to a place of freedom
*of course, in my view, this day of judgement and refining isn’t a single day, but throughout our lives, perhaps with a summing up at the end.
That’s a good find 
Hi James, Thanks for the OP. Interesting how the devotional page just puts different bible verses, from different contexts, together to form a new paragraph without any comments or explanations. This can be a dangerous thing to do, a classic example being “Judas went and hung himself… Go thou and do likewise” 
But it can also open our eyes to threads or themes in the Bible which we wouldn’t notice if we just stayed in one chapter or book at a time. In the example you posted I initially thought the jumps from Numbers 31.23, which is the rule for soldiers about how to clean their weapons and other kit after a battle, to Deut 13.3, which is in the context of a warning about the danger of worshipping other gods, was a big jump! As was the next step, to Malachi 3.3, about God sitting as a refiner on the day of judgement.
I think the compiling editor who put these verses may be a kindred spirit. He may have a similar understanding to ours, concerning the purifying and refining fire of God. But the same method of cutting and pasting verses from different contexts together has also been used to imply some strange and hideous ideas, like ECT for instance.
Sorry to be a spoilsport 
you raise some very good points there!
it’s like someone went to a concordance and cherry picked all the refining verses, and put it together with a happy ending
still, it just happens to be true in this case 
Absolutely
Dear James,
What a coincidence. I opened the Forum five mins ago with the idea of quoting the very same text 12th June in my edition of the Daily Light given to me by my dear grandmother on my Confirmation Dec 6th 1959!!. A small world, or, as the Spanish say, el mundo es un panuelo! (The world is as small as a pocket handkerchief!)
Michael in Barcelona
Led by James and Andrew out of curiosity I noted after my post a few mins ago that my edition of Daily Light was published by Samuel Bagster and Sons, London and it only took a minute or two to find a brief note on the internet as follows!
The Origins of Daily Light
The origins of “Daily Light on the Daily Path” are inextricably connected to the Bagster family and the publishing company which bore the same name - Samuel Bagster & Sons Ltd.
Samuel Bagster was born on 26th December 1772, the second son of George and Mary Bagster of Lyme Regis, Dorset on the south coast of England. Samuel’s father George Bagster was a member of a congregation led by Dr Andrew Gifford; a Baptist minister, a notable antiquarian and an assistant librarian at the British Museum. It was within this congregation that George Bagster was to meet John Birch, who ultimately became Samuel’s father-in-law.
When Samuel was seven years old he was sent away to school with the Reverend John Collett Ryland, Baptist minister and father to his more famous son (also) John Ryland.
Samuel was apprenticed to a bookseller in The Strand, after which time he he took the entrepreneurial step of opening his own bookshop at No 81 The Strand on 19th April 1794, when he was still only twenty-one years old.
Unsurprisingly, given this very specific Christian background, Samuel committed to never selling any book which might be considered questionable in taste or subject – an approach which set him apart from the general run of society, even (and perhaps especially) by eighteenth century standards.
Samuel Bagster and Eunice Birch were married at the parish church of “St Giles in the Field” on the 19th December 1797. Eunice was said to be a “brave” woman of equally high principles and a steadfast faith – a real helpmeet to her husband throughout their long married life. She died on the day before her hundredth birthday in 1877. Only a few months earlier she had been honoured by a personal visit from Queen Victoria, who knelt at Mrs Bagster’s bedside to receive the blessing of her “revered and venerable servant”.
Samuel and Eunice had twelve children – but it was their tenth child Jonathan who was primarily responsible for the idea and method by which Daily Light was compiled. Jonathan was the “editor-in-chief”, while his daughter Ann was his chief assistant.
The practice of corporate worship had always been followed in the Bagster family. Jonathan Bagster would normally select a passage, and in the context of family prayer, other family members would contribute further illustrative verses. These compilations were then carefully discussed, arranged and considered until agreement was reached. The resultant manuscript would then be put aside…
… to be completed!.. and formatted.
Yes indeed, what a small world!
Michael in Barcelona
And yet, Paul did do this sort of thing. He didn’t say – he just did it. (only nothing like the example above!)
that’s true, as did Matthew quite alot in his gospel!
so i guess there’s a precedent for taking things magically out of context and assembling them in various ways…maybe the key is that if the phrases lined up spell a message of love and hope, they are true, but if not, they are wrong at worst or incomplete at best?
Michael, thanks for that history on the Daily Light! so some reflection did go into it, not just a random search through the concordance lol
also, interesting to know that i’ve actually been to the church where they were married, St Giles in the Field. quite fond of it, actually. the vicar is, from what i’m told, a very cool person of a liberal persuasion…who questions hell i believe as well.
I think perhaps the key is that 1. the proclamation made has to be faithful to the overall witness of scripture (as you said, love) and 2. it should be inspired of the Holy Spirit.
It sounds like in the Daily Light example, this family had an intimate fellowship of the body within their natural family and the Spirit spoke in and through them to one another and then to the world at large. Very cool! Not that we will never make mistakes, even as a body – as a whole – but the Spirit can also handle that in surrendered followers of Jesus.