Tags
all-consuming fire, Deuteronomy, dry bones, Ezekiel, God, Hebrews, Holy Spirit fire, hope, Isaiah, life, light, live, love, Matthew, repentance, Salvation, truth, water
The past few nights in this windy city of Amarillo, Jason and I have been blessed by the fire that crackles and sparks in our beautiful fireplace. No television to turn our attention away from a marvelous act of nature, no distractions to keep us from watching the flames as they soar high into the chimney in an array of colors from yellow to orange to blue. No phones, no lights…nothing but the sound of our breathing and the awe-inspiring view of the all-consuming fire. I watched that fire last night dry those pieces of wood until they fell under their own weight and became nothing but dry ash on the bottom of the floor and I thought of God.
God is referred to in the Bible as an all-consuming fire, we should be worshipping Him with holy fear and awe (Hebrews 12:28-29) but we continue to get muddied up by the ways of the world. Like I mentioned in my video last night (go back and watch it if you missed it) that we get so entangled in ourselves and in our own sin and selfishness that we forget that we are supposed to be the light in the room for others. We lead by example and we follow the example of Christ. There is no other way. There is no sin that is ok for now!! We have to call things forth and start driving out the things that are taking out our friends and loved ones with the Word of God and stop counseling them! The Word is a double-edged sword that divides our soul and spirit.
God is an all-consuming fire.
When you take a look at what fire does to wood, imagine what it can do to our soul if we let it. I was thinking of Ezekiel last night in the valley of dry bones. What made the bones dry? It doesn’t say, but the bones represented the people of Israel and their sin…more than likely after the jealous, all-consuming fire of God swept through just as Moses prophesied to them (Deut 4:23-24). What makes us think that we are guarded from God’s judgement just because we (as a society) have conditioned ourselves to believe that it is ok to let things slide to the point of our eternal doom? The grace of Jesus is NOT greasy and cannot be mocked.
Because I have a pyrotechnic-wanna-be husband (lol), the fire in our fireplace last night reached epic heights and temperatures as it dried out that wood. The air around it became magnetized almost as the overwhelming heat rose through the chimney. It was the most beautiful sight to behold and I thought of the living water of Christ. It covers us and washes away our filth that comes from the spirit of judgement and the spirit of burning (Isaiah 4:4). We are baptized in water for repentance but the Holy Spirit of Christ will baptize us with a NEW fire…one that was atoned for by His death. And THAT needs to stay lit…and the only way for the Holy Spirit fire to stay lit is for us to continue to walk in it and show others the way to their own salvation. We have to keep setting the example to follow and become more like Christ, DAILY dying to ourselves for the sake of the building up of the Kingdom of God!
Let God’s all-consuming fire melt away the things that are troubling you, the things that are keeping you in bondage, the things that you refuse to speak out because it is so shameful…let it BURN away and then speak to your own dry bones and let them live again NEW then don’t stay quiet against the things of this world…you were brought here for a reason and a purpose…SHINE YOUR LIGHT…your dry bones can live…and so can THEIRS…Open your mouth and speak the truth…which is the Word of God.