Hebrews 12:28-29 says, "Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, (29) for our “God is a consuming fire.”
What does is mean that our God is a consuming fire? It means everything God consumes, every place where God’s fire comes, he purifies and makes holy. Holiness means morally and spiritually excellent or perfect. It means belonging to, devoted to, or empowered by God. It means to be consecrated and sacred.
When God consumes us with his fire, he purifies us and makes us holy, he swallows up, he consumes, he burns up all our pride, our greed, our jealousy, our bitterness, our anger, our self-righteousness, even our dreams, our hopes, our visions for ourselves.
Israel was delivered by God out of Egypt, and he chose to guide them out with a pillar of cloud by daytime and a pillar of fire at night. It’s interesting when you think about God choosing this pillar of fire by night, and it makes perfect sense. The Bible tells us God led them as a pillar of cloud in the day and a pillar of fire at night so they could travel anytime—both day and night.
God consumes us and purifies us, but not only that. When God comes in our life like a fire, he recreates us. He transforms us so that day or night, 24/7, every moment of our existence, we will be prepared to follow him and move at his initiative. Everyone who has been consumed by the fire of God is now God-mobile, day or night. When you are consumed by the fire of God, you become a journeyman in the darkness. God becomes the light. The Scriptures say the pillar of fire always stayed in front of them to lead them as God moved. God comes and consumes us not when we want God to follow us, but when we are ready to follow him.
You know the wonderful thing about fire? It’s irreversible. It’s a consuming experience. Some of you reading this blog are wood. You’ve been going to church or someplace all your life, and you carry your wood around. You’re religious, and your wood is valuable to you. But you’ve never encountered God; he’s never encountered you. You’ve never opened your life to him, and you’ve never been set on fire. So you’ve got all this wood—it’s religion and ritual. And the way you can know you are just wood and not fire is because you’re not passionate about the things of God. But be careful with your wood, because God can even consume wood that’s been drenched in water.
Some of you reading this blog are ashes. What’s happened with you is that you were wood, and at some vulnerable moment in your life you said, “God, I’m yours. I understand you’re a consuming fire. I give you everything I am. I throw my life, my future, my dreams, my hopes, my pains, everything to you.” And God consumed you in that moment and you were burning for God. But then you let the fire go out, and you discovered you were nothing but ashes. And the way you talk is, “There once was a time when I knew God. There was a time I felt close to God.” You keep looking back on your life, and you’re just carrying around these ashes. (Erwin McManus)
Others of you are matches. You are shining a little light, but it is about to burn out. God says, “It’s not enough. I don’t want you to have a little, tiny light. I want you to be a fire consumed in God.”
Do you know how you can tell if a person is connected to God? It’s the one that gets set on fire.
1 comment:
I was meditating on some thoughts not long before reading this post and this message seems to be cohesive with those thoughts.
I have been a Christian going on 15 years, and when I got baptized at 15 I was dead serious about my conversion. It wasn't a religious ritual to me, but a life changing transformation that took place in my life.
I was never a wild child running around doing crazy things. I never puffed a cigarette, drank alcohol, did drugs, etc. I was not into that kind of stuff. My biggest struggles were my short temper rooted from anger and a really foul mouth. Once I became a Christian my foul language stopped immediately and I was able to keep my temper in check for the most part.
I enjoy watching football and mostly all sports and I enjoy playing darts, so I spend a good amount of time in sports bars. When I am there I always drink water and the people I meet are always amazed that I don't drink alcohol. I may mention to them I am a Christian, etc. and they look at me as if I am the second coming of Christ simply b/c I don't have a beer mug in one hand and a cigarette in the other.
They are looking at me on the outside, but I have some serious, deep rooted sin issues that go way beyond smoking and drinking. To many I appear like a good, strong Christian, but I know that to be false. I have one major sin issue that I have never been able to shake; And that is the way I constantly take things personal.
If I have truly been crucified with Christ then how can I get so upset with others when they wrong me? If I am truly crucified with Christ I have terminated all of Gary Eichelberger's rights as a man. But I have never been able to truly do this. This is my greatest sin.
What right do I have to harbor bitterness against one who insults me? What right do I have to retaliate? When I recieved Christ I gave up all those rights, so how can I still hold onto them the way I have the last 15 years? It is disgusting when you really realize just how selfish our flesh nature truly is.
What it boils down to is that there really is a spiritual war going on and everything we do makes God, or the Devil proud.
So many people's views of what sin is, is very distorted. They see it in terms of not smoking, drinking, cussing, fornication, adultery, etc. but one of the biggest sins that even some of the most mature Christians can fall into is becoming distracted by things not led of God that cause us to focus on things that simply do not matter.
If the Devil can distract Christians from doing God's work then he has accomplished something paramount.
If the Devil can get me to take people's insults personal and consume me with bitterness, sadness, depression, humiliation, despair then how can I possibly go out and minister?
I have spent a lot of time doing God's work in my life, but I have also spent a lot of time being distracted by Satan and my own flesh. Today is the day I repent for that and begin to turn it around.
Gary E.
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