Changed by the Fire
Pro 30:15-16 Four things that say not it is enough ( The fire).
Fire is never satisfied, it will burn as long as there is fuel.
(Heb 12:29 KJV) For our God is a consuming fire.
This means God is never finished, he never reaches a point where he says you’re holy enough, spiritual, enough, disciplined enough, cleansed and purified enough so my fire is finished in your life.
God’s determination for your life and mine is not just to touch us, but to consume us with his fire.
(Heb 1:7 KJV) And of the angels he saith, Who maketh his angels spirits, and his ministers a flame of fire.
Not just ministers on fire, but ministers of fire.
(1 Pet 4:10 KJV) As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.
Minister and steward are basically the same thing, They mean to manage and oversee the goods of another, to be responsible for distributing to and serving the needs of others.
God has made us stewards and ministers of his fire, we are not just to be on fire for him, but we are to be distribution centers from which his fire is released and distributed.
God and Fire are inseparable,
Fire has always been a symbol of the divine presence and power of God.
(Exo 40:38 KJV) For the cloud of the LORD was upon the tabernacle by day, and fire was on it by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel, throughout all their journeys.
There is a 3 fold operation of the fire of God concerning our lives
(1) To you (2) In you (3) Through you
Anyone can see the fire but it’s not the fire you see that changes your life, it’s the fire you receive, it’s the opening of your heart to the inward sanctifying cleansing purging fire of Gods presence that makes you a vessel fit to carry the anointing
It’s not what we say about God that changes lives, it’s the quantity and quality of the presence and character of God that is manifested through us that changes lives.
Let me say it another way: You have to be infected before you can infect someone else.
You can talk about a virus, or disease and how contagious it is but unless your infected by it, there is no danger of the person hearing you being infected either.
(It’s the same with the fire of God).
1Cor 2: 4-5 And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man’s wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power: That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.
The fire of God wants to come into your life and make you ministers of fire.
Isa 4:4 When the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion, and shall have purged the blood of Jerusalem from the midst thereof by the spirit of judgment, and by the spirit of burning.
5 And the LORD will create upon every dwelling place of mount Zion, and upon her assemblies, a cloud and smoke by day, and the shining of a flaming fire by night: for upon all the glory shall be a defence.
(First the fire to you)
It’s wonderful to see somebody who is on fire for God, it draws you and creates a hunger in you. (But even if you don’t see it in an earthen vessel near you). You can see it in the word of God.
(second the fire in you)
Purging, cleansing, sanctifying, burning up the clutter, the excesses, the selfishness, the sin, habits, addictions, attitudes.
(Then the fire through you)
You become that cleansed and purified vessel that the fire can flow through to others.
There are a good number of people who don’t mind being touched by the fire, as long as it’s containable, or better said, controllable
As long as they determine it’s heat and intensity.
But God will never be satisfied just to touch you, he wants to consume you, (body, mind, soul, and spirit) he wants everything.
One of the best bible illustrations of this truth is the Foxes on Fire in the book of Judges 15:4-5.
Sampson catches 300 foxes and sends them out by two’s into the philistine’s fields; the kicker is they have a fire between their tails.
Needless to say (these foxes were motivated).
At the risk of offending some animal activist, I am sure the fire did not simply give off a pleasant glow as they ran through the philistine’s fields.
No my friends, these foxes were on fire,
[These foxes were changed by the fire]
(Because these foxes were consumed by the fire).
When the fire hit the fur these foxes had a mission, their mission was go into all the world and spread the fire.
The fire changed them, they were never the same again.
If there was ever a time when the church needed a fresh fire it’s today.
Will you pray with me today this simple prayer:
Please God I need more than just a touch,I need transformation.
I want more than just a blessing, I want you to consume me, set me on fire until everything about me is changed, burn up everything in me that is not like you, so you can burn through me and make a difference in my world.
In Jesus Name Amen.
