ALL THROUGH
THE FIRES
By Dan Luehrs
"When you
pass through the waters, I will be with you;
And through
the rivers, they will not overflow you.
When you walk
through the fire, you will not be scorched,
Nor will the
flame burn you" (Isaiah 43:2).
I thank God
for the truth of His word, but I despise the lies of men. There are those among
us that would say we do not have to go through the fires. God will allow us to
run from the fire if we choose. But, in truth, we will be running away from
Him. If our desire is to get close to God, we must go through the fires in
order to get to Him. "For our God
is a consuming fire" (Hebrews 12:29). Do you really want to get close
to Him? I tell you, the closer you get to Him, through the experiences of His
Holy Spirit and the revelation of His word, the greater the fires will burn in
your life. Fire only consumes fuel, when the fuel is gone the fire dies out.
"For lack of wood the fire goes out" (Proverbs 26:20).
"… His
throne was ablaze with flames,
Its wheels
were a burning fire.
"A river
of fire was flowing
And coming out
from before Him …"
(Daniel
7:9-10).
The
clearest illustration I have to give understanding of this verse is of a
volcano erupting; blowing its top, with fire spewing in the air and a river of
fire flowing downward. Would you dare approach it? I think not! If a volcano is
only His creation, then what must He be like?
"And Moses brought the people out of the
camp to meet God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain. Now Mount
Sinai was all in smoke because the LORD
descended upon it in fire; and its smoke ascended like the smoke of a furnace,
and the whole mountain quaked violently" (Exodus 19:17-18).
"And
to the eyes of the sons of
Notice, "His glory was like a consuming
fire." We must have the fear of God in us if we dare draw closer to
Him. Many people talk about the glory of the Lord being so wonderful, and it
is. But when we realize that His Glory is the fire that consumes unholy traits
in us, we must be careful how we draw close to Him with sin in our life. As I
said, fire only consumes fuel and we are that fuel, when we have sin in our
life. Some sins are so ingrained in us through habit that it can take many
years for the fires of God to burn them out. Let me explain it this way. As a
log is put on a fire, the outside of the log burns very quickly. It's core
however, keeps burning because it is bound so tight. And so it is with us. The
core of the sin takes time to be consumed. The fires will burn in us until
there is no more pain or attraction to that former sin. To live for self is the
main fuel that must be consumed!
Selfishness
is ingrained in us from birth. This is what is in us: "Me, mine, my way,
and no!" It is interesting to note that the fires of raising our own
children take away our own self-centeredness from us. This is why parenting can
be so challenging; it is a fire that consumes us. The same is true of marriage
and any relationship that we have.
Our lives are ordered by God to burn self out!
When we come to the realization of the fact that God is in control, and it is
He that is setting these fires and maintaining them to cleanse us, we will have
matured greatly. "Therefore, those
also who suffer according to the will of God shall entrust their souls to a
faithful Creator in doing what is right" (1 Peter 4:19). Did you know that
it is God's will for you to suffer? Many would say, "But, but, I
thought…" It makes no difference what we think. God is not interested in
our opinion, and the sooner we see this, the sooner we will get through the
fires. For they can only burn until the fuel is gone. "After you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace,
who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself perfect, confirm,
strengthen and establish you" (1 Peter 5:10). We must embrace the fires, not run from them. How do we do this? By
acknowledging the fact that we are in fire; by giving God permission to do
whatever He needs to do and yet counting it all joy! "Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal
among you, which comes upon you for your testing, as though some strange
thing were happening to you; but to the
degree that you share the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing, so that
also at the revelation of His glory you may rejoice with exultation" (1
Peter 4:12-13).
Many talk
about escaping the fires of hell, and this we do by obeying Jesus Christ. (See
"So
that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is
perishable, even though tested by fire,
may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ (1 Peter 1:7). Notice how this
verse and
"But the day of the Lord will come like a
thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be
destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up.
Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, what sort of people
ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness" (2 Peter 3:10-11).
Please hear
me, these verses are not talking about the natural heavens and earth being
destroyed. This is talking about all the works of the wicked flesh and evil
spirit's being destroyed by great stress and pressure that is coming upon the
earth at the revelation of Jesus Christ. "For behold, the day is coming, burning like a furnace; and all the
arrogant and every evildoer will be chaff; and the day that is coming will set
them ablaze," says the LORD of hosts, "so that it will leave them
neither root nor branch." "But for you who fear My name the sun
of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings; and you will go forth and
skip about like calves from the stall. "And you will tread down the
wicked, for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet on the day, which
I am preparing," says the LORD of hosts" (Malachi 4:1-3).
Do you hear
what Malachi is saying? To those who fear His name, it will be a day of great
freedom! For those who are prepared for His coming have nothing to fear. The
fires will be great grace, (strength) to live by. "Therefore, gird your
minds for action, keep sober in spirit, fix
your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of
Jesus Christ" (1 Peter 1:13). Fire is power. Firepower is the strength
that runs almost everything: Your car must have gas to make fire in the motor
to turn the wheels; electricity to run your home is fire; light is fire. Where
would we be without the sun?
"Sinners in
Will you be
prepared for the day of His revealing in fire?
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