What does it mean to me that my God is a Consuming Fire?
Definition: – to destroy, (as by fire); to waste or burn away
Deut 4:24 ‘For the Lord your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.’
Deut 9:3 ‘But be assured today that the Lord your God is the one who goes ahead of you like a devouring fire. He will destroy them; He will subdue them before you. And you will drive them out and annihilate them quickly, as the Lord has promised you.’
Ex15:7 ‘In the greatness of your majesty you threw down those who opposed you. You unleashed Your burning anger; it consumed them like stubble.’
Ex 24:17 ‘To the Israelites the glory of the Lord looked like a consuming fire on top of the mountain.’
Ps 69:9 ‘for zeal for Your house consumes me, and the insults of those who insult you fall on me.’
Jn 2:17 His disciples remembered that it is written: “Zeal for Your house will consume me.”
Heb 12:29 ‘For our God is a consuming fire.’
In the last few weeks I have been considering what it means to me that the Lord is a consuming fire.
I mean I love the fact, I love being taken up into the arms of my Father and for that time nothing else in the world matters… none exists except the time between Him and me, absolute bliss, Him whispering sweetly into my innermost being and me feeling absolute love and acceptance, there is no space and time like this and no one can ever take those experiences and intimate moments from you. One of the reasons I find it so important for our children to sing with us at church is for them to experience that intimacy with us and the beautiful part is how they come and show intimate affection to my hubby and I while we worship and they feel and accept the intimate touch of the Holy Spirit and I try never to miss an opportunity to remind them the love they are feeling is the dearest touch of the Living God coming into their hearts by our wonderful friend and Counsellor, the Holy Spirit. I digress…
While driving in the car this week a lady was explaining on the radio her near death experience and that she had been in a place of almost nothing-ness and yet experienced the awesome all-consuming love of God. She knew if she didn’t come back her family would miss her, but God would take care of them, she knew that she would be with Him forever and when they came they would be there with Him too, understanding and knowing what she did and that she couldn’t leave there. She had no cares and no thoughts of what she should have done, regrets, only that she had been blessed to make the most important choice of her life to become a Christian.
It was at that point when she said she had no regrets except to become a Christian, I thought for a moment about what would I be thinking if the Lord gave me the opportunity to stand before Him now. The only regret I would have is what I have not done for Him. How I have not spent my time with Him, how I have not studied my bible more so as to be His hands and feet effectively.
If that weren’t enough, my hubby sent me an article on whatsapp, author unknown. It is so good, it points to Heb 10:19-39, now usually I won’t paste entire pieces of scripture, I feel it’s more important to look it up ourselves and hear from God, but this article is irrelevant without this text.
Hebrews 10:19-39 New International Version (NIV)
A Call to Persevere in Faith
19 “Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, 20 by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, 21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. 23 Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. 24 And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, 25 not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.
26 If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, 27 but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God. 28 Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. 29 How much more severely do you think someone deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified them, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace? 30 For we know him who said, “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,”[a] and again, “The Lord will judge his people.”[b] 31 It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
32 Remember those earlier days after you had received the light, when you endured in a great conflict full of suffering. 33 Sometimes you were publicly exposed to insult and persecution; at other times you stood side by side with those who were so treated. 34 You suffered along with those in prison and joyfully accepted the confiscation of your property, because you knew that you yourselves had better and lasting possessions. 35 So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded.
36 You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised. 37 For,
“In just a little while,
he who is coming will come
and will not delay.”[c]
38 And,
“But my righteous[d] one will live by faith.
And I take no pleasure
in the one who shrinks back.”[e]
39 But we do not belong to those who shrink back and are destroyed, but to those who have faith and are saved.”
I was so convicted, I have been toying with the ideas God has given me, but not taking them seriously as if they were a call from God, because I always feel as though I would never be good enough to be called by God, not qualified, not educated, not ‘appointed’ by anyone as if to say man’s appointment would mean more than God’s Himself? What was I thinking?
To top it all off yesterday morning I was listening to a prayer call I listen to at times and the woman said someone on this call is afraid of what the Lord is calling them to and God is going to give you the courage step out, to persevere and to end well, take up the mantle and run with it. She said you are waiting for the day that you feel qualified enough, educated enough, but God has called you and when He calls you He will anoint you and equip you (which is what the Lord’s been saying to me all year in Isaiah 61:1, which I didn’t believe I was worthy of the calling, people… how slow am I?). Well, that was for me, hopefully for others too, but definitely was, for me at that time. God has this year been placing in me a call to do a number of things for Him but now as I sit here, my heart is pulsing, my hands racing over the keyboard and I am feeling like there may never be enough time to do what I need to do, but my God, my consuming fire, who has consumed every thought, every emotion and every situation for so long; is calling me, I will go. For He is mighty, I will not fear, I will not look back, I will focus on Him alone and keep my eyes above the waves. My time is now and my consuming fire burning so that I need to put into action all that He is calling me to, for eternity’s sake and the lives of men and women that He loves are at stake!!! Come on! Come with me on the journey of God following, the greatest adventure of life and gift from God, we will never regret it!!
Don’t know what your calling is? Ask, He is faithful, ask the Lord, if, and when, we come with sincere, pure hearts He will answer with the true calling He designed us for. It is God’s will for us to achieve the purpose and call He has designed each of us for.