FIRE

Written by Harold Lillie and Janet Curry in 2019, updated on June 13, 2023

Our world is on fire. At least that is what the media is saying. Because of technology and the news that wants to grab our attention so we read their story, then we come back to read the next one, the young people of today are very frightened. I had my 17-year-old daughter and one of her friends in my car last week, and they were reading about the Amazon rainforest being on fire, and how the rainforest emits 20% of our oxygen. With nothing to reference, this would be enough to drive everyone to hysteria. However, I can remember a time when people were purposefully cutting the rainforest to clear more ground for villages and crops. Proximity changes your perspective, as does history. The same is true of knowing God’s word. As if they don’t have enough things to think about, with their families, school, and friends, now the children of today have the world news in their pocket.

As we’re all carried along on this wave of endless information meant to keep us in a constant state of unrest, let’s take a moment to pause and look back on what we know to be true.

The wrath of God is coming. He has promised this in his word. The Lord gave a very clear picture of this not too long ago to my friend, Harold. Harold had a very frightening dream, one that he can’t talk about without being emotional.

In his dream, the Lord instructs Harold to hold out his hand. When he does, his hand looks like it is on fire, with lava and flames pouring out of little holes on the top of it. This is a picture of God’s wrath, the cup of God’s anger that will be served to those who choose to worship something other than the Lord. Revelation 14:10 says, “he also will drink the wine of God’s wrath, poured full strength into the cup of his anger, and he will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb.”

For now, we can take this picture of fire either in the negative and be afraid of the coming wrath of God as a consuming fire, Deuteronomy 4:29, or we can repent and allow the Holy Spirit to set fire to all the chaff within us.

Today, there are more fires raging across Canada. I'm feeling like I need to repost this, because when I was young and accepted Jesus into my life, I thought that was all that I needed to do. However, in John 14:23 Jesus says that whoever loves him will keep his commands. If you think you're going to heaven by saying the words and not keeping his commands, this post is for you. As I look back on my life and all the ways I did not keep in step with Jesus or accept him as my Lord, I want to make sure that the image of fire is burned into your mind, just like my friend Harold had it burned into his hand. I had to submit to Jesus as Lord and stop going my own way. The Holy Spirit kept working on me until I did this once and for all. This was the warning: be sure! Fire is coming!

The great thing about turning all the ugly stuff in our lives over to the Lord is that He uses Living Water to heal us. It only burns for a little while. Once we submit to the Lord, He rushes in with cooling water to heal and refresh us. This is not a one and done experience. The pit of sin that we’ve dug for ourselves is deep and dark, and we don’t like to show him the whole thing all at once. Only by hitting bottom, allowing God into all the secret places: allowing him to light up all the dark crevices, will we become mature, like Jesus. (John 7:38, John 4:10, Revelation 7:17)

The alternative is to keep watching the fires, allowing them to consume us and control our lives as we react to all that is going on in the world. For me, the choice is easy. I don’t want to get to heaven and hear the Lord say he never knew me. (Matthew 25:12) If I surrender all of myself to him now, His Living Water will flow through me into my children and the world around them.

FIRE

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