The Fire of the Lord
Today’s Verse:
Then the fire of the LORD fell, and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood, and the stones, and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench. ~1 Kings 18:38
Fire is one of the four natural elements needed in life. The other three are earth, wind, and water. Fire has many essential uses: heat, cooking, light, and controlled burning. Fire can be dangerous as well. Uncontrolled fire can burn and destroy. A raging fire leaves behind ashes, rubble, and charred remains. The Bible speaks about the fire of the Lord. Let us consider the absolute essential of God’s fire.
We see the character.
Fire is a symbol of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is represented in Acts 2:3 as “cloven tongues like as of fire.” As fire, the Holy Spirit burns God’s Word into our hearts. The two disciples on the road to Emmaus said, “Did not our heart burn within us, while he talked with us by the way, and while he opened to us the scriptures?” Jeremiah said, “But his word was in mine heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones.” His fire warms us, warns us, and welcomes us. Just as a fire is a welcome sight to someone at nighttime or who is cold, the Holy Spirit is a welcoming fire to us during times of darkness or when our hearts are cold.
We see the cleansing.
The cleansing by fire is through the furnace of affliction. Hananiah, Azariah, and Mishael were cast into the burning fiery furnace. When they came out of the fire, their clothes and hair were not burned. The smell of fire was not on them. Yet, the fire cleansed their lives. Fire burns the dross of sin out of our lives. A fiery trial is God’s way of producing holiness. The purest gold and silver is that which has been melted down by fire and all the impurities have been removed.
We see the consuming.
When the fire came down after Elijah prayed, it consumed the burnt sacrifice, the wood, the stones, the dust, and the water that was in the trench. Consuming fire symbolizes revival fire. There is no revival unless the fire of the Lord consumes everything in its path. Revival is when God’s people are in love with Jesus again. It’s when the fire is raging in our soul for God’s holiness, God’s honor, and God’s glory. It burns away the things that have gotten in the way. It is spiritual fire that awakens and makes alive. It takes away the sin and selfishness. When it arrives, God’s people can say, “The LORD, he is the God; the LORD, he is the God.”
We see the combustion.
It only takes a spark to get a fire going. When a fire is ignited, it can be controlled or it can spread. When the fire of the Lord gets into our hearts, we start burning for God’s power, for souls to be saved, for churches to be started, for revival throughout the church, and for others to catch the fire. Fire in one Christian helps fire up other Christians. John Wesley used to say, “I set myself on fire and people come to watch me burn.” Maybe, today, God wants to start a fire in you that will result in a fire burning in the lives of others. Jesus said that John the Baptist was a burning and shining light. He was a living and walking representation of the fire of the Lord. He had the spirit and fire of Elijah.
Don’t be a “fireworks Christian” that only gets lit up occasionally. Let the fire of the Lord come down and use you to start more fires!
Have a fiery God Morning!
Bible Reading Schedule: Psalms 115-118