FIRE!

What do you think of when you think of fire?

The first thing that comes to my mind is when my parents' home burned...

a painful and traumatic experience for our whole family.

 

The second thing I think of is when my husband and I burned a large brush pile

in the middle of winter when there was a lot of snow on the ground.

That was a much more enjoyable and unusual experience!

I lost the original picture of that,

but you can see the photo of it by clicking on my Facebook page.

Another thing I think of when I think of "Fire", is...

THE FIRE OF GOD!

I recently did a little study on this after coming across this verse:

"Fire blazed out from the LORD's Presence"

(Leviticus 9:24) 

 In the Bible, fire is often associated with the Presence of God. 

 Hebrews 12:29 says "Our God is a consuming (or devouring) fire."  

Fire denoted His acceptance of offerings,

 often blazing out and devouring the sacrifice in Old Testament days

 (Leviticus 9:24).  

But it also shot from heaven to annihilate those who mocked God by turning from Him 

and trying to impersonate His presence with their own "strange fire". 

 (Leviticus 10:2, Exodus 30:9, and Numbers 3:4)

Jesus said He came to "set the world on fire" (Luke 12:49), 

and He did so by sending the Fire of the Holy Spirit!

(Matthew 3:11, Luke 3:16-17, and Acts 2:3).

God often uses "fire" to purify our lives (Zechariah 13:9),

and to try our works to see if they have any value 

(1Corinthians 13:12-15).

When the "Day of the LORD" comes,

 God will use fire to melt away the impurites of the earth 

before He establishes a "new heaven and a new earth"

 (2 Peter 3:10-13).

Like Moses who boldly stepped into the fiery presence of God 

(Exodus chapters 3, 19, and 33),

I would rather know God intimately, 

choose to see His glory and know His passionate fire and love in my life, 

than to meet Him in the fires of judgment in the last days! 

(2 Thessalonians 1:8).

There's a LOT of Scripture references here!

 They can easily be looked up in various translations in either

Blue Letter Bible,  Bible Gateway, or your own personal favorite website or hard copy.

(Just a reminder, free downloads on your Kindle of "Joy in the Mourning" by going to Amazon)