Consuming Fire

In 2 Kings 2:8 - 15, Elijah rolled up his cloak and the water parted for them to cross. Elisha was intent as he asked for a double portion of his spirit. Then Elijah was taken up into heaven in a whirlwind by a chariot and horses of fire! "My father! My father! The chariots and horsemen of Israel!" Elisha took up the cloak and struck the water, it too parted before him so that he could cross over.

It is time for us to cross over to the other side. Jesus has gone before us, into Heaven where he is seated at the right hand of our Father. He has given us his Spirit which is like that double portion mantle. Obstacles part as we walk into the purposes he has prepared for us. We need to take up the mantle of his Spirit. We like Elijah are being caught up in third Heaven encounters as the fire of Holy Spirit carries us in whirlwinds of worship. But there is a difference, we get to carry it into our world and live out heavenly realities here on earth. We carry the whilrlwinds of the heavens and the fires of his Spirit.

In Daniel 3:19 - 29 Shadrach, Meshack and Abednego were thrown into the fiery furnace. "Look! I see four men walking around in the fire, unbound and unharmed, and the fourth looks like a son of the gods." (vs 25) We can only walk in the anointing of the holy fire of God by the power of his Spirit, with Jesus who made the way into the holy of holies for us. If we try to walk in this in our own strength, it is impossible. Consider the soldiers who died from the intensity of the blaze. But, we are clothed in his righteousness and can walk in this most intense holiness of love and power, because Jesus accompanies us in the flames. Burn all dross in your holy fires of love! "No other god can save in this way". We become a testimony of God's greatness, the God of impossible realities - miracles.

Exodus 3:1 - 14, the burning bush of unquenchable flame is burning in our hearts with holy love - "I AM has sent me to you". We are at the burning bush of God's revelation in the most intimate place of our hearts. Let us remove anything that hinders us from his Presence, "take off our shoes" as it were and come into His Presence with nothing between us, for our God is a consuming fire. Heb 12:29. We are sent out to others with fire that does not burn out.

Flee to the Spring

In Genesis 16 Hagar flees into the wilderness when she comes to a spring. God speaks to her there and she calls it Beer Lahai Roi, Well of the Living One who sees me. Returning to our First Love is like fleeing to the spring in the wilderness. We come to the end of our ability to figure things out, we don't know which way to turn, or who to turn to for the answers. And then, Jesus reminds us, come. Even in the desert where everything seems barren, there is water for us.

We have a friend who recently went on a trip to Israel. In the dry hills and amongst the sparse vegetation is a spring of fresh water. Our friend climbed to the jumping off point, which was quite high up and took some time to decide whether to jump into the pool or not. Eventually, he took the jump. God takes us to places like this, where we have nowhere else to turn to but Him. There is no alternative. This is the only pool in the desert for who knows how many miles. And then He takes us to a new vantage point of trust where He doesn't want us to only drink, but to actually jump into His Spirit water. To not only drink, but to swim. To trust like never before. It really takes faith to take that leap, it is such a high jump and scary to leap off the cliff and trust everything is going to be ok. God loves us in this place, because then He gets our complete devotion, our full surrender and our worship.

Hagar named the spring, The Well of the Living One who Sees Me. God hasn't forgotten about you or me. He never will. In the same way He gave Hagar a clear direction in this place, when we come into His presence in this completely surrendered and desperate way, we will hear Him leading the way. You will hear a voice behind you saying, This is the way, walk in it. "My sheep know my voice." Even if that voice is simply saying, Wait.

The desire just grows and grows

No matter how many times I placed everything on hold
Even placing those very things on the flames of surrender
I just could not let go of the forming
Deep inside of me, I reached down into bedrock water
And took hold of it; I’m still drinking.

Now we look for the things we had long ago,
Thinking, if only we could have what we had before
But we lose sight of the fact that
Once we have lived a moment, we cannot live it again
And when we live in the moment, we embrace life.

The wine tasted really good before
But then one day, someone told me, the best is yet to come
And my heart so believed him,
I knew, He’s right! I haven’t even tasted that kind of vintage!
And it’s just around the bend in the road.

It’s nearly here for us, we can see it with our heart vision
And it’s all new, just complete surrender into life
Just trust like we never did before
Throw off all of the paraphernalia
Feel your heart beat through your chest again
Get rid of the stuff that clutters up your space
Step out of the familiar.

The desire just grows and grows
We throw off the old things that tangle and hinder
We live into it, taking the moment
By both hands, anything can happen!