Day 103: He Is The Esh Okhlah, The All Consuming Fire
Read: 1Kings 18:36 - 38, Acts 2:1 - 4
Does God still send fire from heaven? This is the question many people
ask. Some wonder whether, fire like in the Old Testament days, still
fall from heaven? The short answer to this is in the affirmative – God
still sends fire from heaven. Why it appears as if fire does not fall
from heaven is because one too many times and in one too many places for
one too many reasons the church, the Body Of Christ, keeps on stacking cord wood and kindling
around itself waiting for something to miraculously spark it to life to
address the serious issues which confront it today. Perhaps it no longer
hungers for the pure fire from heaven or believes, with the same
enthusiasm as Elijah, Come back to God! Set you hearts on Fire.
Whenever God sends
fire down from heaven, it is for a task to be accomplished on earth. The
following are some of the reasons Esh Okhlah God sends fire from
heaven. He Purifies: Whenever God wants to do the work of
purification, He sends down fire because fire is needed for
purification. The fire may come via His words, especially when He wants
to purify a people. God wants us to be holy. He wants us to be pure. He
wants us to become like Christ. In His plans to make us holy, He sends
His words to us on a regular basis to ignite His fire in us. When this
fire is ignited, it works out purification in us. Really, the word of
God ought to be burning like fire in our hearts.
He Leads and
Protect: 'And the LORD went before them by day in a pillar of a cloud,
to lead them the way; and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them
light; to go by day and night' (Exodus 13:21-22). When the children of
God left Egypt to go to the land of promise, they were lost as to which
way to go. In their confusion, God appeared unto them to lead them by
the pillar of fire by night. The night time is a time of darkness; a
time of uncertainty. God sent his fire to give them illumination. What
you need whenever you aren't sure is the Esh Ohklah. When it comes,
illumination comes as well. Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path. (Psalm 119:105)
Because fire is such an important symbol in God's story, we need to spend some time studying, trying to understand what it means. God appeared to Moses in a
burning bush showing the power of God's presence. Fire is also a
dramatic picture of how God's Holy Spirit works in our lives. Acts 2:3 -
4: 'Tongues that looked like fire appeared to them. The tongues
arranged themselves so that one came to rest on each believer. All the
believers were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other
languages as the Spirit gave them the ability to speak.' In our lives
too, the Esh Ohklah can burn within us igniting our passion to love God, Love All, Join The Journey.
Let Us Pray: Come Spirit, blow through our lives with the power of Your
love. Create us anew with the winds of Your grace. May the fires of
Your hope burn away our fears. May the power of Your compassion remake
us in Your image. Gather us up, fill us with good things, and teach us
to speak with wisdom and power. Amen
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Read: 1Kings 18:36 - 38, Acts 2:1 - 4
Does God still send fire from heaven? This is the question many people ask. Some wonder whether, fire like in the Old Testament days, still fall from heaven? The short answer to this is in the affirmative – God still sends fire from heaven. Why it appears as if fire does not fall from heaven is because one too many times and in one too many places for one too many reasons the church, the Body Of Christ, keeps on stacking cord wood and kindling around itself waiting for something to miraculously spark it to life to address the serious issues which confront it today. Perhaps it no longer hungers for the pure fire from heaven or believes, with the same enthusiasm as Elijah, Come back to God! Set you hearts on Fire.
Whenever God sends fire down from heaven, it is for a task to be accomplished on earth. The following are some of the reasons Esh Okhlah God sends fire from heaven. He Purifies: Whenever God wants to do the work of purification, He sends down fire because fire is needed for purification. The fire may come via His words, especially when He wants to purify a people. God wants us to be holy. He wants us to be pure. He wants us to become like Christ. In His plans to make us holy, He sends His words to us on a regular basis to ignite His fire in us. When this fire is ignited, it works out purification in us. Really, the word of God ought to be burning like fire in our hearts.
He Leads and Protect: 'And the LORD went before them by day in a pillar of a cloud, to lead them the way; and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light; to go by day and night' (Exodus 13:21-22). When the children of God left Egypt to go to the land of promise, they were lost as to which way to go. In their confusion, God appeared unto them to lead them by the pillar of fire by night. The night time is a time of darkness; a time of uncertainty. God sent his fire to give them illumination. What you need whenever you aren't sure is the Esh Ohklah. When it comes, illumination comes as well. Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path. (Psalm 119:105)
Because fire is such an important symbol in God's story, we need to spend some time studying, trying to understand what it means. God appeared to Moses in a burning bush showing the power of God's presence. Fire is also a dramatic picture of how God's Holy Spirit works in our lives. Acts 2:3 - 4: 'Tongues that looked like fire appeared to them. The tongues arranged themselves so that one came to rest on each believer. All the believers were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages as the Spirit gave them the ability to speak.' In our lives too, the Esh Ohklah can burn within us igniting our passion to love God, Love All, Join The Journey.
Let Us Pray: Come Spirit, blow through our lives with the power of Your love. Create us anew with the winds of Your grace. May the fires of Your hope burn away our fears. May the power of Your compassion remake us in Your image. Gather us up, fill us with good things, and teach us to speak with wisdom and power. Amen
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Send The Fire (with lyrics)
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Music
by Stoneleigh - Words by William Booth O God of burning, cleansing
flame Send the fire! Your blood-bought gift today we claim Send the fire
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