6 I know that you delight to set your truth deep in my spirit. So come into the hidden places of my heart and teach me wisdom.7 Purify my conscience! Make this leper clean again! Wash me in your love until I am pure in heart. 8 Satisfy me in your sweetness, and my song of joy will return. The places within me you have crushed will rejoice in your healing touch. 9 Hide my sins from your face; erase all my guilt by your saving grace. 10 Create a new, clean heart within me. Fill me with pure thoughts and holy desires, ready to please you. - Psa 51:6-10 TPT
When reading the Psalms in the Bible, you will find that David wrote many of them. His heart was one of repentance is humility. He sought after God's presence even in His rebuke and correction. This is why God said he was a man after His own heart. David always sought God for safety, strength, forgiveness, and revival. This is the kind of attitude that should always be our heart towards God. Whether we are undergoing temptation to sin, doubt, or unbelief, or we are struggling with emotional wounds, Jesus is the only one who can see us completely through.
The old person who is gone, being replaced with the new one, applies to the spirit and not the soul. The fragments of our old life often try to piece themselves back together in the depths of our souls, attempting to regenerate the old person. We have been given the opportunity to live a life of abundance in Christ Jesus, but we are a work in progress. The soul needs to be regenerated through the washing of God's word and not through old habits and behaviors. Regenerate means to be spiritually converted and restored to a better and more worthy state.
I think we can all agree that the world appears to be spiritually and morally on fire. It seems that if something is good, it is now considered evil and vice versa. More than at any time before, we need to embrace the fire of God. We need revival embers to turn to blazes and purify the body of Christ. There is going to be a separation of goats and sheep in both people and nations. America is on the brink of becoming a goat nation if we do not turn around. Goat nations are destroyed while sheep nations are blessed.
The words of Apostle Paul many years ago still ring true today. 25 Be careful that you do not refuse to listen to the One who is speaking. For if the people of Israel did not escape when they refused to listen to Moses, the earthly messenger, we will certainly not escape if we reject the One who speaks to us from heaven! 26 When God spoke from Mount Sinai his voice shook the earth, but now he makes another promise: "Once again I will shake not only the earth but the heavens also." 27 This means that all of creation will be shaken and removed, so that only unshakable things will remain. 28 Since we are receiving a Kingdom that is unshakable, let us be thankful and please God by worshiping him with holy fear and awe. 29 For our God is a devouring fire. - Heb 12:25-29 NLT
God is described as a consuming fire. Because anything that gets in His way is going to be destroyed or purified and made useful for His kingdom. The body of Christ needs to embrace God's fire in many ways.
"Therefore understand today that the LORD your God is He who goes over before you as a consuming fire.– Deu 9:3a God went as fire by day and cloud by night before the Israelites, determined to set them free from the bondage of Egypt. The sight of the glory of the LORD [was] like a consuming fire on the top of the mountain in the eyes of the children of Israel. - Exo 24:17
Unfortunately, the terrifying appearance of God did not draw the people towards Him, instead, they asked Moses to talk with Him. Sometimes our sins are so great that they cause us to withdraw from a fearful God instead of embracing a merciful God.
Apostle Paul said, 18 You have not come to a physical mountain, to a place of flaming fire, darkness, gloom, and whirlwind, as the Israelites did at Mount Sinai. 19 For they heard an awesome trumpet blast and a voice so terrible that they begged God to stop speaking. 20 They staggered back under God's command: "If even an animal touches the mountain, it must be stoned to death." 21 Moses himself was so frightened at the sight that he said, "I am terrified and trembling." - Heb 12:18-21 NLT
While God's voice still causes things to shake and can cause people to tremble, we do not need to run in fear of Him. Instead, we should take God at His words and "Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, - Act 3:19 God's heart is always to bless and not to have to discipline.
John the Baptist came to prepare the way of the Lord, the day in which Jesus would come to earth as a man and begin His ministry of deliverance, healing, and salvation for all who would receive. John would come in the spirit of Elijah. "He will also go before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, 'to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children,' and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready a people prepared for the Lord." - Luk 1:17 NKJV
John had a specific message for the people of that time, repent and prepare yourself for the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, the King of kings and Lord of lords. Today, many have the same message and operate in the same spirit of repentance, calling people to repent and turn from their wickedness so that times of refreshing and salvation can come.
Now is the time to embrace the fullness of the salvation of the Lord and no longer take the grace of God for granted. It is time to stop being bystanders and partake in the ministry of Jesus Christ.
When John the Baptist was baptizing people, the Pharisees and Sadducees, the legalist religious rulers, showed up. John's response was not very inviting. John called them a "Brood of vipers!" and asked them who warned them to flee from the wrath to come. He then said, 8 Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance, 9 and do not think to say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father.' For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones. 10 And even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees. Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. -Mat 3:8-10
John warned them that the promised Messiah had come and that they needed to stop relying on their old religious ways of purification because it would not put them in right standing with God, only Jesus was going to be able to do that.
John also warned the people that when the Messiah came, He would come with power and fire. 11 I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 12 His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather His wheat into the barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire." - Mat 3:11-12
The baptism of the Holy Spirit and fire is a weapon for the Church. It provides the ability to speak in tongues, preach the gospel with power, and operate in the giftings of Holy Spirit. The fire causes us to be cleansed at a deep level and gives us the fiery boldness needed to overcome the pharisaical spirits operating in the earth. The reason there is so much division on the topic of the baptism of Holy Spirit is because the enemy knows the power that comes forth from those who partake in God's Spirit.
Jesus came to purify and make ready His bride for His final coming. We are not ready. The Church is still embracing a social gospel even at the expense of dying and lost souls. The Church is comfortable and conforming. The spirit of Haman and Nebuchadnezzar is at work in the nation and is overcoming the Church in the form of government. There are many governors that desire to shut the mouths of the Ecclesia for good or at the very least have them preach the gospel they see fit. The government gospel is all-inclusive and is a message of diverse grace allowing anything to be approved. Righteousness and holiness do not fit their narrative. We see it clearly in the states that made regulations against the church's ability to gather and worship. When the Church embraced the protocols of masks instead of the command to walk by faith we also see fear working among people.
God promises His people that He will take care of them, He will hide them in the clefts of the rocks and even if things come near to them it will not destroy them. If we die for righteousness and faith then so be it, we will live for eternity with God. That is if we believe what we say we believe.
The consuming fire of God needs to be embraced in our souls so that we can be rid of all the things that cause us to stumble and not live out our faith. When Moses received the ten commandments and brought them to the people, he reminded them of their reaction towards the fire of God.
Moses said, 4 The Lord talked with you face to face on the mountain from the midst of the fire. 5 I stood between the Lord and you at that time, to declare to you the word of the Lord; for you were afraid because of the fire, and you did not go up the mountain. He said: 6'I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. 7'You shall have no other gods before Me. – Deut 5:4-7
Who will speak for you on the day you meet God face to face? You will arrive at those gates alone, your pastor will not be there with you and you will have to answer for every word and deed. Jesus will advocate for you if you know Him and He knows you.
Let's pray,
Heavenly Father, forgive me for a lukewarm attitude towards You and the things of Your kingdom. I repent. I ask for Your help to embrace the fullness of Your word, the conviction, and the blessings. I desire to live a life of fiery faith and not one of compromise and complacency. I know that without Your Spirit in me and actively leading me, I will not be able to accomplish Your will for my life. Help me today to overcome the spirit of Haman and Nebuchadnezzar. In Jesus name, Amen