God Is Love. God is Fire. Fire is Love.
“Fasten me upon your heart as a seal of fire forevermore. This living, consuming flame will seal you as my prisoner of love. My passion is stronger than the chains of death and the grave, all consuming as the very flashes of fire from the burning heart of God. Place this fierce, unrelenting fire over your entire being. Rivers of pain and persecution will never extinguish this flame. Endless floods will be unable to quench this raging fire that burns within you. Everything will be consumed. It will stop at nothing as you yield everything to this furious fire until it won’t even seem to you like a sacrifice anymore.” (Song of Songs 8:6-7 TPT).
“Jesus loves me this I know, for the Bible tells me so.” I grew up singing this little ditty. If you were raised in church, you likely sang it, too.
Great for babies and small children. But I can tell you there are many people I consult with who have not moved much past this level of understanding. These include those who can quote Bible verses about God’s love all day long. But when it comes right down to it, these same folks admit they have rarely, if ever, experienced His love.
Why is this?
I traveled a circuitous route to engaging with God’s love in my own life. Just like so many of the people I meet with, I knew about it for decades. However, the head knowledge of His love had not led to fulfillment and intimacy with Him—only to performance and competition, which led to disappointment. Then heartbreak. Divorce. More disappointment. More heartbreak.
That cycle ended one day while jogging on a beach before the light of dawn. I had just cried out to God a desperate “Why?” when suddenly I spotted two conch shells lying side-by-side in the surf. That’s when I somehow grasped hold of HIs love in such a real way that it changed the course of my life.
In an instant, God’s passionate, vehement, fiery, jealous love had tracked me down. Or maybe I was just desperate enough to finally let it come in.
As crazy as it sounds, I “saw” the shells and then, click, there it was. An up close and personal love encounter like I had never experienced. To document it, I wrote a poem called “The Shells.” It didn’t take long to realize the poem was in fact the foundation piece for a book God was giving me, Finding the Secret Place: 8 Keys to Experiencing God’s Presence.
Don’t Back Away from the Fire
“John answered them all by saying, I baptize you with water; but He who is mightier than I is coming, the strap of Whose sandals I am not fit to unfasten. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.” (Luke 3:16 AMP).
Several years ago, I announced to my Bible study ladies that I wanted our group to study the various baptisms mentioned by John the Baptist in Luke Chapter 3, with an emphasis on the baptism of fire. One friend in the group was noticeably shaken by this suggestion. She was quick to admit that the thought of this “baptism” was unsettling, even fear-inducing.
It took a bit of doing to convince her that God is love; but He is also a beautiful, light-bearing, protective, and purifying fire—one we should welcome, even seek to experience, now, as opposed to later. (Ultimately, everyone will be purified or “judged” in the fire, meaning anything we have done in our own strength will not remain. It will perish in the refining fire. So we should not be afraid to now embrace this transformative aspect of who God is.)
My friend’s fear and the fear of others I have encountered in my inner healing ministry remind me of the Israelites—whose view of “the glory of the Lord” resting on the top of Mt. Sinai “appeared” to be as a “devouring fire” (Exodus 24:16–17). In other words, they were misjudging or misinterpreting what they saw. While Moses was atop the mountain engaging with the Lord, who was speaking to him out of the midst of the fire, they were trembling with fear, falling back, and standing far off.
Note: Moses’ encounter with God there on the mountain was intimate, “face to face, as a man speaks to his friend” (Exodus 33:11 AMP). The Hebrew word for “speak,” dabar, suggests it was like the sharing between a husband and wife. Also, the Hebrew word for “friend,” ra’ah, connotes a “consuming passion” (perhaps suggesting “fire”).
God’s Fire is Transformational
The result of Moses’ engagement with the fiery love of God was two-fold. One, it produced the First Covenant God made with His people, represented by the Ten Commandments—a “corrective measure” most needed to help the people survive and thrive. But Moses’ encounter with God also produced what we now know was a partial transfiguration. His face was shining!
“When Moses came down from Mt. Sinai with the two tables of the Testimony in his hand, he did not know that the skin of his face shone and sent forth beams by reason of his speaking with the Lord. When Aaron and all the Israelites saw Moses, behold, the skin of his fade shone, and they feared to come near him.” (Exodus 34:29–30 AMP).
In the New Testament, we learn that God issued a second Covenant with all the peoples of the world through Jesus’s death, resurrection, and the coming of the Holy Spirit. This New Covenant was made manifest when, after the resurrection, Jesus told his disciples to wait in Jerusalem for the Holy Spirit to come. It did. In the form of Fire!
“On the day Pentecost was being fulfilled, all the disciples were gathered in one place. Suddenly they heard the sound of a violent blast of wind rushing into the house from out of the heavenly realm. The roar of the wind was so overpowering it was all anyone could bear! Then all at once a pillar of fire appeared before their eyes. It separated into tongues of fire that engulfed each one of them. They were all filled and equipped with the Holy Spirit and were inspired to speak in tongues—empowered by the Spirit to speak in languages they had never learned!” (Acts 2:1–4 TPT).
The manifestation of Fire the people individually received on that day both purified and empowered the early believers—so they could overcome all the previous religious structures of the Old Covenant. Through this “deconstruction” (or consumption, burning up) of the Old Covenant they were then able to embrace their new life in the Spirit. Only through this eradication of the old mindset could a new mindset take shape.
Is Deconstruction Still Necessary?
I once briefly met a woman who had left a lesbian lifestyle and married a man. Out of curiosity I asked this question: “What was the catalyst that prompted you to leave the lifestyle?”
Her answer: “When I realized how much God loved me. That’s when I really wanted to change.”
Admittedly, if I could engage this same woman again, I would delve deeper. I would ask, “Did your attraction toward other women go away entirely?” and “Was your marriage lasting, sexually satisfying?” Or “Were you simply marrying someone of the opposite sex in an attempt to honor your commitment to Christ?”
“Did you yet go through the ‘purifying fire’?”
“Did you invite the Fiery Love of God to come into your traumatic memories?”
By the way, I don’t use this example of “sexual sin” because I think it’s is any worse than other manifestations of death and darkness. But sexual confusion is running rampant in our modern culture and God has given me a special compassion toward people who suffer in this area.
Recently I read several books by Christians who were at some point in their lives deeply entrenched in the gay or lesbian lifestyle. One was written by a minister whose “ex-gay” profession proved “false.” Now he honors his relationship to Christ by remaining celibate.
Another woman was attracted to girls after being sexually abused as a child. However, she “found Jesus” and renounced the lifestyle. Then she married a man and had three children. He had himself suffered from an addiction to porn. The problem is this woman still suffers from a nagging attraction to other women. Together, this woman and her husband wrote a book called The Impossible Marriage. They seek to honor God by remaining committed to their marriage.
I am also reminded of Lonnie Frisbee whose character was portrayed in The Jesus Revolution—a movie depicting the “hippie” revival of the 1970’s. Lonnie was an “anointed” preacher and one of several key leaders in the movement. However, even at the height of his “success,” he was suffering from addictions that stemmed from childhood sexual abuse. He later died prematurely from AIDS.
I saw an interview by a pastor who knew Lonnie very well back in the 70’s. He claimed in the interview that Lonnie sought help at the time. But no one could help. Either they didn’t know how to help him, or they were simply too busy “growing” the movement to deal with it.
I don’t mean to disparage the fact that these and many other Christian people like them are doing “the best they know how” under the circumstances. But isn’t there more?
Also, is “deconstruction” of our current belief system sometimes necessary—to move into the greater things of God?
Come as a Little Child
I don’t claim to know the answers to any of these and other related questions. I do feel certain that many Christians are still not seeing things correctly. And are not having the right experiences.
When I travel to visit my son and his family, I am always praying the Holy Spirit will arrange for me to have a few “unforced” conversations with my grandchildren (ages 7, 9 and 11)—so we can mull over some of the deeper things of life in God. Yesterday, we meditated on Part One: God’s love is unconditional.
At the end of our session Kinsley wrote, “God loves me if I am mean or nice. There is nothing that I can do to make Him love me more. And there is nothing that I can do to make Him love me less. God’s love is unconditional.” Un-con-di-tion-al. That was a big word for a 7-year-old. But she got it. No guarantee that any of them will remember this. But I do believe our conversations and meditations and prayers and the notes they are all taking in their “God Books” will leave lasting impressions.
And maybe I will have an opportunity to discuss with them soon Part Two of “Life in God”: Don’t be afraid to engage with God’s consuming, purifying fire.
In summary, Moses was familiar with the fire, not afraid of it. He had already seen God in the burning bush. After that, encountering God in the fire on the mountain changed him. His “transfiguration” did take a bit of time. On the other hand, the people always stood away, because they were afraid. They avoided intimacy and encounter. They did not want to change. They grew to depend on other people to maintain their relationship with God (that is Moses, Aaron, other priests, etc.) as opposed to going into the fire themselves.
I get the impression that many of us Christians are doing the same thing.
Maybe the lesson for us today is this: Don’t be afraid to seek and encounter God’s fiery love—especially when death and darkness have tricked you into thinking that your course in life is set and there is nothing you can do to change it. Here’s the truth: God’s love changes everything. God’s love never fails.
Emily Gardner Foppe writes blogs and books. She also consults with people who need help “rewriting” their traumatic memories. www.emilygardnerfoppe.com
Related Scripture Verses:
“The Lord bless you and watch, guard, and keep you; The Lord make His face to shine upon and enlighten you and be gracious (kind, merciful, and giving favor) to you; The Lord lift up His [approving] countenance upon you and give you peace (tranquility of heart and life continually)” (Numbers 6:24–26 AMP).
“When I saw him, I fell down at his feet as good as dead, but he laid his right hand on me and I heart is reassuring voice saying: ‘Don’t yield to fear. I am the Beginning and I am the End, the Living One! I was dead, but now look —I am alive forever and ever. And I hold the keys that unlock death and the unseen world’” (Revelation 1:17–18 TPT).
“Now the mind of the flesh [which is sense and reason without the Holy Spirit] is death [death that comprises all the miseries arising from sin, both here and hereafter]. But the mind of the [Holy] Spirit is life and [soul] peace [both now and forever]. [That is] because the mind of the flesh [with its carnal thoughts and purposes] is hostile to God, for it does not submit itself to God’s Law; indeed it cannot” (Romans 8:6–7 AMP).
“The Lord went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead them along the way and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, that they might travel by day and by night” (Exodus 13:21 AMP).
“And he has taught you to let go of the lifestyle of the ancient man, the old self-life, which was corrupted by sinful and deceitful desires that spring from delusions. Now it’s time to be made new by every revelation that’s been given to you. And to be transformed as you embrace the glorious Christ-within as your new life and live in union with him: For God has re-created you all over again in his perfect righteousness, and you now belong to him in the realm of true holiness” (Ephesians 4:22–24 TPT).
“Whatever the revelation-light exposes, it will also correct, and everything that reveals truth is light to the soul. This is why the Scripture says, ‘Arise, you sleeper! Rise up from your coffin and the Anointed One will shine his light into you!” (Ephesians 5:13–14 TPT).
“And no one puts a piece of cloth that has not been shrunk on an old garment, for such a patch tears away from the garment and a worse rent (tear) is made. Neither is new wine put in old wineskins; for if it is, the skins burst and are torn in pieces, and the wine is spilled and the skins are ruined. But new wine is put into fresh wineskins, and so both are preserved” (Matthew 19:16–17 AMP).
“Even if our gospel message is veiled, it is only veiled to those who are perishing, for their minds have been blinded by the god of this age, leaving them in unbelief. Their blindness keeps them from seeing the dayspring light of the wonderful news of the glory of Jesus Christ, who is the divine image of God. We don’t preach ourselves, but rather the lordship of Jesus Christ, for we are your servants for Jesus’s sake. For God, who said, ‘Let brilliant light shine out of darkness,’ is the one who has cascaded his light into us-—the brilliant dawning light of the glorious knowledge of God as we gaze into the face of Jesus Christ” (2 Corinthians 4:3–6 TPT).
“And as members of the church of the Firstborn all our names have been legally registered as citizens of heaven! And we have come before God who judges all, and who lives among the spirits of the righteous who have been made perfect in his eyes! And we have come to Jesus who established a new covenant with this blood sprinkled upon the mercy seat; blood that continues to speak from heaven, ‘forgiveness,’ a better message than Abel’s blood that cries from the earth, ‘justice.’ Make very sure that you never refuse to listen to God when he speaks! For the God who spoke on earth from Sinai is the same God who now speaks from heaven. Those who heard him speak his living Word on earth found nowhere to hide, so what chance is there for us to escape if we turn our backs on God and refuse to hear his warnings as he speaks from heaven? The earth was rocked at the sound of his voice from the mountain, but now he has promised, ‘Once and for all I will not only shake the systems of the world, but also the unseen powers in the heavenly realm!’ Now this phrase ‘once and for all’ clearly indicates the final removal of things that are shaking, that is, the old order, so only what is unshakeable will remain. Since we are receiving our rights to an unshakeable kingdom we should be extremely thankful and offer God the purest worship that delights his heart as we lay down our lives in absolute surrender, filled with awe. For our God is a holy, devouring fire!” (Hebrews 12:23–29 TPT).