Fire......

Kind of an unusual picture isn't it?

Flames at a church.

Flames on a church.

Notice what is high above the flames.

The cross.

The symbol of victory over death, hell and the grave.

The place where Jesus laid his back and his life to pay the price that sin demands.

I pray for the fire of God to come to the church here at Rapha.

I pray that the fire burns me first.

I am in need of being touched by the complete, consuming fire of God.

You see, I possess nothing that I have an affection for over my relationship with Jesus.

Whatever I may have...

Whatever I may lay claim to...

 I throw it into the fires of your presence. That you, O Lord, would consume

 all that is not in line with your will.

Oh that the fire of God would spread through the wind of the Spirit as one spark was swept up by the Holy Spirit and taken to another church....

Another group of believers....

and that they would be set ablaze!

Every work of God...

Every move of God....

begins with fire.

Moses at the bush was ushered into a new understanding of God.

First thing for Moses was the understanding that where ever God is....that place becomes Holy.

God will not dwell with sin and the profane.

Why can't we understand this in our time?

People trying to meld God and the world together.

You can't make it work

 God will not dwell with darkness and sin.

God will consume it.

 I love it when Moses approaches the bush...

God speaks.

"Moses, Moses! DO not come near here."

There is a way and an attitude of the heart that we must possess

before we come into the presence of the Lord.

We think we can come willy-nilly-do-as-we-wish into God's presence.

I'm not talking about becoming legalistic and some man

defining how we should approach God.

We should understand who we are dealing with.

Who it is that has called us into His presence.

The Lord appeared in a blazing fire...

in the midst of a bush.

Adam and Eve hid in the bushes when God showed up in the garden...

 Moses hides on the ground.

Coming before the Lord usually uncovers us.

Our true hearts are revealed and we are not real proud of what is in there.

We haven't loved as God commanded us to. I know I haven't. I want to, but I confess that I have not loved the way Jesus did.

The fire of God will correct this as he burns away every bit of flesh..work of flesh...

the wisdom of flesh.

You see, where I serve I get to see day after day, week after week, the destruction of sin.

I want to see God come in fire

 I want to see the presence of God so heavy in our meeting that we simply shut up to listen

to what He wants to say.

Our worship will pale in comparison to the songs God wants to stir in our hearts.

The Word of God will cease to be an intellectual pursuit and become "rivers of living water."

I want the fire of God to come and create a storm that spreads through out the

crack houses and dope dealers of this county and state.

I want the fire of God to fall on every drug deal and bring repentance.

I want every person whose heart is trapped by the devil in addiction

to be drawn to the fire in the hope of new life and freedom.

 I want every person who has made covenant with the devil to feel the heat of God's fire as He

consumes the legality of that hellish pact.

That the blood of Christ would bring life to every "dead" addict here in Etowah county.

I would that the angels of heaven would be released to move through our towns

to sound the call that there is a fire coming.

Fire!

Fire!

Come and be changed!

Oh God, come and consume me.

God on you....

mb