Hello my friends

The title of today’s episode is: “WARMING BY GOD’S FIRE”

Fire is necessary for our survival. When the weather is freezing outside, there is no better feeling than to come inside from the cold and snuggle by a fire. God can take the cold, cruel world and wrap us in the warmth of his Love.

The enemy knows when you are not on fire for God. He knows it is God’s fire inside of us that keeps us pure. Like fire burns all the dirt and impurities from Gold. The Holy Ghost fire, within us, burns away sin and impurities in our lives.

There are times we can step outside of God’s will. We grow cold and start following Jesus from a little farther away than we should. Fear and other things get between us and him.

Look at Peter. After Jesus was taken to be delivered up for punishment, Peter followed a far-off.  For us, we would be going through the motions.  We still attend service but do not participate. If we do, it is half-heartedly, more out of obligation than desire, until we grow cold. We start allowing the world to creep in and make us cold.

The word says our God is a consuming fire. The Holy Ghost is often referred to as a fire. It stands to reason that if we drift away from God, we will get cold. Sometimes, we are so cold that even the enemy’s fire can warm us up.

Why did Peter deny Christ? The two main reasons were weakness and fear.  He was afraid of the enemy that had taken Christ into custody. He didn’t trust that God would deliver him.

Once Jesus was taken into custody, those who had taken him built a fire.  Peter sat down with the enemy and warmed himself.  As he sat there, someone said he was one of those with Jesus.  Peter denied it.  You can be sure if you spend any time with Jesus, the enemy will know it.

Even though Peter was not doing what he was supposed to do, Jesus knew what Peter would become in the future.  When Peter denied Jesus the third time and the cock crowed, Jesus turned and looked at him.

I like to think that Peter, at that moment, realized where he was, warming himself by the enemy’s fire. He removed himself from that situation; the word says he wept bitterly. We have to remove ourselves from situations and people sometimes, before we can repent and get back on track by following Jesus close.

This moment in Peter’s life, I believe, was his turnaround moment. I believe the beginning of his getting enough boldness to stand for the gospel. He stood boldly on the day of Pentecost, when the Holy Ghost was sent to the church and declared, “This is that which was prophesied by Joel.”  The world needs people today to stand boldly and declare the gospel.  We will not be able to do that if we are warming ourselves by the enemy’s fire.

It was a shock to me when I first grasped the concept that those who crucified Jesus were the very ones who were the religious leaders of their day.  They claimed to be looking for the Messiah.  They were so corrupt and money-hungry that they didn’t even know him when he was standing in front of them.

This is where we are in the world today. Many say they believe in Jesus.  They say they want a move of God. But really, they are so stuck in their feel-good, all is right with the world message. They miss Jesus, and they will miss the move of God because they follow him afar off.

They worship him with their lips, but their hearts are far away from him. They are warming themselves by the enemy’s fire. They have gotten comfortable by that fire so much that they no longer see Jesus looking at them to let them know they are denying him. They are happy at the enemy’s fire. Some have gone so far as to adopt the all-roads lead to god because god is known by many names’ messages. This is the biggest lie the enemy ever told.

John 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth and the life, no one comes to the Father but by me.

Proverbs 14:12 says  There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.

Acts 4:12 Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.”

None of the Greek gods, Baal, Buddha, Muhammed, or any other, suffered in agony many, many hours from being beaten beyond recognition to crucifixion to pay the price for my sins and yours.

We cannot allow the philosophies of this world or those that are confused to make us question our place.  Which is not warming ourselves by the enemy’s fire. The way we keep from being deceived is to stay close to Jesus. Allowing his fire within to keep all the impurities burned out of our lives.

Who’s fire is keeping you warm? Often, we talk about the Holy Ghost being like fire and God is a consuming fire. God’s fire refines us and makes us better and stronger Christians. But, sometimes, we get out of God’s will. We allow the things of the world to creep in our way. We allow fear to get in our way and become bigger to us than God is in our lives.

 Are you saying, Lord, fill me with your Holy Ghost? Keep me on fire for you so that I can grow and be what I need to be. Or are you living a way that you’re putting some distance between you and God because of people or situations in your life? Are you to the point that you’re denying him? When I ask, are you denying him, I’m not asking if you know God, but maybe denying him your time, your fellowship. Maybe you’re you’re denying God space in your life.

The further we get away from God, the colder we get. When we grow cold, we will look for warmth. We may end up warming by the enemy’s fire. So take time to  Think about it. Remember, our God is a consuming fire. He’ll consume us without burning us up. It is something to ponder over the next few days. Who’s fire are you warming by? I pray it’s the right one.

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Thanks for spending a little time with me.  I encourage you to devote time this week to getting closer to Jesus. Make sure you are warming by His Fire.  Thanks for watching,

BE BOLD, BE BRAVE AND KEEP YOUR GOD FOCUS