Consuming Fire part 3
I feel like I Rant about this idea a lot. But I do that because I think it's important. And because I think we learn best through repetition. So let's talk about the burning bush. Good old Moses. Out in the backside of the desert. Where bushes burned on the regular. That was no big deal. So look and see why this particularbush mattered. "And the angel of the LORD appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush: and he looked, and, behold, the bush burned iwth fire, and the bush was not consumed" (Exodus 3:2). Right there at the end. The bush was burned with fire, but the bush was not consumed. Our God is a consuming fire. But the fire that God is--that LOVE is--consumes everything EXCEPT itself (Himself). The bush burns, but it it not consumed. Everything else is consumed. Now, not to mix the metaphor too much, but a bush is pretty similar to a vine, isn't it? Or a tree? Jesus is the vine and we are the branches. The branches bare the fruit that the vine produces. When we are totally consumed with that fire... we will not burn out. We will heap fiery coals onto our enemies heads and melt their hearts. We will destroy our enemies by making them our friends. We will, like those three Hebrew boys, walk through the fire without getting burned. The only thing that burned (away) in the story of the fiery furnace was the bonds that held Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. They literally came out of there smelling like roses. Because the fire in them was hotter than the fire they were in. They burned, but were not consumed. And because there was a fourth man in the fire and He looked just like the Son of God! When Jesus... when LOVE... is holding you up, nothing can bring you down! So I guess the point I'm trying to make, in my usual wander around and hope it comes way, is that we don't have to worry about giving everything we've got and then ending up with nothing. We are connected to the unlimited supply of God's love. The God who IS love lives in us! And He has filled us up with Himself. With His love. All we have to do is receive it and release it. We can live fearlessly and limitlessly. All we have to do is fill ourselves to overflowing with what we've been filled with. Let what's inside come out by knowing and believing that it's in there. That's HE'S in there. That LOVE is in there. Nothing else matters. It's all about love. And when that consuming Holy Ghost wildfire burns... only love remains. Everything else goes up in smoke by love never fails. Because love endures. Love never gives up. God is a consuming fire. God is love. Love is the fire that consumes everything except itself (Himself). So you don't have to worry about anything else. You can focus on love and let that be enough. But love IS enough. Love is everything. Love is all we need. And love is what we have. Because our heavenly Father--the God who is love--gave it to us. Because He wanted us to have it. Because He loves us!