OUR GOD IS A CONSUMING FIRE

MEMORY VERSE: For our God is a consuming fire. Hebrew 12:29

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Psalms 119:73-88, Proverbs 31:8, 1 Corinthians 13: 4-8

BIBLE STUDIES: Leviticus 10:1-2

Our God is mysterious. According to Revelation 5:5, He is the Lion of the tribe of Judah. Yet, He is also the Lamb upon the throne (Revelation 5:13). The question is this, how can one be both the ‘Lion’ and the ‘Lamb’ at the same time? According to 1 John 4:8, God is love. The bible says, “in this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him” (1 John 4:9). He so loves us that He gave His only begotten son to die for our sins. Yet, when we read the book of Hebrews, we find out that the same God who is love is also a consuming fire. Hebrew 12:29 says this: “For our God is a consuming fire.”

That our God is a consuming fire is a very good thing. It is a good thing because He can consume whatever has bound you. In the book of Judges 15, the enemies within bound Samson and handed him over to the enemies withal. The Consuming fire came down and consumed the ropes that were used to tie him (Judges 15:14). Samson grabbed the fresh jawbone of an ass, strategically positioned in the area, and the enemy began to fall one after the other. In Luke 13:11–13, a woman who had been bound, by sickness for 18 years, encountered the Consuming fire. She came before Him bound and left loosed. The Consuming fire can also consume whatever wants to bind you. In the book of 2 Kings 1, a captain and an army of fifty were sent to bind Elijah and bring him to the king. When they got to where he was sitting, the Consuming fire consumed them right on the spot. Another batch came and the same thing happened. When the third captain with the army of fifty arrived, he saw piles of ashes. He counted it; it was 102 – two captains and an army of hundred – he knelt down and begged for mercy.

The fact that our God is a consuming fire is something to rejoice about because whatever wants to bind us or has bound us will go off in smoke. It is also a thing that should cause any wise child of God to tremble. Hebrews 10:31 says this: “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.” The picture some of us have God is somewhat wrong. We have this notion that Christianity is a milk-and-water religion; God is too kind to judge sin. Friend, please do not toy with sin. Aaron’s son- Abihu and Nahab – tested God and did not live to tell the story. Despite the fact that they were ministers, the Consuming fire consumed them. They offered strange fire and God roasted them. Regardless of your position in the body of Christ, no one is too big to be disciplined by God. This is why we must stop offering strange fire before God. You cannot be fornicating with a brother in the choir and you take up the microphone to lead praise and worship. That is playing with fire. You cannot commit adultery and climb the altar of God to preach. That is suicide. The bible did not tell us how long Abihu and Nahab had been offering this strange fire before God. They probably have been doing it for a while and were getting away with it until that faithful day.

THOUGHTS OF THE DAY: If God did not spare Ananias and Sapphira who told a small lie, how much more an usher who steals from the offering basket or a fellow who forges invoice to claim money from the church.

ACTION: Repent and confess every unfaithfulness to God and ask for mercy.

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Bro Samuel | Reaching the world for Jesus.