Fire On Your Head

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. (James 1:2-4)

“In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, though it is tested so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” (1 Peter 1:6-7 ESV)

Gold and silver are perishable things (1 Pet 1:18). Those are types of things I’ve spent considerable time meditating on and thinking about. Gold and silver are things you find in the ground, in caves or hidden in safe places. They require finding. They aren’t just on the surface of the ground for any passer by to have access to who couldn’t care much less about finding them.  At intense temperatures with a lot of heat, these valuable stones are purified and all the dirt and dross burns away after a certain point.

Gold has a certain perishing point.  If you kept the temperature rising, the gold would eventually turn to liquid, and if you kept increasing the temperature higher still, then eventually the gold would evaporate or dissolve. If you took a pile of gold and projected it into our sun, at some point before it got right near the sun it would have completely dissolved. However, your faith has NO point at which it dissolves or perishes–according to Scripture. Peter refers to it as being more precious than gold, that perishes though it is tested by fire. Gold, not faith is the object here being referred to as perishable. Can you imagine that or think about that for a moment?

Later in the same chapter it says:

“Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart, since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God; for “All flesh is like grass and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls, but the word of the Lord remains forever. And this word is the good news that was preached to you.“  (1 Peter 1:22-25)

If our souls need purification, and we’re born of imperishable seed, and not perishable–then why do so many of us spend so much time dwelling on and feeding ourselves with perishable stuff and dwelling more on the ‘perishable’ realm of our lives? I know a lot of Christians that read the Bible for 5 minutes a day -if at all– but gosh–don’t ever ask them to quit the TV for a week or suggest withdrawing from the internet for 2 days to dig into the hidden manna, and to dwell on that imperishable stuff that doesn’t fade or have a perishing point.  Many ministries and preachers build their ministries using substance of this earthly realm, using materials that are combustible, flammable, and unable to withstand the fire on that upcoming day (see 1 Corinthians 3:10-15 and for more along that line, read What Are You Building With?).

“Fiery” trials…

For everyone will be salted with fire. Salt is good, but if the salt has lost its saltiness, how will you make it salty again? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another.” (Mark 9:49-50)

The things we must remember are some simple key words:  EVERYBODY will be salted with fire.  Salt universally is a key ingredient to many foods and dishes.  I remember one time making my famous Bremner spaghetti omelet for my translator and mutual friend during my first visit to Peru and scrambled to find enough of the ingredients at the nearest supermarket to properly prepare it for my guests.  I’ve made it numerous times, but this time it didn’t have anywhere near as potent of a taste as normal.  That’s when one of my guests said “it’s because you didn’t put salt in it.” Salt naturally helps retain some of the flavor. Living in a hot climate, I’m also in the habit of sprinkling a little bit of salt on some of my food in order to help me retain water in my system and not dehydrate.   In God’s scheme of things, he’s going to ‘salt’ us using *fire*.  Do you want your flavor to be retained with God’s fire, or are you of a different flavor that’s not worth being enhanced, because instead it will bring other stuff to the surface to be burned?

“Behold, I send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. And the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple; and the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight, behold, he is coming, says the LORD of hosts. But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears? For he is like a refiner’s fire and like fullers’ soap. He will sit He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, and they will bring offerings in righteousness to the LORD. Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the LORD as in the days of old and as in former years as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, and they will bring offerings in righteousness to the LORD.  “Then I will draw near to you for judgment. I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, against the adulterers, against those who swear falsely, against those who oppress the hired worker in his wages, the widow and the fatherless, against those who thrust aside the sojourner, and do not fear me, says the LORD of hosts. (Malachi 3:1-6)

What causes the wicked to be melted in the presence of it, causes the pure in heart to be made purer and more refined in its presence, like precious gold and silver–but yet not perish like the wicked.  What for the righteous is a baptism, is destructive for those not on the right side of the flame.  Fire serves as a method of distinguishing:

As the people were in expectation, and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John, whether he might be the Christ,  John answered them all, saying, “I baptize you with water, but he who is mightier than I is coming, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand, to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.” (Luke 3:15-17)

I have gone off a bit to talk about the fire of God, just to get to this point I’m about to make:

Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe,  for our God is a consuming fire. (Hebrews 12:28-29).  The “un-shaking” nature of this kingdom somehow mysteriously lies in the nature of its King–Who is likened to a  consuming fire, Who in the presence of, only the purified things can withstand the presence and not be destroyed or shaken by it.

We have other passages of Scripture using different analogies like water or wind, not just fire, but I felt for this article focusing on the imagery of fire would serve the purpose, but consider what the word of God is like according to Isaiah 55:10-11:

“For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.“

Being from Canada and seeing the long-term effects of snow, I can appreciate the concept of this passage.  In the last few years before I moved to Peru, we had record amounts of snow.  One thing about rain and snow, being both water, is that it doesn’t disappear, but the change of temperature merely makes it change form.  When you have record amounts of snow, you have tall snowbanks in the winter.  But when you reach spring, the record amount of snow becomes record amount of flooding.  The snow doesn’t just vaporize and go back to the sky, but it becomes something else and accomplishes a new purpose.  Water too, doesn’t have a perishing point, but just a point of vaporization.  And it doesn’t disappear, but accomplishes that which it was sent for.   There’s a LOT in that concept of the Word of God being like rain and snow watering the earth that we could write a series of meditative articles on, but that’s for another time.

With all that we’ve just looked at in the Word, allow me to say this:

God is faithful to fulfill the purpose for which He has sent word into your life.  It may feel like you’re burning up from fiery trials He’s putting you through, but there is no perishing point, and God is not and never will put you through more than He feels you can bear.  You are just being purified.  He will finish what He started in your life, and what He has sent your way will accomplish its purpose.  “So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison.” (2 Corinthians 4:16-17)

Abide in Him.  Your faith has no perishing point.

Amen!