We tried to discuss and answer some of the following questions: Does God really send disasters and calamities to cities and nations in order to teach its people lessons? If so, does it work? Does a ‘rapture mentality’ produce a people interested in what happens in the earth during their generation? Does the Church have way too pessimistic of an outlook when it comes to God’s involvement in the earth today? Does the Church embrace too much fatalism when it comes to dealing with every day events and natural disasters as they happen around the world?

How Is The Church specifically, and the culture in general, supposed to deal with ‘doom and gloom prophets whose ‘prophecies’ don’t come to pass? No, we’re not talking about fringe groups but ones who are more mainstream and accepted in both evangelical and charismatic circles.  

Download this episode (right click and save)

And don’t forget to visit SJ’s site at http://www.sjhillonline.com and his new podcast over at  http://www.enjoyinggodpodcast.com/

Relevant Articles:

Red Skies & Prophetic Weather Patterns , Understanding the Times - both by Dave

Does God Send Natural Disasters?, Was Jonah A False Prophet? by Steve

If you’d like to subscribe to the Fire On Your Head Podcast, visit our directory in iTunes,  or visit FireOnYourHead.com for more subscription options.

This is how John G. Lake almost always described the power of God that lived in him, moved through him, and utterly possessed him.

“God Almighty can look out of your eyes, and every devil that was ever in hell could not look in the eyes of Jesus without crawling. The lightnings of God were there.”

He seemed to be on a different plane than most that lived in his day, not to mention our day or anyone else’s for that matter. He was on earth, surrounded by heaven. Lightning is power in the sky connecting with power on the earth. What an awesome picture of the power of God that is available towards us who believe:

I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe. These are in accordance with the working of the strength of His might which He brought about in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. Ephesians 1:18-21 NASB

And raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, (vv 2:6)

The Tangible Word

Lake was able to make such a statement because verses like these were not distant and far off. They were real, available, and tangible. They were written for him to walk in and not just read. They were not fairy tales, they were realities. One of my personal goals is to see a church that actually lives out the life described in the Bible making heavenly mysteries become earthly realities. To live out the call in the Bible and not theologize it away for a by-gone era. It’s real, it’s powerful, it’s for today! Salvation alone is an incomplete gospel. It is part of the kingdom, and all the fullness thereof that results in a life transformed into the image of Christ. His desire is for us to be fully saved, fully healed, fully filled with Holy Spirit fire and power.

Lake described it this way:

It is always God’s will to heal… God is willing, just as willing to heal as He is to save. Healing is part of salvation. It is not separate from salvation. Healing was purchased by the blood of Jesus. This Book always connects salvation and healing.

…we are instructed on the Word of God concerning the salvation of the soul, but our education concerning sickness and His desire and willingness to heal has been neglected. We have gone to the eighth grade or tenth grade or the University on the subject of salvation, but on the subject of healing we are in the ABC class.

Ahead of His Time

These statements were written on January 12, 1922! This was a man ahead of his time. I am part of a culture that envisions heaven coming to earth in accordance with Matthew 6:9-10; where Jesus instructs us not to recite something but to capture the spirit of the prayer, that, whenever we pray, it is with the understanding of God’s will for the kingdom of heaven to come to the earth. For many in the Church this prayer has been prayed for decades yet the true intention of it has been missed. The cry for heaven to come to earth seems almost revolutionary for those whose goal in life is waiting for the “sweet bye and bye.” Heaven is available here now, and Lake was tapping into this revelation years before the recent re-discovery, if you will, of Jesus’ revelation of the spirit of prayer on the mountain.

The goal of this article is for us to capture and learn from a man who was so possessed with heaven that wherever he went heaven touched the lives of those around him. I am going to share a few quotes with you to give insight into the way he thought about, reacted to, and processed the kingdom of God in the earth. All the quotes are taken from John G. Lake; The Complete Collection of His Life’s Teachings, by Roberts Liardon. This is part of God’s Generals. (See end of article for references)

The Baptism of the Holy Ghost

A Christian is a man indwelt by God – the house of God, the tabernacle of the Most High! Man, indwelt by God, becomes the hands and the heart and the feet and the mind of Jesus Christ. God descends into man: man ascends into God! That is the purpose and the power of the baptism of the Holy Ghost.

What theology! Have you ever heard it described in such a way? Most often it is lessened in its intensity, therefore the infilling of the Spirit in the individual seems lessened in its intensity as well. Even if you have been baptized in the Holy Spirit, immersed in the very flaming life of God Himself, there is still a greater baptism to undergo, from glory to glory. If we captured the thought and understanding behind the way Lake viewed it, we may therefore long for and enter into a greater baptism.

Listen as you read how Lake describes his personal baptism in the Spirit:

And one day, the glory of God in a new manifestation and a new incoming came to my life. And when the phenomena had passed, and the glory of it remained in my soul, I found that my life began to manifest in the varied range of the gifts of the Spirit, and I spoke in tongues by the power of God, and God flowed through me with a new force. Healings were of a more powerful order. Oh, God live in me, God manifested in me, God spike through me. My spirit was deified, and I had a new comprehension of God’s will, new discernment of spirit, new revelation of God in me.

What strength, what substance, and what a description!  Here was a man that God poured His Spirit out on. I pray that we all step into a greater depth and a deeper part of the river of the Spirit of God Eternal.

He tells another experience in the Spirit, where He seemed to go deeper and experience more of God:

In 1908, I preached at Pretoria, South Africa, when one night God came over my life in such power, in such streams of the liquid glory and power, that it flowed consciously off my hands like streams of electricity.

His description of someone who is filled with the Spirit:

Will a man speak in tongues when he is baptized in the Holy Ghost? Yes, he will, and he will heal the sick when he is baptized, and he will glorify God out of the spirit of him with praises more delightful and heavenly than you ever heard. He will have a majestic bearing. He will look like the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be like Him.

The Power of the Christian

The same divine authority that was vested in Jesus is vested by Jesus in every Christian soul. Jesus made provision for the Church of Jesus Christ to go on forever and do the very same things He did and to keep doing them forever. That is what is the matter with the church. The church lost faith in that truth. The result was, they went on believing the He could save them from sin, but the other great range of the Christian life was left to the doctors and the devil or anything else. And the church will never be a real Church, in the real power of the living God again, until she comes back again to the original standard – where Jesus was.

Dominion over devils

I confess I would like to swear sometimes, and I would like to say, “To h– with preachers who are all the time preaching fear.” They preach fear of the devil and fear of demons and fear of this influence and fear of that influence and fear of some other power. If the Holy Ghost has come from heaven into your soul, common sense teaches us that He has made you the master thereby of every other power in the world.

Greater is He that is in you, than he that is in the world. -1 John 4:4

And if we had faith to believe that the “greater then he” is in us, bless God, we would be stepping out with boldness and majesty. The conscious supremacy of the Son of God would be manifest in our lives and instead of being subservient and bowed down and broken beneath the weight of sin and the powers of darkness around us, they would flee from us and keep out of our way. I believe God there is not a devil that comes within a hundred feet of a real God-anointed Christian. That is the vision God put in my soul.

Here is a man who was not afraid of the enemy and walked in boldness. Many in the church don’t even mention the reality of demons and the powers of this age. The truth is that they do play a part in the kingdom, and that part is total defeat and devastation to them and their kingdoms, which are passing away (Dan 2). Lake sought to empower the Christian concerning these matters by revealing that God has given us all the power and authority over these dominions.

All these little insignificant devils that come along side in this sickness or that sickness or that temptation of sin have no power over you. Dear friends, from heaven there comes to your heart and mine that dominion of Jesus by which the God-anointed soul walks through them, through myriads of demons, and they cannot touch you.

The Fire of God

I want to leave you with a story he tells of how the fire spread in South Africa through a man named Don Van Vuuren. He was a man who was sick with tuberculosis. His friends sent him a letter telling Him of how God was moving among them (in Lake’s ministry). This moved him deeply and he cried out to God to be made whole. Within a few minutes he could breathe deeply, completely healed, and baptized in the Spirit. His wife, who wanted nothing to do with God, saw the change in her husband and that he was healed and gave her life to Jesus right there. In a week their whole house of 13 people were all saved and filled with the Spirit. The fire spread to his family and soon, 19 families were baptized in the Holy Ghost.

VanVuuren heard from God not long after, that He wanted him to go to parliament. Premier Botha tells of his encounter with VanVuuren:

…that man came into my office and stood ten feet from my desk. I looke up, and before he commenced to speak, I began to shake and rattle in my chair. I knelt down. I had to put my head under the desk and cry to God, why he looked like God, he talked like God. [Lake adds] he had the majesty of God.

For 18 days he went to different leaders of the government ”until every high official knew there was a God and a Christ and a Savior and a Baptism of the Holy Spirit.”

For several years before I left Africa, he (VanVuuren) went up and down the land like a burning fire. Everywhere he went sinners were saved and were healed. Men and women were baptized in the Holy Ghost, until he set the districts on fire with the power of God; and he is still going.

May the life of John G. Lake inspire you to be heaven living, breathing here on the earth. I believe if our minds can be transformed like his and even more in our generation, we will see the power of God in the earth like never before.

________________________________________

References:

Quotes listed below from aforementioned source in order that they appear in the article.

Roberts Liardon, John G. Lake; The Complete Collection of His Life Teachings, Tulsa, Albury Publishing 1999., p. 447; p. 407; p. 367; p. 372; p. 376-377; p. 378; p. 411-412; p. 442; p. 448; contextual paraphrasing story of VanVuuren from p. 456-451; p. 457; p. 459.

“His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like blazing fire.” (Revelation 1:14,)

“I have made you a tester of metals among my people, that you may know and test their ways. (Jeremiah 6:27, ESV)

The concept of Jesus’ eyes of fire mentioned when the apostle John stood before Him in his vision on the island of Patmos really fascinates me lately. John was the one who knew Jesus the most intimately of the inner twelve, and the only one who remained to witness His death on the cross when the others scattered. He often referred to himself as the one Jesus loved, yet in this moment when Jesus revealed Himself to him, he still fell at his feet as though dead (Rev 1:17).

Jesus is an assayer, or tester, of our hearts. An assayer is someone who tests metals or ore for its components and judges the value or worth of the metal based upon its purity of composition. The method is accomplished by using a combination of intense heat, dry reagents or fluxes, and special vessels that help separate the precious metals from the rest of the extraneous material, or dross. King Jesus doesn’t merely examine our hearts, but He tests and evaluates our true spiritual condition, and then brings His fire to effect a greater purity and usefulness in our lives. He sees through everything in the same way that fire penetrates metal. His eyes of fire penetrate to the core reality and the truth of everything that exists. He sees everything that is good and everything that is bad, without any bias or clouded judgment at all. He sees behind the scenes and below the surface. Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of Him to Whom we must give account. (Hebrews 4:13).

When the dross is removed from the precious metal, be it gold or silver, then the vessel is ready to use. When the tree is pruned, it can produce more fruit; when the wheat is separated from the chaff, then the wheat is ready to use.

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. (Luke 3:16)

How many of us in our charismatic circles love that verse? How many messages and writings have we heard on this aspect of receiving the Holy Spirit and being baptized in fire? Let’s not forget to read the next verse:

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.” (v. 17, emphasis mine)

Jesus desires intimacy with us; He longs for a people who intimately know Him face to face, but in order to get closer to Him, those eyes of fire are going to test the pure motives of our heart and let us know that He is committed to burning up the chaff in our lives. He will remove the dross, for it’s impossible to get closer and closer to the heat source without things getting brought to the surface in our lives and removed.

Mike Bickle states in a message on this subject and passage:

The more I understand that His eyes are on me, the more I walk in the fear of God, and, secondly, the stronger or the more mature my intimacy with God is. So the two practical applications are, we grow in the fear of God by the revelation of His eyes of fire, but we also mature in our intimacy with God. We see that He sees us; that He feels what we feel; that His eyes are always on us; that we move His heart. He moves our heart as well. The connection is the knowledge of His eyes being on us.1

 

 

Jesus is not testing us because He wants to punish us, but the opposite, He wants to make us better. He wants to purify us, and often times the way he does it is through trials and tribulations. We must not neglect to understand the ways of the Lord, as many forget that it’s His love for us that allows us to suffer for times and be prepared for His presence.

Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. (James 4:8)

But the word of God also says a fire goes before Him (Psalm 97:3). As we draw near to Him, the fire touches our lives. It touches our thoughts, it touches our motives, it purifies our minds. God knows we won’t be ready for His face when we seek Him, until we’ve been purified by His fire.

For the LORD your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God. (Deuteronomy 4:24)

It was only recently that I noticed for the first time that this verse in the Old Testament mentions God’s jealousy in the same sentence as mentioning that He’s an all consuming fire. But God’s jealousy is not the same as ours. He’s not insecure or incapacitated by immature thoughts in his jealousy like we our in our idea and concept of it. His is a jealous love for us. And it’s in our best interest, out of his love for us, that He brings the winnowing fork to the threshing floor of our lives.

Jesus tests us with his eyes of fire “…that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm.” (Ephesians 6:13).

Purification of the Life of Zion

I’ve recently been re-reading the book The Fire Of Delayed Answers By Bob Sorge when I began making my notes for this post. Right away in the first chapter of his book he brings up the very same passage and concepts about the eyes of fire as I’d been planning on writing, but I came across something even more interesting that I best just quote for our purposes:

“Gehenna was a place outside Jerusalem where King Josiah, in his godly reforms destroyed the altars of idolatry. It became a place where refuse was burned. It was the city’s incinerator. The purpose of Gehenna was the purification of the life of the city. In time, Gehenna came to be the name for the fire of hell. Gehenna (hell) is set ablaze by the holiness of God. Fire destroys the perishable and perfects that which is imperishable.”

“Unless this holy fire burns within you now, bringing you to purity and peace, then you will have no escape from the fire of Gehenna which consumes forever.”2

Jesus said in Mark 9:47 we’d all be salted with fire. Salt is for retaining flavor, or purifying. Psalm 104:4 states that God makes His ministers a flame of fire, and Daniel 12:10 mentions that “many shall be purified and made white.” If we’re going to be a people after God’s heart who know Him intimately as ones who see Him face to face, then there’s no escaping the fire in His eyes!

Intimacy with God WILL result in righteousness and holiness pervading our lives. It’s impossible for the fire not to have a purifying effect. To quote Sorge again:

When hypocrites and the half-hearted can dwell in our midst without being convicted or made uncomfortable, then something’s wrong. God intends for His fire to so envelope the local church that hypocrites will not be able to stay, and the devout will not be able to remain unchanged.3

 

 

When a people after God’s heart are close to Him, it will result in the fire on a corporate level, and changed lives.

Eyes Like Doves

His eyes are like doves beside streams of water, bathed in milk, sitting beside a full pool. (Song of Solomon 5:12)

As a dove does not have peripheral vision, so is the Beloved Jesus – He has complete singleness of vision and cannot be distracted by anything that is unpleasing to his Father. His eyes are loyal to God and to us, His Bride. His eyes also speak of His ability to see and discern everything; he has perfect insight into every area of our lives and His perspective is absolutely pure.

The phrase ‘bathed in milk’ speaks of that which is white and nourishing, and speaks of the Lord’s purity of discernment. This basically speaks of God’s ability and great skill to see perfectly everything about our lives, and interprets everything about our lives through the cleanness of His own heart because His motives are always pure. He always knows what fire to put us through at what stage of our lives, and just how much we need.

He’s gentle, yet convicting–the same Jesus whom all it took was one look at Peter after he betrayed him and it cut to the heart and made him run and weep that he denied the Lord. Yet, when Jesus restored him, this is the same man who boldly proclaimed the Gospel and 3000 were converted at Pentecost. The deeper the piercing of His eyes, the deeper a work done in our hearts.

Will you look into His eyes of purging?

Steve Bremner is a missionary to Peru, called to raise up disciples who flow in the power of the Holy Spirit. He is general editor of Fire Press, and also produces & co-hosts its podcast called Fire On Your Head. Visit his personal site at http://stevebremner.com 

1. Click here to watch a video on the subject
2. The Fire Of Delayed Answers By Bob Sorge, p.19
3. The Fire Of Delayed Answers, by Bob Sorge, p.15

A garden locked is my sister, my bride, a spring locked, a fountain sealed. Your shoots are an orchard of pomegranates with all choicest fruits, henna with nard, nard and saffron, calamus and cinnamon, with all trees of frankincense, myrrh and aloes, with all choice spices—a garden fountain, a well of living water, and flowing streams from Lebanon. (Song of Solomon 4:12-15, ESV)

In continuing some reflections and studies using the Song of Solomon, I thought I’d take a post to go through these few verses. The garden spoken of in this part of the song represents the soul of the believer. A garden is not merely for reproduction, but for beauty as well. By understanding the significance of these spices, or ‘ingredients’ of the ‘maiden’s soul, we can learn what the transformed soul-life is like for the believer.

First, we must notice how similar the ingredients mentioned here are to those used in the anointing oil that was used on the heads of the priests, first mentioned in detail in Exodus 30:22-33.1

1) Liquid myrrh

As mentioned in a previous post, myrrh is one of the most fragrant perfumes and casts an intoxicating odor. When we read of myrhh in Scripture it is used in reference to purification and suffering. The word myrrh literally means ‘bitter’. As believers, we are afflicted for Christ’s sake, who, though a Son, learned obedience through what he suffered (Heb 5:8). Philippians 1:29 states that it has been granted to believers that we will suffer for Christ’s sake ourselves, and as we follow in His footsteps, and will share in the power of His resurrection as we become like Him through death (see also Phil 3:10). Part and parcel with being anointed by the Holy Spirit, is going the way of the cross and living a crucified lifestyle, being sharpened by the sufferings and hardships we will face. For more about the myrrh, see the previous post Strong Behind the Veil of our Thought Life.

2) Fragrant Cinnamon

The next ingredient mentioned in the anointing oil, is cinnamon, which literally means “erect” or “upright”. If mixed properly, the anointing will cause an upright walk of holiness and righteousness in the life of the believer. We’re given the gift of righteousness through faith, and if we embrace it, we’ll also hate sin and lawlessness,

For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age (Titus 2:11-12)

This ingredient in the natural would also have a sweet taste and smell. For more about this ingredient in our lives, compare also Hebrews 1:9, Matthew 7:21, and Ephesians 5:3.

3) Calamus

This ingredient literally means “branch” or “reed”. This was a tall reed-like grass with hollow stems. It is a very sweet-smelling plant, which is able to grow in harsh, difficult environments. This was the channel through which life would flow, and produce fruit, if and when we’re connected to the life source of Christ Jesus Himself (see John 15:1-8). It is also mentioned in Genesis 41:5 in the Pharoah’s dream, where we’re told of the stalk that was producing plump and good grain.

This is also the same word used in Matthew 11:7:

As they went away, Jesus began to speak to the crowds concerning John: “What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind?

We also know that no matter how harsh our surroundings and circumstances we face, it’s said of Jesus:

A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out, till he has brought justice through to victory. (Matt 12:20, NIV, emphasis mine)

It would benefit the reader to learn some more about this type of reed, as it would derail too much to go into further detail, but worth knowing is how these types of reeds were used in the making of boats in the ancient Middle East. When gathering and tying the reeds together, if the reed was too slippery they would bruise it so the rope would fasten to it more easily. The more they were bruised, the more they were useful in helping hold the boat together. The pillars in the body of Christ are the very ones who’ve been bruised the most and developed the most tender hearts that they can give life and encouragement to the rest of us who go through trials ourselves.

The oil that was extracted from this grass was an ingredient in the anointing oil, and the calamus was grown throughout Palestine.

4) Cassia

Which really means ‘shriveled’ or ‘bowed down’. It typically would come from the inner bark of a specific type of an Indian tree. This represented true worship, and the heart of absolute surrender to giving of one’s life to the Lordship of Jesus Christ.

A great passage representing this would be found in Gen 24:26.2

5) Olive Oil

This came from olives, obviously, but what is significant about this is that the way you obtain the oil is by crushing and pressing the olive and squeezing the inside out of it. The Garden of Gethsemane was an olive press, so it’s of no small significance that this was the location where Jesus prayed into the night for the cup to be removed, before being arrested and sentenced to the Cross. The olive oil literally means ‘broken’ and ‘contrite’.

Olive oil is supposed to be the best preservative of odors, and it is also the ingredient that holds all the other ingredients together, in order to preserve their fragrance.

The Holy Spirit flows through broken vessels who’ve been crushed through life experiences, and made stronger through them.

Thoughts to Consider

I find it interesting to note that the two ingredients that are the most closely related to suffering and going through difficulties, are the ones that cost twice as much as the other two. Myrrh and cassia both required 500 shekels’ worth, while the quantity required of cinnamon and calamus was 250 shekels.

Back to our song; we see the same mentioned ingredients, almost identical to those of the anointing oil, the ‘finest spices’ (v. 14). This garden represents an anointed and holy place where God can meet with her. As one who has had the privilege of ministering to God, she has been anointed as holy to the Lord, set apart as a special meeting place for Him and Him alone. The incense of frankincense represents how this spice in particular was also used symbolically to represent the prayers of the saints (see Revelation 5:8, 8:3-4), and in the Old Testament, we find frankincense was poured on a grain offering (Leviticus 2:1-3). This particular offering was only to be brought with burnt or peace offerings, and never with the sin offerings. This offering relates only to the offerings of those who desire fellowship with the Lord and desire to consecrate their lives to Him.

It could be said that the fragrance of ‘all the trees of frankincense’ coming up from the garden of the maiden is a reference to the soothing aroma of a life filled with praise to God, and not only that, but one with much variety. As mentioned, but worth repeating, is that myrrh and aloes–depending on the translation you use–signify suffering love, which Jesus demonstrates for us in His burnt offering sacrifice on the Cross. The maiden’s garden also smells of this suffering love. It’s mentioned at the end of the song, that this love

…is strong as death, jealousy is fierce as the grave. Its flashes are flashes of fire,the very flame of the Lord. Many waters cannot quench love, neither can floods drown it. If a man offered for love all the wealth of his house, he would be utterly despised. (Song of Solomon 8:6b-7, ESV, emphasis mine).

Her mind is a paradise of godly thoughts as indicated in the orchard of pomegranates.3

The Winds of Change

What it is that draws me into this imagery in particular, and why I felt it relevant to take the route I did with the ingredients of the anointing oil, is to make sense of how in verse 15 onwards, we’re told this garden is locked up for her Lover, but the river flows outward to Lebanon. I think this is symbolic of how the life of a believer results in rivers of living water flowing out of their inner most being, directly related to their personal intimacy with God, but resulting in others being nourished and what flows out of us benefiting them. This speaks of the renewed spirit of the believer in the midst of the soul.

Wind often usually speaks of the Holy Spirit in Scripture, and so in verse 16 when it mentions the north and south winds blowing on the garden, I think it speaks of wind that comes in and spreads the fragrance of the garden, and all its variety of fragrances onto the land surrounding it. This is not just river flowing, for in the natural, north wind can be cold and penetrating, and in contrast the south wind is very pleasant, gentle and mild.4

It’s not just the winds of wonderful goosebumps and feelings that cause the flow of the fragrance of the spices of the Lord’s working in our lives, but the harsh breeze of circumstances that may make us feel crushed, persecuted, but yet not abandoned, or struck down but not destroyed. Sometimes that wind of the Holy Spirit will also break off junk from our lives and circumstances that don’t belong there, and it may be painful at the time, but yet it’s just part of the bigger plan to have more and more of the Spirit’s work in our lives, that others may benefit from this fragrance.

Dear saint, don’t shy away from the variety of experiences you face in your Christian walk, including suffering, trials and tribulations, for these things are a sweet smelling fragrance and the work they produce in us is of eternal relevance.

But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere. For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing, to one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life. Who is sufficient for these things? (2 Cor 2:15, ESV, emphasis mine)

Amen! 

Steve Bremner is a missionary to Peru, called to raise up disciples who flow in the power of the Holy Spirit. He is general editor of Fire Press, and also produces & co-hosts its podcast called Fire On Your Head. Visit his personal site at http://stevebremner.com 

1. The following portion is taken from notes I wrote in the margin of my Bible after reading S.J. Hill’s book Personal Revival where he takes a whole chapter to go into this detail
2. For more on this of which we don’t have time to get into today, it’s recommended that the reader check out a previous post on the symbolism used in the differences between the wheat and the tares, http://www.fireonyourhead.org/2008/03/20/mixing-the-counterfeit-in-with-the-genuine/
3. It’s recommended to read Strong Behind the Veil of Our Thought Life, http://www.fireonyourhead.org/2011/01/05/strong-behind-the-veil-of-our-thought-life/
4. The latter portion of this article is heavily gleaning from Bob and Rose Weiner’s study of the Song of Solomon, Bible Studies For The Preparation of the Bride, Study 12: “The Garden of the Lord”

“Then Aaron’s sons the priests shall arrange the pieces, including the head and the fat, on the burning wood that is on the altar.  He is to wash the inner parts and the legs with water, and the priest is to burn all of it on the altar. It is a burnt offering, an offering made by fire, an aroma pleasing to the LORD.” -Lev. 1.8-9

The book of Leviticus is a concentrated tome on ancient priestliness, and for this very reason our impatient and preoccupied modern minds have difficulty with it. It is methodical and precise, and carries with it pictures of men elbow-deep in the blood of bulls and rams. One can almost smell the ashen flesh and bones of the burnt offering upon reading it. There is very little here that appeals to our ‘cake and latte’ society, but that which causes us to recoil is often that which is “an aroma pleasing to the LORD.”

Can we fathom the priestly duties of old, and believe that they were commanded by the Lord as holy? The priest was charged to “arrange the pieces, including the head and the fat, on the burning wood that is on the altar.” The animal was to be placed on the burning wood, its pieces, its head, and its fat. All of this goes to show that if we would come to the Lord rightly, we’ve got to give him the whole of who we are. We’ve got to “present our bodies as living sacrifices,” which is something more than giving mental assent to a particular doctrine.

God is altogether merciful, and His kindness toward us is impossible to measure. Yet and still, if our lives would ascend to Him as a pleasing aroma, they must be presented as a “fire offering.” Our “pieces,” including our puffed-up “head” knowledge, our “fat” and the giving of ourselves to various forms of excess, have got to be placed on the burning wood of God’s altar. Our self-preservation, our purported wisdom and correctness, and our self-absorbed living have got to go into the fire, for the burning up of these Adamic conditions is a sweet fragrance to the Lord.

The priest was also commanded to “wash the inner parts and the legs with water,” which could speak many things to our souls. Instantly one thinks of the implications of both washing and burning the “inner parts.” Beyond the “pieces” of the beast, which are external, and which constituted the animals earthly image, the priest is to wash the inner-most portions of its remains, as if to prepare them for the fire offering.

I do not know all that was in the mind of the Lord with this command to wash the inward parts, but I assume that there must be some meaning for us to draw out here. Before ever we can enter the fire in the sense of offering our inner-most parts unto the Lord, we’ve got to be cleansed and rinsed with mercy and truth by the Great High Priest. Not only has the wisdom of this world infected our “inner parts,” but our own self-centered musings have plagued us since the days of our youth. It is not the human custom to dialogue with God, but to run through a thousand cycles of self-conscious consideration, anxious assumption, and presumptuous reflections. We are ever and always thinking about our appearance, our rights, and the supremacy of our opinions. Couple that with the infusion of a million other worldly voices and influences, and our innermost parts are a mangled collection of sinful thoughts, open wounds, and boastings against the knowledge of God.

We need desperately and daily to be washed throughly by the only One who bears that eternal and priestly authority, the Man Christ Jesus. We cannot rightly be presented as a “fire offering” until the Priest has washed our inner parts. We need Him to establish in our lives an inward dialogue with the Spirit of God. Our thought patterns and internal cycles are never-ceasing, with pride and arrogance, anxiety and fear, presumption and vain opinion. We need to entrust our “inner parts” to the Priest of heaven, mangled though they are, for He will cleanse them from their darkness, and wash out the infection of this age. Then shall they be placed upon the burning wood and arise as an aroma unto God.

It takes time to offer the “inner parts,” for when we initially come to the Lord we are willing to offer “pieces,” willing to give up our “head” and the “fat” of our lives, for we have seen the destructive fruits of sin. But the inner parts are not easily surrendered. Our past pains, our self-consciousness, our desire to receive honor from men. These inner parts will ever seek to take the high place. Only the Lamb of God has the authority and ability to take these mangled parts, strained and bruised from sin and self, beaten by the powers of darkness, and to cleanse them, fitting them for the fire of offering.

We’ve got to let the bars down, and trust the One who went further than the priests of old. He was not merely elbow-deep in the blood of bulls and goats, but covered head to toe in His own precious blood. And He went to the cross for the “joy set before Him,” which is the glorification of His Father, and the total salvation and deliverance of His people. Dear saint, this includes you. Have you an inner-dialogue with Him that transcends meetings and religious functions, or are you still withholding the hidden parts?

Likewise, the “legs” were to be washed with water along with the inner parts. This bespeaks the journey that follows those who give their innermost parts over to the Lord’s washing, and the fire that follows. When at once our inner parts have been cleansed and placed into the fire, our lives are no longer our own. We will not go to and fro as the world does. We will not make decisions on a whim or move here or there out of mere desire or convenience. We will follow the Lamb wheresoever He goes.

If we are to offer our lives “daily,” as did Paul, so also are we to experience the washing of the inner parts and the cleansing of our legs with great frequency. Are your “legs” clean? Or are you running to and fro, even in ministry, without first having your motives and leadings washed with the water of the High Priest? If it doesn’t flow out of that precious inner dialogue with the Spirit of God, how can it resound to His glory? It is still unto you, and your life cannot be placed upon the altar until the inner parts are His, and He has washed you through and through.

Give Him all the “pieces” dear saint. Your frame, your head, your excess, your legs, and your innermost parts. The life of true offering is one of totality, and the High Priest is completely trustworthy. He is utterly worthy of every portion. Your life, when it is all on fire upon the burning wood of the altar, will rise to Him as a pleasing aroma both now and forevermore.

In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. (John 1:4-5, ESV)

In the beginning of John’s Gospel, we’re told how Jesus Christ had in Himself, life, and was the light of men. It does not say he was an incandescent light bulb. It does not say he was a battery-operated flashlight. Nor does it state the form of light He is can be relegated to any form of technology modern readers can put onto the text who have lived in the era after electricity had become a part of all our lives. In the time that the Apostle John wrote this, when he spoke of light he meant fire. This would be what the contemporary readers of the time understood him and our Lord Jesus to have been referring to when speaking of being light of the world. The lamps spoken of in the parable of the ten virgins (Matthew 25:1-13) were commonly large dome-shaped torches, fueled by rags soaked in oil and used for walking outside. With extra containers of oil, the torches could last for hours, and as a result they needed regular refilling.

We could more accurately read our text in John’s Gospel to say in Christ is the fire of men. This fire shines in the darkness, and darkness cannot overcome it. Darkness, simply put, is the absence of light (fire). It doesn’t put up a fight and resist it, saying ‘no, I’m staying.’ When the light of fire shines, it simply has to go. It cannot co-exist with the light at the same time. You can only have one or the other, but darkness is subservient to light. As soon as you light the fire, there is no more darkness in the room. The more fire, the brighter the light gets in the room where it’s burning. Note these words Jesus spoke about believers:

“You are the light (fire) of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven. (Matthew 5:14-16 ESV)

Development of a Fire

A fire develops typically in four stages:

• First, is the incipient stage. There is no visible smoke, no flame and very little heat. A significant amount of invisible–but sometimes smellable–combustion particles may be created. This stage usually develops slowly.
• Second; the smoldering stage. There is smoke, but no flame and little heat.
• Then, the flame stage. There’s a visible flame, more heat, often less or no smoke, particularly with flammable liquids and gas fires.
• And ultimately, the heat stage. Large amounts of heat, flame, smoke and toxic gases are produced. The transition from the previous stage can be very fast.1

Simply put, fire is the state of combustion resulting from a chemical reaction that requires the presence of three elements in proper combination — a fuel source (anything that burns), oxygen (a component of air), and an ignition source such as heat or a spark — in order to begin and develop. This is often referred to as a “Fire Triangle,” as shown in the diagram below2

Extinguishing a fire (take note, reader!) usually involves removing at least one of these elements. This is why Jesus told us that a city on a hill cannot be hidden–not that it should not–but cannot, because you cannot hide a fire! To do so would be to remove one of the 3 elements that a fire requires. If you were to put a basket over top of your fire, the fire would be extinguished from lack of oxygen. It’s as simple as that. Jesus was basically warning us not to let our fire go out, or to let anything in our lives extinguish it. In the temple, the priests were instructed to continually keep the pure fire burning on the altar (Leviticus 6:12-13).

So friend, what type of fire are you? Is your fire invisible, yet giving off an odor? Are you properly adding fuel to your fire, and spending time alone in intimate fellowship with the Father? Are you fueling your life with the Word of God and the oil of His presence? Are you allowing fresh winds of the Holy Spirit to fan those flames? Or, are you dabbling with sin in your life so as to remove the oxygen His fire needs? I guarantee you friend, sin will put out your fire—you cannot serve both God and mammon, you cannot love the world and God. You may be able to continue operating outwardly in church functions and having an appearance of godliness, but everyone around you will know if there’s a real fire or not. Even if the sin is hidden (or so you think), for the fire cannot burn there without removing the dross, or burning the wood, the hay, and the stubble. One of the two things will extinguish the other; either sin will keep you from prayer and Bible reading, or prayer and Bible reading will keep you from sinning. But make no mistake: sin is a basket covering the fire, quenching the oxygen it needs to burn in your life.

Are you a smoldering wick, that even though of Jesus it’s said that He wouldn’t do anything to snuff you out (Matthew 12:20), but yet you still have need of more heat? Do you need more holy oxygen and fuel to burn a holy flame? Fan those things into flame that lay inside of you! Maybe you’re like most Christians—close enough to the presence of God to feel a heat, but not actually IN the fire of His presence. Jump in! Deal with sacrifices in your life you need to make and place them on the altar, for without sacrifice there is no fire of God’s presence in our lives and ministries.

Friend, if you throw yourself completely into the fire of His presence and let it consume you, then no earthly fire—no worldly shaking–will harm you. Learn from the example of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego—they had been so purified in the secret place by a heavenly fire that they withstood the earthly flames they were thrown into when they would not bow to the idol the king demanded allegiance to.

The fires of this world cannot touch you when you’ve been purged by the fire of God.

Spread Your Fire!

Friend, fires consume everything in their path. Everywhere you go you should by nature be setting things ablaze, your words carrying power, for James 3:5 reminds us that “So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things. How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire.” If it can cause great destruction (vv. 6-9), imagine what good it can cause instead when speaking forth prophetic declarations that impact those you speak them to?  When you burn with this heaven flame your very essence is either bringing life to believers and destroying the works of the flesh and the world of darkness.

I think there is a profound reason, in this context of the day of the Lord being a day of fire as mentioned in the book of Malachi, that the hearts of the fathers are to be turned to the sons and the sons to the fathers–that they may stir one another up and out of such mentoring relationships encourage one another and fan into flame the purposes of God for this generation.  That we keep one another burning and putting fuel in each other’s fires.  Fire begets fire, but know that it just takes a small spark to start one, a small bit of the light inside you to bring it to flame, and spread the Gospel and the Kingdom of Heaven on the earth.

Stir up the flames in yourself and one another that we may burn fully aflame for the Lord Jesus Christ!

1. Development of a Fire http://safetyguide.web.cern.ch/SafetyGuide/Part3/38.0Fire.html
2. The Canadian Conservation Institute http://www.cci-icc.gc.ca/crc/articles/mcpm/chap04-eng.aspx, image also obtained from this site

“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 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.”

Malachi 3:2-3 ESV, emphasis mine.

Charles Finney remarked “There can be no revival when Mr. Amen and Mr We-Eyes are not found in the audience.” That’s to say, if it’s not marked by a holy travail over the lost plight of the sinner destined for hell, and prayer for souls to be saved–you might not be experiencing a revival yet. Finney also stated that “a revival of religion presupposes a declension.“

In order for us to want–and obtain– a heaven-sent revival, we must first come to terms with one fact–that we need it! I’ve heard Art Katz state that the reason we’ve not seen it, is because we’re satisfied without it. God will not force the genuine thing on us if we’re content with the substitute.

That being said, when someone is near death and dying in a hospital bed about to breathe their last breath, they need to be revived if they’re going to live. Such is revival–a drastic measure taken in order bring something back to the life it’s supposed to attain to.

After recently being privileged to be involved in a conference the ministry I’m a part of organized here in Lima, I’ve been compelled to think and process my thoughts on revival and the presence of God. A leader in my life and a spiritual figure whom I personally expect history to remember as a revivalist, Dr Michael Brown, was with us and preached simple yet pointed messages on repentance and holiness in the context of it being a precursor that paves the way for revival. He was a key leader during the Brownsville Revival of the late 1990s, and although that move of God was not without its detractors (just do a Google search), it is also undeniable that one of its hallmarks was repentance and personal holiness.

I’ve got friends all over North America, Europe and on the mission field various places the world over who were all wrecked and never to be the same again, and serving as missionaries spreading the fire they caught as a result of this particular move of God in little ole Pensacola, Florida. So why does it bother me so much when I see people throw the word “revival” around so casually and calling anything the Holy Spirit is doing in their midst a “revival”, when repentance and holiness may not even be a visible sign? I’ve seen various friends ‘like” a statement on Facebook lately about how good it would be to start a Christian revival, but would it really be that great? I fear that whatever it is these dear saints are longing for, may be selling itself short if it lacks tears, travail over lost souls, desire for repentance, and personal holiness. Especially so if the focus is ourselves and how good it would be for us if we had one, and not focused on Christ Himself Who is worthy of all such focus.

I was talking to a Peruvian co-laborer months ago who told me Lima, Peru’s capital is experiencing revival. Out of desire to get in the presence of God myself like I’ve experienced only on rare occasion over the last 10 years, I’ve personally asked this brother WHERE?–since if it’s true, I’d love to “jump in the river.” After realizing we might not really be on the same page and what he would call a move of God might be different than what I’d call one, I finally couldn’t help but ask him “what do you mean by “revival“? I couldn’t honestly see any of the things I’ve come to expect as a result of time in the presence of God and all the things I associated with the move of God in Pensacola, that I was affected by. I don’t say this out of judgmental arrogance either, because I genuinely believe this brother’s sincerity, and would never balk at some of the things I’ve seen God do here when His Spirit was manifest in special ways. When we had this fire conference with Dr Brown who preached repentance and holiness last week and brought the saints to a level many of them who attended have since told me they’ve seldom–if ever–experienced for themselves, I have got to wonder….

The elevator ride, or the destination?

If you have never had a chance to read the book of Dr Michael Brown’s entitled “A Time for Holy Fire“, I highly encourage you to as some of my remarks are gleaning from that book even if not directly making quotes. One of the things he writes in a chapter entitled “The Proof of the Revival Is In The Living“, he quotes some signs 18th century revivalist Jonathan Edwards gave as being positive signs an alleged ‘revival’ is from God, among which included a hunger for the Word of God and desire to study Scriptures, since if something gets your attention away from His word–even if outwardly it appears from God–the fruit very clearly implies otherwise. Other signs: if Jesus is being lifted up as the center and focus; the desire for the truth and to get the sin out of one’s life.

In a special meeting our ministry team had with him, he used an analogy so simple that I can’t think of it in any other way now, but it’s the idea of riding an elevator: If we need to get to the 50th floor of a building, we’re going to take the elevator and not walk, as the elevator will get us there faster than the many flights of stairs. The destination is the 50th floor, and not the elevator itself. Yet many Christians, with good intentions at that–mistakenly desire–and settle for–the elevator ride, when it’s a means to an end. We shouldn’t desire just a visitation from God that helps raise us up to where we need to be as a Church, but we should be a people who ARE raised up and who are a habitation of the manifest presence of God!  Our goal is not the elevator ride, but ultimately the destination it takes us to. Our goal in and of itself is not the revival, but where that revival brings us–back to life from the dead! Simply put, if we were fully spiritually alive, a revival wouldn’t be so necessary and needed, but because of the condition we’re in as a church, we need to be woken up out of our coma-like state.

If some kind of outpouring of the Holy Spirit takes place in our midst and people are getting healed I’m not going to write that off; if something is happening and believers are getting refreshed in God and strengthened in their faith–great. But I will hesitate to throw the word revival on it just because of those things alone if repentance isn’t also a hallmark or fruit. For me, a true revival means fire. Fire burns up the sacrifices presented on the altar. Revival doesn’t just result in a Holy Ghost bubble bath.

In a previous post of mine, specifically on the fire of God, I stated that the closer we are to Him and His consuming presence, the less we are like this world we’re surrounded by. The fire of God purifies and purges (1 Peter 1:22-25, Proverbs 17:3). The fire distinguishes and separates wheat from chaff (Luke 3:16-17), soul from spirit, unholy from holy. It brings to the surface the works of the flesh that they may be exposed and repented of. Fire spreads, it ignites. As Leonard Ravenhill stated, fire begets more fire. Likening this to electricity, Dr Brown states:

Some things are good conductors; others are not. High-voltage wires can carry quite a shock; thick rubber will stop the watts in their tracks. So also in the Spirit: A pure heart is easily ignited; unbelief and sin will quickly quench the flames. A holy life will transmit the Spirit’s jolt; the flesh will blunt the force. What about you? What is your spiritual composition? (A Time For Holy Fire, p 182)

Friend, I guarantee you, either repentance will pave the way for revival, or revival will bring to the surface that sin which may be well hidden from others, since one cannot see revival without a pure heart and life, and in the midst of the fire, the dross WILL come to the surface. I say soberly preaching to myself as well as you dear reader: we better be careful what we’re praying for if we aren’t really ready for it.

Revival Fire or Charismatic Hype?

A few years ago I attended an event commemorating the anniversary of the charismatic movement in The Netherlands while I was living there as a missionary at the time. I got emails from people ahead of time promoting this event to be “history making.” The main attraction was a well-known international worship group. As it got dark that night and the contemporary music blared, people started to wave glow sticks and their cell phones around. Despite all the organization that went into planning this, I was confused and befuddled over one key aspect that I felt was missing. I wondered to myself: where was the fire we were commemorating and celebrating?

What I saw was a bunch of glow stick type bracelets wrapped around thousands of wrists as many hands were lifted up in adoration of one true object of affection–Jesus Christ. I heard amazingly anointed worship and musical stylings I personally enjoy blaring through lots of loud speakers. Surely, I was grateful to have gone, don’t get me wrong. But I wondered: where’s the fire? Is THIS what revival is? Just hype and some Holy Ghost goosebumps?

Nearly one hundred years prior, in Azusa street, in Whales, and the various places of the world where the spark of the new restoration of the power of the Holy Spirit was renewed, it spread around the world so that history was made and the face of the Church changed ever since. Peoples’ lives were impacted; missing limbs grew back; some ministers mounted wheelchairs on the walls of their churches to commemorate God healing peoples’ bodies so they didn’t need them anymore. I wondered to myself, if this move carried on for the last 100 years, then where’s the evidence of it? Shouldn’t we have at least what they had then, and have carried it forth further since? Is all we’ve got to show for it a bunch of glow sticks–fake fire light? Hopefully, I am wrong and despite some of the more hype meetings I’ve been in, I can say God IS moving in various places the world over!

I recall seeing a bunch of young people in this one group on the ground that night, and every time I looked at them, I watched them lay hands on one another and the one whose turn it was to be prayed over was just flopping around on the ground and shaking and then they’d take turns and pray for one another. However, when they were done, I noticed some from this group smoking cigarettes. I don’t know their stories before coming to that event, such as how new to the faith they may have been–and I’m all for striking when the iron is hot and receiving from God. When the anointing is present, go ahead and operate in it while the grace is there to do so. But I couldn’t help but think 100 years of Pentecost and all we do is lay hands on ourselves? Watching this is watching the undirected power of a garden hose just flop around on the grass while it sprays in every direction until it’s picked up and directed at a flower garden or plant that needs watering. The point is not that water flows through the vessel-the hose, but that you direct it AT something and bring life to it.

When I think of Christians just laying hands on each other constantly and imparting the life giving power of the Holy Spirit on one another, I think of children spraying each other with a garden hose in their parents’ backyard, while all the plants in the garden die from lack of nourishment. Is it really revival if we have a dying generation all around us, and all we do is hose each other down with the life of the Holy Spirit and have fun? Is it really that special if we’re just in it for the elevator ride?

The fire of God and the power of the Holy Spirit isn’t meant for us to hose each other down–it’s meant to bring life and power to a sick and dying world all around us. Revival is meant to restore to a proper intended state of life and vitality, and even as I post this article on the subject, it still is not even done justice by my mere illustrations and analogies. It just burns in a way that you WILL know when you experience the real thing.

Friend, what do you mean by ‘revival?’

And she said, “Your servant has nothing in the house except a jar of oil.” Then he said, “Go outside, borrow vessels from all your neighbors, empty vessels and not too few. Then go in and shut the door behind yourself and your sons and pour into all these vessels. And when one is full, set it aside.” (2 Kings 4:2a-4)

In this passage of Scripture we’re shown a remarkable miracle, but yet a profound spiritual principle. The wife of one of the sons of the prophets had just become a widow, and had no means of paying off her husbands’ creditor. He had previously come by seeking to take her two sons into slavery in order to pay off the debt, and she was seeking after Elisha for relief from this situation. His response in the second verse was “what do you have in the house?” The prophet sought to use what she had to offer, and she told him she had nothing except a jar of oil. This reminds me of the miracles when Jesus fed the 5000 thousand using what was available–what seemed like too little, but yet fed all in attendance with leftovers to spare.

Stay Filled; Empty Yourself

Often times we find ourselves getting to a place in our lives, where we too like the widow have “nothing but” the oil of the Holy Spirit. Possibly feeling crushed by the circumstances of life, or feeling like we’re at our wits’ end, or that we’re completely empty. But these are precisely the vessels the Lord desires to use–empty ones. The emptier we are, the more we can be filled. As long as there was something empty to be filled in the widow’s home, the oil didn’t stop flowing. So it is with us, for God seeks to use vessels fit for His use, and so long as He can find a people dead to themselves, He can flow through them.

Elisha told her to go and gather jars–from all her neighbors, and then to take the jar of oil she owned (all she did have), and pour it into the vessels she had collected. As long as she had empty vessels to use, the oil would continue to flow, but when her sons told her they had no more, the oil stopped. As long as the Lord has empty vessels, who are wholly yielded to Him, He pours out His Spirit, for He gives the Spirit without measure (John 3:34). But when the vessels have been filled, these pour out what they have because they cannot contain the presence of God inside of them. It overflows out of them like rivers of living water (John 7:38). This is what is supposed to happen when you’re filled with the Holy Spirit.

All believers have the Holy Spirit dwelling inside of them, but not everybody has the Spirit flowing out of them. This is because they aren’t empty of themselves, or postured in such a way that they can be filled. I’m not talking about the Baptism of the Holy Spirit specifically, but continuing to be filled on an ongoing basis. The widow obtained all the empty vessels she could. The flow never stopped until she ran out of vessels that could be filled to overflowing. Likewise, the Spirit of God can only flow so long as He has empty vessels to flow through.

All believers are sealed with the Holy Spirit upon salvation. This is equivalent to having water in an 8 ounce cup, but being filled, would be like taking a huge gallon jar and pouring it into that same sized cup. There’s just not enough room in the cup for that quantity of the water, and likewise believers are supposed to be vessels that the Spirit can be poured into and through without measure. When waters quit flowing in the natural, we are left with a swamp. We’re to continually be filled so that we don’t cease to flow in the Spirit, so we can keep giving the life of God.

We need to keep dying to ourselves daily (see 1 Cor. 15:31). This filling is an ongoing process, for we see Peter filled more than once (see Acts 2:4, 4:8). Ephesians 5:17-18 says “Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit.” The words used in the original Greek refer to a continual on-going filling, so as to more accurately say keep being filled [with the Spirit]. Equal to being empty enough so you can be filled with nothing but the Holy Spirit, it’s necessary to not be filled with anything else. In a similar way as how being drunk on wine dulls you towards the cares of this world, being filled with or consumed with other things dulls our ability to be filled by God’s Spirit.

The Holy Spirit is a like a fuel, or oil to the fire of God’s presence in our live. I reflect on similar thoughts in the post Keep The Pure Fire Burning where we talked about the parable of the foolish and wise virgins in Matthew 25:1-13. Some had enough oil to keep their fire burning and the others didn’t. The lamps they used here were large dome-shaped torches, fueled by rags soaked in oil and used for walking outside. With extra containers of oil–symbolizing vessels containing nothing else except the oil of the presence of God–then the torches could last for hours, and as a result they needed regular refilling. Therefore, since the bride and the virgins did not know how long it may take before the bridegroom returned, they had to always be prepared.

Men of Valor & Disciples Who Shook the World

King David collected all the dejected, and people living on the fringe who came to him during his time in the Cave of Adullam. “Everyone who was in distress, and everyone who was in debt, and everyone who was bitter in soul, gathered to him. And he became captain over them. And there were with him about four hundred men.” (1 Sam 22:2). David took broken and empty vessels and poured himself into them. 2 Samuel 23 goes on to record many of these individuals by name and their heroic deeds and we know them as David’s mighty men of valor. In fact, David never lost a battle during his entire reign as king of Israel — quite a feat for a bunch of no-name “lowlifes”!

Jesus Christ also had the same method for selecting his twelve disciples. After praying all night, he went around and called the twelve, among whom were common fisherman and a tax collector, all of whom abandoned Him when he was arrested and crucified, yet these men went and changed the world in their generation. When Peter and John stood before the council of Saduccees in Jerusalem, they were amazed because they “perceived that they were uneducated, common men, they were astonished. And they recognized that they had been with Jesus” (Acts 4:13).

Broken, wounded and dejected vessels who were empty enough to be filled with the purposes of God for their generation. God doesn’t look for the seminary trained before He can use them. God’s eyes are looking to and from the whole earth for people He can show Himself strong in (2 Chron. 16:9), and the only qualification is a blameless heart. Our mistake is we tend to look at the promising when God looks for the empty.

We too need to empty ourselves of ourselves, our flesh, the cares of this world and stay continually filled with the fire of His presence in our lives. I encourage you, reader, to do whatever it takes in your life to be a empty vessel fit for filling.