The cleansing power of fire

I love watching bonfires.  They are one of the coolest things to watch.  Every so often, we will go outside and have a bonfire in our backyard.  it was an especially pleasant evening last night, and with daylight savings, the sun goes down early, so we decided to have one. There is such a cleansing quality to fire.  We burn our old wood, our paper trash, etc.  Last night, it was an old desk.  I asked my son to stand in front of the fire so I could take a picture of him, the result was mesmerizing.  He looked like he was on fire himself. There are so many Scriptures that incorporate fire. Let’s look at some of the things God teaches us through fire.

1. Psalm 66:10
   For You have tried us, O God; You have refined us as silver is refined.

   1. Isaiah 48:10
      “Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver; I have tested you in the furnace of affliction.
   2. Zechariah 13:9“And I will bring the third part through the fire, Refine them as silver is refined, And test them as gold is tested. They will call on My name, And I will answer them; I will say, ‘They are My people,’ And they will say, ‘The Lord is my God.’”
   3. Exodus 13:21
   4. 1. The Lord was going before them in a pillar of cloud by day to lead them on the way, and in a pillar of fire by night to give them light, that they might travel by day and by night.
      2. Deuteronomy 5:22
         126. [ Moses Interceded ] “These words the Lord spoke to all your assembly at the mountain from the midst of the fire, of the cloud and of the thick gloom, with a great voice, and He added no more. He wrote them on two tablets of stone and gave them to me.
         127. 126. Deuteronomy 5:24
                   You said, ‘Behold, the Lord our God has shown us His glory and His greatness, and we have heard His voice from the midst of the fire; we have seen today that God speaks with man, yet he lives.
              127. 251. Psalm 66:12
                        You made men ride over our heads; We went through fire and through water, Yet You brought us out into a place of abundance.

              128. 1 Corinthians 3:12-14

                   ¹² Now if any man builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, ¹³ each man’s work will become evident; for the day will show it because it is to be revealed with fire, and the fire itself will test the quality of each man’s work. ¹⁴ If any man’s work which he has built on it remains, he will receive a reward.

                   301. James 3:5
                        So also the tongue is a small part of the body, and yet it boasts of great things. See how great a forest is set aflame by such a small fire!
      3. 301. 1 Peter 1:7
              so that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ;
         302. So fire is for refinement, for purification, for testing.  We hear God’s voice in the midst of our fires, our testings.  God burns away all that is not of Him so that all we have left, is of Him.   I learn so much about God by sitting in front of a nice bonfire and meditating on all that He teaches me in His Word about refinement, purity, triumph and grace in the midst of the fires of my life.  If you can, try having one.  Another thing I do is confess and burn things in the fire, letting God consume the guilt and shame of past sins.  Or forgiving someone and writing the offense on a piece of paper and than tossing it in the fire.  Fire is truly a cleansing agent. Listen to the voice of God in the midst of your own fires this day