Tag Archive | fire

Power of The Word

Oct21

The prophet who has a dream may relate his dream, but let him who has My word speak My word in truth. What does straw have in common with grain?” declares the Lord. “Is not My word like fire?” declares the Lord, “and like a hammer which shatters a rock?
Jeremiah 23:28‭-‬29 NASB

The Word spoken rightly, in truth is powerful! The Word of God is like fire, all consuming everywhere it spreads.
The Word of God shatters, destroying falsehood, lies, deception.

If you have God’s word speak His truth. Someone needs to hear.

🌹Jesus is the Word. (John 1:14).
for our God is a consuming fire.
Hebrews 12:29 NASB

Continually Seeking Him,

Sharon

Fruitful or Dried Up

Nov4

“I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit.            John 15:1‭-‬2 NASB

Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing. John 15:4‭-‬5 NASB

If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire and they are burned.            John 15:6 NASB

My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples. John 15:8 NASB

🌹 Are you abiding in Christ, the vine, being nourished by the vinedresser, the Father’s word, being transformed by His pruning, producing fruit in the power of the Holy Spirit

OR

Are you a dried up branch, void of the movement of God because you do not abide in Jesus, the vine, only to be gathered and used for the fire?

These things I have spoken to you so that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full.           John 15:11 NASB

Continually Seeking Him,

Sharon

Elijah, Prophet of God

Oct8

Elijah, a prophet sent by God, to warn and restore the Isaraelites devotion to God instead of Baal. In 1 Kings 18 is the testimony of the two altars where the priests of Baal, 450, and Elijah, the lone prophet of God, met to sacrifice to their respective God/god to reveal who was truly God.

One of my favorite stories. You should read if you are not familiar with it.

After this event . . .

Now Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword. Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, “So may the gods do to me and even more, if I do not make your life as the life of one of them by tomorrow about this time.” And he was afraid and arose and ran for his life and came to Beersheba, which belongs to Judah, and left his servant there. But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a juniper tree; and he requested for himself that he might die, and said, “It is enough; now, O Lord, take my life, for I am not better than my fathers.”
1 Kings 19:1‭-‬4 NASB

This great revelation of God in Elijah’s life, to see the power and faithfulness of God, was overshadowed by fear of what Jezebel promised to do to him.

Haven’t we been there? We let the events of the world, the fear for our own livelihood overshadow the work of God and the Holy Spirit through us. God calls all His children to be the voice piece of His gospel. When called we must stand firm in the hope and power of our God.

Well, God also will not allow us to wallow long in our disobedience- running from His calling to share the gospel – before He gets our attention.

Through an angel God provided Elijah with the necessary strength to go on a journey to meet with God.

Then he came there to a cave and lodged there; and behold, the word of the Lord came to him, and He said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”
1 Kings 19:9 NASB

Have you heard this before? A simple question. “What are you doing here?”

Elijah had his excuse all ready:

He said, “I have been very zealous for the Lord, the God of hosts; for the sons of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars and killed Your prophets with the sword. And I alone am left; and they seek my life, to take it away.”
1 Kings 19:10 NASB

He wasn’t really listening to God. His fear for his life was greater than his fear of God.

But God was about to get his attention.

So He said, “Go forth and stand on the mountain before the Lord.” And behold, the Lord was passing by! And a great and strong wind was rending the mountains and breaking in pieces the rocks before the Lord; but the Lord was not in the wind. And after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a sound of a gentle blowing.
1 Kings 19:11‭-‬12 NASB

God sent a mighty wind, an earthquake and fire. When God had Elijah’s attention He then spoke in a gentle whisper (blowing).

Aren’t we just like Elijah? Look around you.  Are you living in fear or in the safety of your obedience to God?

🌹Is He trying to get our attention so we can hear His gentle whisper?

Continually Seeking Him,

Sharon

Fire

Dec19

To console those who mourn in Zion,
To give them beauty for ashes,
The oil of joy for mourning,
The garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness;
That they may be called trees of righteousness,
The planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified.” — Isaiah 61:3

December 19, 2000. A day like any other day. Rising up getting ready for work, kids out the door to the sitter, drive to work. Well not exactly a day like any other because of extenuating circumstances I did have to make arrangements for my children to be picked up after their half day of school.

My oldest son, the extenuating circumstance, stayed home that day from school. Around noon he called me saying he had a headache. I told him to take some headache medication and call me back in a little bit if it didn’t go away.

No further phone call until 330 in the afternoon from my neighbor down the street. She happened to have my phone number from when she used to babysit my two little ones before they were even in school. This was very unusual for her to be calling me especially at work. The information she would share with me would catapult our family into a series of events that would change our lives forever.

Sharon, your house is on fire. There are fire trucks out in front of your house. My response was “Where is my son”? No one had seen him. . .

Of course I immediately headed home . I left a message at my husband’s job because he was not yet there to tell him that our house was on fire and I was headed home. He tells the story that when he got there he thought the guys were just playing a joke on him. They had to get really serious with him to convince him that that was the truth. (Understand, this was also before everyone owned cell phones).

The drive home which lasted about 30 minutes was the longest 30 minutes of my life. All the way home I just kept praying about my son and hoping that he was not in the house fire. I arrived in our cul-de-sac to find almost every neighbor out in front of the house. The one thing that I really focused on the most was the face of my son standing out there also. The Lord truly blessed me at that one moment. It was the best Christmas present I could receive, seeing the eyes and face of my son standing before me knowing he was not in the house.

Losing everything really puts into perspective what’s important in life. God showed me that day that material things are fleeting but the love of family and the help of friends and church family are far beyond any material treasure. A good insurance company is always a good thing too.

Let me point out some of the things that showed me that God was in complete control of all that happened. Remember, that my son called me at 12 o’clock. The clock on the stove stopped at 12:30. I truly believe that my son’s headache was probably from smoke inhalation. In my sons disobedient stage he left the house soon after he called me. The fire was not even reported until 3:00 PM when my neighbor came home and noticed the flames coming out of the roof. The fire had been smoldering for awhile (remember the clock stopped at 1230).

God bless my neighbor who called the fire department and tried to get in the house knowing that my children are usually home from school at that hour. Another God intervention. My children, the two youngest were at my Pastor’s house.

My husband arrived and so did our insurance agent with a check for 2000 dollars. They made arrangements for a hotel for us for that night and then arranged the hotel that we stayed at until the arrangements for our apartment were made.

Having lost everything our church family and some neighbors pulled together and gave us a Christmas we will never forget. I told my kids that Christmas presents were going to be a little slim but God saw it differently.

He took care of us, blessed us tremendously and we will never look at life the same. He taught us that tragedy may come but we are never alone in it. He is still in the midst of every detail. And I saw that the things of this earth cannot compare to having Jesus. He is worth it all.

Trust me when I say God turned our ashes into beauty.

Continually seeking Him,

Sharon

Shine Jesus Shine Pt. 4

Mar13

Shine Jesus shine
Fill this land with the Father’s glory
Blaze, Spirit blaze,
Set our hearts on fire
Flow, river flow
Flood the nations with grace and mercy
Send forth Your word
Lord and let there be light.

— Cliff Richard —

 [Glory of the Lord] Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. — Exodus 40:34

but indeed, as I live, all the earth will be filled with the glory of the Lord. — Numbers 14:31

The angel of the Lord appeared to him in a blazing fire from the midst of a bush; and he looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire, yet the bush was not consumed. — Exodus 3:2

And to the eyes of the sons of Israel the appearance of the glory of the Lord was like a consuming fire on the mountain top. — Exodus 24:17

He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.’” — John 7:38

and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us. — Romans 5:5

Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you will abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. — Romans 15:13

You know of Jesus of Nazareth, how God anointed Him with the Holy Spirit and with power, and how He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him. –Acts 10:38

And we are witnesses of these things; and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey Him.” Acts 5:32

Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, — Matthew 28:19

but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.” — Acts 1:8

And as I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell upon them just as He did upon us at the beginning. — Acts 11:15

for he was a good man, and full of the Holy Spirit and of faith. And considerable numbers were brought to the Lord. — Acts 11:24

And when they had prayed, the place where they had gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak the word of God with boldness. — Acts 4:31  

He sends forth His command to the earth; His word runs very swiftly. — Psalm 147:15

He sends forth His word and melts them; He causes His wind to blow and the waters to flow. — Psalm 147:18

Do not cast me away from Your presence And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me. — Psalm 51:11

For thus says the high and exalted One Who lives forever, whose name is Holy, “I dwell on a high and holy place, And also with the contrite and lowly of spirit In order to revive the spirit of the lowly And to revive the heart of the contrite. — Isaiah 57:15

Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear. — Matthew 13:43

Continually seeking Him,

Sharon