September 23, 2022
Are we really willing to surrender our hearts to the Potter?
This requires more than we like to talk about! It does require the fire, it does require the burning away of all the imperfections! It does require the rending of our hearts. Oh the requirements are so costly but so priceless!
No one likes this, and many are willing to say we need it, but few are willing to walk it out. It’s more than lip service, it’s more than a fancy post. It’s dying to self, it’s dying daily, it’s truly not loving your life unto death! This isn’t fun, this isn’t popular, this is easy to preach and say, but it’s much deeper because He is requiring it to be lived out!
We read the stories of Jesus coming on the scene and asking His disciples to follow Him! What did that really look like? What did that really require of these men? I’m sure their families were not all clapping their hands and patting them on the back and saying, “oh what a great opportunity!”
No I’m sure many were questioning, “what are you doing”, and I wonder if many were offended and angry even! Some left all they had ever known and walked away from the family business to follow this man that just walked up on the scene!
Following JESUS requires more than your lip service! It requires death!
We don’t have time for the little offenses and the anger because we didn’t live up to others expectations of what they think we should do. Now DO NOT misquote me, I believe in accountability and holiness and purity and I will preach that all day and I desire it in my life! But to gain the purity and holiness, it requires the fire!
It’s the ridiculous divisions we have allowed to creep in! I don’t have time to be mad because someone doesn’t like me or understand me. There are people being held at gunpoint demanding they denounce Jesus as Lord and we are arguing because of this person or that person doesn’t like me.
What will we do if it ever comes to this in the Western Church? Have we really been purified in the fire and tested and come out cleaner that we can truly endure real persecution?
Dying daily is not just a catchy phrase or to sound all humble! It’s reality for this life. A life of real surrender!
What did it really mean when John said, I must decrease, He must increase? John got his head cut off! What did it mean when Jesus told Paul, “My grace is sufficient”? What did it really mean for those 3 Hebrew boys to say, “we will not bow” to King Nebuchadnezzar?
You ever wonder the depth of this quote?
Light yourself on fire with passion and people will come from miles to watch you burn.
-John Wesley-
I wonder does this require remaining in the fire?! Just a thought. I believe the fire seasons change, some are more severe than others, but they must remain consistent. The fire may be a cleansing fire, the burning away to have clean hands and a pure heart, the fire may be a consuming fire, just like the bush Moses stood at, Holy ground. The fire could be a zealous fire that stirs the heart of man and sets them ablaze, renews passion. Paul told Timothy to fan the flame within him!
The willingness to have and maintain His fire requires much more than we like to talk about!
“LORD CONSUME US”
“I have decided to follow Jesus
The Cross before me, the world behind me
Though none go with me, still I will follow
NO TURNING BACK!”
Can we say and really believe this from our heart of hearts?!
May we have a face like flint in this hour and be filled with perseverance and endurance to run this race and win the prize!
Gird up your loins! We may have to go through the fire!
