From the desk of Steve Shultz:
When we talk about the "consuming fire of God" it may scare people. But the truth of the matter is that we should embrace His fire. It does so much for the good of us. We need to be ignited with His fire so that we can burn with passion for this world!
For a broader and vivid understanding on the consuming fire of God read this most awesome prophetic word and teaching by Brian Simmons.
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Brian Simmons:
The Fire of Awakening is Here - To Baptize Millions of Souls
I see a fire that has begun! It has been ignited in the nations and it will not be stopped. It is the fire of awakening. I'm sensing this firefall is a cascading move of God that will usher in a mighty baptism of fire for millions and millions of souls throughout this needy planet. It is not a revival centered around the anointed preacher, for when that preacher leaves the fire would go out. It is not a revival that is centered merely in one local church. It is a revival of cities, regions, and nations – coming alive with the fire of awakening!
I want to put before you a summary of this prophetic message God has spoken to me. Allow God to ignite this flame inside your being. God is asking: "How hungry are you for My fire, for the fire of My presence? Show me how much you want it!" Moses turned aside to see the mystery of fire...will you turn aside from your busy life, your many duties and distractions to gaze upon the Source of this eternal flame? How badly do you want it?
Our God is a consuming fire.—Hebrews 12:29
We know that God is love, God is light, God is life, and we gladly embrace those realities, but so must we embrace with equal certainty and security the reality that God is an all-consuming fire! Do you want to know God? He is a consuming Fire! To know God is to embrace the fire!
There are three things that are never satisfied – no, four that never say, "Enough!": the grave, the barren womb, the thirsty desert, the blazing fire.—Proverbs 30:15-16
There are some things that never get finished, that never say "Enough!" This means there are some things God is never finished with. He never reaches a point where He says, "You're holy enough, spiritual enough, disciplined enough, cleansed and purified enough." There is a fire that will burn in you that will continue to burn long after the meeting, long after you encounter this raging blaze. Until you are consumed, this fire will never say, "Enough!"
God's determination for your life and mine is not just to touch us, but to consume us with His fire. The devouring fire of holy jealousy surrounds. He will not share us with another. He created us for Himself and longs to possess every part of our lives. So, fire that never says enough is burning in me! And none of us who want to be close to God can escape the heat! God is so supernatural and powerful that He lives among the flames.
Here are the components of this all-consuming fire of God:
1. It is a Fire that Jesus Released to the Earth When He Walked Among Us!
"I baptize you with water. But One more powerful than I will come, the thongs of Whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire...—Luke 3:16-17
There is a sacred fire that is falling from Heaven. It is a baptism of fire the Lord wants to impart to His Bride. It is the fire of holy love for the Bridegroom, a fire of purity and holiness, the very spark of Divine fire that is the burning essence of God. Heavenly fire is being poured out upon the sacrifice and the altar. Moses stood before a sacred shrub burning with glory and holiness. He lingered before the burning presence until he became a burning bush! God's plan is to light you on fire and for you to burn – for the entire world to see.
The fire of the Tabernacle in the wilderness was holy fire. It came from Heaven to earth as Moses and Aaron prayed at the gate of the Tabernacle. In one moment, suddenly, the fire fell and burned on the altar where sacrifice was made. "The fire on the altar must be kept burning; it must not go out. Every morning the priest is to add firewood and arrange the burnt offering on the fire... The fire must be kept burning on the altar continuously; it must not go out" (Leviticus 6:12-13).
The fire came from God; maintaining the fire was the duty of man. Only God can send the fire. But God did not come down and tend the fire, keeping the flame from dying; this was the responsibility of man. THE FIRE IS TO BE KEPT BURNING CONTINUALLY – IT SHALL NOT GO OUT!
Every morning wood would be added to the fire to keep it burning, prepared for every new sacrifice. Every morning a new sacrifice was to be placed on the altar and consumed with this fire. The slain lamb must be put on the altar where the living flame would transform it and consume it and lift it in beautiful colors Heavenward as a sweet-smelling fragrance to God. It is for this reason the Baptism of Fire is given to you and I! Where fire burns within us, our whole being is ignited, consumed, making it an acceptable sacrifice. The fire turns everything into flaming love!
Every conflict...
Every failure...
Every sacrifice...
Every gift we offer...
The fire makes it sweet to God! Everything you throw into this fire will become love on the other side. It will be ashes, but it will become beauty! What you cling to and refuse to throw into the raging flame will become worthless to you one day. It is the fire burning continually that makes our life a living sacrifice. Every moment is sacred, every duty is delight, every thought and word surrendered to Heaven. The path to love is the path of surrender to this fire!
2. The Fire of God in Holiness
It was in the year King Uzziah died, that I saw the Lord. He was sitting on a lofty throne, and the train of His robe filled the Temple. Attending Him were mighty seraphim, each having six wings. With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they flew. They were calling out to each other, "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of Heaven's Armies! The whole earth is filled with His glory!" Their voices shook the Temple to its foundations, and the entire building was filled with smoke.—Isaiah 6:1-4 NLT
Isaiah saw the Lord lifted high and exalted with these singing seraphim flying around His throne. You see, they flew so close to the fire they caught on fire! That is what the holiness of God will do to you. If you get close to holiness, it will purify and ignite your soul. The seraphim are actually Angels of Fire! Their name, seraphim, means "burning ones."
"At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook (NIV)." A violent concussion hits like a bombshell and a tremendous shaking burst forth in the Temple of Holiness. Everything began to quake. Walls and posts and doors. "And the temple was filled with smoke (NIV)." The glory cloud moved in and covered the entire scene. The fragrant incense of praise offered to God became a cloud of glory!
Then I said, "It's all over! I am doomed, for I am a sinful man. I have filthy lips, and I live among a people with filthy lips. Yet I have seen the King, the Lord of Heaven's Armies." Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a burning coal he had taken from the altar with a pair of tongs. He touched my lips with it and said, "See, this coal has touched your lips. Now your guilt is removed, and your sins are forgiven."—Isaiah 6:5-7 NLT
The prophet of God was taken into the Most Holy Place of the King's Throne Room, and there he witnessed firsthand the unveiled Holiness of God Almighty. Isaiah's response to all this was pronouncing his seventh woe – "Woe to me!" No one comes before the fire of the holiness of God without devastation. What a shocking experience for God's prophet! It is the duty of a prophet to make declarations and announcements on God's behalf.
Isaiah must be humbled and shattered by the revelation of the King. Isaiah was one of the best of God's people – with anointed lips he had brought messages from God to the people. Yet he declares, "I am ruined" (in Hebrew, "finished, cut off, and pierced through, devastated, destroyed, doomed, undone and ruined"). He not only saw God, he saw Isaiah. One glimpse of God's holiness and he became a wretch in God's eyes. Expect the fire of holiness to burn you until you see what Isaiah saw!
The Lord opened the Heavens and He opened the prophet's eyes. Vision brings hope. True vision brings true hope. We will never feed people from the Tree of Life, giving them the water from the satisfying River of God, until we see the Lord high and lifted up.
Most of us think revival is the roof blowing off, but in fact, it is the bottom falling out. Revival will come not with just a WOW, but a "Woe to me!"
"My eyes have seen the King!" The majesty of this King left him undone and shattered! When you see God seated on the throne all you can think about is your uncleanness. "Then one of the seraphs flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar." Instead of ushering Isaiah out of the Holy Place and throwing him out on his ear, a provision was made for his cleansing. One of the burning ones took a live coal, "a burning coal," and brought it to Isaiah. Visions of glory will turn to visits of grace. God's prophet was cleansed by the burning coal.
This "burning coal" from off the altar speaks of the SACRIFICE of Christ which takes away our sins! The coal is a living flame, which points to Christ's resurrection life that continues to burn in us with jealous flames! The Cross is the live coal that touches our lips in purging fire. Jesus became the sacrifice that endured the judgment of God for our sins.
3. The Fire of God in Power
What happens when the Holy Spirit baptizes us with fire? What happens when the power of the Holy Spirit comes upon us? It is more than we expect and it is different than we expect. It will make us witnesses for Christ willing to go anywhere, even to the ends of the earth with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It will give us great power to confirm the message of Christ's death and resurrection with signs and wonders. God Himself will work with us in demonstrating His power to confirm His Word.
"God makes His angels become like winds. He makes His servants become like flames of fire."—Hebrews 1:7 NCV
The fires of God are needed to ignite our passions to love Him and lay our lives down for Him. Without fire all we have is dead religion and Christian cliches. This intense God wants an intense love relationship with us. Imagine, the most awesome, intriguing, mysterious, and fascinating Being in the Universe wants us to experience Him and meet with Him in the fires of holiness! This is what is meant by all-consuming fire. It is a fire that attracts, fastens onto the soul, and devours everything that gets in the way of holy love.
4. The Burning SEAL of FIRE Upon Our Hearts!
This is the fire of intimacy! It is the burning heart that cannot live apart from love. The love of Christ now becomes the fuel for the flame of God. The raging furnace of love is carried upon our lives every moment. Jesus must be glorified! Jesus must be the center of attraction. Jesus must be released by our passionate praises.
This burning seal is the mark of the Christ. Many are concerned about the mark of the beast, but I have become fixated with the mark of Christ, the brands of His love that burn on my heart. Undistracted devotion to Jesus will brand the heart with burning passions. Nothing can be compared to this love. Intense, unyielding, blazing fire... This is the seal He invites you to place over your heart! It is a seal that will brand you for life, forever changed by that love.
It will consume your shackles and chains of emotional bondage and pain. It will unravel your clever ways and break the self-confidence that has been a part of your life. It is an unquenchable fire that will not rest until you are fully His. Regardless of your sin or failure, this relentless love that consumes like a forest fire will defeat it! It is a tenderizing fire that will leave us responsive to Him, craving more. You are about to become His burning bush of fire (Exodus 3:2)!
"Many waters cannot quench love..." (Song of Solomon 8:7). These waters are floods of obstacles and pressures. Nothing can put out the eternal flame of Divine love burning within the Bride. Water puts out fire, but many waters cannot quench this love! Even rivers of persecution cannot do it. Rivers of misunderstanding, heartache, disappointment, or pain cannot quench His love. Rivers of accusation, condemnation and rejection cannot put out the sacred flame. Joseph felt temptation, Peter denied our Lord Jesus, Saul of Tarsus persecuted the saints; but nothing could extinguish Love's jealous flames.
This supernatural fire fell from Heaven, consuming the living sacrifices of the Bridal company. It will not go out. Sickness, failure, divorce, shame and guilt... none of these can quench the love of God. He will never put out the fire that burns in our hearts. You can be fired from your job or rejected by those you love – the strongest rivers of difficulty cannot put out this blazing fire (Revelation 12:16-17)!
His love is the seal, and the source of this love is God Himself. Our ability to claim this love has nothing to do with our temperament or personality, how we have treated Him or what we have done to mess up our lives. His love is the seal over our hearts, not our performance, not our devotion! His fire is greater than the illegal fires of any sin or addiction. His fire will not be put out by your failure to walk perfectly before Him. His love is the seal, not your secret failures and shameful history. This love will prevail, it will conquer you in the end – you will be consumed in its flames! Love conquers all (I Corinthians 13:8-13) and never fails. When you fail, love doesn't.
Listen to the Passion Translation of Song of Songs 8:6-7:
"Place Me now as a seal of fire over your heart forevermore.
This living, consuming flame of fire will seal you to be Mine
Until you become my prisoner of love!
My love for you will be stronger than the chains of death and the grave.
My love for you will be consuming as flashes of fire
From the burning heart of God.
Place this fierce, unrelenting fire over all your being
Until you are consumed!
Rivers of persecution and pain will never extinguish this flame.
Even floods will be unable to quench this raging fire!
Everything will be consumed,
It will stop at nothing!
Surrender everything to this furious fire—
Until it won't even seem to you
Like a sacrifice anymore!"
All I can say is there is coming to you a fire that will consume everything you yield to God. When you and I have surrendered EVERYTHING to this flame, it won't even seem like a sacrifice anymore!
Love you my friends,
Brian Simmons
Apostolic Resource Center (ARC) & Stairway Ministries
Email: bwsimmons@msn.com
Brian and Candice Simmons have been described as pioneers, prophets, and pastors. As a spiritual father and mother, their teaching and prophetic gifts have opened doors in many nations to take the message of authentic awakening and revival to many. For the last 35 years they have labored to present Christ in His fullness wherever God sends them. As an apostolic couple they have pioneered church plants for many years with a tribal people group, planted churches in New England, and helped to translate the New Testament into the Kuna language. Brian is the founder and director of Apostolic Resource Center (ARC) based in New England, and they have established Stairway Ministries under which they travel full-time. Brian is the author of numerous books which reveal depths of insight that the Holy Spirit has released for the last days.
