“When the Lord has washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion, and purged the blood of Jerusalem from her midst, by the spirit of judgement and by the spirit of burning, then the Lord will create above every dwelling place of Mount Zion, and above her assemblies, a cloud and smoke by day and the shining of a flaming fire by night. For over all the glory there will be a covering.” Isaiah 4:4-5
In the Bible the final judgement is the burning up of the entire earth and the building of a new heaven and earth and a new city where God will dwell in the midst of His people the way He did with Israel in the wilderness. For those who love the Lord, this is no judgement at all. We look forward to this day. But for those who do not love the Lord, this is a terrible thing. It is the last chance. When I teach my kids about the trap of making bad choices I point to the trap in our backyard that we use to catch possums and raccoons that try to get out chickens. When you first walk in the trap, it is safe. You can walk right back out and nothing is going to happen. But when go to the point in the trap where the bait is, when you eat the bait everything may still be ok. But when you step on the plate under the bait, the door slams shut. Once the door slams shut, it’s over.
The animal will know exactly what happened when the door slams shut. The animal will fight and claw and turn the trap over and use every means at its disposal to get out of that trap. But there’s nothing they can do once that door slams shut. That is final judgement for those who oppose Jesus. To alleviate the fear of final judgement most of the world believes in one form of reincarnation or another. In the church people can’t talk about reincarnation so they just find second chance teachings. And if those things were true, then me making a decision for Jesus and committing my life to Him couldn’t harm me. But I’ve met Jesus, His word is true. Nothing can be true that isn’t from His Spirit. His Spirit warns of final judgement and avoiding the wrath to come.
“And they said to one another, “Did not our heart burn within us while he talked with us on the road, and while He opened the Scriptures to us?” Luke 24:32 Do you want to recognize and hear the word of God? When He walks with you on the road and speaks to you, your heart will burn. When you read the scriptures and His word speaks to you from them and teaches you, your heart will burn. Many people avoid the discomfort of a burning heart. They shut it down as soon as they feel the Lord speaking. But that Spirit wants to burn in you!
You are the light of the world! Your light comes from the burning of the word of God in you! I remember injuring my knee once and my wife prayed for it to be healed. The Spirit of God came out of her and burned the inside of my knee! It was painful! It felt like I was on fire! But I knew it was God’s Spirit, I recognized the feeling of burning. So I trusted the burning and paid to do the work of healing. I didn’t run the Spirit of God off by fearing the pain and begging for it to stop. My knee was healed that day, it took an uncomfortable amount of time as I sat there burning.
My knee was already injured, it already hurt, just like my heart. But I could work around the pain, just like my heart. If it hurts to walk, I can sit, or use a crutch. If my heart hurts I can avoid my issues or set boundaries in my life that prevent my issues from coming up. But in order to heal I need that uncomfortable burning of the word of God! I need to hear the Lord and find Him now! I need to ask Him to heal my heart and my body and let it all burn!
I was asked once, how do you know when your prayers are good prayers? I thought about it and for me it was when I begin to sparkle inside or when I start to see movies in my mind. It may be different for other people, God is very creative. He created many kinds of animals and plants and people. We all serve a purpose, we all feed on something and produce seed of some kind. We all fit perfectly in some environments and can’t live in others. We can find our gifts and callings by finding out where we thrive but we can also find out how we hear from God.
Are you praying for your family when God speaks to you? Are you praying for your country when He speaks? What about your church, company, city, friends, the homeless, orphans, another country, another city, another church! What lights your heart on fire as you speak to God? Find it! Live your entire life in the middle of that fire! Burn as a light on this earth! Shine in the spirit of burning as a fire by night! Show God to everyone by letting Him burn in you! May you feel the burning fire of God as you follow Jesus to your destiny! May you never run from the pain of the burning fire of God! May the Lord open the traps you have stepped into and set you free before the final door slams behind you! May you run with the fire of freedom and free those God has burned into your heart and may God bless all y’all.
Practice Outlaw 