STRANGE FIRE

October 29,2023

“Temple, or house, or barn, or school, (The gospel consecrates the place,) No matter where, if Jesus rule, And touch the lessons with his grace.” Political work of John and Charles Wesley.

We have certainly had a season of planting and pruning, haven’t we? While God has been working & building, Satan has been busy breaking and counterfeiting. We are told in Galatians we will reap what has been sown the previous season, so let’s take a look at our Harvest Barns shall we? 

7 Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. 8 Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.  Galatians 6:7-8

Do not be deceived, but listen carefully of every word you hear on YouTube, the media or even a trusted friend, whomever the source ….beware because the enemy is devious and cunning and always appeals to our flesh.

Listen as Jesus warns Simon Peter, “Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift all of you as wheat.”Luke 22:31

Truth be told, I have felt like I stepped into a whole field of counterfeit seed. At first, I didn’t know what to do, because the seeds were budding & blooming all around me. As soon as I began to sift the wheat sown by God, the enemy’s seeds did not have much soil depth. And when I shined God’s Word against them they couldn’t stand and were scorched immediately.

Jesus put another parable before them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field, but while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat and went away. So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared also. Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43

This is a time when our infiltrated seeds within one’s heart must be burned by the Fire of God. We are told by the prophet Malachi this is God’s refiner’s fire. His refiner's fire refines, purifies by melting down the bar of silver or gold to separate out the impurities that ruin its value, burns them up, and leaves the silver and gold intact. 

Malachi looked into the future and saw the end was coming and the most terrible and difficult tests were upon Israel as they were not ready for the Messiah. He saw the end as well as the beginning and when He looked further into the future and saw better days for Israel and they had become “holy to the Lord”. They just needed more time to mature.

He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver; he will purify the Levites and refine them like gold and silver. Then the Lord will have men who will bring offerings in righteousness. Malachi 3:3

Jesus tells us there is only one way to develop & grow spiritually and that is to focus and concentrate on Holy God through His Word. He is the teacher & refiner. When we pay attention & focus on Jesus, His springs of living water naturally flow though us (John 7:38).  

We know this but, so often we impair God’s influence because of our own conscious efforts to be useful. In one of my recent podcasts called “First Fruit Arise”, I stepped away from God’s River into my own useful idealistic principals. Ugh!

This erroneous action of imparting a white stone of revelation to my listeners almost wrecked me, but The Lord in His Mercy protected me. Within a few short days of releasing the podcast, I discovered my stumble [weed] and removed it. 

Don’t worry, God had my full attention. I immediately removed the podcast. By the grace of God, it was a Friday and only a few had listened! Praise the Lord! 

My harvest had been ignited allowing the enemy full authority within my field to access my thoughts, actions and dreams. I knew something wasn’t right because the spiritual warfare was nonstop. I could not shake it. 

“We suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him” (Rom. 8:17)

I began asking The Lord for help and was lead to His Scriptures. If we pray and ask, He comes even in our refinement. God never leaves or forsakes us.

I was lead to the Book of Daniel 10, and given a battle plan. Many know this as The Daniel Fast. It works! I am not bragging, but in my obedience on the 21st day of my fast, I was given a complete download of my infiltration artists. These believers have taken on their own ideologies of God and have not sat facing the Lord. I am reserving the call out of these artist because I know the Lord loves them too. He will deal with them in their Refiner’s Fire.

For here the saying holds true, ‘One sows and another reaps.’ John 4:37

After sitting at the foot of Jesus, I received a biblical understanding or sovereign correction of virtue which is found in the 2 Book of Peter. This became my place of clarity and peace in my battle.

The Second Letter of Peter was written to warn the churches against the evil influence of certain teachers who taught wrong doctrine and led impure lives. Peter’s style is serious and tender. His choice of words are solemn with impressive imagery.

God shared His Grace and it came through knowledge. As we each grow in our understanding of God, and of Jesus, we acquire more grace. We see here the importance of diligent and careful study of the Scriptures, don’t we.

For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. Therefore, my brothers and sisters,[a] make every effort to confirm your calling and election. For if you do these things, you will never stumble, and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. 2 Peter 1:5-11 

Our battles always begins with our own idea of God and His Attributes. Take a minute and think about your last battle? How did it begin? How did you fight? Did you wait for an answer from God or find one an answer among men? 

The seed of His Word is sown within us our hearts, mind and soul as we soak in it. But to live in this world we are confronted daily with man’s misguided truth. Okay, they are more lies than facts and until our souls are cleansed by obedience of God’s truth, we accept these lies as sound doctrine making for a tainted tapestry of truth. 

Other seeds fell on rocky ground, (or spots where the rocks were near the surface) where they did not have much soil, and immediately they sprang up, since they had no depth of soil, but when the sun rose they were scorched. And since they had no root, they withered away. Matthew 13:5-6

When using our minds and not our spirit we foolishly insist on a literal interpretation of God’s word. This is the confusion and for that reason, we fail to understand and the enemy comes with his meaning.

For to the one who has, more will be given, and he will have an abundance, but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. Matthew 13:12

Prior to releasing the erroneous white stone, I had been watching a testimony of a wonderful lady Peggy Joyce Rush and my heart ached for her.  She spent 20 years battling a spirit of anxiety after meeting with Hindu neighbor who prayed over her. Peggy’s testimony activated my helper affection to share my testimony for those battling hard like Peggy did for years.

I believe this is what David experienced in Psalm 69:9 when he exclaimed, “Zeal for Your house has eaten me up, and the reproaches of those who reproach You have fallen on me.” I found that when we loose sight of God’s power and plan for ourselves but others too we become reckless in our duties.

So let’s reflect, Each of us receive our white stone at salvation. It’s not handed out or imparted. It’s an intimate action between you and Jesus Christ of Nazareth. Our visions we are given by God are about moral incentives and edifying our walk not some treasure to give away. 

I can attest to whenever God is dishonored, those who love the Lord feel both pain and righteous indignation. I felt this so deeply.

For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death.1 Corinthians 7:10

It is a serious crime to dishonor the Lord, even by accident. 

Godly grief hurts. 

This has been a sobering moment in my walk with Christ.

My stumble not only quenched the HOLY SPIRIT, but grieved Him. A few months ago, I heard, “ the Baker is coming”. I had no idea the extreme and unhealthy manifestations that were building within my soul to become such strange fire.

For with much wisdom comes much sorrow; the more knowledge, the more grief. Ecclesiastes 1:18

For a serious biblical understanding, I was provided with the example of Aaron’s eldest sons, Nadab and Abihu. They were not shamans or snake-oil salesmen who infiltrated the camp of the Israelites. They were by all appearances righteous, respectable and godly spiritual leaders. They were priests of the one true God. Nadab was heir apparent to the office of the high priest, and Abihu was next in line after him. Their names head the list of “nobles of the children of Israel” 

Moses their uncle records what happened next: 

Now Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, took their respective firepans, and after putting fire in them, placed incense on it and offered strange fire before the LORD, which He had not commanded them. And fire came out from the presence of the LORD and consumed them, and they died before the LORD. Then Moses said to Aaron, “It is what the LORD spoke, saying, ‘By those who come near Me I will be treated as holy, and before all the people I will be honored.’” (Lev. 10:1–3 NASB)

In other words, Nadab and Abihu had been closer to God than almost anyone. No other Israelite except Moses himself had ever been given a higher privilege. These men certainly seemed godly, trustworthy spiritual leaders and faithful servants of God. No doubt they were highly esteemed by the people of Israel. And no doubt everyone in Israel was staggered when God suddenly struck Nadab and Abihu dead with a blast of holy fire.

Remember that God Himself set the altar ablaze with fire from heaven. Apparently Nadab and Abihu had filled their censers with fire of their own making, or coals from some fire in the camp of Israel. 

The actual source from which they obtained their fire is not recorded or important. Most likely Nadab and Abihu had taken fire from some other source than the brazen altar and used it to light their censers of incense. 

The point is they used something other than the fire God Himself had ignited. I remember first reading these verses years ago as a new believer thinking how could these brothers do this to God. 

Well, my friends our enemy is sneaky and our flesh is weak, and when we walk in our flesh, we are cautious, forgetting the enemy is looking for any fox hole to ignite his strange dangerous fire. 

The brothers offense may seem small, but what they offered is condemned in scripture as “ strange fire” by approaching God in a careless, self-willed, inappropriate manner, without the reverence He deserved. 

The Bible is clear that God demands to be worshipped. We are told they did not treat Him as holy or exalt His name before the people. 

The Lord’s response was swift and deadly. The “strange fire” of Nadab and Abihu ignited the unquenchable flames of divine judgment against them, and they were incinerated on the spot. Thankfully, we live under the convenient of Jesus and our fire comes in warfare not death. 

My point is we can’t make God into any form we would like. We cannot mold Him into our own image, according to our own specifications and imaginations. We must be mindful and not become like the brothers, or the Israelites of Exodus 32, who compelled Aaron to fashion a golden calf while Moses was away. 

The idolatrous Israelites claimed to be honoring the Lord (vv. 4–8), but instead they were worshipping a grotesque misrepresentation, dancing around it in dishonorable disarray (v. 25). God’s response to their disobedience was swift and severe. Before the day was over, thousands had been put to death. 

Our harvest can only be found in Christ. You can’t buy or impart it. A true intimate relationship with God allows for Jesus to live inside us, not in the realm of the flesh, but in the realm of the Spirit. When we indulge in the flesh we are allowing the enemy to place us in slavery. 

Those of you who have worked to allow The Father to come trim and till your planting fields will experience freedom in so many areas in this season. 

Jesus said, “When the Helper comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify of Me” (John 15:26).

God comes to set His Captives free and we shall take the advice of Apostle Paul and Peter this season ….

Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 10For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong. 2 Corinthians 12:9-10

Peter instructed three times to be clear-minded (or sober-minded) and alert. So the word of the Lord continued to increase and prevail mightily. Psalm 2:20

Friends, we will be tried with fire either here or hereafter. Let’s be honest the key is Self-denial. Our self denial is the salt and obeying our Lord’s will is the fire of our sacrifice in this life. 

Otherwise, the never ending misery of the wrath of God will be the continuous salt and the overwhelming fire for us in another world. If is far better to accept His fire now in this light. 

For everyone will be salted with fire [and every sacrifice will be salted with salt]. “Salt is good, but if the salt has lost its saltiness, how will you make it salty again? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another.” Mark 9:49-50

To be transparent, the disciple of being tried by Fire has kindled a new fire within me and even changed my course but The Lord has not left me but ignited a far bigger flame. We are told by Zechariah that God will refine one third of the nation in the Fire of tribulation and be reconciled to him and the destruction of the wicked will be bitter. 

9 

This third I will put into the fire;  I will refine them like silver and test them like gold. 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 our God.’” Zechariah 13:9

As I sit with my face in the word of God praying for His Spirit of truth, “I hear well done my daughter.” For it’s written in His Word, we need to be knowledgeable. But also God using Satan to refine and purify each one of us. 

If we are like Peter, we show Jesus we love him by reading His Word and glorifying him in our actions, prayers and giving Him Praise no matter our circumstances. We are allowing our chaff to be burned through God’s refiner fire. This fire is the measure to keep our minds renewed by the Word of God and not encounter any strange fire. 

Father Yahweh, we pray that you will make us aware and even alert to know when we encounter strange fire. We pray that when we are weak and weary, we turn to you Father for the strength to live to glorify you. We pray your refining fire comes with knowledge and understanding to fight the battle set before us with praise and worship instead of shame and condemnation. We shall fight to become your victors who walk in your full authority as your sons and daughters of the Most High. We thank you Yahweh and we love you Father. We pray in the name Mighty Name of Jesus, Amen.

Selah,

🦋Angela