Untitled
“Are You on Fire?”
Thirsty Thursday Blog
“For eight weeks, my husband was a walking dead man; and neither of us knew it. Five of those weeks were in Juneau, Alaska. Three were in South Florida.”
Our Testimony: Fire on My Hands
“For years before that trip, the fire of God had been on my hands. I knew what it was to feel the heat and to see Him move when I laid them on someone. But I had never needed it the way I needed it on that plane.
Regis boarded a flight to Juneau, Alaska, and somewhere in the air, deep pain settled into his leg. He did not know what was happening, and neither did I; that flight was where the trouble began. So right there in the seat, I laid my fiery hands on him. The fire never left.
We arrived in Juneau, Alaska, for the revival on Father's Day, 2014. Regis began with deep pain before he ever stepped up to preach. Before every service, I laid hands on him and declared the Word over him. The pain lifted, and he preached without it. After the service, I laid hands on him again and declared the Word again. Before and after, every day, for five weeks.
When the revival ended, we traveled back to Florida with my hands still on him and the Word still being spoken over him. We had no idea that what we thought was a leg problem was deep vein thrombosis, and that it had become multiple pulmonary embolisms. The clots had traveled from his leg, through his heart, and into his lungs for five weeks. Then a new pain hit his back, like knives driven in nonstop. Three weeks later we walked into the Atlantis ER in Palm Beach County.
The doctor said two words we will never forget: WIDOW MAKER.
A blood clot had settled on the saddle between his lungs, almost closing it completely. We were told that with this condition you cannot make it from the ER to the operating room.
Then the doctors said, "He is a walking miracle. He should be dead."
Think of this; Eight weeks. Five in Juneau, Alaska, and three in South Florida. A walking dead man who preached every day.
Life and Death Are in the Power of the Tongue
“In that hospital room, I did the only thing I knew to do. I walked up to the whiteboard and erased everything on it: the names, the numbers, the notes, all of it. Then I picked up the marker and wrote out Scriptures from the Psalms on long life and on not dying. Where the report of death had been, I wrote the Word of life.
Then I turned to the caregiver team and said, "Speak nothing other than this!"
Why? "Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit" (Proverbs 18:21). Every word spoken over a hospital bed is either a seed of death or a seed of life. So we planted only life.
The Word on that board was meant to be seen: "Then the LORD answered me and said: 'Write the vision and make it plain on tablets, that he may run who reads it'" (Habakkuk 2:2).
Every time Regis opened his eyes, he saw life. Every time a nurse walked in, she read life. "My son, give attention to my words; incline your ear to my sayings. Do not let them depart from your eyes; keep them in the midst of your heart; for they are life to those who find them, and health to all their flesh" (Proverbs 4:20 to 22).
"With long life I will satisfy him, and show him My salvation" (Psalm 91:16). "I shall not die, but live, and declare the works of the LORD" (Psalm 118:17).
The doctors said the bottoms of both lungs had collapsed and were dead, and that dead tissue never comes back.
Two weeks later, Regis was back in the pulpit preaching, with his lungs restored to 98% capacity.
"He sent His word and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions" (Psalm 107:20).
That was the fire.
1. What Is the Fire of God?
Fire is not an emotion; it is God showing up. "For our God is a consuming fire" (Hebrews 12:29). "Now Mount Sinai was completely in smoke, because the LORD descended upon it in fire" (Exodus 19:18). When Solomon finished praying, "fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices; and the glory of the LORD filled the temple" (2 Chronicles 7:1). The fire is His manifest presence for power, and where His fire falls, power follows.
2. Where Does It Come From?
It falls from heaven; we cannot manufacture it. "And fire came out from before the Lord and consumed the burnt offering and the fat on the altar. When all the people saw it, they shouted and fell on their faces" (Leviticus 9:24). Jesus is the One who sends it. John declared, "I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire" (Matthew 3:11). John could bring you to the water, but only Jesus can bring you to the fire.
3. The Resurrection Is the Proof; the Fire Is the Promise
Why can we believe for a miracle like this? Because of the empty tomb. Jesus was "declared to be the Son of God with power according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead" (Romans 1:4). The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the proof of the power of God. Death had its best shot, and it lost.
Then Jesus said something that stunned His disciples: "And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever" (John 14:16).
"Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you" (John 16:7). He needed to go so that He could send the Holy Ghost and fire.
The same power that rolled the stone away was never meant to stay in a tomb; it was meant to live in you. "But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you" (Romans 8:11).
Read that again. Life to your mortal bodies. That is what happened to Regis.
4. Two Baptisms, Many Infillings
Water is the outward sign of repentance. The Holy Spirit and fire is the inward immersion. Jesus said, "for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now" (Acts 1:5). Both are for you; one does not replace the other.
You are baptized in the Holy Spirit once; but you are filled again and again. At Pentecost "they were all filled with the Holy Spirit" (Acts 2:4).
Yet in Acts 4:31, the very same believers prayed and "they were all filled with the Holy Spirit" again. Paul gave the command in the ongoing sense: "And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit" (Ephesians 5:18).
Keep on being filled. Yesterday's fire will not warm today.
5. Power to Be His Witnesses
Jesus told His disciples to wait, and He told them why: "But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth" (Acts 1:8).
First the Spirit comes upon you, then the power, then the witness. Ten days later, Peter, who had denied Jesus three times, stood before thousands and about three thousand souls were added that day (Acts 2:41).
That is what the fire does. It turns the fearful into the fearless and ordinary believers into living witnesses.
6. The Fire Comes to Destroy the Works of the Devil
This fire is not decoration; it is a weapon. "For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil" (1 John 3:8).
Peter described how Jesus carried out that purpose: "how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him" (Acts 10:38).
Sickness, bondage, fear, and death are the works of the enemy. The fire of God meets them head on.
The Lord Himself asks, "Is not My word like a fire?" says the LORD, "and like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces?" (Jeremiah 23:29).
Wherever the enemy has built a stronghold, the fire burns it down. Death came for Regis's lungs; the fire came for death.
7. The Eyes of Fire
When John saw the risen Christ on the island of Patmos, the first thing he noticed was the fire. "His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and His eyes like a flame of fire" (Revelation 1:14). The Lord who was raised from the dead is not a distant memory. He is alive, and He is burning.
The One who told His disciples, "I will send Him to you," is the One who first walked in that fire. At the Jordan, "the Holy Spirit descended in bodily form like a dove upon Him" (Luke 3:22). Then "Jesus, being filled with the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan" (Luke 4:1). He was filled with the very Holy Ghost and fire He now pours out on us. He did not send us anything He had not first carried.
Those eyes see everything. To the church in Thyatira He says, "These things says the Son of God, who has eyes like a flame of fire, and His feet like fine brass" (Revelation 2:18).
He continues, "And all the churches shall know that I am He who searches the minds and hearts. And I will give to each one of you according to your works" (Revelation 2:23).
His gaze does not shame the surrendered; it purifies them.
When He returns, nothing changes. "His eyes were like a flame of fire, and on His head were many crowns. He had a name written that no one knows except Himself" (Revelation 19:12).
The Jesus who burns in heaven is the same Jesus who baptizes you with the Holy Spirit and fire today.
8. The Fire We Carry
The same Jesus with eyes like a flame of fire walked among the churches in Revelation 2 and 3, and He did not ignore what He saw. He spoke to churches that had lost their burn.
To Ephesus: "Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love. Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works" (Revelation 2:4 and 5).
To Sardis: "I know your works, that you have a name that you are alive, but you are dead" (Revelation 3:1).
To Laodicea: "I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot. So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth" (Revelation 3:15 and 16).
A church can have a name, a building, and a calendar full of programs, and still be dead.
A church can have loved Him once and drifted. The answer is never more noise; the answer is fire. "I came to send fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled!" (Luke 12:49).
This is the fire we carry. Where there are dead churches and backslidden believers, we do not come with a better program. We come carrying the flame.
The fire is set in the altar of the heart. It does not start on a platform or in a building. God gave the instruction long ago: "And the fire on the altar shall be kept burning on it; it shall not be put out. And the priest shall burn wood on it every morning, and lay the burnt offering in order on it. A fire shall always be burning on the altar; it shall never go out" (Leviticus 6:12 and 13).
Now we are the priests: "But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light" (1 Peter 2:9).
#Your heart is the altar, and you are the priest who keeps it burning. David knew this: "My heart was hot within me; while I was musing, the fire burned" (Psalm 39:3).
When one heart burns, it lights the room. When enough hearts burn, it lights the church. Then it lights the city.
The Lord who sees the fire gone out is the same Lord who restores. "I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely, for My anger has turned away from him" (Hosea 14:4).
“Return, you backsliding children, and I will heal your backslidings" (Jeremiah 3:22).
To the lukewarm He says, "As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent. Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me" (Revelation 3:19 and 20).
So we pray with the prophet: "O LORD, revive Your work in the midst of the years!" (Habakkuk 3:2).
9. The Fire Moves Through You to Minister to Others
The fire is not only for you; it is for the one standing next to you. Jesus said that same power would follow His people: "And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover" (Mark 16:17 and 18).
What does the fire feel like? Everyone's experience is different, but many describe heat moving through the body, like hot liquid poured over you, with hands on fire, face on fire, and chest on fire. Jeremiah knew it: "But His word was in my heart like a burning fire shut up in my bones; I was weary of holding it back, and I could not" (Jeremiah 20:9).
Jesus felt it go out of Him: "But Jesus said, 'Somebody touched Me, for I perceived power going out from Me'" (Luke 8:46).
Power is real, and it can be felt.
The fire creates a shadow of healing. "So that they brought the sick out into the streets and laid them on beds and couches, that at least the shadow of Peter passing by might fall on some of them. Also a multitude gathered from the surrounding cities to Jerusalem, bringing sick people and those who were tormented by unclean spirits, and they were all healed" (Acts 5:15 and 16).
Peter did not even have to stop; the presence on him went ahead of him.
The fire creates a point of contact. "Now God worked unusual miracles by the hands of Paul, so that even handkerchiefs or aprons were brought from his body to the sick, and the diseases left them and the evil spirits went out of them" (Acts 19:11 and 12).
The fire was so real on Paul that it rested on cloth that touched his body.
The anointing comes with the fire. "It shall come to pass in that day that his burden will be taken away from your shoulder, and his yoke from your neck, and the yoke will be destroyed because of the anointing oil" (Isaiah 10:27).
Where the fire rests, the anointing breaks yokes.
10. The Fire in the Wilderness: Light, Guidance, and a Hiding Place
In the Old Testament, the fire led and covered God's people. "And the LORD went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so as to go by day and night. He did not take away the pillar of cloud by day or the pillar of fire by night from before the people" (Exodus 13:21 and 22).
When Pharaoh's army closed in, the fire became a shield. "And the Angel of God, who went before the camp of Israel, moved and went behind them; and the pillar of cloud went from before them and stood behind them. So it came between the camp of the Egyptians and the camp of Israel. Thus it was a cloud and darkness to the one, and it gave light by night to the other, so that the one did not come near the other all night" (Exodus 14:19 and 20).
The same fire that lit Israel's path hid them from the enemy. God promises the same today: "'For I,' says the LORD, 'will be a wall of fire all around her, and I will be the glory in her midst'" (Zechariah 2:5).
The fire is your light in the dark night, your guide when the way is unclear, and your wall when the enemy comes near. Hidden in His fire, we are never left in the cold.
11. The Fire Touches the Deep Issues
God's fire does not stay on the surface. It reaches what we have hidden, even from ourselves. When Isaiah saw the Lord, "one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a live coal which he had taken with the tongs from the altar. And he touched my mouth with it, and said: 'Behold, this has touched your lips; your iniquity is taken away, and your sin purged'" (Isaiah 6:6 and 7).
Malachi shows the heart of the Refiner: "He will sit as a refiner and a purifier of silver; He will purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer to the LORD an offering in righteousness"
(Malachi 3:3). The fire is not out to destroy you; it is out to free you.
12. Who Receives the Fire? The Hungry and the Surrendered
Every believer qualifies; but the fire falls on those who want it. "For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call" (Acts 2:39). You do not have to be perfect, only hungry and yielded.
Hunger for all of God. "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled" (Matthew 5:6). "For I will pour water on him who is thirsty, and floods on the dry ground; I will pour My Spirit on your descendants, and My blessing on your offspring" (Isaiah 44:3).
Surrender. The fire comes when you consecrate yourself to God. "And Joshua said to the people, 'Sanctify yourselves, for tomorrow the LORD will do wonders among you'" (Joshua 3:5).
“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service" (Romans 12:1).
Elijah rebuilt the altar, laid the sacrifice, and prayed; "Then the fire of the LORD fell and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood and the stone and the dust, and it licked up the water that was in the trench" (1 Kings 18:38).
The fire fell on a surrendered altar.
Yield to the rivers. "On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, 'If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.' But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those who believe in Him would receive" (John 7:37 to 39). The Greek word behind "heart" there means the belly, the innermost depth, and the older English translations say "belly." That is where the river rises.
Receive by faith. "This only I want to learn from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?" (Galatians 3:2). "That we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith" (Galatians 3:14).
You do not earn it; you ask and you receive. "If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!" (Luke 11:13).
When you yield, a new tongue rises from the depth of your belly. You do not manufacture it; you open your mouth and let the river flow.
13. The Evidence of the Fire
Tongues: a language to speak with God. On the day of Pentecost, "Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance" (Acts 2:3 and 4).
The same pattern followed in Ephesus: "And when Paul had laid hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they spoke with tongues and prophesied" (Acts 19:6).
This gift is first of all communion with God. "For he who speaks in a tongue does not speak to men but to God, for no one understands him; however, in the spirit he speaks mysteries" (1 Corinthians 14:2).
When words run out, the Spirit prays through you: "Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered" (Romans 8:26). And it builds you up: "But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit" (Jude 20).
Boldness. "And when they had prayed, the place where they were assembled together was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of God with boldness" (Acts 4:31).
Fruit. "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control" (Galatians 5:22 and 23).
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A burning heart for the Word. "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).
Compassion in action. You cannot walk past the hurting, because their pain touches you the way it touches Him.
14. True Fire Keeps the Heart Pure
Holy fire keeps our hearts pure and fixed on what touches the heart of God. "Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life" (Proverbs 4:23). "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God" (Matthew 5:8).
And what touches His heart? "A father of the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in His holy habitation" (Psalm 68:5).
“Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world" (James 1:27).
Jesus identified Himself with the hurting: "For I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me" (Matthew 25:35 and 36).
Then He said, "Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me" (Matthew 25:40).
The fire sends us to the sick, the widow, the orphan, the prisoner, and the homeless as a priority; and the same fire sends us to the lost. These are not competing callings. "The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed" (Luke 4:18).
And, "for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost" (Luke 19:10). If our fire never moves us toward the broken, we should ask whether it is His fire at all.
15. Is There a False Fire?
Yes. The KJV calls it "strange fire"; the NKJV calls it "profane fire." "Then Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, each took his censer and put fire in it, put incense on it, and offered profane fire before the LORD, which He had not commanded them. So fire went out from the LORD and devoured them, and they died before the LORD" (Leviticus 10:1 and 2).
Their fire was not from the altar. It was man made, and God took it seriously. False fire is hype without the Holy Spirit; emotion without surrender; performance without holiness; zeal without the Word.
Never borrow a flame from another altar.
How to test it:
• It honors Jesus. "Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world" (1 John 4:1).
• It bears fruit. "Therefore by their fruits you will know them" (Matthew 7:20).
• It walks in obedience. "Many will say to Me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?' And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!'" (Matthew 7:22 and 23).
16. Keeping the Fire Fresh: Daily Consecration
The fire can dim. "Do not quench the Spirit" (1 Thessalonians 5:19). Sin, prayerlessness, bitterness, and busyness pour water on the flame. But it can be rekindled: "Therefore I remind you to stir up the gift of God which is in you" (2 Timothy 1:6).
Fresh fire requires daily consecration. "Then He said to them all, 'If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me'" (Luke 9:23).
“Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day" (2 Corinthians 4:16). The priest kept the altar burning every morning. Come to the altar daily.
So, Are You on Fire?
Those who want the fire will come hungry. If the flame is low, do not be discouraged; your Father delights to answer.
This Thursday, come to the altar thirsty, surrender everything, and receive by faith.
Let's pray: "Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me, and know my anxieties; and see if there is any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting" (Psalm 139:23 and 24). Father, let Your fire flow through us to the sick, the bound, and the broken. Burn out everything in us that is not of You; and burn in us what is of You and what touches Your heart. We pray this in the fire-filled name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
Stay blessed and stay burning,
Agape Ministries Worldwide
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