Tested By Fire: What is Your Foundation

If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, their work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person’s work. If what has been built survives, the builder will receive a reward. If it is burned up, the builder will suffer loss but yet will be saved—even though only as one escaping through the flames.

1 Corinthians 3:12-15 NIV

In my last post I spoke about settling for less than what God has intended for us. At the end I encouraged you to seek God and come into alignment with His purpose and plan for you. I will be building from that today. You don't have to read it before continuing, but if you would like to catch up, click here. This whole week has been a journey with God. Stay with me as I walk you through what He has given me.

Bread & Stone

Two words. That's all He gave me. Bread and Stone. But that was more than enough to spark a whole journey. In the bible, there are two different passages that include both words. The first passage is when Jesus was led into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. It's the first temptation after Jesus's 40 day fast. You can find the reference in both Matthew 4:3-4 and Luke 4:3-4.

The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.” Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’

Matthew 4:3-4 NIV

The second one is the "Ask, Seek, Knock" passage. This passage highlights being persistent in prayer and with God. The portion that refers to bread and stone is in Matthew 7:9-11. 

Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!

Matthew 7:9-11 NIV

This part of the passage expresses the goodness of God and how He is a good Father. 

The way God works is really just so cool. This combination of passages builds on the past words He has given me. In my post Fasting to Feed Your Spirit, I talked about fasting to grow closer to God. In our day-to-day life, we are usually asking God for clarity and seeking guidance in your life. When you make the choice to fast, that is you knocking for the door to be opened. Fasting is essential to experiencing the breakthrough you need as long as it's done alongside God and with the correct heart posture.

When we are seeking guidance and clarity it's typically in areas of struggle and hardship. There are three different reasons we could be experiencing them.

1. Our own choices. We could be dealing with hard things because we have made choices which have led us to where we are or made choices to put ourselves in unfavorable circumstances. Maybe you said 'yes' when you should have said 'no.' Or maybe you chose to ignore warning signs in a situation and told yourself it wasn't that bad. God has given us the dignity of causation. That means we get to make our own choices in life. That also means that we are responsible for accepting the repercussions and making different choices when necessary. 

2. Spiritual Warfare. Sometimes we experience hard times because we are on the path God wants us on. The enemy doesn't want us to succeed because that would mean defeat for them. If you think about any type of game, when someone starts to lose, they beef up their defense in an attempt to be victorious. Same in the spiritual world. The enemy has already been defeated. The war has been won. They know that God can't lose, but they will attempt to derail you, distract you, or keep you busy doing other things, with the hope of keeping you from fulfilling your call.

3. God's Judgment. This one seems to ruffle some feathers because God is a loving God. He is a good Father who loves His children beyond measure. Part of being a loving Father is also providing discipline when necessary. If you think about parenting, when your child makes a poor choice, you don't save them (or shouldn't) from the natural consequences of their choice. That's how they learn to make better choices. That’s their causation in effect. There are also times when there may be a rule in place and if it's broken, a specific consequence will happen. An example from my life, if my son makes poor choices and can't be responsible, he loses screen time for the day. He is aware of the consequences. I give Him a warning to remind Him of the rule to allow Him time to adjust his behavior before the judgement is made. God also has rules. He also gives us warnings and time to adjust ourselves before His judgement reigns. He doesn't want us to experience His wrath if He can help it. Throughout scripture He has always provided warning to His people to change their ways before He casts judgement. If we break His rules, we should also expect that He will follow through. Even though He casts judgment, He still gives promises of hope and restoration for the future of His people because He is, indeed, a loving God. 

When we are fasting to gain clarity or guidance, it's important to be open to whatever The Spirit reveals to us. That includes the understanding of where the hardship or struggle stems from. Ask Him where the root of the issue lies. Seek Him and He will show you a way through it. Ask Him to help you make different choices or ask Him to forgive you and He will. 

God is a Consuming Fire

The themes that continued to pop out at me during the week were fire, cleansing, and turning from the old ways. They're all different but all over lap at the same time. In my post Have You Settled For Less? I touched on what new wine is versus what old wine is. New wine is grape juice and old wine is fermented. In my studies I came across some really interesting information. When it came to storing new wine, they had to ensure they put the new wine into a new wineskin. An old wineskin would be dry, brittle, and stretched out. During the fermentation process, gasses are produced which causes the skin to expand. The old wineskin would burst with the expansion of the new wine. New wineskin has the ability to stretch and expand as much as it needs to in order to accomodate the fermentation process.

Jesus is the new wine and He has plans to expand you. He created you for a purpose. In order to withstand the pressure of your call, you must be made new. By accepting Jesus into your heart, you are born again and made new spiritually. By taking that step, you should also be taking steps in your day-to-day life to reflect that transformation. In order to enjoy your new life in Christ, your old lifestyle needs to come to an end. The old life can't withstand the greatness the new life has in store for you.

Then Eleazar the priest said to the soldiers who had gone into battle, “This is what is required by the law that the Lord gave Moses: Gold, silver, bronze, iron, tin, lead and anything else that can withstand fire must be put through the fire, and then it will be clean. But it must also be purified with the water of cleansing.And whatever cannot withstand fire must be put through that water.

Numbers 31:21-23 NIV

God is a consuming fire. There are many passages that talk about the purifying or cleansing power of the Holy Spirit and being baptized in fire. I have them listed below. We don't physically get baptized by fire, it's our spirit that gets baptized with the fire of the Holy Spirit. Our physical body can't withstand the flames, which is why we must go through water baptism. In this passage, it says to put the things that can withstand fire through fire and then also put them in the water to cleanse them. A water baptism is the outward expression of what happens to your spirit when we accept Jesus into our heart. The water baptism doesn't come before the acceptance of Jesus. It comes after, which would mean that our spirits have already been put through the fire of The Holy Spirit. Our spirit is a part of us, so it goes through both the fire and the cleansing water while our physical body is submersed in the water. By being baptized, the old is washed away and you have become new.

• He rested on them like fire (Acts 2:3)

• Baptized with the Holy Spirit and fire (Matthew 3:11)

• God is a consuming fire (Deuteronomy 4:24, Hebrews 12:29)

• He's a fire that purifies and refines (Malachi 3:2)

Purify & Cleanse

Once you've accepted Jesus as your Lord and Saviour, it doesn't end there. Like any other relationship, there is work that goes into it. Think of it like a garden. It has to be tended. A seed was planted and it has grown into a beautiful plant. What happens if you forget to water it? The plant would likely die. What happens when weeds start showing up, and you don't get rid of them? The weeds would steal all the nutrients from the plant and choke out the root system. Part of gardening and relationships is maintenance.

Maintenance. We are called to be set apart from this world. That means we don't look like the world, think like the world, act like the world, talk like the world or anything else like the world.

Therefore, since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God.

2 Corinthians 7:1 NIV

Getting 'clean' spiritually or physically, is one thing. Remaining clean is another. We can't take a shower, put our dirty clothes back on, and feel clean. You can't wash the dirt off your hands, stick them back in the dirt, and then wonder why they're still dirty. You might be thinking that's obvious, and you're right. Have you stopped to think about your spiritual self in those terms though? What things do you partake in on a day to day basis that are unclean? You might go to church on Sunday and praise Jesus, but come Monday your right back to doing the same thing you've always done. Some of you might be thinking 'Well, God will forgive me. He always does.' And you would be right. He will always forgive us, if we are sincere with our repentance. If you are willfully living in sin and partaking in things of this world, you are not walking with Jesus.

I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth.

Revelation 3:15-16 NIV

You can't just ride the fence. Either you're in or you're out. If you can't commit to being all in with God, He will count you out. In my last post I mentioned the fact that there isn't anything that can be done about yesterday and tomorrow is just a hope. By living lukewarm, you are assuming you'll have time later to repent. Later may never come. We are to be living as if this day, this moment, is our last. If you were to die today, or the Lord were to come back right now, where would your eternal home be? Who does your heart belong to?

Our maintenance as christians is asking Jesus to reveal things in our lives that don't belong and then acting in obedience to remove them. I asked Jesus to reveal things to me that don't belong a while back. He convicted me to remove my facial piercings, stop wearing leggings as pants, and eliminate most of my social media presence. To some that may sound silly and may not make sense. That's okay. They are my convictions and it's between God and me. However, I want to share, shortly after I obeyed, He gave me the vision for this blog. I made more room for Him and showed Him I was a willing vessel. He chose to utilize the gifts I have because I was willing to steward the things he had already asked me to do. He's still refining me in many ways, and He's going to keep refining me until He takes me home.

A Few Notes to Digest

• Our God is a loving Father.

• Ask Jesus, Seek Him, Knock on Heaven's door

• In order for you to walk in your new found purpose with Jesus, your old life must die.

• God is a fire that purifies and refines.

• Everytime you say 'yes' to something, you're saying 'no' to something else.

So, what is it you're saying 'yes' to in your day-to-day life? Do you have weeds choking out your plant? Does what you're doing and the choices you make glorify God? If you've not taken the time to ask yourself any of these questions, I hope this is a start.

Jesus loves each and everyone of you. So much more than you can fathom. He doesn't want you to suffer. He has a place for you right next to him in Heaven and He's expecting you.

Will you RSVP as ATTENDING with me?

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Dear Lord,

Thank you for being a good Father by loving me and providing me with an example to live by. Thank you for giving me the opportunity for another day. Help me to make choices that glorify you. If there is something I need to get rid of in my life, please reveal it to me and help me be obedient to you. I trust in knowing your will for me is always good.

I love you and I praise you. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.