The fruit of the Flame

The fire in the furnace reveals Christ in the midst of His people................The revelation of God is the fruit of the flame.How many times have we missed the fragrance of God's presence because we resist the furnace and the tribulation and the suffering before us......We want to be coddled on our way to heaven and have the easy life. We want to make sure that we are going to go to heaven when we die but in the meantime we want to enjoy the pleasures of this world.

There is no revelation of God in following that path. There is no experiencing the fragrance of God's presence. There is no burning of the bonds that the world has imposed upon us, setting us free to follow the Lord. Yes we walk by faith. But occasionally there are some glorious moments in which God reveals Himself to us. I tell you, this is holy ground. This is an area of sacredness incomparable to anything else this side of glory. (A.W.Tozer)

Has this been your experience? Have you experienced incomparable sacredness and the beauty of Gods holiness as you stood there on Holy ground, or lay there on Holy ground? You see, holy ground is to be found in the midst of the fire. Moses was told to kick of his shoes for he stood on holy ground, the presence of God being right there in the fire. It's in the fire that Christ comes gloriously to His people in a way that is beyond all comparison. He reaches into the very depths of who you are and He changes everything.

Now not all fires produce this. The fires that produce this kind of change is the fire that is yielded to. In the yielding and submitting to God in the midst of the furnace of our afflictions, the bonds of this world are burned off and we are freed to fly to the throne room of God. It is in the depths of this experience that we are truly changed in the most dramatic of ways. Sanctification, being separated from this world is a yielding voluntary process. When the flesh screams out for justification only yielding to the revealed will of our Lord brings us deeper into sanctification.

There is a reason why the narrow path, the deeper walk is to be found in so few people. Yes,many will be saved but by fire in the end, but those who choose to yield to the fire in the here and now are those whom God truly uses. It is through them that the Lord shines His light which has illuminated the narrow path for 2000 years. Maybe you are a yielder and you have experienced the depths of Christ in your innermost being and it has changed you forever. Yet you look at your life and it seems you have achieved very little. You do not have a large ministry. You are not a preacher nor an evangelist. Your just little old you. You don't have an easy life and you seem to go from one trial to another. Can I tell you something saint? Inside your broken vessel is the light that shines forth from the darkness of your trials. This is the light of the world and it illuminates the face of Christ to a lost and dying people.

You see, your life of trials and troubles and fires have brought you or is bringing you to a place where you are found to be content no matter what the circumstances. You may be surrounded by troubles on every side but you have learned not to be distressed because you have learned by your multiple fires that God is with you and because He is with you , you shall not burn, you shall not drown, you shall not be crushed, you shall not be overwhelmed. Do you hear me saint? Can you hear the voice of God say to you this day that you will stand because He stands for you in the midst of it all.

Now this is treasure. This knowledge, this intimacy that you have " learned," by walking through the fires with God right beside you is what the Lord can truly use. This treasure is the heavenly treasure that has been refined in the fire and it is eternal.

If any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.
(1Co 3:14-15)

You see the two categories of people above? Where do you want to be? Do you want to be the person who suffers loss in the fire but is saved, or do you want to hear the words of our Savior say " well done good and faithful servant, enter into the joy of the Lord." If we are willing to yield now to the "loss"" in the fires of affliction then we are gaining an eternal weight of glory. And when we count it as all joy and yield to God in the midst of our fires we get to taste something of that heavenly glory here in earth right now. Too many people want the benefits of Calvary but are not willing or resist entering into the sufferings of our Lord.

I am convinced that those who will read this are those who have set upon the path of dying to oneself. Be encouraged brother or sister, be encouraged dear saint. Every single trial you have willingly surrendered to has had and will have an eternal effect in the Kingdom of God. There is a purpose in the things that you have suffered. The very comfort and strength you have found when you came to the end of yourself God uses to comfort others. This gold and this treasure is eternal and will forever be part of the eternal Kingdom. Stand fast saints for our Lord is at the door............bro Frank

Todd writes........

" I have a supernatural one that no one will believe but I wanted others to go first." I think you perhaps judge us too harshly. God is a supernatural God, so I am sure many would have no problems believing you Todd, unless of course it violates Scripture :) ............bro Frank

So, since you asked, a personal experience of mine would be when I was diagnosed with pulmonary fibrosis. I was stage three, it was just six weeks after my youngest was born who had down syndrome and many major surgeries ahead, who is now 22. I had only been saved about two years when these two situations collided. As the fires of these situations raged, the Lord spoke to me in such a manner which I have only had one other time since then. He asked me to come off the medication and put my life in His hand. I followed that voice and all hell broke loose. My wife raged, the specialist, who was Jewish, was angry. He told me if I did not take high doses of predisone I would die. Yet, the decision was made.

The specialist happened to be part of a national study on this disease and had asked mt to continue to come in every week so he could catalogue my regression. A third of each lungs was covered with " irreversible fibrosis." I had x-rays, a cat scan and MRI and finally a bi-opsy. He wanted to take x-rays every other week to which I agreed. Long story short, after four months or there abouts, I got a call from my mother at 5.30am on a Monday morning saying the Lord spoke to her and told her He was going to heal me. She was to go to a prayer meeting on the Tuesday and have them pray for me.

On the Wednesday I went in for my x-rays. The doctor came in some time later and said these words " I dont know what you are going to call this." He flipped on the light and said " your lungs are clear." That was 22 years ago. Yet those four months I still remember as being one of these most significant times of my life. The manifest presence of God was so strong. It shaped me. It took away any fear of death, it strengthened my faith. It spoke to my wife and a whole host of people. God with me, right in the midst of the fire. A most glorious time against a dark back-drop..............bro Frank

Sure Todd,

It is the conscious awareness of the presence of God. This has been a major theme in so much of what I have written after the Lord called me to write.

I have met many to whom the phrase "conscious awareness of the presence of God," would just mean nothing. It is extremely difficult to put into words what being aware of His presence entails, but all those who have experienced it know exactly what it means. Perhaps there are others on the forum who would care to tell us what that phrase means to them?........bro Frank

Fletcher writes..........

"We serve an awesome God who is mighty to save!"

Amen brother, amen!..........bro Frank

1 Peter 5:14

If you are reviled for the name of Christ you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rest on you.

Indeed there is a special fragrance of Jesus upon those who have gone through the fires of affliction. One brother shared with me that one hour spent in the presence of someone who has undergone persecution will expose the shallowness of our American Christianity. I have found that to be true as I have stood in the presence of those who have laid it down for Jesus on the front lines. In a sense I felt myself unworthy to be in their presence.

God grant that we would welcome the fires of affliction in our lives so as to deepen our faith walk with Jesus. I believe this is what James means when he said consider it all joy my brothers when you encounter various trials. Knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And that endurance will have its perfect result so that we may be perfect and complete lacking in nothing.

Bro Blaine writes.........

"Indeed there is a special fragrance of Jesus upon those who have gone through the fires of affliction. "

I would definately agree with that. I think Joni Erikson Tata would be a great example of someone who has been through the fires but yielded to it and carries a tremendous anointing........bro Frank

Thank you Redi for a wonderful and honest post. I think there there are a couple of different things going on as far as the presence of the Lord and that sensed presence or awareness of His presence.

You said that living for self and in the flesh chased the awareness of the Lord away so to speak. I believe we can all relate to that to one degree or another. Another factor I think is when we are babes in Christ. With our own babies we know that we have to give them 24 hour attention, you literally cannot take your eyes of them. As the years go by it gets a little better, although 2s and 3s can be a real challenge :) But all in all, as they grow, the less attention they need and of course we need to let them fail and so on so that they can learn. In the later teens we really begin to cut the apron strings as our children begin to sprout their wings and at some point fly the nest.

I believe to one degree or another that the Lord does the same with us as we grow in Him. In the beginning one whimper and He is there by our sides, just like we are with our babies. As the years go on there has to be trials and tests and faith stretched and so on. I can't begin to truly understand the process and of course every single one of us is different but the Lord knows. I think the story of the prodigal is the epitome of what we ourselves can go through with our own children. In that story the Father allows His son the space to truly mess up. He did not have to give him his inheritance, but He did. The son had to learn the hard way. Yet, when the son returns he is a very different young man from the one who left. And the Father's response? Open arms of love as the son repents of all of his living for self. This is the heart of the Father, this is our Father and He is looking for mature sons and daughters.

Then in another sense, I believe we are living in a generation of Christendom that knows almost nothing of the presence of God that Tozer or Simpson spoke of. The majestic greatness, the holy heaviness that would bow a man's head by the weight of the glory of His presence. Ichabod to a great extent has been pronounced over much of Christendom and the Lord " leaves the Temple," so to speak just prior to judgement.

So brother Redi, I would just encourage you to keep on walking, keep on searching as you said " with your whole heart." One of these days the Lord is going to come down upon you like the dew falling on mount Hermon. And all the years will simply vanish away as you find yourself in that place of majestic glory that sets your heart on fire. God bless you brother as we walk along the narrow path............bro Frank

That's a beautiful story Todd. I have no difficulty whatsoever believing that what you smelled was a fragrance that whafted from heaven itself.

"All I can say is that I have never felt the manifest presence of God as strongly as in that prayer room that morning."

Ah, amen and amen. This presence that you felt bro is true treasure from heaven. It shapes us, it changes us, its imprint is blazened upon our hearts and minds. If anyone would scoff at that Todd I would not even hear it. You know what you felt that day as you touched something of the glories of heaven. No man can take that from you.

A sister wrote and told me that when they were praising God they saw a mist above the head of the woman who was singing. She said that the presence of the Lord was so " heavy,' upon them. They were actually video-taping it and sent me the video. On the video it looks like it may be the glare from a bulb, but that is just on the video, they were actually in the room and sensed deeply the presence of God. I think for many in Christendom they have lost the wonder of God, the glory of God, the supernatural aspect of God. Strange tales from charismaniacs have cause many to throw out the baby with the bathwater. What a loss is we were to allow everything that is crazy and counterfeit to rob us of the supernatural glories of God. And who would want that more than anyone? The very author of all that is counterfeit because he more than anyone knows the dangers of saints who are genuinely on fire from God. I include the video below if only to bless you with the song. God bless you bro Todd................bro Frank

https://youtu.be/bMYv-Gjchec

Frank just watched the video. Incredible. Beautiful song. Was the sister aware that the mist was above her?

Hi Blaine,

No Aileen ( Aileen Gilchrist who led worship at the Greenock conference) was not aware of that, she was aware of the presence of God though. Her friend Maureen who was taping it saw it and at one point she raises the camera because of it. I actually wrote that song after an encounter with the Lord, remind me the next time we talk and I will tell you about it..............bro Frank