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Heart-2-Heart
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Pastor Lynda
MacDonald, Nova Scotia
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PLAYING WITH FIRE
When
I was a Brownie (many moons ago), we used to sing around the campfire. One song
that seemed to always be a favorite was “It Only Takes a Spark”.
The lyrics go like this:
“It only takes
a spark, to get a fire going.
And soon all those around, can warm up it it's glowing.
Chorus:
That's how it is with God's love, once you've experienced it, it's fresh like
spring, you want to sing, you want to pass it on.”
In
verse 3, it says:
”I wish for you my friend
this happiness that I've found
You can depend on him
It matters not where your bound.”
The words are powerful! They express how I feel inside my heart when ever I
think about God and his love for me. It is so amazing that I want everyone to
be touched by Him.
A forest fire starts with just one little spark. It can
cause much destruction and possible loss of life. On the other hand, one spark
starts a fire to provide much needed warmth. Fire has two characteristics- one
good and one bad.
A common expression when two people meet and love
blossoms is that something “sparked” when they met. In times past, when teens
went out on a date and they were snuggling up to each other, it was called
“sparking”. I’m not sure why. J
In Exodus 40:38, Israel (a community of both Jew and
Gentile) was led by Go who appeared as a pillar of fire by night and a cloud by
day. How loving of our God to provide a visual image that they might follow. It
was not easy for close to 3 million people to see one man –Moses but all could see
God as a cloud and fire. At night, not only was it their directive sign but the
fire provided warmth in a cold desert setting. Fire also scares away wild
animals and poisonous scorpions and snakes. God’s fire covers every need we
have. (By the way- the daytime cloud provided not only direction but a cover
from the hot sun!)
In Judges 15:4, Samson caught 300 foxes and tied them
together in pairs. He, then, tied flaming torches to their tails and sent them
through the fields of the Philistines, burning their harvested grain. Fire is
powerful!
Man and fire have the potential to do good or bad. God’s
fire is the Holy Spirit. In Hebrew it is called the “Ruach haKodesh”. God’s
power is always good –even when He uses it in judgment. In John 15:26, Yeshua
(Jesus) said this” "When
the Counselor comes, whom I will send you from the Father -- the Spirit of
Truth, who keeps going out from the Father -- he will testify on my behalf”.
The Fire of God is called the “Comforter and the Spirit of Truth”.
Yeshua also said that God through His power
(the Holy Spirit) convicts people of sin. “When
He (the Holy Spirit) has
come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:
of sin, because they do not believe in Me; of righteousness, because I go to My
Father and you see Me no more; of judgment, because the ruler of this world is
judged. I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now.
However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all
truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He
will speak; and He will tell you things to come,” John 16:8-14.
According
to Yeshua, the Holy Spirit is also a “teacher “. ..because when
the time comes, the Ruach HaKodesh will teach you what you need to say.".
Luke 12:12
In
Acts 2, the Holy Spirit appeared to the 120+ people like fire. Acts 2:3-4 “Then they saw what looked like tongues of fire, which
separated and came to rest on each one of them. They were all filled with the Ruach HaKodesh and began to
talk in different languages, as the Spirit enabled them to speak.”
This was in fulfillment to the statement from
Yeshua in Acts 1 just before He left this earth the returned to the Father. “But you will
receive power when the Ruach
HaKodesh comes upon you; you will be my witnesses both in
Yerushalayim and in all Y'hudah and Shomron, indeed to the ends of the
earth!" (Acts 1:18)
Let God’s fire fall on you! Let Him fill you! Let Him teach you
and let Him convict you of sin that you may be clean before a “Holy God”.
