Ignite the Fire

Close up of a lightening strike on tree bowl.

10 Points of Revelation 3:18

“I advise you to buy from Me gold refined by fire so that you may become rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself, and that the shame of your nakedness will not be revealed; and eye salve to anoint your eyes so that you may see.” NASB

1 God advises us ~ Respond to the Lord's advice from the Scriptures. Luke 8:15

2 Buy from God ~ Serve God from your heart, like the man who found the hidden treasure who sold all to get the treasure. Matthew 13:44

3 What is gold ~ Gold refers to the good works we do because of God's love flowing from us to others. 1 Peter 1:7

4 Refined by fire ~ Fire refines the work and turns it to gold as we work through the fires of life. Work is refined as we give God glory instead of complaints in the midst of the fire. Zechariah 13:9 1 Cor 3:13

5 Become rich ~ not through possessions Luke 12:15; but having renewed your mind Romans 12:2 to use the promises of God for Christ. 2 Corinthians 1:20

6 Buy white garments ~ white garments come from being washed in the blood. Revelation 12:11 How do we get this blood? We work out our salvation Philippians 2:12 by believing God and not our accuser. John 6:29

7 Clothe yourself ~ After believing God has washed us clean from sin, we put on righteousness and step out in service. Righteousness is put on by believing in what Christ has done for us. Isaiah 52:1,2

8 Cover shame of nakedness ~ Our old self is sinful and useless for Kingdom use. We cover our nakedness by believing in Jesus and what He did for us. Matthew 22:12

9 Buy eye salve to anoint eyes ~ This salve heals you from only seeing in the natural. It is a decision to believe what Jesus said and not what you see in the natural. Jeremiah 46:11

10 Eyes to see ~ Ability to see in the spirit what God has promised before it can be seen in the natural. Ephesians 1:18  

Paycheck to Paycheck

Let us not live Paycheck to Paycheck in the Spirit.

Are we preparing for the future in our faith or are we just going day to day? Ps 90:12; Heb 12:12,13

Build for future.

Without a vision the people perish. Prov 29:18; Hosea 4:6

Encourage others God's coming through for you. Isa 35:3,4; Job 4:4; Heb 10:25

When trials come to knock you out of faith, your vision/faith gives the the anchor and strength to carry on. Heb 6:19; Rom 5:5

Spend time with Jesus (in truth, not just marking time) to solidify your faith. The more you spend with Him the stronger your faith grows. John 15:1-8

All the great saints lived with abandon. Eccl 9:10; Phil 3:7,12,13; Matt 13:44

Kingdom experienced by zeal. Don't live nonchalant, live with zeal. Live in zeal from the Word of God. Isaiah 9:7; Isa 59:17

But some say, "I'm doing all I can."

Do it calling out to God. Do it holding fast to the promise, help is on the way. Do it praying in tongues. Do it crying out to Jesus.

Some say, "I don't pray in tongues." The Holy Spirit is there for you. Receive Him or open up to Him. He will baptize you. Acts 1:8; Acts 2:4

Don't Quit. God backs up His word for those who believe Him. Ps 119:89; Ps 19:7-9; John 11:40

If you got pain, Jesus is a pain taker. Isa 53:5

Do you have chains, Jesus is a chain breaker. Ps 68:6; Ps 107:14

If you feel lost, Jesus is a way maker. Prov 4:18; Ps 23:4

If you need freedom, Jesus is a prison shaking Savior. John 8:36; Eph 3:12 (taken from Zachariah Williams)

Mercy and Abiding

Lightening shredded wood fibres.

 So here is the idea of Hebrews 4:16 of coming to God to receive mercy and grace not on the basis of works but on the basis of Christ's blood. We don't come to God on our works but on Christ's blood. So how does that line up with John 15:7 that if we abide in the Word and in Jesus we can get our prayers answered?

There are 2 points here. One is if a person is sowing to the wind, and sowing to the wind, and sowing to the wind and reaping the whirlwind and their life is crazy and confused and turned over, they can go to God for help. But you are not going to go to God after spending years of sowing to the wind and come out of prayer and be an on fire evangelist with miracles following the next day.

We approach God for mercy and grace by the blood of Jesus. But we don't advance the kingdom of God by just being humble. God wants faith. Heb 11:6; Col 2:6; Hab 2:4. As we spend time with God and His word faith is built. We can from this faith get answers to prayer if we still approach God in humility not from our works and of study and prayer and meditation but still on the basis of the blood of Jesus.

So on the one hand we are working, meditating and seeking God. And on the other hand we approach God on the basis of His blood, not our good works. That does not mean our good works are for nothing. Our works of faith with love from obedience advance the kingdom. This only happens as we pray and pave the way with prayer from approaching God from our humble approach trusting God because of the blood of Jesus.

The 2 go hand in hand. Humble prayer trusting in the blood of Jesus. And aggressive works of faith from obedience, coming from being with God and His word. And you don't have these aggressive works of faith without a fight in prayer. There is the humble prayer for guidance with mercy and grace and there is the prayer of fighting to gain the victory. Now if you are like I have been you go out without fighting in prayer to gain the victory and you get beat up by the enemy. I have learned you have to fight in prayer also.

Romans 8:11 IF. If is a big word in this verse. Do we assume we have the Holy Spirit living within if we have our mind in the gutter watching TV. Do we assume we have the Spirit living within if we are lusting after material things instead of meditating on God's word. Do we assume we have the Spirit of God, the creator of the heavens and the earth living within if we are complaining of some puny problem? Or do we have the Spirit of God living within when we are wasting  time instead of utilizing the gift of time God has given us? Can we have the Spirit living within if our mind is on the flesh?

Just as there is a difference between getting the Spirit of God at salvation, Ephesians 1:13 and getting the baptism in the Holy Spirit. Acts 2:4. There is a difference between having the Spirit of God from salvation and having the Spirit of God live within Romans 8:11; John 14:23 John said in Revelation 1:10 that he was in the Spirit on the Lord's day. Meaning that it was possible for this apostle to not be in the Spirit at times. This is the question of Romans 8:11 Are we in the Spirit now? The simple prayer of Hebrews 4:16 gets us back in the Spirit. Faith on the other hand, takes some effort and focus and does not flow from a lukewarm heart.

People reason that we have the Spirit Eph. 1:13 and we approach God because of the blood Heb 4:16. Therefore we can pray and get anything we want. That we are OK with God and living the lukewarm life is fine. Now people don't say then are living the lukewarm life. But they are deceived if they think they can watch movies and TV 10 or 20 hours a week and many more hours in amusements and pray 10 minutes and just read a couple of chapters of the Bible a day. NO. To live this way is not living humble before God. James 4:6 says that God is opposed to the proud but gives grace to the humble. Humble people will repent from living a lukewarm life. Humble people will change to serve God from fear and then continuing on to serve from love. If we don't repent of our lukewarmness we are continuing in pride. We can't serve God effectively with pride. Pride needs to be done away with and then faith will grow.