God is a Consuming Fire

When you are on fire, for God, obstacles start to diminish. What seemed and felt daunting, now is happening. We can’t do it on our own strength. It’s more than just technology and methods and principles and knowledge. We need the fire of the Holy Spirit. Listen to this episode to find out more about the incredible relationship you have with God and how he is a consuming fire.

If this resonates with you, please rate, review, and subscribe where you listen to podcasts. For updates follow me @jessejbradley on all socials and for the latest videos check out my YouTube channel Jesse Bradley. The best is yet to come!

Find Pastor Jesse: Online  | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter

Special thanks to World Concern for sponsoring The Bonfire Podcast.

Transcription:

Welcome to The Bonfire. I’m so glad we can come together again. In this season three, we’re focusing on the Holy Spirit and I chose to focus on the Holy Spirit because my desire is that we’d all experience more of the Holy Spirit in our lives. When you think about one God, three persons, father, son, and Holy Spirit, sometimes there’s no mention of the Holy Spirit. Maybe you grew up in a tradition, maybe you went to church, you read the Bible, but you never talked about the Holy Spirit. You’re not very familiar, in some circles there’s a lot of ignorance around the Holy Spirit. And when you don’t know the Holy Spirit, when you don’t mention, when you don’t celebrate that relationship, enjoy that closeness with the Holy Spirit, a lot of times there’s a replacement and the focus and the pressure mounts on the person.

In the Christian life we can’t do it alone, but again, there’s a lot of places, there’s a lot of churches where the emphasis becomes on what you can do, and there’s always the five things, the seven things, the three things. Do you ever get overwhelmed? Do you ever feel like everyone is watching you and all the pressure’s on you and you’ve got to come up big because this is the Christian life and so try harder, do it better, learn a little more. All of that builds up and then the foundation isn’t there. Instead of that path, which can really be a trap, we have another option, and this is to be filled, to rely on, to be empowered by. We’ve been talking about the wisdom of the Holy Spirit, the power of the Holy Spirit, the comfort of the Holy Spirit, and it’s part of the fullness of a relationship with God.

On the flip side, maybe you have a background where there was a lot of emphasis on the Holy Spirit, but it got a little crazy. People started barking, people started going against what scripture says. It was out of control. It just felt like it was all emotions. There was nothing solid. It can really get out of hand when there’s an emphasis on the Holy Spirit, but you ignore who God is, what God has said, God’s parameters, God’s guidance. And instead, it almost becomes like people pull out the Holy Spirit card and just say and do whatever they want. Well the Spirit’s telling me to. No, that’s not the Holy Spirit. There can be a lot of manipulation. People can twist it. Those two backgrounds are so common. Well let’s create a new space, a third option, and this is an option that’s healthy, that’s biblical, the goodness of God, the goodness of the Holy Spirit, and in this close relationship you can trust, you can be led, you’re empowered.

That’s what we want to talk about. And today in particular, the fire of the Holy Spirit. That’s not my imagery. That’s going back to Pentecost. When the Holy Spirit comes in power and the people are filled, flames of fire, tongues of fire, that’s what we read in the scripture, John the Baptist preparing the way Jesus is going to baptize you. He said He’s going to baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. And the Bible says don’t put out the Spirit’s fire. There’s a metaphor here with the Holy Spirit and fire, the fire of the Holy Spirit. And the truth is, we need that fire. Why? Because there’s a lot of obstacles. Every day we battle with complacency and excuses in our flesh, in the patterns of the world. We need the fire to blaze through the obstacles that we face.

We need the fire of God when you wake up in the morning and you’ve got a full schedule and you don’t feel that motivation, you don’t feel like you’re ready, you know can’t just pull it off in your own strength, you need the fire of the Holy Spirit. There’s a lot of things on the schedule and when I look at it and I wake up in the morning, I think I don’t have the strength and the wisdom. I need God’s help in the place I’m going to go to. And yes I might pick up my phone, or yes I might help the kids out with a few things, or yes I’m going to take a hot shower. I mean there’s those things I’m going to do, but really the deep work is when I come to God and there’s a feeling from the Holy Spirit. There’s a sense that with the Holy Spirit, these things are going to work out well.

And what does that look like, the fire of the Holy Spirit? The fire of the Holy Spirit when it blazes, this fire blazes… When I talk about the Holy Spirit I’ll say He. When I’m talking about the fire I’m going to talk about it. When you talk about the Holy Spirit, don’t say it, He. When He fills us and when the fire blazes, all of a sudden the obstacles don’t look so daunting. All of a sudden there’s a sense on the inside like God has this. God is going to provide. God increases capacity. God brings motivation. God gives insights. God gives courage. God gives words to say all these things are gifts from God and it’s fruit from that fire, from the Holy Spirit at work in your life. That blaze right there is what I want to talk about today. It’s more than just feelings. It’s more than good intentions. It’s more than a pep talk and just a little motivation.

The Holy Spirit is God himself, God in you. And in the Old Testament, yes, the Holy Spirit existed. Yes, the Holy Spirit was active in people’s lives, but it was a different dispensation. And we see this picture growing in Scripture where God would visit, God would inhabit, God would dwell in the temple, they would build the temple. Moses would listen to God, do it just like God wanted it to, and then God would show up there and God would show up in a thick presence and sometimes the priests couldn’t even enter in. There was also Tabernacles. And again God’s presence distinguished, as they traveled through the wilderness there was a fire and what is that fire at night? Again, all representing God’s presence. God’s presence was thick. The Holy Spirit would come on different people, even people like Samson who is rebellious and give Samson strength. The Holy Spirit come upon David.

But then when you come to the New Testament, the temple, that’s our body and there’s a different season. And a lot of Christians, they might not know that their body is the temple of the Holy Spirit. Well what does that mean? That means that God is in you for your entire life. That means God is in you every day. That means that you literally have God’s presence. God’s not sitting there just to be tucked away in a corner. God’s not inside of you just to follow you and let you lead. God is inside of you, not because you’re going to become God. There are so many self-help tools and books and resources that you know what? They take a couple principles and then they just have a terrible philosophy. And the whole philosophy is basically you can be God, you’re all that and more.

You’re everything. You’re worthy. Like the throne is yours, take it. You’re the captain of the ship. And all of that is really junk when you boil it all down because we’re never meant to be on the throne. We’re never meant to be in the center of the universe. And the truth is, God’s power is perfect in our weakness. That should free you up to say, you know what? I’ve got weaknesses. I don’t have to be fake. I don’t have to have any duplicity. I can be authentic. I can be real. Here’s who I am, here’s my strengths, my weaknesses. In these weaknesses, I go to God. God’s power. God is in me. God moves. God gets the glory. That’s the Christian life. And when you read the Bible, what you see in the followers is they’re very flawed. They made mistakes. They’ve sinned. They’ve denied Jesus.

They’ve been unfaithful. They’ve been foolish. They’ve persecuted the Lord. It’s been embarrassing. Their flaws are there. You see them for who they are and that authenticity drives us to Scripture and has our attention because we like I can relate. Yes, I mess up. There’s hope. This guy, God used this guy, this lady. And all of that builds and what we realize here, here’s the golden thread, the fire, the power, the Holy Spirit works through flawed, weak people who get tired, who get discouraged, who sink into despair, who feel like there’s no hope, who misplace their hope. The fire of the Holy Spirit comes and takes over and just burns away the chaff. There’s an aspect of the fire of the Holy Spirit that’s purity. And that fire brings a new purity in your life. And the sins you’ve been struggling with for a while, that fire can burn through and there’s freedom and you step away and you overcome.

There’s a purity. There’s a refiner’s fire with the Holy Spirit that includes conviction, correction, training, and there’s a transformation that happens. When the holy Spirit’s at work in your life, you become sensitive to sin. When you have a pattern of sin, when you’re not in tune with the Holy Spirit, you’re kind of numb and you just keep doing it. You don’t even realize how deep you’re in it, how long it’s been going for. You just stay in the same sins. When the fire of the Holy Spirit comes, you see sin for what it is. You become sensitive and you’re like, I’m not going to let those words come out of my mouth. I’m not going to say that. I’m not going to look at that thing right there. I’m not going to do it. And even the things that might not be flat-out sin, but they’re not God’s best.

You see them for what they are and you say, I’m not going to choose that. I’m going to choose this over here. This might not be wrong. A lot of people do it, it’s not sin, but God’s not leading me to that. God has something better. And there’s a fire that starts to grow. When God’s fire is moving in your life, don’t put out the fire. And you really start to become aware of what puts out the fire. When I overeat, when I indulge in this entertainment, when I tell these half-truths, when I stop being generous, when I get quiet when I should speak up, you can feel the spiritual temperature going down. And then you start to notice, well, when does the fire increase. And there’s purity that the fire produces. There’s also a passion that starts to grow. You become alive with a passion for God, for his kingdom, for people, for changed lives and the fire starts to grow.

There are things you can do that help build up the fire, that stoke the fire, that ignite the fire. Sometimes I’ll go for a walk or a run and I’ll just place scripture on my Bible app and I’ll let it go. If it’s an hour, I’ve just listened to an hour of scripture. Do you know what that does? When I run I don’t have other distractions. I’m just running and I’m listening to scripture. During the day I’ve got a lot of distractions. I got a lot of people. My phone’s buzzing. There’s all these different things happening. When I run or walk, God has my undivided attention and if I simply play scripture for an hour… I encourage you to do something like that. Spend an hour with God where you just listen to God’s word. Let God’s word feel you, pour over you. You don’t even have to do a deep Bible study.

You don’t have to walk away with three applications. Spend time with God. Just bring a hungry heart, a humble heart and soak in his word. That’s one time, the fire’s going to grow. There’s times of fasting. Do I enjoy fasting? I don’t know. Do you enjoy fasting? There’s a big part of it that I want nothing to do with it. Who wants to fast? And yet when you fast, there is a simplicity to it. There’s again, getting rid of distractions and noise and there’s an intentional hunger, a desire, a seeking God. And in that fasting, when you give up the food, you’re hungry for God. You want more of his presence. You want more of the Holy Spirit. That’s a time where the fire starts to grow. Well, when else does the fire start to grow? The fire starts to grow when you say no to sin and you can sense that that would’ve pulled you down, but no, you said no and the fire keeps growing.

You feel that victory, that freedom, the fire’s going to grow, the fire’s going to grow when you’re around people who are on fire for God because it’s contagious. And if you’re around a bunch of people that are lukewarm, like let’s not really follow God. Let’s not get passionate about God. Let’s not talk about God. Let’s just do what we do. There’s a place to do what you do, but you’ve got to have people around you because that’s when the embers come together, the fire grows, boldness grows, excitement grows. All of a sudden you’re doing things that you wouldn’t have done and you start to, it’s like this spiritual momentum that starts to happen and obstacles that would hold you back alone. They’re not holding you back anymore. When I run alone, sometimes I’m tempted, should I quit? Should I stop? Should I quit? Should I stop?

Is this long enough? I think I’m bored, think I want to stop. But when I have someone running with me and we’ve already said we’re going to run five miles, then it’s not going through my mind every mile like, okay, should I quit? Should I stop? It’s like it’s already predetermined. We’re running. Someone else is running. You need some people who are running with you, that’s going to stoke the fire. For me preaching stokes the fire. You have a gift. You have lots of gifts, when you use those gifts, the fire, it keeps growing. And when I’m able to preach, it might be a tough week, but when I can preach now all of a sudden I’m reminded of what I believe. I’m reminded of the goodness of God. I’m reminded of the truth. I’m reminded of the power of God. I enter into that and I come alive.

For some people it’s facilitating discussions or leading a Bible study and when it finishes, you can just see the joy. You can see the fire in their eyes. For some people it’s serving and it’s behind the scenes. And when they come and they serve and a lot of people are helped, they’re just feeling like on top of the mountain, on top of the world because they’ve used their gift. When you use your gift, the fire grows. Passivity, the fire doesn’t grow. And there are threats with excuses and complacency that want to put out the fire. There’s a lot of things in your life that are vying to put out the fire. This is the spiritual battle. And then there’s a lot of things in your life that are going to, the fire’s going to ignite. When I see lives that are changed, the fire ignites.

When I see marriages that are restored, when I see people return to God, when I see people inviting their friends and coming to church and starting to worship God, when I see people coming to know Jesus all over the world through one of our hope campaigns, when I start to see lives change and I hear those stories and I meet those people. One of my favorite moments is at the end of a service and talking to people and I’m hearing their stories about how God has changed their lives, and when I hear the stories and I see that fruit, the fire grows. I think this is worth it. This is why all the work goes into it because it makes a difference in people’s lives and the quality of their lives improves and their closeness with God. And when that happens, it’s a game-changer. And when I get to see that fruit, again, the fire keeps growing.

All of these different elements that I’m talking about, they stoke the fire, they ignite the fire. The fire of God brings purity, the fire of God, our passion increases, it accelerates, our capacity increases. I can’t do it alone. I can’t do what’s on the list for today alone, but when the Holy Spirit and the fire of God start to take over, all of a sudden what looked like a mountain now it doesn’t look like much at all because the fire in you is greater than what’s around you. The one who’s in you is greater than the darkness around you. The one who’s in you is greater than the challenges you’re going to face today. And with the help of the Holy Spirit, God’s fire starts to blaze all of those challenges and ultimately the fire is God’s presence. The Bible says God is love. God is light. God is a consuming fire.

For generations children and families in the poorest places in the world have struggled to find clean water, food and a chance for a brighter future. But all that can change in this generation, you can be part of the solution. Go to worldconcern.org. As you participate this is what will happen. Villages will be transformed far beyond where the road ends, and children and families will receive the love of Christ. You can make a difference, go to worldconcern.org. Let’s be part of the solution together. Listen, there’s part of God that you think about God’s love, God’s kindness, God’s patience, God’s mercy, God’s grace, God’s promises and you feel secure. You know who you are. You know who God is. You know your eternal destiny’s secure. You have assurance of salvation. You know His word is true. And all these things build you up, and in that way it’s safe because there’s a comfort that’s good.

At the same time, you also read about God’s justice, his holiness, his wrath, and that doesn’t feel as safe. Now in Christ there’s no condemnation, so please don’t take it into a space of guilt and shame. None of that, that’s not what I’m talking about. When I say not safe, what I’m talking about is that the road ahead, you don’t know what God’s going to do. When you surrender to God, you know it’s going to be good because he is good, but you don’t know if you’re going to become a martyr. You don’t know where he’s going to call you. You don’t know what he’s going to want you to say. You don’t know what job he’s going to want you to take. You don’t know what the results are going to be. All you know is that faithfulness is the next step. You’re going to do the right thing, do the next right thing, and trust God. When the fire of God is so evident.

And you see in the Book of Acts, revival breaks out, the fire of God blazing in the best way through different cities, and there’s been strongholds and idols, and now Jesus is coming in because the Holy Spirit always shines a spotlight to Jesus, pointing to Jesus, glorifying Jesus. And when this is happening in cities, there is one element that you know is very true for all times. There’s prayer, there’s fasting, there’s humility, there’s love, there’s boldness, there’s God’s word. And then there’s another element where there’s a fierce spiritual battle and you don’t know how it’s all going to play out. And that’s the faith walk. The fire of God, it’s his presence. The fire of God is consuming and the fire of God is a choice. Do you want the spiritual temperature high in your life? I’m convinced that, for America, let’s start at national level. In America right now, what we need in a lot of cities is the fire of God.

Well, how does that happen? I don’t think we’re going to fix everything with just a couple laws, a couple new politicians, just a couple new songs in church. I don’t think we’re going to turn things around like we need to spiritually, morally, relationally. There are things right now happening in our nation and the answer is the fire of God. And I believe God is going to continue to raise up and use people on fire for him who are going to be courageous, who are going to go into the public space, who are going to be humble, who are going to be passionate. There’s going to be the fruit of the spirit, patience, love, peace. It’s not going to be related to their education, their denomination. It’s not going to be related to how many years they’ve spent in church. It’s going to be people who want the fire of God, who want to see lives transformed, the nation changed, the nation experience the healing of God.

It’s going to take the fire of God just like Pentecost. Nothing’s changed as far as the church goes. We need the fire of God, which includes the love of God, to take over. You say, “Well, we need that in the nation”. Everyone’s saying it. What do we do? People are losing hope. What do we do? Well, when you think about the nation, it comes down to the home and whether you live alone, with someone, families, how do you experience the fire of God personally? And this is why I have a passion for the Holy Spirit. You’ve got to go deep with God. You’ve got to develop a relationship with the Holy Spirit where you don’t put out the fire and you rely and you have a hunger and you’re teachable and he leads you. It’s going to come out of your personality. Some people, there’s a range of personalities.

This isn’t about personality. This isn’t about how many words you say. This isn’t about how big your bank account is. This is about God’s presence taking over in your life and you stepping into the purpose that God has, the passion that God brings, and you still having the peace of God make some courageous steps. And yes it’s going to involve purity, revivals involve purity. But I feel so hungry and ready. There’s the form of godliness but not the power. And again, the two extremes we started with today, right? The two extremes. One, it gets really weird because when you talk about the fire of God, people just take into all these unbiblical places and you end up with some terrible doctrine and stuff where again, people are barking. It’s barking weird. Then the other extreme is no, all we do here is just study and get principles, and then we try harder, we get better practices, and then we become smarter and we include a little technology and maybe a little AI, and then we solve everything, and that’s how we’ve got it figured out, and that’s our committee and that’s what we solve.

No, you don’t. You need the power and fire of the Holy Spirit because this is not just a human endeavor. It’s not just a human endeavor. And because of that, we’ve got to come back. And I hope that as we’re going through this season, your desire for the Holy Spirit, maybe it starts with curiosity for you. Maybe you just haven’t studied when it comes to the Holy Spirit. Maybe you haven’t had conversations about the Holy Spirit. Maybe you don’t talk to the Holy Spirit. Maybe you’re not really that teachable. You are on the outside kind of spiritual. You’ve got a great spiritual resume, but the truth is you don’t really have the power of the Holy Spirit moving through your life. Maybe you’re in a great position, maybe you’re on staff, maybe you’re a deacon, a deaconess, maybe you’re an elder, maybe you’re a pastor, but if you were honest, you would say that you’re kind of discouraged and it feels like you’re going through the motions and it feels like it’s not that exciting right now in your walk with God.

And what you need is the power of the Holy Spirit. Maybe you just keep going back to the same sin and you wonder, “is it ever going to end? Do I have to just keep it secret?” You’ve told your counselor but you haven’t told anyone else, and your counselor is helping you to some degree, but you need more than your counselor’s help. You need the power of the Holy Spirit. Maybe you feel lonely and you just don’t know how to step out of that, this relationship with the Holy Spirit. Listen, I was single and wanting to be married for many years, and one of the keys during that season was developing and cultivating a deep relationship with the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is with you. God is in you, your comforter, and the Holy Spirit comes alongside of you. The Holy Spirit guides you into the truth, and there is a fire that is stoked in your life through the Holy Spirit.

You can tell I just liked talking about the Holy Spirit. I knew the Father, the Son. I didn’t have much relationship with the Holy Spirit. And I feel like I just came alive in my faith when my relationship with the Holy Spirit started to go deeper. And I don’t have a formula, but I know this is essential. Confess your sins. I know this is essential, surrender. And I know this is essential, you ask for more of the Holy Spirit. You ask the Father, how much more will the Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask? And it’s relational, not formula, but those are elements in the relationship where if you don’t confess your sins and you just act like you’ve got no sin in your life, that puts out the Spirit’s fire. If you don’t really want to surrender and say, “Take my life, God, I’ll say what you want me to say, I’ll do what you want me to do. I’ll go where you want me to go, God, you have my gifts. You have my time. Take over, lead me”.

If you don’t have that posture, you’re not going to have the fire of the Holy Spirit. And if that teachability is not there, if you don’t have a desire, if you’re just in the mode of like, I got this. I know my job description. I know the things expected of me. I know what my church wants me to do. I’ve done this before, I know how to do it, and you don’t rely and ask for the Holy Spirit. You might not have much of the Holy Spirit in your life. That’s why the Bible says there are people without the Holy Spirit. If you don’t have the Holy Spirit at all yet, you need to put your trust in Jesus because when you put your trust in Jesus as Savior and Lord, the Holy Spirit comes in you.

You don’t have the Holy Spirit in you until you put your trust in Jesus. Don’t wait any longer. Make that decision today. And then the Bible says that you can be filled. In fact that’s God’s will, be filled. Ephesians 5:18, be filled. What does God say about the Holy Spirit? Be filled with the Holy Spirit. And that feeling is through that confession, that surrendering, that asking. There’s a filling. Well, how do you know you’re filled? Because love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control are evident in your life. But you don’t make those your goals and chase those. This is relational, abiding more of the Holy Spirit. Today, right now, I encourage you to surrender, confess your sins, ask to be filled. It’s not just a feeling. Fire is more than a feeling. Fire is substance, fire is the power, fire is the presence, the passion of the Holy Spirit.

It’s going to work through you, your gifts, your talents, your personality, work through you and what we need today. Same what John the Baptist said, “Jesus baptizes with power, fire, and the Holy Spirit”. Let me pray. God, I pray right now for my friends who are watching, men, women, children. Lord, we’ve been learning and talking a lot about the Holy Spirit, and I pray right now that they would be filled with the Holy Spirit, that your presence would fill them right now as they surrender, confess, trust you and ask to be filled. And I pray, God, that they would live with the fullness of the Holy Spirit, with the fire of the Holy Spirit, burn away sin, lead and guide them. Father, I pray for great victories. I pray you would get the glory, and I thank you for the gift of the Holy Spirit. We pray in your name, Jesus. Amen.

Thank you so much for joining today. This conversation, going deeper, talking about the Holy Spirit and encourage you if you can rate, review, share the podcast. Let’s invite more people in because we need the hope of God and the hope of God comes through the power, the fire of the Holy Spirit.