Did You Say Good Fire?

Posted on by Dr. Linda Agnes Knowles

Yesterday, I wrote about God who is a consuming fire. Just like we escape from a building on fire, we try to escape the fire of God. There is a fire that is exceptionally good for us. Specifically, the Refiner’s Fire.


We must understand one of the basic fundamental beliefs of the Christian faith. It is an inescapable truth we must always keep at the front of our minds. That undeniable truth is that EACH OF US WILL STAND BEFORE GOD ONE DAY. We will answer for how we lived, what we did, and for every idle word spoken. The good fire is a cleansing fire that cleans up the child of God to shape his or her character. We call this the Refiner’s Fire. Our God is a consuming fire. He is also the Refiner who purifies and polishes those who are godly (those who belong to Him).


“Yet He knows the way I have taken, when He has tested me, I will come forth as gold.My feet have followed His tracks; I have kept His ways without turning aside,” (Job 23:10-11).

Job was going through his own personal hell on earth. Job was being refined. Everything that could have gone wrong went wrong. Yet while his wife said, “Curse God and die,” Job maintained his integrity. Job clung to God, and he longed for God. Job went through one trial after another. Those trials shaped his character. It was after he was tested, he came out like gold from the furnace of affliction. “Then Job replied to the Lord: ‘I know that you can do anything, and no one can stop you. You asked, ‘Who is this that questions my wisdom with such ignorance? ’It is I—and I was talking about things I knew nothing about, things far too wonderful for me. You said, ‘Listen and I will speak! I have some questions for you, and you must answer them. ’I had only heard about you before, but now I have seen you with my own eyes. I take back everything I said,and I sit in dust and ashes to show my repentance,’” (Job 42:2-6). At the end of it all, God restored twice as much to him than what he had before all the trials began (Job 42:10-15).


We go through the refining fire when trials and testing come our way. It is a good kind of fire. It is the kind of fire that keeps us on track. It is the kind of fire that removes the impurity (sin) from our life and drives us to repentance before the God we serve. It is the kind of fire that sharpens our character. It is the kind of fire that doesn’t leave us in the muck and mire. It is kind that doesn’t leave us in despair or feeling hopeless. It is the kind of fire that drives us before the face of God to commune with Him. It is the kind of fire that draws us deeper in our relationship with God. It is the Refiner’s Fire.


“…when He has tested me, I will come forth as gold.” God never leaves us alone when we are going through the fire. His Holy Spirit guides us and teaches us through whatever it is that comes our way. Through these times, we progress further in our walk with God. We don’t look back; we continue to press forward. With assurance, we can know we are made overwhelmingly victorious because He loves us.
We must be in right relationship with God, rooted in Jesus Christ, guided by the Holy Spirit, and grounded in the Word of God. There is no neutral ground when it comes to serving the Lord. We cannot have one foot in the world and one foot in God. The foundation of our life MUST BE Jesus Christ. He is the only Sure Foundation, the Chief Cornerstone, which cannot be moved (Isaiah 28:26, Ephesians 2:20, 1 Peter 2:4). He is the One who we can fully trust and put our hope in.


Jesus Christ is the One who baptizes us with the Holy Spirit and with fire. “I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire,” (Matthew 3:11). For the godly, this fire is the fire that will burn away sin out of the lives of the godly. If the ungodly cling and hold on tightly to their sin, this fire is the fire that devours them, the fire that brings devastation.


Remember this: Absolutely nothing is hidden from God. Everything is exposed before Him.


Linda A. Knowles

Point of No Return

Posted on by Dr. Linda Agnes Knowles

“Then the LORD said to me: ‘Even if Moses and Samuel should stand before Me, My heart would not go out to this people. Send them from My presence, and let them go. If they ask you, ‘Where shall we go?’ you are to tell them that this is what the LORD says: ‘Those destined for death, to death; those destined for the sword, to the sword; those destined for famine, to famine; and those destined for captivity, to captivity.'” (Jeremiah 15:1-2 Berean Study Bible)

I did a doubletake reading this Scripture when I saw it said, “Even if Moses and Samuel should stand before me, My heart would not go out to this people.” Moses and Samuel were both prophets of God. They were two of the greatest prophets amongst the other prophets we see in the Scriptures. The people of Judah had come to the point of no return.

Not even Moses or Samuel would have been able to intercede for the people of Judah at this point. Judah had abandoned God and traded God for the religious systems of men, had adopted the culture of pagan nations, and worshipping the idols/gods of the nations around them. Jeremiah had already been told “As for you, do not pray for these people. Do not raise up a cry or a prayer on their behalf, for I will not be listening when they call out to Me at the time of their disaster, ” (Jeremiah 11:14BSB).

Intercession for the people of Judah would have been rendered ineffective even if Moses and Samuel were standing before God interceding on their behalf. God wasn’t even listening to the people of Judah cry out to Him because they only cried out to Him when they were in trouble. God was angry and told Jeremiah, “Therefore this is what the LORD says: ‘I am about to bring upon them a disaster that they cannot escape. They will cry out to Me, but I will not listen to them. Then the cities of Judah and the residents of Jerusalem will go and cry out to the gods to which they have been burning incense, but these gods certainly will not save them in their time of disaster. Your gods are indeed as numerous as your cities, O Judah; the altars of shame you have set up—the altars to burn incense to Baal—are as many as the streets of Jerusalem.” (Jeremiah 11:11-13) They didn’t commune with God. They were committing the act of spiritual adultery, acting as prostitutes giving themselves away to every pagan deity and were told by God through the prophet Jeremiah “How you plot and scheme to win your lovers. Even an experienced prostitute could learn from you!” (Jeremiah 2:33BSB) They had no shame and could not even blush anymore. They flagrantly flaunted their spiritual adultery and their idolatry in the face of God.

GOD DOESN’T PLAY GAMES. God warned them over and over again, but the stench of their sin had risen up before Him, and they were only sorry they had gotten caught in their sin. They were not repentant for their sins of abandoning God and trading Him in for the religious systems of man, their spiritual adultery, and their idolatry.

This cannot get more sobering than this statement made to Jeremiah by God, “As for you, do not pray for these people. Do not raise up a cry or a prayer on their behalf, for I will not be listening when they call out to Me at the time of their disaster.” Will you allow yourself to be found in the same spiritual condition as the people of Judah? Would God tell someone not to pray for you?

THERE IS NO NEUTRAL GROUND WHEN IT COMES TO SERVING GOD. I will be saying that until there is no longer breath in my body. There is no neutral ground when it comes to serving the Lord. CHOOSE YOU THIS DAY WHOM YOU WILL SERVE.

We have been chosen by Christ to go and bear fruit. Every tree that does not bear fruit will be chopped down and burnt up (Matthew 3:10, 7:19).

“You adulterers! Don’t you realize that friendship with the world makes you an enemy of God? I say it again: If you want to be a friend of the world, you make yourself an enemy of God. Do you think the Scriptures have no meaning? They say that God is passionate that the spirit he has placed within us should be faithful to him. And he gives grace generously. As the Scriptures say, ‘God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.’” (James 4:4-6NLT)

Remember God does NOT bless a life of disobedience, but He does bless a life of obedience. He lavishes grace and mercy upon His children who are loving Him with all their heart, mind, soul, and strength. Favor is the shield around His children.

“For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.” Repent so you are not found in the same position as the people of Judah. God had enough of their foolish behavior. Do NOT bring God to the point where God tells someone not to pray for you anymore because of your stubborn, hardened, and calloused heart. There is a time when God says, “Enough” as we have seen here with Jeremiah.

There is no neutral ground when it comes to God. You are either on God’s side or you’re not. You cannot claim to live for God and love the things of this world; in other words, you cannot be a friend of God if you are a friend of the world. The God of the Old Testament is still God in the New Testament. God promises restoration, hope, and healing for those who are truly repentant with contrite hearts, those who recognize their need of the one and only Savior.

PRAYER: Heavenly Father, You are the One and Only God. You are the Creator of the Heavens and the Earth. No one compares to You. You are sovereign and holy, and You do not share Your glory with another. Father, I will seek Your righteousness first and I will follow Your ways. I will obey Your commands and cling tightly to Your truth. I choose to serve You and You alone. Thank You for being my God and my Father. Thank You for Your instruction and Your discipline. Thank You for choosing me to go and bear fruit. Be with me as I follow Your commands and seek out Your ways. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Linda A. Knowles