The God Who Comes with Fire and Water to Purify and Refine His People

Ezekiel 36:25-26

25 “I will sprinkle purifying water over you, and you will be cleansed from all the filth of your past. I will wash you clean from the defilement of worshiping false gods. 26 I will graciously give you a new, tenderheart and put a new, willing spirit inside you. I will remove your hard heart of stone and give you an obedient, responsive heart instead.” TPT

For far too long the enemy has had the upper hand in his attempts to defile us and those around us. His plot has been to keep us from the path that leads us to everything God has for us by contaminating us to make us unusable by the God who needs us to remain pure, so we don’t give to others a fruit that is filled with the ways of the world and its filth, instead of the pure and undefiled things that come from His Spirit.

I learned from a prophetic teacher that it's not as important how we enter every process God takes us through as how we come out of it. I agree with this because we need to pay attention and recognize the lessons in every part of the journey God takes us on, whether to adopt or avoid things we need to keep in mind as we reach the fulfillment of His calling for us. 

Who we allow to influence us while we’re yet on the way, will determine whether we arrive at our destination or not. There are two opposing kingdoms with two opposing rulers seeking to govern our lives through our obedience to them. One for righteousness and the other for evil.

Romans 6:16

16 Don’t you realize that you become the slave of whatever you choose to obey? You can be a slave to sin, which leads to death, or you can choose to obey God, which leads to righteous living.” NLT

The world has a variety of ways to trap us into living a life of sin and idolatry. But thank be to God who issues a call to help us be free from what the enemy uses to try to defeat us. And those who hear and heed the call even now can go through the purifying and refining process that He brings. And one of the ways that this process comes is by fire.

Malachi 3:1-3

1 “‘Look! I am sending my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. Then the Lord you are seeking will suddenly come to his Temple. The messenger of the covenant, whom you look for so eagerly, is surely coming,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.

2 “But who will be able to endure it when he comes? Who will be able to stand and face him when he appears? For he will be like a blazing fire that refines metal, or like a strong soap that bleaches clothes. 3 He will sit like a refiner of silver, burning away the dross. He will purify the Levites, refining them like gold and silver, so that they may once again offer acceptable sacrifices to the Lord.” NLT

For this, our God deals with the man-made endeavors we engaged in by the demonic influence of our defilement. Those things get consumed in His fire because they could create demonic structures that could reach gigantic proportions if left to pass down to the next generations, which will destroy their future and cause them to live led by evil mindsets and utter corruption. That is why the consuming fire of God’s Spirit comes to cause us to stop turning a deaf ear and rejecting His calling so we can receive His grace to serve Him acceptably with reverence and godly fear.

Hebrews 12:25-29

25 “See that you do not refuse Him who speaks. For if they did not escape who refused Him who spoke on earth, much more shall we not escape if we turn away from Him who speaks from heaven, 26 whose voice then shook the earth; but now He has promised, saying, ‘Yet once more I shake not only the earth, but also heaven.’ 27 Now this, ‘Yet once more,’ indicates the removal of those things that are being shaken, as of things that are made, that the things which cannot be shaken may remain.

28 Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear. 29 For our God is a consuming fire.” NKJV

Another important way in which our God purifies and refines us is highlighted in the initial Scripture in Ezekiel where God uses the purifying water of His Word, once we submit to His process, to cleanse us from the filthiness of our past sinful life, which also led us to worship idols of many kinds. We need this pure water because the stench that has come before Him from our filthiness which the enemy also uses to constantly accuse us before Him, has raised a deep compassion in Him to see us clean and purified so the enemy doesn’t continue using our condition to keep us from His plan and will for us. 

Zechariah 3:1-4

“Then the angel showed me Jeshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord. The Accuser, Satan, was there at the angel’s right hand, making accusations against Jeshua. 2 And the Lord said to Satan, ‘I, the Lord, reject your accusations, Satan. Yes, the Lord, who has chosen Jerusalem, rebukes you. This man is like a burning stick that has been snatched from the fire.’

3 Jeshua’s clothing was filthy as he stood there before the angel. 4 So the angel said to the others standing there, ‘Take off his filthy clothes.’ And turning to Jeshua he said, ‘See, I have taken away your sins, and now I am giving you these fine new clothes.’” NLT

In verse 3 the word filth in the Strong’s Concordance H6674 suggests that the high priest’s garments were soiled with excrement— something that our body discards and produces a foul smell. That’s how our sins and defilement from the enemy look and smell to our God and consequently, keep us in defeat. This is contrary to how God created us and the true essence of who we are as His people— called to ALWAYS be triumphant in Christ, and to spread everywhere the sweet fragrance of the knowledge of Him. But the enemy fights to keep us unaware and away from this sweet smell that comes from Christ, so we’re not able to spread it. 

2 Corinthians 2:14

“But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us spreads and makes evident everywhere the sweet fragrance of the knowledge of Him.” AMP

Therefore, God’s antidote to the defilement and stench of the enemy that keep us in defeat and stuck in a pattern of repeated wrong behaviors that are unbreakable by our own efforts is His counsel to submit to His purifying and refining process. Choosing His antidote promises to help us walk in true riches from heaven, white garments of righteousness that cover our shame, and clear spiritual vision that helps us see God’s perspective in our circumstances, His will for us, and the way we should take to arrive there victorious in Him and ready to represent His Kingdom wherever He sends us. 

Revelation 3:18

18 “I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich; and white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see.” NKJV

To God alone be all the glory *

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When Fear Becomes Your Judge

 

Job 3:25

“For the thing which I greatly feared is come upon me, and that which I was afraid of is come unto me.” KJV

One way or another, many of us are in a time of transition from the things we accomplished in the last season to the new season God has for us. However, for lack of understanding of when the Kingdom of heaven moves and how His Spirit leads us to move with it, transitioning in the natural and in the spirit may trigger a great number of people, believers or not, to approach it as they have in the past—with fear. 

Embracing fear which paralyzes us, gets us stuck in situations we’re supposed to move on from, or causes us to run from situations, relationships, or places where we’re supposed to stay, leads us to anger and bitterness, pride and rebellion, or can cause us to want to control and manipulate situations and people so the outcome of those circumstances fuels the fear. But, without realizing it, our constant agreement with this spirit produces an entanglement, until we experience what we greatly feared which may look like a stormy harvest of judgment. 

Why is this? Because fear keeps us from accessing the blessings, inheritance, and rewards God has for us because He loves us. Our lack of understanding of God's unconditional love (unlimited and not needing to work to earn it, receive it by faith), instead drives us to stay away from a relationship with Him and expect punishment for every wrongdoing big or small. 

1 John 4:18

“There is no fear in love [dread does not exist]. But perfect (complete, full-grown) love drives out fear, because fear involves [the expectation of divine] punishment, so the one who is afraid [of God’s judgment] is not perfected in love [has not grown into a sufficient understanding of God’s love].” AMP

As we see in the initial passage, this happened to Job. The Bible says in chapter 1 verse 1 that Job “…was a very good man—his character spotless, his integrity unquestioned. In fact, he so believed in God that he sought to honor Him in all things. He deliberately avoided evil in all of his affairs.” Voice

With such a description and God’s approval of him, how could Job encounter a trial to such a degree that he lost so much, including his family, his health, and his vast possessions? The answer is that his character was not in question, but his hidden fear of God judging his children (7 sons and 3 daughters) for any secret sins or grudges they may have had against Him deep in their hearts. 

This man who, according to Scripture was the most powerful and influential man of his time faulted in a way that heaven was not dismissing. He repeatedly demonstrated a lack of trust in God for his children’s lives and for their hearts. Job didn’t trust in God’s ability to turn them to Himself to be just as devoted to Him as their father. This is considered pride because if our knowledge and understanding of God is based only on past experiences, then we're limited in our knowledge of Him who can do exceedingly and abundantly above what we can ask, think, or imagine.

Trusting the God of our salvation and the leading of His Spirit with the outcomes He chooses for our situations when we obey His leading, helps us to see things from a different perspective, whether the outcome favors us or not. Our focus, then is not on self which is what fear does. This provokes negative feelings and our imagination to travel to a land of doubt, unbelief, conformity, comparison, and even accusation of others. 

But as believers we walk by faith, that is, trusting in Him and His love, provision, and protection, and walk focused on Him and on those He wants us to bless however He leads us to do it. This does not negate that we have needs, but when we acknowledge Him first as our greatest necessity knowing that He already knows what we need even when that need is for love, feeling valued, and being cared for, and that He’s able to supply those needs, fear loses ground. 

John 20:29

“Jesus said to him, ‘Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.’” ESV

But going back to the issue of Job’s fear that led him to experience what he dreaded the most, we can then see what heaven saw and needed to be exposed to him. Job faced judgment by the accusations of his friends that in the end didn’t prove his lack of character or a lack of integrity. Instead, what exposed the culprit in his life was God’s confrontation which exposed him to his prideful lack of trust in Him for what he didn't know or acknowledge concerning the hearts of his children and how God could turn them to Himself or not. 

Job 41:34
“‘He looks on everything that is high [without terror];
He is monarch over all the sons of pride. [And now, Job, who are you who does not dare to disturb the beast, yet who dares resist Me, the beast’s creator? Everything under the heavens is Mine; therefore, who can have a claim against God?]”

Job 41 describes to us very detailed aspects about Leviathan, a beast God created, that Scripture says no one can resist or confront. Yet, we know throughout Scripture that people who walk in pride are influenced by this demonic entity which twists information and is the spirit behind misunderstandings, strife, and false accusations. And because we learned that pride is also rooted in fear, Job needed to acknowledge and learn to deal with his circumstances with trust in God and in His ways. 

Job 42:3-6

3 “‘[You said to me] ‘Who is this that darkens and obscures counsel [by words] without knowledge?’
Therefore [I now see] I have [rashly] uttered that which I did not understand,
Things too wonderful for me, which I did not know.

4 ‘’Hear, please, and I will speak;
I will ask You, and You instruct [and answer] me.’

5 “‘I had heard of You [only] by the hearing of the ear,
But now my [spiritual] eye sees You.

6 “‘Therefore I retract [my words and hate myself]
And I repent in dust and ashes.”

After coming to this understanding and ability to trust God with every detail of his life and His sovereignty, Job was restored double for his losses and the latter days of his life were better than the first. 

That is why I exhort you to seek and allow the God who has good thoughts towards you and not of evil, to give you a good future and fill you with the hope that you will see His promises (Jeremiah 29:11) of life in abundance, to the fullest, and till it overflows (John 10:10), to guide you by His Spirit into what He has for you in the next season. For it is not by power, nor by might, but by the Spirit of the Lord (Zechariah 4:6) and not by allowing fear to keep you from trusting Him and what He can do, that you will reach your predestined destiny (Ephesians 2:10), and be transformed into your true identity in Him.

To God alone be all the glory.*

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THE BETRAYAL OF THE SPIRIT OF POVERTY

Today, as I joined my usual prayer group, the leader mentioned something that gave me insight into the reality of what happens in the body of Christ and the world, where we have discovered the culprit of so much betrayal, slander, gossip, and defamation of character against those who are speaking the truth of the Gospel and are living for the praise of the glory of God.

The leader said that “the spirit of betrayal is kin to the spirit of poverty.” This means that those who are easily led to speak against others to taint their name and to punish them for speaking and living the truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and especially seek to shine bright at the cost of the good name of those they defame, are being led by a spirit of poverty.

Said another way, in other posts I have mentioned that the system of gain of the enemy and those who serve him is through covetousness, and this covetousness happens when someone desires and goes after what belongs to another. The majority of the time these covetous people don't operate in a covert way but seek to steal by, as mentioned, accusing, slandering, and tainting the name of those they want to hurt and punish for being who they are. This is especially true of sorcerers and those who seek them and pay them money to steal from others by accusation and cursing.

The Bible states from the times of the Old Testament that covetousness is a sin, and it is greatly punished. In my studies about covetousness, in every passage in the Bible that I read about a person who coveted something God had given to another, the covetous person ended up removed with violence (except for two people who repented and of which I will discuss in another teaching). That is because, as I have taught in other posts, and the Lord is again highlighting, covetousness is not tolerated in the Kingdom and is punishable by confrontation that is followed by death, removal, casting down, or uprooting.

Exodus 20:17

“You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor’s.'” NKJV

Satan was the first example of this when he coveted God's throne and worship of Him in our hearts. The Bible says that for this reason, he was cast down (see Revelation 12:1-10).

 Isaiah 14:12-13 says,

“'How you are fallen from heaven,
O Lucifer, son of the morning!
How you are cut down to the ground,
You who weakened the nations!
13 For you have said in your heart:
‘I will ascend into heaven,
I will exalt my throne above the stars of God;
I will also sit on the mount of the congregation
On the farthest sides of the north;” NKJV

Another example is Korah, who, together with Abiram, Dathan, and On, Levites and men of renown among the camp of the Israelites, rose up against Moses and Aaron to complain that they were not the right leaders for the congregation of God's people. By this, they rebelled against their leaders appointed by God and lured 250 others to rebel with them, igniting this way, the wrath of God.

These perpetrators were called to minister to the Lord and serve the people through pastoral care (Vs. 8-11), but they were after the priesthood of Moses, not realizing that by doing this, they had gathered themselves against the Lord who had called Moses to lead His people. To their constant complaints and defiance, Moses responded in Numbers 16:15 by stating that he was not a covetous person and therefore had not taken anything that was theirs, and due to this, he had the legal right to ask God to reject their offering unto Him.

“Then Moses was very angry, and said to the Lord, 'Do not respect their offering. I have not taken one donkey from them, nor have I hurt one of them.'”

The grounds for Moses' request are found in Isaiah 61:8. God was directing His work through Moses in truth and out of the covenant He had made with him concerning his calling of leading the people of Israel safely to their destination. Thus, the injustice of the rebellion of Korah and those who rose up with him against their leaders was an attempt to rob Moses and Aaron of what God had called, chosen, and appointed them to do on behalf of His Kingdom and on behalf of His people. The Scripture says,

“For I, the Lord, love justice;
I hate robbery for burnt offering;
I will direct their work in truth,
And will make with them an everlasting covenant.” NKJV

That is why God, who is known for doing creative miracles, responded to the words of Moses, His servant, by performing exactly what he said would happen to those who rejected the Lord by rejecting the people He chose. Verses 28-32 say,

28 “And Moses said: 'By this you shall know that the Lord has sent me to do all these works, for I have not done them of my own will. 29 If these men die naturally like all men, or if they are visited by the common fate of all men, then the Lord has not sent me. 30 But if the Lord creates a new thing, and the earth opens its mouth and swallows them up with all that belongs to them, and they go down alive into the pit, then you will understand that these men have rejected the Lord.'

31 Now it came to pass, as he finished speaking all these words, that the ground split apart under them, 32 and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up, with their households and all the men with Korah, with all their goods.” NKJV

There are more examples of this crime throughout the Old and New Testaments, led by people who lived with a poverty and scarcity mentality, including leaders like Ahab and Jezebel, who stole Naboth's vineyard by defaming his character and accusing him of speaking against God and the king, and for this reason he died by stoning (1 Kings 21). But as a result of their covetousness and violence against Naboth, King Ahab was first confronted by the Prophet Elijah and later died in battle, and Queen Jezebel was thrown down from her balcony by the eunuchs who served her, at the command of Jehu, a former commander of Ahab's army, who was later anointed as king over Israel. 

Likewise, in Acts 5:1-11, there was a powerful move of the Holy Spirit, manifested in the grace for generosity among His people who were selling their lands and possessions and laying the money they received at the feet of the Apostles to ensure that no one would lack anything among the members of the early church. But Ananias and Sapphira, a husband and wife, conspired to sell a land and lie about how much money they received from the sale in order to give less. The Holy Spirit, moving through Peter to confront them for their actions, influenced by the enemy to quench the grace of generosity among God's people, sentenced them both to death within hours of each other and they died the same day. The people's giving was voluntary, and they gave according to what they had purposed. But this couple lied and died for trying to quench the move of God by coveting money and lying to keep more of it.

Covetous people who live by this wrong belief don't realize that God is a God of abundance, and He owns the earth that is also filled with abundance. For this reason, He gives us things designed and tailored only for us to fulfill His purpose and destiny for us that no one can take from us. And those who believe the lies of the enemy and think there's not enough for us and them, and also believe they have to steal what belongs to God, and He gives to us His people to steward while we do His will, are rejecting Him, as well as what He Himself designed and tailored for them.

By their actions and wrong belief, they're telling God that they reject Him and what He has for them and instead want what He gave to others. And thus, many who have this wrong mindset have actively engaged in stealing marriages, children, businesses, ministries, positions and titles, lands, souls, and much more from others who paid the price for them. And God's only response to them if they do not repent (turn away from this wrong path and mindset) before their time of grace for repentance expires (Revelation 2:21), is by confronting them, then shaking away from them what they stole from another, and then removing them from the earth because they rejected what He wanted for them. That is, their rejection and covetousness spoke to the heavenlies that they did not need to continue existing on the earth.

This is a very sober teaching about the higher ways and higher thoughts of God that many in His body and the world ignore, and for this reason, end up on the wrong side of destiny for violating many laws of the Kingdom of heaven due to their ignorance of them and their consequences, and also do it without ever repenting.

To God alone be all the glory**

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“MADURO” Time of the Ripe Fruit

 

“MADURO” Time of the Ripe Fruit

As we observe the recent events with the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, the Bible tells us in 1 Corinthians 15:46, “However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural; then the spiritual.” NASB

Having highlighted that, here's what I hear the Lord say about what is happening in the spirit. To begin, the English word for Maduro is the word “ripe.” And the Lord reminded me that one Sunday morning, as I was in prayer with a pre-service prayer group at a church, approximately in 2022, I had a vision where I saw a big tree that was being shaken, and this caused the ripe fruit fall from this tree.

Trees in the Bible usually represent individuals, like it shows in Daniel 4:10-11, 22

10 ‘'Now these were the visions in my mind as I lay on my bed: I was looking, and behold, there was a tree in the middle of the earth and its height was great.

11 The tree grew large and became strong
And its height reached to the sky,
And it was visible to the end of the whole earth.

22 “it is you, O king; for you have become great and grown strong, and your majesty has become great and reached to the sky, and your dominion to the end of the earth.” NASB

Matthew 15:13 also says, “Jesus shrugged it off. 'Every tree that wasn’t planted by my Father in heaven will be pulled up by its roots. Forget them. They are blind men leading blind men. When a blind man leads a blind man, they both end up in the ditch.'” MSG

And in the case of former President Maduro, this tree was shaken and taken away by the roots with force and fire. Now the replacement has to get ready to make the transition and take the position to rule in righteousness on behalf of God's people.

Isaiah 22:19-21

19 “And I will thrust you from your office, and from your station will you be pulled down.

20 And in that day I will call My servant, Eliakim son of Hilkiah.

21 And I will clothe him with your robe and will bind your girdle on him and will commit your authority to his hand; he shall be a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and to the house of Judah.” AMPC

Another type of tree in the Bible is the olive tree. And in order to gather the ripe olives, the tree is shaken (1). As we have learned in another post from this blog, olives are used for their oil. Biblically, the olive represents peace, prosperity, and the presence of the Holy Spirit (1). Olive oil has a wide range of uses known in the Biblical Hebrew culture, and for believers as well. Besides everyday use, it is used to anoint Kings, Priests, and Prophets. It is also used to consecrate, set apart, and purify things and also people for their holy purpose unto God, including their priesthood (2).

Biblehub.com says that “'holy anointing oil' was unique, and its composition was governed by strict instructions, emphasizing that anything touched by this oil was consecrated to the Lord.”

We have also learned that in order to get the oil, the olives need to be pressed or crushed. In the life of a believer, this represents seasons in the wilderness of testing, where they feel hard pressed with trials and warfare, that God allows to develop the anointing necessary to fulfill their calling or in certain cases, the next level of their calling for which they require a greater level of anointing. That's why this looks like shakings and chaos because it is the kind of environment necessary to pull the oil of anointing out of God's vessel.

Another reminder is that the olive oil is used for the lamps which represent our life of devotion, consecration, and close relationship with God, where we are governed by Him and exercise governance (self-control and temperance because we are set apart for a purpose that has to be guarded, and for this reason, we're not to follow the patterns of this world).

But when we forget God's requirements to be able to fulfill our callings and succumb to the

patterns of the world which keep us from walking in authority and also blinds us from the subtle traps and attacks of the enemy, then, one of the ways this shows is that we stop depending and trusting fully on our God, and this way, our lamp loses the oil necessary to keep us sharp in the things of the spirit.

As we already know, this is what happened to the foolish virgins and for this reason, they could not enter in with the groom when he finally showed up. They had lost that closeness to Him, until He finally said to them, “I don't know you.” and they were sent out to pay the price for new oil. This means that they had to go and carry their cross to get the necessary oil, with its required potency to fulfill their type of calling.

The wise virgins which decided to endure the process, no matter what, were able to go back behind the door with the groom where they could go and do great exploits with Him because they were fully known, and where the flatteries and seduction of the enemy did not sway them away from focusing on their calling and important purpose on behalf of others. To them, fulfilling their part of their covenant with their God was principal.

Daniel 11:32 says,

32 “And such as violate the covenant he shall pervert and seduce with flatteries, but the people who know their God shall prove themselves strong and shall stand firm and do exploits [for God].”

(1). Topical Bible: The Olive-Tree: Shaken when Fully Ripe

(2). What does olive oil symbolize in the Bible?

To God alone be all the glory.*

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