REVEALED IN FIRE

The devastating fires in Los Angeles and California have deeply impacted many hearts around the globe. Let’s keep on praying for everyone affected, especially those who’ve lost their loved ones, their homes or have been displaced by these tragic events.

In 2017 we also had to evacuate from our home with a wildfire driven by a very strong wind, so I can relate how devastating and frightening wildfires can be. It is a totally helpless feeling, and it can be very overwhelming. Just the idea of leaving your home, grabbing what you can, getting the kids and the pets in the car with just a few belongings and run for your life, is a very scary thought. Trust me, if you are saved or standing in an intimate relationship with Yahweh, a devastating wildfire can rock your boat too!

While I was watching the reports and feedback videos of the fires and how it affected communities that lost their homes, shops, schools and churches the Scripture came into my heart of 1 Corinthians 3. In this chapter Paul was pointing to building material we are using to build on the correct Foundation. Just as we learned in a blog post earlier about rebuilding and restoring, we need to go back to the original Foundation. Also, in this chapter Paul put the spotlight on the works of each which will BE REVEALED by fire and the fire will prove the work of each person.

“For no one is able to lay any other foundation beside the One having been laid, who is Yahshua Messiah. And if anyone builds on this Foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, grass or straw, the work of each will be revealed; for the Day will make it known, because it is REVEALED IN FIRE; and the fire will prove the work of each, what sort it is.” (1 Corinthians 3:11-13)

WHICH GOD?

Just 48 hours after the Golden Globe awards in Hollywood, this happened. There are a few videos on YouTube regarding these two events and the concerns were raised about Hollywood mocking “god” and blasphemy Him. One thing that I am very glad about is that Yahweh concealed His true name from many people. By using the word “god” can also mean “any god”, it all depends on who is your god and who are you worshipping because there are millions of gods. Even when Moses came to Pharaoh and said God sent him, Pharaoh asked “which god is sending you?”

“And Elohim said to Moses, EHYAH ASHER EHYAH (I AM THAT I AM); and He said, ‘You shall say this to the sons of Israel, EHYAH (I AM) has sent me to you’. And Elohim said to Moses again, ‘You shall say to the sons of Israel, YAHWEH, the Elohe of your fathers the Elohe of Abraham, the Elohe of Isaac, and the Elohe of Jacob, has sent me to you. This IS MY NAME FOREVER AND THIS IS HOW I SOULD BE REMEMBERED FROM GENERATION TO GENERATION.'”

SODOM AND GAMORRAH

Sodom and Gomorrah were ancient cities of Syria located in the plain of Jordan. In Genesis 19 we read the cities were destroyed by fire from heaven in the time of Abraham and Lot. The sin of sodomy was an offence against nature frequently connected with idolatrous practices. Yahweh did not just destroy the cities; the fires in Sodom and Gomorrah also destroyed every living soul in the cities.

Natural disasters do happen everywhere to good and bad people. But by the grace of Yahweh there are many testimonies of sudden rain started falling during a wildfire or the direction of the wind changes all of a sudden. But in the case of the wildfires last week, the wind got stronger, and the air was drying out and no rain fell.

Does everything happen in Yahweh’s will?

Yes, it does. Yahweh allows bad things for good reasons. He is the Creator Elohim that knows the future and can give life and take life. Nothing that happened, is busy happening or is still going to happen, is a surprise for Him. The key is that we need to learn from every situation.

The thing that strikes me the most is the people idolising their homes and everything in it. I think the most revealing is that they realise without it, they are nothing. It is their identity. Where they live, in what house they live, in what Neiborhood they lived, what furniture they had, what view they had and with what car they drove. With that lost in the fires, you can see that they build their houses with “grass, straw and wood” and not even on the One Foundation they needed to build on.

WHO ARE YOU WHEN YOU HAVE NOTHING?

Our identity is not in a structure called “home”, a Neiborhood or the fancy car we are driving in. Our identity is not our bank balance and about the furniture in our house. Our identity is in Yahweh and His Son Yahshua. The rest does not count. Not one earthly treasure. Because if Yahweh’s consuming fire comes and burn everything, what do we have left? Who are we then, where is our identity and what do we have that is important for Him?

Our home is not here. We are temporarily residents of this planet. Our home is in Yahweh’s Kingdom and Yahshua Himself said, He left us here for a short while, because He is going to His Father’s house to prepare something for us. Yahshua didn’t even had His own house while He was flesh on earth, but we are grateful for His provision and for granting temporarily houses for us in the meanwhile. It is a privilege, but it will never be our idols, because our identity is in Yahshua our Messiah.