172. Wala ka sa Lolo ko. For him, the Lord our God is a consuming fire, He purifies our hearts.
22 June 2021
The Lord is a consuming fire.
Exodus 24
15 When Moses went up on the mountain, the cloud covered it,
16 and the glory of the Lord settled on Mount Sinai.
17 To the Israelites the glory of the Lord looked like a consuming fire on top of the mountain.
Deuteronomy 4
24 For the Lord your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.
The Lord is God, there must be no other gods besides Him. He is a jealous God. Exodus 20:3-5
The Tablets of Stone with the Law.
The Lord said to Moses, “Come up to me on the mountain and stay here, and I will give you the tablets of stone with the law and commandments I have written for their instruction.”
Then Moses entered the cloud as he went on up the mountain. And he stayed on the mountain forty days and forty nights. Exodus 24:12, 18
While Moses was on the mountain, the Israelites cast and worshiped an idol in the shape of a calf. Exodus 32:4-8
When Moses approached the camp and saw the calf and the dancing, his anger burned and he threw the tablets out of his hands, breaking them to pieces at the foot of the mountain. Exodus 32:19
The New Stone Tablets
The Lord said to Moses, “Chisel out two stone tablets like the first ones, and I will write on them the words that were on the first tablets, which you broke. Exodus 34:1
Moses was there with the Lord forty days and forty nights without eating bread or drinking water. And he wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant—the Ten Commandments.
When Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of the covenant law in his hands, he was not aware that his face was radiant because he had spoken with the Lord. Exodus 34:28-29
From Christianity website:
"What Does it Mean That God Is a Consuming Fire?
In Hebrews, the author warns the Hebrews to worship the Lord God with reverence and awe “for our God is a consuming fire” (Hebrews 12:29).
Idolatry provokes the Lord to righteous anger, which is justified when the holiness of God is maligned. In Deuteronomy 9:3, Moses refers to the Lord as a consuming fire who would go ahead of the Israelites into the Promise Land, destroying and subduing their enemies before them.
The Holiness of God and Jesus
The holiness of God is why God is a consuming fire, for it burns up anything unholy. The holiness of God separates Him from sinful man (Isaiah 64:6).
In the death of Jesus, he has provided all the righteousness that sinners would ever need mitigating the wrath of God, exchanging His perfect righteousness for our sin (2 Corinthians 5:21)."
The Lord tests our hearts if we are idolatrous.
The consuming fire is a crucible and a furnace.
The crucible for silver and the furnace for gold,
but the Lord tests the heart. Proverbs 17:3
Job was put to the test.
But he knows the way that I take;
when he has tested me, I will come forth as gold.
My feet have closely followed his steps;
I have kept to his way without turning aside.
I have not departed from the commands of his lips;
I have treasured the words of his mouth more than my daily bread. Job 23:10-12
Job was a man whose heart proved reverent in worship and humble in prayer.
I was tested by the praise of men.
Proverbs 27
21 The crucible for silver and the furnace for gold,
but people are tested by their praise.
It's great to be considered a "self-made" man.
Helpless, that's what I did not want to experience while growing up and when I started to have my family.
I wanted to stand on my own feet.
Married and starting to have children, back then I was doing well in my job. Took a loan to build our house, the children going to private school.
Everything in life seems to be in the proper place.
Until things changed for the worst, things went upside down.
In a span of 5 years, in gaps, half of that period I was not earning. I defaulted on payment for the housing loan and the property was to be taken by the bank. The cars were gone.
I was getting crazy. The children were to start college. I was at my wit's end. I suffered severe stomach spasms due to depression and was sleepless and restless.
Cutting short, l learned to cry out for help. The Lord heard my prayer, the prayer of my heart, wordless, groaning, ungol, luha kasama ang sipon. I became a born again Christian at age 44.
That humbling experience made me affectionate of loved ones. I did not grow up expressive, yet it became so easy for me to hug Tatay and Inay, my siblings, my in-laws.
Psalm 18
Of David the servant of the Lord.
8 Smoke rose from his nostrils;
consuming fire came from his mouth,
burning coals blazed out of it.
6 In my distress I called to the Lord;
I cried to my God for help.
From his temple he heard my voice;
my cry came before him, into his ears.
30 As for God, his way is perfect:
The Lord’s word is flawless;
he shields all who take refuge in him.
31 For who is God besides the Lord?
And who is the Rock except our God?
One day my children's children will say, wala ka sa Lolo ko; for him, the Lord our God is a consuming fire, He purifies our hearts.
May you be blessed with God's Word.
Maraming salamat.
Comments
Post a Comment