Word for the day: "Consuming Fire"

Hebrews 12:28 (KJV) Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear: 29 For our God is a consuming fire.In this physical world fire can be our friend or our foe. Fire can bring us comfort or tragedy. It is the same in the spiritual realm. This startling description of God as a “consuming fire” is found in both the Old and New Testaments of the Bible, the Word of God. When Moses exhorted the children of Israel to be obedient to the Word of God, he said to them, (Deuteronomy 4:24) “The Lord thy God is a consuming fire, God even guided the Israelites through the wilderness at night by a pillar of fire (Exodus 13:21)In the New Testament, the writer to the Hebrews, (12:29) quoted Deuteronomy 4:24 and said, “Our God is a consuming fire”. Most people do not think of God in this way. It is preferable to think of God as a loving and kind God, which He is. But, God is also a “consuming fire”. This description of God, as a consuming fire, is a description of His very nature. “Consuming fire” is God’s holiness manifested in judgment.God’s glory, God’s holiness is likened to a devouring fire in, (Exodus 24:16, 17) “The glory of the Lord abode upon Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it six days: and the seventh day He called unto Moses out of the midst of the cloud. And the sight of the glory of the Lord was like a devouring fire on the top of the mount in the eyes of the children of Israel”. God’s judgment is described as a consuming fire to destroy Israel’s enemies in the Promised Land. Today’s word just informs us that every person must decide for themselves whether the Lord will be a guiding light or consuming fire in in their life.Elder Baker