Word from the Lord – The fire around you is now the fire inside you
I was in the shower when I heard the Lord speak to my heart – “the fire around you is now the fire inside of you” and immediately I was reminded of Daniel 3, where we read the story of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego.
A few verses in particular came to mind. Before we read verses 16 to 19 let me recap the story. The Babylonian king, king Nebuchadnezzar had a golden statue made and issued a decree that at the sound of musical instruments all “peoples, nations, and speakers of every language” would fall down and worship him, and that they would disobey at their own peril.
Daniel’s friends, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego refused to bow down and worship the statue of the king and of course word got out and the king confronted them. He warned them that if they continue to refuse to bow down to him, they would be burned alive. We read their reply in the verses I mention.
Listen to this…16 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to answer you on this point. 17 If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to rescue us from the furnace of blazing fire, and He will rescue us from your hand, O king. 18 But even if He does not, let it be known to you, O king, that we are not going to serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up!”
Of course, these godly young men did not bow down to worship Nebuchadnezzar and he, in a rage, commanded the fire be made seven times hotter. In fact, the fire was so hot that the men who threw them in there burned to death outside the furnace. However, when the king went to look into the furnace there were four men walking around inside the furnace but none of them were burning up! Miraculously, the only things that were burned were the ties that bound them up.
We read in verse 27 “The satraps, the prefects, the governors and the king’s counsellors gathered around them and saw that in regard to these men the fire had no effect on their bodies—their hair was not singed, their clothes were not scorched or damaged, even the smell of smoke was not on them.”
What I am going to share next applies to me, and I am sure to many reading this. I am here to give you the Word of the Lord. That fire that was sent by the enemy to consume you, had no effect, other than to burn off the ties that bound you. The fire that was around you is now the fire that is burning inside of you.
Many of us, like Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego had been in the fires of affliction because we refused to bow down and worship false gods and idols, we refused to listen to the doctrine of demons, and we refused to be bound up by man-made structures, because the Spirit of God is alive inside of us. We have been called rebellious, we have been called Jezebel, we have been called insubordinate, but I am here to tell you that while you were in the fire, God was with you. He allowed the fire to burn restrictions off you and the fire that was supposed to kill you has been the instrument the Lord used to set you free.
The demonic fire that was around you, is now a holy fire burning inside you. It’s the same fire that burned in Elijah, when he said “I will bow before no-one other than God”. My friends, being this bold, standing for truth and righteousness in a world that has gone mad, filled with people drunk on their own power, where godlessness is celebrated and evil is called good, just as the Lord has warned us, takes courage.
The Lord promises us that the righteous will be bold as lions and if we look at the example of these three young men, we too can be brave and stand our ground, because we serve the same God. Our Father is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow and He is more than able to keep us, and even prosper us amid the fiery furnace we sometimes find ourselves in.
I want to close with my favourite favourite scripture…Zephaniah 3:17
For the Lord your God is living
among you. He is a mighty Savior.
He will take delight in you with gladness. With his love, he will calm all your
fears. He will rejoice over you with joyful songs.”