As With Fire

The fire takes you higher...makes you shine brighter...cleanses your world...and makes you glorious.
Jesus baptizes you with it and you come out more fully reflecting the spirit and work of the Creator, an image...a masterpiece bearing His mark.

---
The fire of God is never punitive, its for purification. The fire we walk through is to make us a better person - Debye Swilley

I was going to put the following as a comment but it seemed to go pretty well here, tied in with the word above about God's fire and purification.  This post is from friend and pastor Robert Rutherford:
-----A Baptist Sniper saw me reading my Bible at Waffle House and assumed I wanted to engage in conversation. His opening statement was, " Its SAD!" I continued reading and TRIED to ignore him.... Eventually, I felt BAD enough so I said, " what?... What's sad?"


He: " to think that most everybody in this place is headed straight for H-E-DOUBLE-L!!!"

All I had was a butter-knife, so I couldn't STAB him.... I suggested to him that GOD is the consuming fire.... That we ALL go through our OWN Hell and that the fire has a PURPOSE other than to give a monstrous deity pleasure... That it, FIRE (pur in the Greek)

PURIFIES us.... that it is, in fact a SPIRITUAL fire. This REALLY SET HIM OFF!!! He, it turns out, is a LITERALIST. he believes the Bible is Literal. Dear Lord. I told him to describe Hell. He: " IT'S A PLACE OF DARKNESS WHERE THE LAKE OF FIRE BURNS HOTTER THAN ANY OTHER FIRE! IT'S LIKE LAVA!!!"

I told him that, my limited experience with fire had proven it to be LIGHT-PRODUCING!!!

this BAFFLED him, temporarily but, ignorance won out, he recovered and continued!

He: " IT IS A PLACE WHERE LITERAL DEMONS CHEW ON YOU AND YOU FEEL LITERAL PAIN!!!! THE WORSTEST PAIN IN THE WORLD!!!!". ????????? Go figure....

So I decided to help him SEE the stupidity of his LITERAL HELL theory. I wanted to bless him. So, I asked him if he knew anyone who was IN hell. He: " YESSIREE!!!! My sorry brother-in-law! He was a goodfernuthin ALKYHOLLIC and he DEFINITELY went to HELL!!!"

so I asked him if they had a funeral. He said,

"Yes!". I asked if they buried him or cremated him. He: " OH NO!!! WE DON'T BELIEVE IN CREMATION!!! THATS'S TOO CLOSE TO YOU KNOW WHAT!!!!" ( as he points at the floor I glance at the cooks butcher knife... too far! ) "we BURIED him at the cemetery in BOWDEN. HE got a REAL nice plot... RIGHT UNDER a SHADE TREE!!!" ( this should help cool him down?!?!?) so I asked if I could pay someone to dig him up! He looked horrified! He: " Whyyyyy???" Me: " To PROVE to you that he is THERE and, NOT IN HELL!"

He: ( shakes his head at MY ignorance. Looks at all of the eavesdropping customers and waitresses for support )" Of COURSE his BODY is in the Cemetery!!!! His SPIRIT is in H-E-DOUBLE-L!!!"

Me: " so... It takes a LITERAL FIRE... to burn up SPIRITS?!?!?!?!?"

he looked for a butter knife... Slid off the seat... Said, " IM DONE WITH YOU AND SO IS THE LORD!!!!" and left. I hope he thought about it later... But, I'm pretty sure he didn't! Religion is as stubborn as it is stupid!!!! I bet Father let's his brother-in-law greet him when he walks through those " PEARLY GATES" on the other side!!! 8-)