Flammable Environments

Today, God is seeking flammable environments. He’s seeking them in individual hearts, in small groups, and in churches. He’s seeking them everywhere His Spirit is present. Flammable environments are those places where His presence can break out, and where we will see the release of His transforming power. But divine flammability, like material flammability is the result of a certain order. For those who want to see a fire burn in their midst, God is calling us at this time to pay attention to the order of flammability.

Fire requires fuel, heat, oxygen and a spark. Material fuels, solids and liquids, do not burn. In order to burn, a fuel source must be heated to the point where it begins to release flammable gases. As these gases combine with oxygen they become flammable. Introduce the smallest spark, and a raging fire will begin. Interestingly, once the fire has been lit, the heat of the fire causes the fuel to release more flammable vapors. Absent a cooling effect or a lack of oxygen, the fire will grow and continue as long as fuel is available.

But there is an order to flammability. Fire will not occur unless the elements of combustion are present in the correct amount and order. Add a spark before the flammable gases are present and the fuel fails to ignite. If the fuel source is insufficiently heated, flammable vapors will not be released. If there is too little oxygen the fire will fail too.

So also with divine fire. God’s intent at this time in history is to light fires around the world that will change us and the world forever. Remember, we are the light of the world. To do this, He must first light the fire within the body of Christ.

As with a material fire, there are elements of divine fire that must be present for ignition to occur. Prayer, worship and submission are the heat that dissipates humidity (a fire retardant) and prepares the fuel for ignition. The fuel of divine fire is the hearts of His people. A singular focus on seeing the Kingdom manifest, and purity of heart will transform us into the kindling that can be easily ignited. Divine revelation and the rhema word is the oxygen of holy fire. Passion for God and holy desperation is the heat of the fire that will sustain and magnify the fire.

The Divine Order

In this time, our individual and collective focus must be on making ourselves flammable. Hearing this, some will know immediately which elements of flammability are lacking. Some of us know that we are not praying and worshipping with the intent of making our environment flammable. Some of us know that we are not in right alignment with our authorities, or that we are more concerned with the things of the world than the Kingdom of God. But of greater concern is that many of us think we are doing all the right things to create a flammable environment and we are frustrated because we are not seeing the fire. There’s a smoldering, a flare-up here or there, but no FIRE!

God says that there is an order to fire. Ask any firefighter and they will tell you that the people around a house or building that catches fire were not aware that they were in a flammable environment. The elements were there, but they were not in proper order. At some point, however, the elements came into proper order and a fire broke out.

The order of divine fire is not the order of one part humility, two parts passion, three parts worship and prayer! It is not formulaic. It is divine. Spiritually we can stack the kindling and the wood just so, open a window, and turn up the heat, but God is our match.

If we want to set a God fire, we have to bring the elements into proper order. Right now God is calling us to pay attention to our environment. Look for the murmuring that brings humidity. Look for subtle rebellion and individuality in our corporate expressions of faith that quench flammability. Examine yourself and see if your heart is ready to be the fuel for the fire.

Pay attention to order. There is an order that is expressed in the scripture that is not the way of the law, but which is the way of the ancient order that preceded the law. Here too we find the elements of the Kingdom. Look for them, and look for the ways, actions, behaviors, opinions, beliefs, values, morals, and other human expressions that are opposed to them. Are you worshipping with a heart to please God or to please the people in the audience? Are you giving your best to God to see Him transform the widow’s mite into a burning fire, or because your gift is 10% of your paycheck? Examine yourself and your environment. If you find that either is out of order do not condemn it, but address it with a spirit of edification, instruction, and encouragement. Let us be encouraged that God is waiting to set us on fire.

To the body of Christ today the divine order is subtle. To the ancients, to Paul, it would have been second nature. But to us, who are so steeped in this world, the order is not always easy to see. Ask Holy Spirit for revelation. Look for the smoldering and smoke where there is no FIRE. There you will find the place that is meant to burn, but does not have the right order.

Two Fires

In closing, let’s look at two significant fires in the Bible. In 1 Kings 18 Elijah confronts the prophets of Baal in a titanic battle of good versus evil. Determined to show the people of Israel who the one true God was, God prompts Elijah to challenge the prophets of Baal to a battle of fire. Elijah has a bull split in two. One side of the bull is set on an altar of wood for Baal and the other on an altar for Jehovah. According to Elijah’s challenge, both groups would pray and the one to answer with fire from heaven would be declared as the one true God. Despite their best, evil practices the prophets of Baal were unable to call down fire from heaven.

Elijah watched the prophets of Baal from sunup to sundown, and then at the end of the day he acted. First, he called the people to himself. Next he repaired the altar of the Lord, which was in ruins. He then dug a large trench around the altar, arranged the wood and butchered the bull. Finally, in order to put a sharp point on his demonstration, Elijah ordered the attendants to pour four large jars of water over the altar, three times in succession. The scripture says, “The water ran down around the altar and even filled the trench.” Then Elijah prayed.

Then the fire of the Lord fell and burned up the sacrifice, the wood, the stones and the soil, and also licked up the water in the trench. (1 Kings 18:38)

In response to this incredible conflagration, the people fell to the ground and cried, “the Lord, he is the God; the Lord, he is the God.” Sadly within hours Jezebel had promised to murder Elijah and the national revelation of Jehovah was a mere footnote.

A second famous fire in the Bible occurs in Acts chapter one and two. In chapter one Jesus promised that God would send the Holy Spirit to the church after he was gone. On the fortieth day after his resurrection, Jesus was taken up into heaven. The disciples returned to Jerusalem, as instructed by Jesus to wait for the Holy Spirit. For ten days they met together continuously, praying and worshipping. They also appointed a disciple to replace Judas.

So it was that on the day of Pentecost, as they were gathered together, there was the sound of rushing wind and tongues of fire came to rest on every member of the assembly. And,“all of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues.” (Acts 2:4)

At the sound of the rushing wind, Jews from all over the empire gathered around the believers. Amazement gave way to skepticism, and skepticism to derision. But Peter, sensing the moment, interpreted the words of the prophet Joel and began to explain the events of the past fifty days to them. At the conclusion of His message, the scripture tells us that 3,000 accepted his message and chose to be baptized.

While these stories are inspiring in and of themselves, God is making two particular points here. First, notice how in each story there is a process of preparation and order. Elijah called the people to attention. He restored the holiness of the place, by restoring the altar that the prophets of Baal had profaned. Finally, he arranged the fuel for the fire and prepared the sacrifice. Elijah knew God’s ways. Not just the way of the law, but the way of the ancients, and he prepared the ground for God to come.

In Acts, the disciples obeyed Jesus by returning to Jerusalem to await the outpouring of the Spirit. They gathered together, likely praying, worshipping and ministering to one another. And they restored the order of the body by replacing Judas with a new disciple. Through these steps both Elijah and the disciples prepared the environment for flammability.

But God is also showing us a second important point. The results of the fires were not the same. Elijah’s confrontation, and God’s overwhelming response was an Old Testament archetype. Elijah prepared the environment and God acted, but the people were not transformed. Ahab and Jezebel continued on in their corruption and the people followed blindly after them. Why? Despite Elijah’s many power encounters with the Lord, the people of the time were hemmed in by the law and a lack of revelation. It was not yet time, and their hearts were not yet prepared. The only heart that longed to see God break out was Elijah’s. And so the fire that began on Mt. Carmel went out as quickly as it came.

Notice the difference with the dispensation of the Holy Spirit in Acts 2. The disciples prepared the environment, and their hearts burned to see the comforter that their master had promised to send. Having walked with Jesus, having received from him His authority, having been birthed in faith unto power, the people who knew God were prepared to respond. This time when the rushing wind and the fire appeared, it started a fire that continues to burn even today.

Today, God is looking for flammable environments. He’s looking for people, groups and churches that are ready to burn and that can sustain the fire. Right now is a critical time for the body of Christ and the world. To ignite the all consuming fire that will transform us and the world, there is a divine order that must be manifested. As with Elijah and the disciples we must do our part to create that order. It will not be created by a formula or by some hyper-legalistic examination of the scriptures. It will manifest in the people, groups and churches that have prepared their hearts, which have listened for His instructions, which are dedicated to the order of flammability.

Ultimately, fires occur where and when God directs. But it is up to us what the effect of that fire will be once it breaks out. Will we be an eternal flame or a momentary blow torch?