Purging Fire of Love

This week as I was meditating on a part of Psalm 50 (verse 3)- while at the same time meditating on the words of Jesus in the Gospel of John (chapter 14) - the Holy Spirit gave me a prayer that blended the two portions together.

There is a phrase in John 14:30 that has inspired an ongoing prayer for myself for many years:

"...the ruler of this world is coming. He has no claim on me..."

The Amplified Bible says it this way: "...he has no claim on Me. (He has nothing in common with Me; there is nothing in Me that belongs to him, and he has no power over Me.)"

What a wonderful testimony to be able to give, and my desire is that the work and power of the Spirit to purge and heal me will result in this reality being increasingly true of me, to whatever degree possible in this life.

So as I was pondering Psalm 50 alongside that statement of Jesus in John 14, the Spirit quickened verse 3:

"Our God comes and does not keep silence; a fire devours before Him, and round about Him a mighty tempest rages.""

It is the devouring fire that goes before Him that burns up all that is in common with the enemy of my soul and that purges all in me that still belongs to the enemy's ways; as I draw near to this "Devouring Fire" and "Mighty Tempest", He will aggressively go after that which is not of His kingdom and heart and ways. In the presence of this One, I find out how much He loves me and under the empowerment of that unrelenting love, I obey the little things He asks of me. Little by little, my loving response of obedience cooperates with the devouring fire that He is, and those areas that either subtly or blatantly are aligned with the world, the flesh, and the devil are being consumed and blown away.

Holy Spirit, come and draw us to the Father's burning heart; strengthen us to wait before this consuming, devouring Fire and give us a holy determination to obey whatever He says to us. You alone can see and burn up that which is not of the life of Jesus - may we increasingly be able to say with Him and in Him:

"He has no claim on Me."