Word Like Fire | Original Painting

This painting was initially a sketch and I loved the way the fire came off of the pages with the same parallel twisting lines, so much so that I decided to paint it!

Although this piece was not inspired by a verse I came across one while reading the other day that fits it perfectly:

“Is not my word like fire, declares the Lord, and like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces?” ~ Jeremiah 23:29

What could this mean, that God’s Word is a Fire?

There is power in God’s word, like a hot fire, which purifies gold! Power like a chisel to break over the caverns of our hearts and mine the jewels!

This is not a burning book, rather the fire as a symbol of life and passion, as Spirit coming from the book. 

Not that the book is the source of such a Spirit, for the Bible indeed is not God in and of itself, nor do we worship a book.

Rather when the psalmist says, “I love your Word” he is saying he loves the One who gave the words and how those words guide him! 

I do find the words in the Bible to be living, such as the verse goes:

“For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” ~ Hebrews 4:12

I find so much encouragement in God’s Word!

I wanted to create this image as a reminder to get in the Word!. At this point in my life I don't need to be reminded to get into Word because I look forward to it so much! I honestly can't wait to read when I wake up in the morning. However this was not always the case, and so perhaps there will be a time in my life when I also need this reminder.

I know that when I got out of the habit of reading the Bible for a few years, my life started to fall completely apart, and as soon as I got back in the Word, was just as soon as it started coming back together again!

Fire can be a symbol of purification, such as when refining gold. Fire burns away all the debris so that the true life can come through. That is what the word of God does in our hearts! It's called “conviction” of the Spirit, such as conscience. This often happens when reading the Bible. Sometimes our soul gets desensitized to the evils of the world, hearing from God helps wake us up again to what righteousness and goodness really looks like!

Listen to this episode of my new podcast if you're interested in hearing more about how to read the Bible. I do mention a little bit about conviction in the episode. There’s also a lot of other points that you may not have heard of before too. So I encourage you to give it a listen if you’re at all curious.

The spirit of God is often referred to in the Bible as a FIRE, as well as many other elements such as water. A fire is so prominent through many of the texts and is a picture of God being able to be revealed to us. Such as the light from a fiery candle reveals what we cannot see in the dark. This is something I firmly believe in, that one is able to “see” God more clearly through the living words of the Bible. 

At one point in my life, I thought that was quite close-minded. Yet after “opening up my mind” and getting myself into spiritual confusion, I am returning to the foundational truth I have always known, that inside of the words of scripture there is trustworthy guidance. 

I have come to understand a lot about spiritual matters over the years and some have been less than fun lessons. I still don’t know it all and sometimes I wish I didn’t know as much as I do. Either way, I'm not just believing the Bible because I am looking for something to tell me how to think or what to think, rather I look to the Bible because I see the transformation it has caused in my own heart and mind. I have real life experience, proof for myself, no need to prove to others. 

I used to be afraid of what people would think of me, I may still come across as over-explaining-myself. But I see the value in touching on questions and contradictions that could be arising in your mind, such as they have in my own mind from time to time. 

Over the years at times, it was quite hard to pick up the Bible, namely because I felt conviction and I was pushing against it, chalking it up to disbelief, thinking “surely this stuff isn’t real?”

When conviction of our conscience comes into play it’s easy to see why many would not want to read the words of God, lest they have to take a good hard look at themselves. Only those who are ready and will take the time to self-reflect.

And so, anyone at any stage of their spiritual walk can pick up the Bible and start reading, even if they don’t believe it, then they can judge for themselves whether it is living and breathing life into their soul. In fact, a lot of Christians don’t even read the Bible which is a huge contributing factor to the hypocrisy that turns so many people away from such beliefs, thinking, “they treat me worse than others, how are they any better? Why would I want to model after them, they have no more love than the next person? 

Many people regardless of religion or belief system do just want to be told what to think and what to do. Yet many go on the challenging journey of asking the hard questions and sorting through their faith or the faith that seems to be failing.

And so, God’s word is like a fire in that it lights up our dark ways, revealing areas that need our attention. Lighting the path towards God Himself. Burning away the dross from golden life of pure love.

Listen to this episode of my new podcast if you're interested in hearing more about how to read the Bible.