Fire, Bacon Grease, and Hot Pan

When we make bacon 🥓 in my house, we reserve the fat that has been rendered. We pour it into a mason jar and use it as oil for other things, like stovetop popcorn. Good gracious, try it! 😋

One morning, I added some to a pan 🍳 to sauté some chicken sausage medallions. The fire was hot and the pan heated more quickly than I was prepared for. I saw the grease smoking in the pan. Realizing that I didn’t have the sausages ready for the fire, I moved the pan off the flame. 😳

As I made this move, I felt the Lord impress upon me, “When the fire of the Holy Spirit ignites, we better be prepared.” So what does this mean for us?

A cursory study reveals there are more than 500 references to fire in the Old and New Testaments 📖. Wow! Fire in the Old and New Testaments represented God’s presence, His holiness, His judgement, and His power 💥.

• When Moses was introduced to YAHWEH, He came as a consuming fire. 

• When the Lord’s presence spoke to Moses from the fire, He commanded Moses to remove his sandals for the place he was standing, in the presence of the Lord, was holy. 

• When the Israelites made a sacrifice, the Lord consumed it by fire. It was a pleasant aroma, holy to the Lord. 

• When the Israelites were encamped in the wilderness, the Lord’s presence was visible by fire at night. 

• When John spoke of the coming Messiah he said that Jesus would baptize us with the Holy Spirit and with fire. 

• When Paul taught the Corinthians about building the Kingdom of God, he said the Lord’s judgment on our work will be revealed through His fire. 

All of these examples become an invitation in this hour to understand that the Holy Spirit is igniting us and that what we’re building will be purified by His presence. 

Have you heard that song by Maverick City that says, "I wanna be tried by fire, purified, you take whatever you desire.  Lord, here's my life?" There are videos all over social media of people deliberately not singing those words. They (and, dare I say, we) don’t want to be tried by fire. We like our stuff, even if it’s not beneficial to the Lord. 

Funny as it may be, it points to the truth: we’re afraid of the fire.

I was afraid of the fire in my kitchen, that’s why I pulled the pan off the flame. I wasn’t ready. I wasn’t prepared. I was working on my own concept of time. In the Kingdom of God and His appointed time, I don’t have the luxury of moving the pan when the Spirit’s fire is blazing. I must be ready and willing to jump in and experience what He wants to cook up in my life. I must set what I have before Him and let him deal accordingly with me and whatever I’ve prepared in His presence. 

That’s His word to us today, it is useful and beneficial if we will hear it. He doesn’t want His people to be caught off guard or surprised by His next move. And according to 1 Corinthians 3:13, the fire will show if a person’s work has any value. 

Friend, Don’t we want our work to have Kingdom of God value? Of course we do! 

So how do we do that?  

1. Evaluate what you’re building. 

You’re building something. What is it? Even if you sit on the couch binging shows constantly, you’re contributing to a kingdom. Who runs that kingdom? 

2. Invite the Spirit to evaluate what you’re building. 

What does the Holy Spirit say about how you’re spending your time, resources, and treasure? Is it in keeping with His design and desire for your life? 

3. Let Him burn up what you’re building. 

Anything that isn’t from Him will be destroyed eventually anyway. We’re better off if He takes it now, right?

Now it’s time to sing the words from Maverick City. Bring your agreement to this process and let Him fire you up with his Kingdom purposes and plans! 

-Erin Arruda, Worthy Content Writer