Beware of Strange Fire

John 15:7
7 “If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.”

We are promised the opportunity to ask for whatever we desire based on God’s Word, and it shall be done. However, we can’t approach the throne of grace casually or anyhow; when we come to the Father’s presence, our actions and words must reflect reverence for God and acknowledge His holiness. The Father heard Jesus’ prayers because of His deep reverence for Him.

Hebrews 5:7 (NLT)
7 “While Jesus was on earth, he offered prayers and pleadings, with a loud cry and tears, to the one who could rescue him from death. And God heard his prayers because of his deep reverence for God.”

In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus bowed and fell on His face, crying out to the Father all because of the deep reverence He had for God. Regrettably, some Christians come before God displaying irreverence, unaware that they stand before a holy God.

Under the law, God commanded the priests to burn incense, which symbolized the prayer of the saints with fire from the brazen altar; any other fire was considered strange or profane. Unfortunately, Nadab and Abihu offered strange fire before the Lord.

Leviticus 10:1-3 (AMPC)
“Nadab and Abihu… offered strange and unholy fire before the Lord, as He had not commanded them… fire came forth… and killed them. Then Moses said to Aaron, ‘I [and My will, not their own] will be acknowledged as hallowed by those who come near Me.'”

We must regard God and His will as holy, not our will or what appeals to us when we approach Him. And we must honour or glorify the Father before all men in His presence.

Understand that the law was a shadow of the realities to come.  Under the New Covenant, the Holy Spirit is the fire from the altar that makes our prayers fervent – hot and glowing – to ascend as a sweet smelling aroma before the Father.

Again, as we pray in the Spirit, we can be watchful or stay alert – put our spiritual antennae on – to pick the promptings and leadings of the Spirit so that we can intercede for others – Ephesians 6:18.

The will or the power of the flesh is a strange fire. Our aggressiveness and violence, which originate from us and not God or commanded by Him, are all strange fire.

Let this passage guide us as we approach the Father in all Christian disciplines and services:

Hebrews 12:28-29
“Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear.29 For our God is a consuming fire.”

God, a loving and merciful Father, is also a Consuming Fire. To experience His power and glory, we must serve and worship Him with reverence and godly fear.

God’s servant: Peter Collins Obeng
Grace Covenant Glory