Our God is A WALL OF FIRE

"And I myself will be a wall of fire around it,

declares the Lord,

and I will be its glory within."

Zechariah 2:5

My mental image of God represented by a Wall of Fire is, I suppose, forever colored by the depiction of it in the movie, The Ten Commandments. Who doesn't remember the scene when, as a Wall of Fire, God stood between His people and the ensuing Egyptian army at the Red Sea. He blocked the path of the enemy pursuing the Hebrew people. He was leading them out of bondage and into the freedom of His promised land. It's exciting to envision the great power of that Wall of Fire. It's awesome to realize that the Wall of Fire is God's Shekinah Glory . . . His outflowing radiance . . . His very presence that rises up to protect His people.

Today God is leading me out of the slavery of my past with its bondages to compulsive and emotional eating, perfectionism, depression, and SO many other issues. It is for freedom that He is setting me free. ["It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery." Galatians 5:1] He is delivering me with a mighty hand just like he did the Israelites of the exodus.

The enemy of my soul doesn't want me free and out of his control anymore than Pharaoh wanted to let the Israelites escape. The emissaries of Satan pursue me just like the Egyptian army pursued the Israelites. They want to overtake me and bring me back to slavery or see me drown in the sea ahead. But God is a Wall of Fire who stands between them and me! He will terminate the enemy's ability to ensnare me. He will defend and protect me against any evil that assails me. "You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world." I John 4:4

Numbers 16:35 records how God came out as a fire to judge the rebellious followers of Korah and purify the priesthood. ["And fire came out from the Lord and consumed the 250 men who were offering the incense."] As a Wall of Fire God can work a purifying work in me too. I want His spirit to confront and convict me over sin in my life. I want God to open my eyes to see the things in my life that displease Him. I want a genuine spirit of repentance and humility before my Savior. I pray that God as a Wall of Fire will protect me from wandering from His commands. I pray that He will burn within me as a passion for purity.

It's awesome to realize how the Shekinah glory of God appearing as a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night provided protection in the desert for His children. The cloud by day protected them from the heat of the sun-scorched desert and the pillar of fire by night protected them from the coolness and dark of the night. As my Wall of Fire, God will meet my needs of protection - whatever those needs might be.

• I pray that His fire will consume my pride and self-centeredness.
• I pray that His fire will warm my lukewarm indifference and keep me burning with a passion for Him.
• I pray that His fire will illuminate the dark recesses of my heart and expose them to His light.
• I pray that He will be a Wall of Fire that rages within me to consume anything not of Him or for Him.
• I pray that He will be a GLORY in my midst.
• I pray that He will hem me in by His Wall of Fire.

How do you need our Wall of Fire to protect you today? Why don't you ask Him to do it?