I have experienced being “white-hot” several times in my life as most of us have.  The times I have valued the most were a sustained heat that comes through the direct connection with the creator of the universe for a prolonged period.  “Being in the Zone” as it were; those moments are often characterized as “life changing.”  I have experienced these life changing experiences as a death to self and a birth of new spirituality.  I have also come to realize that with these experiences there is pain.

Spiritual pain is God doing surgery on our heart.  Or in keeping with the analogy in the Ignite series, God is like a silversmith assaying silver by fire in order to remove the impurities.  A silversmith will bring the silver to a white-hot liquid temperature.   Through the use of special techniques the silversmith is able to burn off impurities and collect undesired residue at the top of the glowing pool of silver.  It is in the extreme white-hot state that the silversmith is then able to separate and remove the impurities.

In a similar way God will get us white-hot in order to remove impurities from his children.  When we are filled with the white-hot energy of God’s love and power we will often see our sinful nature in raw, unavoidable, naked truth and we are naturally ashamed. 

If I am honest with myself I have to admit that this shame is one of the root causes that prevents me from seeking the white-hot state of being a fully devoted follower.  There are many forms that this takes, but in the end it is avoidance.

Yet our God is a God of love and infinite wisdom.  He understands us better than we do ourselves.  I have recently rediscovered Psalm 139, and the Lord has been using it to ignite a passion for white-hot life change.

For today’s devotional I ask that each of you take a moment to reflect on the sustained white-hot times of your life and think of the times when you felt very close to God and were very uncomfortable.  What was God working on in your spirit?  Looking back can you see the change?  Where do you think you would have been without having gone through that experience?

Next, quiet your spirit and read Psalm 139.  Pay particular attention to the passages where you ask God to examine your heart.  Slowdown and perhaps read the passage aloud.  Journal the experience and make a note to return to this point in a few months.

I have found that God always answers a sincere “search me, show me” prayer.  I will not promise that the experience will be pleasant, quite the opposite; however it is always worth it when you emerge on the other end.

~ Gerry Evenwel III

This entry was posted on Wednesday, September 12th, 2007 at 9:14 am and is filed under Week 4: Ravaged by a Holy Fire. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.