I have never been more aware as I am now of the fact that we all are subject to the Fire of God without notice. Yet in these difficult times of being tried, it is possible to see the will of the flesh being quelled and swallowed up in the Refiner’s Fire for His DELIVERANCE if we relinquish all rights to self. It is only in this smoldering aftermath that we realize that the Fire we thought would destroy us actually became our salvation. This conversion from carnal thinking creates a godly expectation and a renewed HOPE. This wisdom can only be embraced as we are intimate with the God who is a Consuming Fire. Mindset transformation should be a continuum in the life of the believer. It is a fundamental part of the ONGOING PROCESS of sanctification that we must submit to and one that is a key factor in walking in the Spirit. Galatians 5:16 says: “Walk in the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.”
“When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; And through the rivers, they shall not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, nor shall the flame scorch you.” Isaiah 43:2
In the Book of Daniel, the captive Prince from Judah saw a vision of the Messiah and he wrote:
“I lifted my eyes and looked, and behold, a certain man clothed in linen, whose waist was girded with gold of Uphaz! His body was like beryl, his face like the appearance of lightning, his eyes like torches of fire, his arms and feet like burnished bronze in color, and the sound of his words like the voice of a multitude.” Daniel 10:5-6
The Apostle John wrote: “His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow; and His eyes like a flame of fire; His feet were like fine brass, as if refined in a furnace; and His voice as the sound of many waters.” Revelation 1:14-15
“And to the angel of the church in Thyatira write, ‘These things says the Son of God, who has eyes like a flame of fire, and His feet like fine brass:” Revelation 2:18
There is one thing that is certain if we are to mirror Jesus – we must have the eyes of His Spirit! My heart cry is that we “have eyes as lamps of fire” = like HIS fire = because those are the only flames that will burn the wood, hay, and stubble of every circumstance of life that presents itself for the purpose of stealing our joy and hope in the promises given to us by the Father. When this transference occurs we are assured the victory. Only when we put on Christ can we rightly discern, rightly divide, and rightly conquer the trickery and deception of the Evil One.
The importance of the health of the eye is seen throughout scripture. Matthew warns against double mindedness in chapter 6:22-32:
“The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness.”
I am convinced that is why The Faithful and True Witness prods and urges the Church even to this hour to “… anoint your eyes with eye salve that you may see.” Revelation 3:18
We so often pray: “Lord, give us eyes to see” or “Oh Lord, open the eyes of my understanding.” But until we submit to the Fire of God, our eyes will remain clouded by the limitations and restrictions of the flesh. Sadly, the penalty that this resistance brings is that we are not able to see with heaven’s perspective.
“Therefore I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. And in them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled, which says: Hearing you will hear and not understand, and seeing you shall see and not perceive; For the hearts of this people have grown dull. Their ears are hard of hearing, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, lest they should understand with their hearts and turn, so that I should heal them. But blessed are your eyes for they see, and your ears for they hear; for assuredly, I say to you that many prophets and righteous men desire to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.” Matthew 13:13-17
So we see that the eternal plans and purposes of God can only be seen as our 
eyes are touched by the Refiner’s Fire and thereby healed of the carnal contradictions that challenge the true and the real. This is the purification that must come in order for our vision to become clear and remain steadfast in the midst of great delusions. In new and old ways, our sight will continually be tested and our vision challenged. Although not positionally, the veil of the flesh experiencially remains a deadly cloak still to be reckoned with.
Paul echoes our disgust of this ever present cloak: “Oh wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from the body of this death? I thank God – through Jesus Christ our Lord!” Romans 7:24-25
It is this conversion of sight that we so desperately desire … to see as our Father sees. It is how Jesus walked. It is the model and exact replica that the Lord requires for us to walk in as we follow after Him. This converted sight enables us to correctly identify the works we are predestined to carry out. Those that were without this converted sight greatly persecuted the Lord Jesus Christ. When the Son of Man claimed the very nature of God Himself, these blind guides wanted to kill Him. Those that are blind still do.
The account of John 5:19-20 is the foreshadowing of the eyes we must have and the sight that is critical in this present hour.
“Then Jesus answered and said to them, ‘Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what he sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner. For the Father loves the Son, and shows Him all things that He Himself does; and He will show Him greater works than these, that you may marvel.”
The Fire of God must come and touch our sight so that our eyes will not believe a lie. This cleansing adjustment will rescue and deliver us from the contamination and defilement that comes from the judgment that diseased eyes in need of repair convey. With the impurities removed, we will be able to see clearly and the blessed result is that we will be able to judge righteous judgment.
I believe one of the reasons the Lord is teaching this to me so strongly in this season is because of the present situations with which many in the Body of Christ are now being confronted. We must let go of our expectations and guard against the root of bitterness that would try to take hold of our hearts to pervert its purity.
“Looking carefully lest anyone fall short of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up cause trouble, and by this many become defiled.” Hebrews 12:15
The Greek word for “looking diligently” in the King James Version is episkopeo which means to look at, inspect, examine, or pay regard to. The English definition for “diligently” is meticulously, thoroughly, carefully. When the eyes are flames of fire, then one is equipped to obey this command in the spirit in which it was given.
When our eyes have been visited by the Refiner’s Fire, then we will be prepared and outfitted to see, understand, observe, and distinguish the wiles of our enemy. It has been said many times that what you behold, you become. As we look upon and behold the fiery brilliance of the image of Christ, our eyes will become like His.
God has always sought to use the situations and the circumstances of our lives to mold and make us into the image of His dear Son. God pursues us with such passion, doesn’t He? On every corner and at every turn, He presents a fresh opportunity for us to die to our fleshly pursuits and carnal expectations in order to be converted to a new and living way. The problem is that we simply want to be changed without being tried in the fire. We should know by now that the Refiner’s Fire is a glorious tool because, if yielded to, it will bring forth the fruit of righteousness. But we still have a tendency to run from its transforming power, especially when it comes to the emotions of the heart. Yet when all is said and done, there is a voice that speaks of higher things. It agrees to let whatever can be shaken to be shaken. So whatever can be devoured by this divine Fire, let it be devoured! After submitting wholeheartedly, we can say like Esther said, “And if I perish, I perish.”
Let us, therefore, be resolutely fixed on looking diligently for the grace which is able to change any error in our present thinking or perception. Let us be persuaded that every word that the Lord has spoken concerning us shall come to pass. Let us purpose to look not on the things that are seen, but on the things that are not seen. Regardless of what the situation may look like, let us choose to be anointed with the eyes of His Fire.
This will be our deliverance. This will be our hope. This will be our ongoing process because Mark 9:49 in The Message says:
“Everyone’s going through a refining fire sooner or later…”
Written by Chris Allen
Prophetic Teacher, Limitless Realms Int’l Ministries
