The Water and Fire of the Holy Spirit

Last week, some ladies expressed concern for how they will be doing when they get out of jail. It’s true to some extent that it is easier to work on one’s relationship with Elohim and obey him when you are in a structured environment than when you are on the outside. It’s also good when one is around like-minded people who love the Lord and are trying to conform their lives to Messiah as well.

As we walk out the rest of our lives, we must really learn to develop our relationship with the Holy Spirit and rely on Him for every aspect of our lives. He is our helper and counselor. He is our source of living water, and He is also our purifier/refiner. The Holy Spirit works with us to carry out the sanctification process; this process requires separating and refining.

When you think of the Holy Spirit, I want you to first think of living water – water that is flowing and fresh.

• Jeremiah 17:13 O Lord (YHVH), the hope of Israel, all who forsake you shall be put to shame; those who turn away from you shall be written in the earth, for they have forsaken YHVH, the fountain of living water.

Yeshua also mentioned living water in the New Testament.

• John 4:10-15 Yeshua told the Samaritan woman at the well “…If you knew the gift of Elohim, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.” ¹¹ The woman said to him, “Sir, you have nothing to draw water with, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? ¹² Are you greater than our father Jacob? He gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and his livestock.” ¹³ Yeshua said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, ¹⁴ but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” ¹⁵ The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water.”
• John 7:37-39 On the last day of the feast, the great day, Yeshua stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. ³⁸ Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’” ³⁹ Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Yeshua was not yet glorified. (This was a reference to what Yeshua said at the final day of the water pouring ceremony during the Feast of Tabernacles.)

Originally, this living water – the Holy Spirit – came on Yeshua’s disciples as tongues of fire, which rested on them. This was accompanied by a sound like a mighty rushing wind.  Today, we receive the indwelling Holy Spirit when we accept Yeshua as our Savior.

• Acts 2:2-4 And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. ³ And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. ⁴ And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.
• Acts 2:38-39 And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Yeshua Messiah for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. ³⁹ For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our Elohim calls to himself.”

Now, let’s shift back to an Old Testament statute. Elohim gave a law to Moses for when plunder was taken in war before it could be brought into the camp of Israel.

• Numbers 31:21-24 Then Eleazar the priest said to the men in the army who had gone to battle: “This is the statute of the law that YHVH has commanded Moses: ²² only the gold, the silver, the bronze, the iron, the tin, and the lead, ²³ everything that can stand the fire, you shall pass through the fire, and it shall be clean. Nevertheless, it shall also be purified with the water for impurity. And whatever cannot stand the fire, you shall pass through the water. ²⁴ You must wash your clothes on the seventh day, and you shall be clean. And afterward you may come into the camp.”

Most might consider this a very strange law, but many things in the Old Testament were pictures of spiritual things. These metals can represent people. Sometimes the Holy Spirit uses fire and other times uses water to cleanse us. Sometimes, we go through whatever Elohim thinks we need at any given time to further purify and refine us into His image.

• Isaiah 48:10 Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver; I have tried you in the furnace of affliction. Unfortunately, this kind of refining is sometimes necessary!!
• Jeremiah 6:27-30 “I have made you a tester of metals among my people, that you may know and test their ways. ²⁸ They are all stubbornly rebellious, going about with slanders; they are bronze and iron; all of them act corruptly. ²⁹ The bellows blow fiercely; the lead is consumed by the fire; in vain the refining goes on, for the wicked are not removed. ³⁰ Rejected silver they are called, for the Lord has rejected them.” We don’t want to be like these metals (people)!!

This refining process does not happen overnight; it takes time. Zechariah and Malachi were other Old Testament prophets who mentioned the refining of Elohim’s people.

• Zechariah 13:9 And I will put this third into the fire, and refine them as one refines silver, and test them as gold is tested. They will call upon my name, and I will answer them. I will say, ‘They are my people’; and they will say, ‘YHVH is my Elohim.’
• Malachi 3:2-4 But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears? For he is like a refiner’s fire and like fullers’ soap. ³ He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, and they will bring offerings in righteousness to the Lord. ⁴ Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to YHVH as in the days of old and as in former years.
• Ephesians 5:26-27 … that he (Messiah) might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, ²⁷ so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.

As you can see, the refiner’s fire or fullers’ soap is something Elohim uses to purify His people. The word of Elohim has the power to cleanse our minds, so we need to be reading it and picturing what’s in it each day. As you keep pushing these pictures of the Scriptures into your mind, the Holy Spirit will bring those pictures to your mind whenever they are needed. We should be constantly monitoring the thoughts of our minds, watching out for deception, guarding our five senses from the influence of the world, and putting to death the desires of the flesh. However, we are not alone in the sanctification, refining, and cleansing process. The Holy Spirit is at work in our lives too, and whenever we are faced with temptation, we need to ask the Holy Spirit to show us the way of escape. However, understand that sometimes Elohim just expects us to stand firm in our heavenly armor.

Remember, when Satan tests you, he expects you to fail, but when Elohim tests you, He expects you to pass. So, the next time you are faced with temptation, don’t give in. Do not fear it! Submit to Elohim, resist the devil, so he will flee from you. Then, rise to the occasion and pass the test! You can do it! I am encouraging you to walk in victory!!

What’s happening wherever you are right now is to prepare you for the next season of your journey on earth.

No matter where you go, it may be a challenge for you, but cling to the Lord – abide in the vine!  Ask the Lord to give you godly friends, and leave your old friends, who are not willing to change, behind. They will only be a hindrance to you in your new life. When you can, do your best to find a good body of believers to be a part of. Ask the Holy Spirit to help you develop a good support system, so that you can experience success wherever you are.

Ask Yeshua to reveal Himself to your families and friends while you are apart, and ask the Holy Spirit to be purifying/refining their hearts and yours.