The Fire That Makes You Unshakable
Why Fully Consumed Will Stand in the Coming Tribulation
Purpose: The purpose of this teaching is to reveal that holiness is the requirement to stand before God, and holiness is only achieved through the refining fire of God1. Just as impurities kept people from entering the temple in the Old Testament, sin, self-will, and worldliness keep believers from experiencing the fullness of God today.
"Who may ascend the mountain of the Lord? Who may stand in his holy place? The one who has clean hands and a pure heart." (Psalm 24:3-4)
By the end of this teaching, you will understand:
That holiness is not just avoiding sin, holiness is when our will becomes fully compatible with God’s will.
Only those who willingly submit to God’s refining fire, allowing Him to burn away everything that is not of Him, will be able to stand in the midst of trials and tribulation without fear.
The refining fire is not an option; it is the only way to become unshakable when real tribulation comes.2
God is calling you to ascend His holy mountain. The only question is—will you allow the fire to prepare you for it?
Question: Be honest—how did you endure the last trial, the Covid era? If another assault on religious freedom, personal choice, or speech arises—and it will—what condition are you in that could cause you to surrender your will to man?3
The fiery trials of life will come. Some will crumble in fear. Others will compromise under pressure. But those who have already been refined through surrender and obedience to the Heavenly Father will stand unshaken.
When someone cuts you off in traffic or slams a shopping cart into your heel, do ungodly and colorful words leave your mouth? How do you handle the everyday temptations that test your patience, self-control, and faith?
These small moments reveal what still needs refining in us. If these things can still shake you, frustrate you, or pull you into sin, then there’s still fuel left for the fire.
The good news? God wants to take these things from you—and I’m sure you do too.
Elements of a Devouring Fire
In the natural world, fire requires three key components to burn intensely: fuel, oxygen, and heat. When all three are present in the right proportions, the fire burns hot enough to consume everything in its path. The same principles apply to the refining fire of God in a believer’s life. Only those who willingly submit to God’s refining fire, allowing Him to burn away everything that is not of Him, will be able to stand in the midst of trials and tribulation without fear.
Fuel - The Sacrifice Placed on the Altar
"Present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship." Romans 12:1
In a physical fire, fuel is the material that burns—wood, paper, or anything combustible. Without fuel, fire has nothing to consume. In our spiritual lives, what is the fuel that can burn well in God’s holy fire? Answer: The beam in the eye that Jesus refers to in Matthew 7:3-5.
The beam (Greek: δοκός, dokos) represents a major fault, sin, or blind spot in ourselves that we fail to see while easily spotting smaller faults in others (the speck in their eye). Here are some of those beams that are Fuel for Fire:
Self-Will & Pride - It is our pride, self-righteousness, and assumptions about others. Driven by desires, not obedient, struggles with patience, disregards correction, looks down on others, believes "I know best", defends self at all costs.
Blindness & Deception - It represents self-justification, excuses, and avoiding deep transformation. Rejects truth when it is revealed, fails to recognize God's voice, overconfident in personal wisdom, calls evil good and good evil, follows human doctrines over God's will, loses sight of holiness.
Sin & Fleshly Desires - Our fleshly desires, self-will, and disobedience obstruct our ability to see and respond to God's will clearly. Seeks instant gratification, feeds pride and self-will, driven by worldly pursuits.
Many misunderstand what sin truly is. Sin is not merely breaking a set of rules—it is living outside of God’s revealed will. As Romans 14:23 states: 'Whatever does not proceed from faith is sin.' Sin is not just wrong actions; it is a heart that resists trusting and obeying the divine will of God.
What is faith? I will give you an understanding that is not your normal faith teaching that tickles the ears. Faith itself comes from hearing and obeying God's voice (rhema): "Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word (Rhema) of God." (Romans 10:17)
Abraham’s faith was not belief alone—it was hearing God’s call and acting on it.
Faith requires obedience—without obedience, there is no faith.
Faith without works is dead (James 2:26) because true faith is not passive belief but obedient action. Faith does not exist apart from obedience, for even demons believe in God but do not obey Him (James 2:19). Faith comes by hearing the Rhema of God (Romans 10:17) and is proven by walking in His divine will. Without works, faith is an empty confession. Real faith is demonstrated by submission to the Logos—God’s will—through obedience to His voice.4.
Sin is the failure to hear and obey God’s voice—His commandments. It is not just about committing wrong actions; it is living apart from His divine guidance. This aligns with Jesus’ teaching in John 5:19, where He only did what He saw the Father doing. Anything else would have been outside of faith, for faith is hearing and obeying the Father's will. Jesus set the example for us, as we have the same Spirit within us that He did.
This is elementary “milk” teaching, but it has been misrepresented by man’s doctrines, leading to endless debates over faith, works, and commandments. In reality, if your walk consists of hearing and acting on God’s instruction, you will automatically live in obedience to all His commandments—just as Jesus did.
Jesus completed the commandments because He lived in perfect obedience to the Father. His obedience naturally resulted in following all of God’s laws, not because He was simply following rules, but because He was fully aligned with the Father's will and acted according to His divine guidance.
Matthew 5:17 – "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill (complete) them."
Jesus "fulfilled" the law not by removing it, but by living in perfect obedience to God's will, thus embodying its true purpose.
Jesus did not set out to ‘keep the commandments’ as a checklist of rules. Instead, He lived in complete obedience to the Father, and because of that, His actions naturally aligned with God’s laws. His fulfillment of the commandments was not legalistic but flowed from an intimate, continuous relationship with the Father, where He only did what He saw the Father doing (John 5:19).
True righteousness, then, is not about rigid law-keeping but about hearing and obeying God’s will.
However, this is where all the divisions, interpretations of scripture, and endless theological debates arise. The inability of people to submit and conform their will to God’s will. Instead of yielding to God's guidance, they create systems of belief to justify their own reasoning. The result; we emulsify our will. (see the explanation in From Separation to Union.)
Note: Take time to seriously dwell on what was just said. Consider how applying this mindset would radically transform your life. Imagine hearing God's voice 24/7 in everything you do and say, and actually walking it out in full obedience.
Is it possible? Yes. But only after a lot of garbage is thrown onto the altar to be consumed.
Now that we have a foundational understanding, let’s get ready for a good sacrifice.
Fuel - We have now established that your will and desires are the combustible waste to be consumed on the holy alter of sacrifice. You have a number of beams that have to be removed and you can’t do that yourself. It is impossible for man to remove the ungodly waste in order to achieve the holiness required to receive and contain His power and Glory ( Prophetic Word - 2002) "For our God is a consuming fire." (Hebrews 12:29)
When God burns away something in our lives, it is meant to be permanent.
True surrender means there is nothing left to consume.
Those who have been through God’s fire once are not easily shaken again.
Oxygen – The Breath of the Holy Spirit. The air that feeds and sustains the fire.
"The Spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty gives me life."
—Job 33:4
Fire needs oxygen to burn. Without oxygen, it suffocates and dies. Spiritually, the oxygen is the presence and power of the Holy Spirit. Without Him, our faith suffocates, and the fire dwindles. The Holy Spirit is the divine breath that fans the flames, intensifies the heat, and keeps us ablaze for God.
The more space we give the Spirit in our lives, the hotter the fire burns.
The Holy Spirit fans the flames, making the fire burn hotter and stronger.
Without Him, our refining process suffocates—we lack power, conviction, and revelation.
The more space we give to the Holy Spirit, the more intense the fire burns, purging everything that does not belong.
A fully surrendered life is like a wildfire—consumed by God, fueled by the constant breath of the Spirit.
How do you increase the oxygen (Holy Spirit) in your life
Develop a deep relationship with the Holy Spirit through prayer and worship.
Remove anything that quenches the Spirit (sin, pride, self-reliance).
Stay in an atmosphere of faith and obedience, where the Spirit can move freely.
The refining fire is not just about burning away the old—it is about being fueled by the breath of God, so the fire never dies out.
Heat – The Trials That Intensify the Fire. The ignition source that starts and intensifies the fire.
"In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ."
—1 Peter 1:6-7
Heat is what ignites the fire and intensifies its strength. In our spiritual journey, heat represents trials, suffering, and challenges that God allows to purify us. Without heat, fuel and oxygen remain dormant. It is the pressure of trials that activates the refining fire.
The hotter the trial, the purer the faith—more is consumed.
Author’s Testimony:
My friend and I had one desire: to know more of our Father. We longed to see the power of the original Acts church come alive again. Deep down, we instinctively knew this kind of faith came with a cost, so we made a commitment that no matter the price, we would endure.
We prayed for God’s refining fire to burn away everything in us that was not of Him—we called it a ‘baptism or fire’. We offered our lives as a sacrifice, vowing that no matter what, we would continue to honor Him.
God heard that prayer—and He quickly struck a match.
As time passed, the logs of impurities kept piling onto the fire, and the flames grew hotter. Eventually, we found ourselves in an inferno, where the only thing keeping us steady was each other. Every day, we would compare notes, sharing what had happened, laughing, crying, and encouraging one another as the fire raged on.
Then, we were both isolated, separated so that the refining could go even deeper. The heat became severe.
Yet, we continued. We stopped fighting the fire. Instead, we embraced it. We let it consume everything that needed to go.
The fire lasted approximately seven years—and in the end, it produced obedience, faith refined like gold, unwavering discernment, and a will fully surrendered to God.
Therein lies the problem: people bail as soon as the heat comes. When the fire intensifies, they either curse God or, worse, turn away from Him completely.
Take a simple example: someone prays for patience (we’ve all done it), and suddenly, challenges arise that demand patience. Instead of embracing the refining process, many quickly learn not to pray for patience again, they avoid the heat, choosing comfort over growth.
What’s interesting about this is that you have a degree of participation, you choose whether to engage or retreat. While God does not allow you to be tempted beyond what you can resist (1 Corinthians 10:13), He does allow trials that push you beyond your own strength; not to destroy you, but to teach you to rely fully on Him (2 Corinthians 1:8-9).
Trials will come, and at times they will feel unbearable, but they are not meant to break you, only to refine you. Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers them from them all (Psalm 34:19).
What we prayed for is not recommended—it’s better to start with smaller bites. Focus on things like anger, impatience, gossip, envy, or even habits like speeding—whatever needs refining. You can ask, and He will provide the fire necessary to burn it away. Then, embrace and endure the heat that will come your way, and rejoice when you see it’s fruit.
But understand this: The fire isn’t about learning small virtues; it’s about being forged into something unshakable. The goal is not just to be more patient or less envious, but to be transformed into a vessel that cannot be shaken, fully surrendered to God's will.
Be sure to read From Separation to Union, if you have not already. It goes into detail, using an analogy, about why the fire is necessary and what happens when you try to make your will conform. Many doctrines have been created to avoid this process.
Summary
"Willingly submit": This means the person chooses to surrender to God's refining process instead of resisting it.
"God’s refining fire": This refers to the spiritual purification process where God removes self-will, sin, fear, and anything that keeps us from holiness.
"Burn away everything that is not of Him": This means allowing God to remove anything in us that is contrary to His will—worldly desires, unbelief, pride, disobedience, etc.
"Stand in the midst of trials and tribulation without fear": When a believer has already been refined and purified, there is nothing left in them that can be shaken, destroyed, or consumed by the coming fire of persecution and suffering.
What are you waiting for? It only takes a prayer to begin. Simply say:
'Lord, I am willing to pursue and endure the fire You have for me in (name the area you want gone) because I desire to be fully refined for You.'
When you pray this with sincerity, you are inviting God’s refining fire to consume what is holding you back. The question is, will you trust Him enough to step into it?
Hebrews 12:14 – "Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord."
Matthew 5:8 – "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God."
Psalm 24:3-4 – "Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord? And who shall stand in His holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart."
Malachi 3:2-3 – "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. 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."
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."
1 Peter 1:6-7 – "Though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ."
Daniel 12:10 – "Many shall purify themselves and make themselves white and be refined, but the wicked shall act wickedly. And none of the wicked shall understand, but those who are wise shall understand."
Revelation 3:18 – "I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined by fire so that you may be rich."
Matthew 24:9-13 – "Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death… But the one who endures to the end will be saved."
Logos: Is the divine reasoning, will, and creative thought of God.
It is the underlying intellect, purpose, and order through which God plans, enacts, and sustains reality.
The Logos is not a separate person from God but is the very will and intent of God expressed in action.
It is through the Logos that God reveals Himself, directs His people, and brings His purposes into being.
Good. Your process sounds like what my wife and I experienced many times in trials large and small over four decades or so. He does take us seriously when we offer ourselves.