Our God is a loving god. However, he is also God, and his ways are higher than ours. There are times he needs to exert his might so that humanity will remember that he is God. His FURNACE of creation breathed the breath of life into the world, and its powers have not grown cold with the millennia.
Let’s look at our FURNACE God:
F – He is the FURNACE that burns away every bad thing.
In Genesis 15:13-21 God spoke to Abram of all the glories he would heap upon Abram’s descendants. First, however, God clarified that the gifts would only come after his people were cleansed in the FURNACE of his tribulation.
U – He is the one who UNDERTAKES that which we cannot do.
Isaiah described his desperate measures to bring his life into line with God’s will, yet in Isaiah 38:14, he admitted he could do nothing on his own. He pleaded with God to UNDERTAKE what he could not.
R – He is the RAM that intercedes for us.
Abraham, the patriarch of three religions, was put to the ultimate test by God. Would he give everything to the Lord, including his most precious possession, his son, Isaac? Even as he lifted the knife to perform the ultimate sacrifice, Genesis 22:13 tells us Abraham lifted his eyes to find a RAM caught by its horns in a thicket. Salvation had come to give life to the condemned.
N – Out of his NOSTRILS flow the winds of creation.
The Israelites fled the Egyptian armies. They were trapped by the Red sea. However, Exodus 15:8 paints a message of salvation, for with a blast of God’s NOSTRILS, the waters were gathered, and the heart of the sea was dry land.
A – He AVENGES those who rise up against us.
Saul, once David’s supporter, eventually became his sworn enemy. However, even when the opportunity arose, David refused to raise a sword against his king. In 1 Samuel 24:12 we read of a better way. David tells Saul that he will not harm him, in spite of the wicked things he has done. The Lord God above will be his AVENGER.
C – He CONSUMES that which causes his people to fall away.
Korah rebelled against God, dragging two other families down with him. Numbers 16:35 opens man’s eyes to the holy anger of the Lord, for in a mighty blast of righteous flame, he consumed the 250 men who offered incense in Korah’s support.
E – He is the EVERLASTING promise that we are never alone.
Ezekiel 16:60 reassures us that his promises are EVERLASTING. When our human condition makes the God of our youth hard to find, he will remember his covenant unto us, so that we will know he is Lord.
With the power inherent in his position as the Supreme Creator of All Things, God crushes our old man so that the new man he brings forth can shine as a diamond in the palm of his hand. Then others will turn to us, and they will find God through our example.
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Code: FGO.I.23.13a.vp