Fire!

The Feast of Pentecost will soon be with us. This has historical and symbolic meaning to both Jew and Christian.

For the Jew it is referred to as Shavuot.

On Passover, the Jewish people were freed from their enslavement to Pharaoh; on Shavuot they accepted the Torah and became a nation committed to serving God.

For the Christian it is often referred to as Pentecost and is associated with God sending His Holy Spirit to the waiting believers.

I have heard it said "It cannot be for today, I have never seen tongues of fire."

Read on and I will try and explain.

Acts 2:1 ¶ And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.
2 And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting.
3 And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them.
4 And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.

Luke 3:16 John (the Baptist) answered, saying unto them all, I indeed baptize you with water; but one mightier than I cometh, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to unloose: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire:
17 Whose fan is in his hand, and he will throughly purge his floor, and will gather the wheat into his garner; but the chaff he will burn with fire unquenchable.

So the baptism of Jesus is not one in water, it is that of Holy Spirit and Fire.
The fire, as John the Baptist explains, is like a refiners fire, it will destroy all the bad bits in ones life.

How is this achieved today I hear you ask, well a suitably believing and empowered Christian will just place his hand on the recipiants head or sholder and say "Fire" or "The Fire of the Lord be upon you".

So that is the analogy, as a person is baptised in the Fire of God you can expect to see a purification "like as of Fire" in their life.