Tuesday, April 21, 2009, "Holy Fire!"

Triumphant Victorious Reminders
Inspired By the Holy Spirit
By: Teresa Criswell

"Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a right spirit within me."
~ Psalm 51:10
~

She sat on the side of a curb, the sky darkening as the sun seemed to be disappearing right before her eyes. Her belly reminding her that it was dinner time, she looked up at the vast dark sky awaiting for her father to arrive as she ran out of the house not wanting to be beat again by her mother. She was intoxicated with the vastness of the moonlit sky as she had a knowing that Someone was watching over her.

The little girl I describe is my mom. There are no words to describe her love for the Lord God. I never understood her passion for us as her daughters and her love for our dad. It was misunderstood by me as strictness beyond imagination. However, as I look back I realize it was plain passionate love for us mixed with deep cultural Korean roots unto the Lord. She has told me often that as she lacked the love from her earthly father as a little girl, she knows that God gifted her with her husband, my sweet, gentle daddy.

Her own father was a good man, but made choices to make alcohol his priority. In doing so, the family never knew what man would come home from evening to evening. Sometimes he was nice, and many other times he would have anger fits so raging that he would chase his family with knives, as he was a knife collector. Due to these experiences, she has told me that like us girls, my dad has helped her see a glimpse of God as a Father that she could never have imagined.

My dad has a great strength in kindness and mercy. The miracle in this was my dad's father showed his love by working hard for his wife and nine children. Along with some of the other siblings they only saw the stern, mean, disciplinarian, bitter side of their father.I have a dad that truly made a conscience effort that he would not 'father' like his dad to his own children. After dad surrendered his life to the Lord in 1976, forsaking 'religion' and being captured by a relationship with God through Jesus Christ, his journey of walking in love toward his family was something that Father God graced my dad with.

I believe it is because my dad was and continues to be willing and obedient (When he reads this, he will only credit the Holy Spirit, which is truly where the credit is due). However, he was willing and obedient.

He has never, never, never unfairly disciplined us. He was just and ALWAYS talked with us in love before we saw the immediate consequence of our actions. I did not have to see my dad ever have to apologize for losing his temper with us, because he didn't lose his temper. The result of that led to him never having to justify unfair behavior because of his earthly father. My dad emulates the love of God. It is so powerful. I believe that this is truly an element that has driven my mom's love for the Lord.I have told her often that her passion for God is a beautiful remnant as a rare garment from the Asian culture. I am choked up when I see a beautiful person of the Asian culture who loves the Lord Jesus Christ. They have this firey passion for God. They may be small in stature, but mighty in their passion for God.

This group of people are so grateful as many of them are on their faces before God Almighty. They have a beautiful fear for the Lord that is to be envied. They have a knowing that is truly amazing that many of them have died and have been persecuted for the cause of Christ. I am choked up pondering the thought of it now.

There is a song by 'Newsboys' called, 'He Reigns'. The first verse of the song is as the following:"
It’s the song of the redeemed
Rising from the African plain
It’s the song of the forgiven
Drowning out the Amazon rain
The song of Asian believers
Filled with God’s holy fire
It’s every tribe, every tongue, every nation
A love song born of a grateful choir"

Whenever I hear the part of that song, "The song of Asian believers filled with God's holy fire" I receive that as my own, because of my heritage. That holy fire will never go out! The fire induced by emotions will go out, but not that HOLY FIRE!

I am honored to have parents like I do. More than anything I am honored to serve Mighty God, the ONLY GOD above ALL gods. There is NO ONE ELSE like Him. Hallelujah (On a side note my mom was raised Buddhist, however something in her new that it wasn't right. She remembers when they would go to the temple to bring food to the Buddah statue that inside of her, even though she didn't know Jesus yet, that 'something' inside of her knew not to bow to it. Of course, she was known as the 'rebel' in everything she did. Praise God to know she rebelled against evil. I'm amazed everytime I hear that. It shows me that our spirit within us knows who the One True God. As it says in Psalms 139, He knew us before we were formed in the womb. God knew our spirit before we were formed. If He knew us, that must mean that we knew Him)!

My parents lives declare the glory of God. I want to do the same. How? I would have to believe that it is by being willing and obedient. Sometimes the willingness comes after the obedience. However, when I stand back and am in awe of the God I get to serve it is truly amazing the firey passion that comes forth through compassion for others on His glorious behalf.I know many times these devotionals can be lengthy, however, I appreciate many of you who read my love of God's encouragement in my own life. My heart is to encourage myself in the Lord, so that I can be a vessel for His glory. I pray in the process of this that it encourages you in who you are and are becoming in the Lord.

I want to be known by God who longs to be renewed by Him and nothing else.

It's awesome to be reminded how my parents love God yet how beautifully they display their love differently. God didn't change their personality in the process, however he changed their hearts.

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