When Death Becomes Fire

I’ve been carrying a weight these past few days—an ache that won’t lift. It’s not frustration or burnout; it’s something deeper. I can feel the longing of the Lord for His people again. I sense Him whispering, “You talk about My fire, but you rarely come to My altar.”

The altar is not a pretty place. It never was.

In the Old Testament, it was soaked with blood, covered in ash, surrounded by the smell of death. The fire of God didn’t fall on lively animals fighting to live—it fell on what was already dead. The altar was never meant to inspire feelings; it was meant to end them. Yet that’s where the glory came down.

Fire blazed forth from the Lord’s presence and consumed the burnt offering and the fat on the altar. (Leviticus 9:24a NLT)

Somewhere along the way, we made it clean and comfortable. We turned the altar into a stage, a show, a song, or a symbolic moment at the end of a service. But the altar hasn’t changed—only our willingness to die on it has.

Jesus paid the ultimate price once for all, yes, but He still calls us to walk the path of the cross—to carry our own, not to share His. His cross purchased our salvation; our cross is the daily death to self that keeps us walking in that salvation. He said:

He said to all, If any person wills to come after Me, let him deny himself [disown himself, forget, lose sight of himself and his own interests, refuse and give up himself] and take up his cross daily and follow Me [cleave steadfastly to Me, conform wholly to My example in living and, if need be, in dying also]. (Luke 9:23 AMPC).

Paul echoed it:

[I assure you] by the pride which I have in you in [your fellowship and union with] Christ Jesus our Lord, that I die daily [I face death every day and die to self]. (1 Corinthians 15:31 AMPC)

The cross was never a decoration; it was an invitation to die to self and live unto God.

And before Jesus ever had a change to go to the cross, John the Baptist said:

It is necessary for him to increase and for me to decrease. (John 3:30 TPT)

The fire of God doesn’t fall on flesh that still fights to live. It falls on the parts of us that have been surrendered—our time, our pride, our desires, our plans, our image, our independence, our everything.

Beloved friends, what should be our proper response to God’s marvelous mercies? To surrender yourselves to God to be his sacred, living sacrifices. And live in holiness, experiencing all that delights his heart. For this becomes your genuine expression of worship. (Romans 12:1 TPT)

Everything belongs on the altar because everything was purchased at Calvary.

We don’t like that kind of dying. We prefer comfortable faith, gentle fire, and convenient holiness. But the same God who sent His fire in Leviticus is still a consuming fire (Hebrews 12:29). Grace doesn’t erase that—it empowers us to draw near without being destroyed, to stay on the altar until our flesh becomes ash and His Spirit becomes flame.

True surrender isn’t sentimental. It’s costly.

It’s the moment when you choose obedience over comfort, forgiveness over pride, humility over self-preservation. It’s when you give Him not only your worship, but your schedule, your ambitions, your responses, your reputation. Every act of obedience is another piece of wood on the altar.

And when there is finally nothing left to protect, that’s when death becomes fire. That’s when the Spirit consumes what used to control us and we rise—not in our strength, but in resurrection life.

This isn’t condemnation. It’s invitation.

The Father is still calling His people back to the altar—not to punish, but to purify. He wants a people who burn because they’ve died, whose lives are fragrant with surrender.

So if your heart has grown restless, if you feel the stirring of His call even now, don’t run from it. Step toward the flame. Let the fire find you. Lay yourself down—your whole self—and stay there until His life overtakes yours.

Because the fire still falls—but it never falls on an empty altar.

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