refining fire – Sons of Issachar

446. Embrace Love’s Fire

Mike Parsons

“To discover truth, we must be willing to put pleasant illusions and traditional preconceptions on the back burner for the sake of truth. We have to position ourselves to let truth declare itself to us – the whole truth and nothing but the truth.” – Don Keathley.

If we are going to receive that truth, know that truth, the truth that will totally set us free, then we must be willing for it to challenge some of the things we currently or previously have believed. Do not hold on to doctrine and theology so strongly that they keep you from the truth and keep you in bondage. On this journey, you will often have to leave what you know in order to walk through the door of what you do not know. Few are willing to do that. It is a risk. It is a challenge—to leave the comfort of what you believe and what you think you know to go through a door into something unknown.

The first time I started to engage in heaven, I did not know where I was. I did not know what I was doing. I did not know anything, other than the fact that the experience was so real, so life-changing, and I was so challenged, encouraged and overwhelmed by it that I wanted more. I pursued with all my heart more of that type of encounter with God because it was so powerful. But I had to be willing to leave behind what I thought I knew in order to continue having those experiences.

So God took me through a process to make me ready to live that way—not just to have one encounter. A couple of years later, I entered into deeper encounters.

Restoring First Love

I have been sharing about restoring first love—what it means to be restored back to our origin in God, who has loved us from the beginning and wants to restore us to our original identity in him—our true identity as sons of God, in relationship with him, within the perichoresis of God’s Father, Son and Spirit relationship.

So I have been sharing what happened to me on this journey. It began around 2010 to 2012, in this particular aspect of it. In 2008, I first encountered heaven, and God began to prepare me, even then, for what was coming. But I knew so little back then—when I think about what I know now. And that was a good thing, because it meant I could not try to help God out. I did not know what I was doing. I did not understand much of what I was experiencing. So I just went with it and let the experiences change me.

I have shared how God used that process to restore me to first love, to reveal my true origin—my true self, my authentic self. People call these things different names—in him, in eternity, before I was ever here.

And I thought I had gone as far as I could. I thought, Yes, this is it. How could there be anything more than this wonderful love that I am experiencing, this wonderful relationship that I am in? But there were always greater depths—more to go beyond into. And God challenged me never to be content with where I was, because there was always a beyond, and a beyond beyond beyond that beyond. God is able to do more—exceedingly, abundantly more—than I could ever ask or imagine.

So there were many areas where I entered in, but God always took me further. And I am so grateful for that, because if I had settled and been content with the wonderful things I had then, I would have missed out on the amazing things I have experienced since. But I had to go through a process to enable me to go beyond and into those depths. I surrendered all.

Mike’s latest book, Unconditional Love, is out now as an ebook on our website and available to order in paperback from your local or online bookseller.

More details at eg.freedomarc.org/books

I Surrender All

I do not know if you have ever sung that song—I Surrender All. I have sung it many, many times. I have said to God, I surrender all. I want you to be Lord of my life. I want you to be Lord of everything. And I meant it. But I found there was always more to surrender. There was always more that I did not know, but God did. And God was never going to leave me in that place, because he wants me to fully embrace who I really am—who he made me to be.

So God took me through this process—the marriage, the wooing of the garden, the lakah, when he looked into my eyes; the revealing of the dance floor, segullah; the preparation of the mikvah, the soaking room. And then comes the ketubah, the huppah, the covering of the betrothal, and finally, the consummation huppah, in the bridal chamber. And when I entered that place, so much into the very person of God—nothing was ever the same again.

But this was a journey. It did not happen overnight. I did not understand it all at the time. But now I realise what God was doing. And I am so grateful for the refiner’s fire I went through to prepare me to enter into the dark cloud. I had experienced God’s presence. I had engaged with Jesus. I had engaged with the Holy Spirit. I had engaged with the Father. But this was to go into a place—in the light of God’s person—face to face. I had no idea what that meant. But the preparation eventually took me there.

The Father continually led me to encounter various places of fire to prepare me: the fire stones, the river of fire, the altar of fire, the judgment seat of fire. They were all experiences like being in a crucible.

Refiner’s Fire

Now, a crucible is where precious metals are purified and refined. In the soaking room, the fire of love judges us to life—testing the quality of our identity and revealing our true destiny. Our soul is purified of the wood, hay and straw of dead works, revealing gold, silver and precious stones—our true sonship identity. It is a purification process of love.

Hebrews 12:29 says, Our God is a consuming fire. Relationship with love always transforms us—if we stay in the place of heat and do not try to escape the crucible.

Refining with fire is one of the oldest methods of refining metals. In ancient times, this involved a craftsman sitting next to a hot fire with molten gold in a crucible, being stirred and skimmed to remove impurities—the dross that rose to the top of the molten metal. Flames would reach temperatures exceeding 1,000°C. It is hot. And it was hot. And what comes to the surface? All the dross. As it heats up, more and more impurities rise to the surface.

If you want to be nine-carat gold, then you get out of the crucible after a while. If you want to be eighteen-carat gold, you can stop the process a bit later. Or if you want to be pure gold—when that surface becomes like a mirror that totally reflects what the craftsman is looking for—then you stay. Pure gold.

Are we willing to be refined and purified? Are we willing to be metamorphosed into our true identity as sons of God? It will require heat. And that may be restrictive. It may be difficult for the soul to experience. The refiner’s fire works through the crucible. The more the wind blows—the wind of the Spirit—the hotter the flames burn. To enter glory, we must go through the fire of transformation.

Are we willing to look into the fire in his eyes? Are we willing to embrace the fiery sword of judgment in his mouth? Not judgment to death, but to life. To engage with the fiery words that pass loving verdict on the dross in our lives, so it can be removed—so we can be free, whole.

Are we willing to be living sacrifices? Are we willing to embrace the altar? It can be really difficult. But the fire from the altar can touch our lives and change us. When Isaiah describes his experience, he says, I am a man of unclean lips among a people of unclean lips. But the coal purged his lips. And what did he say in the end? Here am I. Send me.

That is what God desires—to bring us to a place where we are so in love with him that we are willing to say, Here am I. Send me. Our focus and purpose shift, so that we become an expression of sonship for God’s glory, led by the Spirit—not driven by the soul. Not putting ourselves first, but embracing the reality of who we truly are. Embracing first love. Embracing the true reality of our true identity.

So I surrendered.

Embrace Love’s Fire

Spend just a couple of minutes thinking about this, because it is not an insignificant thing. You cannot go into it half-heartedly—because who knows what the fire might do? Ultimately, it is going to purify and refine, and it will be good. But it might be difficult when we have to face the reality
of the things that have been hidden in our lives, things that need to come to the surface, things that need to be purified and refined.

So I just encourage you to close your eyes, come to a place of rest,
where you begin to focus your thinking on God’s love, on the fire of God’s love—that God’s unconditional love is his purifying, consuming fire.

Now if you are willing to be that living sacrifice, to embrace the fire, then just tell the Father. Tell him that you are willing to be a living sacrifice, that you want him to place you on the altar, put you in the crucible, that you are willing for the fire of his love to transform you, change you.

He is love.
You are surrounded by his love right now.
It is a safe place.
You can choose to embrace the fire.

Father, I would just ask right now
that you would take each of us by the hand and lead us,
lead us into the realms of heaven that are open,
lead us to a place of engaging your fire.
Lead us to the river of fire where we can be baptised in fire.
Lead us to the altar where we can be a living sacrifice.
Lead us to the judgment seat
where our scroll can be opened
and we can look into the fire of your eyes.

Father, just lead us to the place that we need to be.

Put us in the crucible and let the fire increase —
the heat of your presence.
Let the Spirit, the wind of the Spirit, would blow,
that it heat up as bellows would heat up a furnace,
that everything in our lives that is not of you
would be consumed by this fire.
That things would begin to be released
from the very deepest depths of our soul.

Father, we surrender and embrace the fire.
Let your fire consume us,
consume everything of self in our soul.

Prepare us to enter that dark cloud of your presence.
Purify our hearts, O God.

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434. God’s Fiery Love

421. Belief to Reality | Living in the Truth

212. Who We Really Are

Into the Dark Cloud

444. NO FEAR OF HELL – Unconditional Love

Mike Parsons

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Unconditional love has really been the focus of my life for quite a number of years. The experiences I have had of unconditional love have completely changed my whole belief system—especially concerning who God is, and therefore the reach of His love towards all of creation.

Those experiences of unconditional love have challenged my view of God. They have challenged many things I used to believe: doctrines, traditions and various other ideas. God’s love is unconditional. If it is not unconditional, then it is not love. That, I believe, is the key. If you put a condition on love, it becomes something you have to earn by fulfilling a requirement—and God’s love is not like that. It is unconditional, and that means it cannot be earned. It is love, freely given.

It is unconditional for everyone and for everything. That love knows no boundaries, no limitations, no barriers. I believe God wants everybody to know His love.

But unconditional love has so deeply challenged some of the belief systems I used to hold. I now realise that some of the things I believed were nothing more than religious tradition or myth. Some of the doctrines I held actually kept me in bondage and prevented me from experiencing unconditional love.

Now, it is that same unconditional love which has set me free—as I have experienced it in my relationship with Jesus and the Father through the Spirit. I believe only the experience of unconditional love will bring freedom from the religious deception that most of us have encountered in various forms throughout our lives.

If you have never been brought up in any kind of wrong religious setting, then praise God. But for most of us, there are things we have struggled with, things we have misunderstood, or things we once believed that we now know are not actually true. That is certainly the case for me.

There are so many beliefs I now realise were conditioned into me—programmed into me—by my upbringing, by my religious experiences in church and in other contexts.

The thing that probably challenged me most—and was the most difficult—was what happened when I began to reflect on the power of love and the power of the resurrection, that love overcame death. And that brought me face to face with a huge question: what happens to people after they die?

I began to realise I had been programmed with a religious belief—something I now refer to as the hell myth. I say myth, because the English word “hell” is not actually a biblical word at all. Yet that myth held a lot of sway in my life, even though it was not really something I felt deeply convicted about. It was not something I had arrived at through study or prayer. It was more a kind of unspoken assumption: I suppose that is just how it is. I never liked it. But it seemed unavoidable.

Now, I believe that unconditional love is the very essence of who God is—His character and His nature. It reflects who He is. He does not change depending on the situation. He is not one version of Himself in the Old Testament and another in the New. He is Father, Son and Spirit—and God is love.

God is light.
God is spirit.
God is a consuming fire.

And because of that, there are no situational ethics with God. He is consistent. He is reliable. He does not change. Therefore, we can depend on Him. We do not need to be afraid of Him. He is not going to be pleased with us one day and then grumpy the next—like He got out of bed the wrong side, as it were. Of course, God does not sleep in a bed! But the point is: He does not change. He is the same—and that gives us a deep sense of security. We do not need to worry that He might change His mind about us, or that we might not have done well enough. God is the same yesterday, today and always will be—because He is I Am That I Am.

That is a declaration that He will never be anything other than who He is—and He is love.

A Slur on the Character and Nature of God

For most Christians, hell and eternal conscious torment are sacred cows—fixed, immutable doctrines. Many people simply cannot imagine there might be another way of understanding them. But I believe the world, in general, has rejected what is, in fact, a slur on the character and nature of God. God is unconditional love. And yet, much of the Church has accepted that slur—the idea that God would torment His children in fire forever. That He would give them a body that never wears out, so that they can be burned for all eternity.

Is that a loving God?

Not from my experience.
That is not what He is like at all.

So then, what does happen to people after they die? It is an important question, because many people are afraid of death—afraid of what comes next. If we know the answers, we can help them make the right choices now, before they die. And even after death, I believe it is not too late.

Is death more powerful than unconditional love? Absolutely not, because unconditional love has overcome death. My own experiences—encounters in which Jesus and the Father have shown me what happens after death—have convinced me completely that people go into the consuming fire of God’s presence, into the fire of His love. And because of that, I am absolutely confident that death is not the end of choice for anyone.

Unconditional love wins in the end—because God is patient. God is kind.
God will never give up. Love will never fail. Therefore, that love will win everyone in the end, so that they too can experience it for themselves.

I did not always believe this. I was conditioned—just like most people—to think that you had to choose Jesus before you died, because after that it would be too late and you would go to hell. But that is not what I now know to be true.

Into the Fire

Jesus and the Father took me into the fire. They showed me that you can preach to people in the fire, and that people in the fire can respond to that preaching. They can be reconciled back into a relationship with God. They can come into His love. They can become part of the cloud of witnesses. They can enter into their eternal destiny.

Now, I understand that many people struggle with this idea. But I have experienced it—over and over and over again. I have been into the consuming fire of God—both with Him, and on my own—many times. I have seen God’s love in action. And I have seen that the fire of God’s love is purifying and refining.

I have seen the power of that love first hand—the power to bring transformation into someone’s life when they accept and realise that God loves them. Even after death. Even after all the things they might have done in life to reject Jesus.

Love wins. The fire of God’s love never fails.
It never gives up. Love wins in the end.

The restoration of all things is founded on this truth:
God’s love will never fail, and He will never stop loving. Not until every person, every created being, comes into the relationship with Him they were made for—because we were created for relationship. He created all of creation for relationship.

Unconditional Love – new book out now
Mike Parsons’ new book, Unconditional Love, is out on 20 June 2025. Order it from your favourite local or online bookseller today, or get the ebook instantly from our website. More details at eg.freedomarc.org/books.

References to Gehenna misunderstood

Where does our idea of “hell” come from? In the early Hebrew scriptures, it is not mentioned at all. In the Hebrew context, the concept of hell really only began to appear after the Babylonian exile and was then further shaped by Greek influences.

Jesus’ teaching has often been used to affirm the concept or theology of hell, but I believe that is an eschatological misunderstanding. The teaching Jesus gave about “the end” and what would happen was not referring to the end of time, with a future judgement and resurrection in which some would be punished. When Jesus spoke of the end, he was not referring to the end of the world. He was talking about the end of the old covenant age. There was fire and judgement associated with that, because the system itself was judged—and judged as having failed to produce righteousness.

Jesus used terms and language people would have understood, associated with fire and judgment. But these were generational issues. Jesus said all those things would take place within that generation. They have since been wrongly applied to the end of the world and have become associated with eternal conscious torment in the so-called fire of God’s judgment. In truth, it is not the fire of his judgment. It is the fire of his love.

These are not separate events—what happened at the end of the age and the references to people being thrown into Gehenna, the fiery rubbish dump outside Jerusalem. They refer to the same thing: the end-of-the-age judgment. Not the end of the world, as we have been led to believe. It is an eschatological issue.

If we understand that Jesus’ concept of “the end” was not the end of the world but the end of a particular age, then we can also see that Gehenna— often wrongly translated as “hell”—was not referring to some distant point in the future either. It was about that generation. Jesus’ teaching about the end of the old covenant age and the associated fiery judgment has been used to support an infernalist theology, but again, they refer to the same event. It is not about the end of the world, and it is not about eternal judgment.

In fact, the judgment has already taken place—and we have all been found innocent. That is absolutely essential for us to grasp. We have been judged innocent, not guilty—righteous, justified. There is no need for punishment.

All those Bible verses that have been used to affirm a belief in hell as penal retribution, or eternal conscious torment, are verses that have already been realised and fulfilled. They do not need to apply to anyone today—not to any of God’s children, not to anyone at all. That is really good news. It is not the fear-based, manipulative message that says people who do not know Jesus will go to hell. That is not good news. That is fear, used to control people into accepting Jesus. It is no different from the time of Christendom, when people were told to believe in Jesus or be put to the sword. This is the same idea, simply reworded: believe in Jesus, or go to hell.

When we are willing to look again, with fresh eyes and an open heart, I believe we will discover that death is not the end of choice. People can still accept what Jesus has done while in the refining fire of his loving presence, even after death. I would challenge anyone to produce a single Bible verse that actually states that death is the end of choice. There are none. The only one people sometimes use is the verse that says “after death, the judgment”. But that verse is not talking about physical death. It is not saying what we have been told it says—not in context, that is not what it means.

Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal this to you. Ask for the revelation of the Father’s heart towards what happens after death and for understanding of the concept of his fiery love.

I want everyone to know: you do not need to fear the future. You do not need to live in fear of torment or punishment. And we should never be using those kinds of ideas to scare people into accepting a God who is love. That is utterly inconsistent. God is love. He would not punish someone forever and ever just because they did not believe in him. He believes in you.

He believes in the world. Jesus came to take away the sin of the world. God has reconciled the world to himself in Christ, not counting anyone’s sins against them. Let us do the same. Let us have a ministry of reconciliation—a ministry of power—and let us be ambassadors of unconditional love to a world that so desperately needs it, that desperately needs to know God as love.

Only then can people be free from the destruction that comes from a lost or mistaken identity. God wants them to be whole. He wants all of us to come back into family, back into relationship, back into this amazing relationship with God, who is love.

I want to take us into a short activation. If there is any fear in your life—any doubt about your salvation, or about where you might end up, or even concerns for your loved ones—I invite you to let God, who is love, begin to remove that fear.

And if you have doubts about what I have taught today, you do not have to believe what I say. You have the right to believe whatever you choose. But I do ask you sincerely: ask God about it. Ask him to show you the reality of life, the power of unconditional love, the truth that nothing can separate anyone from it. Ask him to show you what that really means for people’s lives. Ask him to show you personally, so that you can have your own experience—something that affirms to you the truth of who he is: his unconditional love.

Activation: Safe and Secure

I encourage you now to close your eyes.

Begin to meditate.
Allow your breathing to slow down.
And begin to think about God as love.

Just be still.
Come to that place where you can be still and know.
Know that God is love.

Let his love surround you right now.
Let the power of his love flow over your physical body,
flow into your mind, into your heart and your emotions.
Let love, the power of love, overshadow you.

Father, I ask that you would reveal to everyone listening,
the power of your love.
Show anyone now if there is any fear in their lives—
fear of you, fear of punishment, fear of judgment, fear of the future…

Let your perfect love cast out fear.
Love on your children in such a way
that they are safe and secure in your arms of love.
You will never let them go.
You will never let them out of your hands of love.
You are keeping them safe and secure.

Just rest in that love.
Let his love touch you deep within your emotions.
Let it bring healing to anything in your past—
any fear or doubt you have
about where your loved ones are, if they have died physically.
Let the power of God’s love affirm to you
the truth of his consuming fire.

Father, I ask that you would show all who wish to see
what the refining, purifying fire of your love is.
Show them how death is not the end of choice.

Reveal yourself, reveal the truth.
Unveil the truth,
so that we may experience you.

Heaven is open.
Set the desires of your heart on engaging the Father.
Let the Father lead you.
Let him heal you, restore you,
fill you with the power of his love—
overwhelming love,
love that conquers death,
love that is stronger than the grave.

Rest in that love.
Rest in the power of that love.

Truly embrace it,
and for a few moments,
just wait there in the presence of God,
in his love.

339. Universal Inclusion in Christ

244. The Hell Delusion

245. What Jesus Did

288. Enoch’s Secret to Walking with God

Mike Parsons

Enoch’s ability to walk with God stemmed from Jesus creating a way for mankind to have a relationship with Him before the world’s foundation. Whilst Adam chose independence, not everyone followed suit, and Enoch’s attentive listening allowed him to walk with God in the spirit.

The path to the tree of life was not blocked by the angels. The fiery sword symbolises refining and purification; those who embrace the refining fire gain access to God. Enoch, choosing the fiery sword path, walked in the realms of Heaven, providing evidence that we do not need to die to function in heaven – in fact we are able to function in heavenly and earthly realms simultaneously.

This is very different to the man-made sacrificial system. It offers direct access through engaging with the fire of God’s presence, as demonstrated by Moses and the elders but rejected by the people of Israel. Before the cross, everyone was spiritually dead in Adam, but going through the fire allowed reconnection with the spirit, changing the dynamics of the relationship between Heaven and Earth.

Key points:

Unobstructed Access to the Tree of Life: The path to the tree of life is not blocked by angels, that is a misconception.
Fiery Sword Symbolism: The fiery sword represents refining and purification; those embracing the refining fire gain direct access to God.
Enoch’s Heavenly Walk: Enoch’s choice of the fiery sword path shows that individuals can walk in heavenly realms without experiencing physical death, indicating the possibility of functioning simultaneously in heavenly and earthly realms.
Transformation through the Fire: Going through the transforming fire of God’s presence contrasts with the man-made sacrificial system which was never effective.