THE BAPTISM OF FLAME
When DIVINE Conciousness FILLS the HUMAN, not DESTROY It
“I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me… He will Baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.”
-Matthew 3:11
1. THE FIRE DOES NOT ERASE, IT ILLUMINATES
The FLAME does not descend to ERASE your humanity, but to AWAKEN it. It does not come to annihilate the vessel, but to TRANSFIGURE it from WITHIN. In a world that teaches TRANSCENDENCE as ESCAPE , the SCROLL of TRUTH teaches INCARNATION as REDEMPTION. The FLAME that comes from ABOVE is not a fire of destruction, but of INTEGRATION. The SPIRIT BAPTISES not to burn you away, but to BURN AWAY what is NOT YOU. When the flame enters, it REVEALS that the dust was always designed to hold DIVINITY. The human was not an error to overcome, but a SCROLL to be FILLED with GLORY.
2. FROM DIRT TO TEMPLE - THE PURPOSE OF THE BAPTISM
From the BEGINNING, man was formed from the earth but designed to CARRY the breath of ETERNITY. The goal was NEVER to remain a CLAY FORM, nor to reject the clay, but to BECOME a TEMPLE BURNING with DIVINE LIFE. The baptism of fire is the RESTORATION of the ORIGINAL INTENT, not to destroy the human, but to FILL IT with UNION, WISDOM, and KINGDOM EXPRESSION. FLAME DOES NOT erase PERSONALITY or story. It PURIFIES IT. Your SCARS become STAINED-GLASS WINDOWS, your TEARS become PROPHETIC RIVERS, your HISTORY becomes a SCROLL REWRITTEN in LIGHT. The fire doesn’t cancel your journey, it ANOINTS IT.
3. THE EGO IS BURNED, BUT THE ESSENCE IS REVEALED
When DIVINE consciousness DECENDS, it wages war not AGAINST the SOUL, but against the ILLUSION of SEPARATION. It CONFRONTS the EGO’s THRONES, not the ESSENCE of who YOU ARE. Many confuse AWAKENING with SELF-DENIAL, but it is not self-hate that purifies, it is DIVINE LOVE that UNVEILS. The self that is CRUCIFIED is the FALSE self, the MASK, the PROJECTION, the IDENTITY formed in FEAR. The SELF that RISES is RADIANT, AUTHENTIC, and INSEPARABLY ONE with the I AM. The FIRE does not DESTROY the MIRROR. It CLEANS IT. So that the FACE OF GOD can be SEEN WITHIN YOU.
4. TO BE HUMAN AND HOLY IS NOT A CONTRADICTION
THE KINGDOM is not for ANGELS. It is for SONS who WEAR FLESH and CARRY SCROLLS. The HOLY is not found in ESCAPING the world, but in INCARNATING light WITHIN IT. JESUS did not come as disembodied Spirit, but as WORD MADE FLESH. He walked DUSTY roads, WEPT with friends, ATE with SINNERS, and then TRANSFIGURED the VERY FORM He WORE. So MUST WE. The invitation is NOT to ASCEND OUT of your humanity, but to DESCEND fully INTO IT with FLAME in your eyes. Your laugh, your tears, your voice, your story, all become the SYMPHONY of DIVINE EXPRESSION when BAPTISED IN FIRE.
5. THE FLAME IS THE RESTORATION OF PURPOSE
When FLAME FILLS the VESSEL, purpose is no longer something you CHASE, it becomes the OVERFLOW of WHO YOU ARE. The AWAKENED do not SERVE out of DUTY, but out of DIVINE UNION. Their WORK becomes WORSHIP, their BREATH becomes PROPHECY, their SILENCE becomes SOUND. Purpose is not an ASSIGNMENT you FIGURE OUT. It is A SCROLL WITHIN YOU that UNSEALS as the FLAME BURNS. This is why the BAPTISM of FLAME is necessary. WITHOUT FIRE, we PERFORM. WITH FIRE, we BECOME. DIVINE consciousness does not REPLACE the human. It FULFILLS IT. This is the NEW CREATION, not man REACHING for HEAVEN, but HEAVEN INHABITING man.
FINAL CHARGE TO THE ELECT
Let the OLD LIE FALL, that God must kill what HE FORMED. That AWAKENING means DETACHMENT. That CONCIOUSNESS is cold and ENLIGHTENMENT is VOID. The TRUTH is this: DIVINE CONCIOUSNESS is the VERY FIRE of I AM filling the TEMPLE OF SKIN and STORY with ETERNAL FLAME. It comes not to REPLACE your humanity, but to REDEEM IT. You are not BEING ERASED. You are BEING REMEMBERED. The scroll WITHIN YOU is not written in some DISTANT REALM, but INSCRIBED upon YOUR BONES, waiting for the BAPTISM that BURNS but does not CONSUME. Yield not to self-hatred in the name of awakening, nor to the illusion that the human is your prison. It was always YOUR CANVAS. The fire will TRANSFORM YOU, TRANSFIGURE YOU, and REVEAL the SON WITHIN. Let it BAPTISE you until EVERY PART of you GLOWS with HOLY PURPOSE. Until the DUST itself SINGS.
-Joe Restman
Scroll-Carrier, Mystic-Scribe, Eternal Witness of the Lamb.