Month: July 2012

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Where’s The FIRE? (Part 2: Ignition)

This is part 2 of a 4 part series entitled, “Where’s The FIRE?”

Have you ever been so focused on doing something, or getting somewhere, so quickly that someone asks, “Where’s the fire?”  Perhaps you’ve done something so well that you hear the comment, “Wow!  You’re really on fire!”  Or maybe you’ve heard it said about you, or someone else, “They’re really on fire for God!” 

As I thought about each of these, and other similar phrases, I began to wonder what is at the heart of being on fire metaphorically.  What elements are needed to reach the point of “being on fire”, particularly in my relationship with God through Jesus Christ?  Perhaps looking at some elements of a campfire can help us start, or rekindle, a relationship with God that is truly on FIRE!

So, if you’ve read the first post in this series, what’s the next question?  If the fuel source is plentiful and readily available, why aren’t more of us on fire for God?  Sometimes it is because we don’t make use of the fuel available to us.  It’s like many of the fallen trees at camp.  They’re out in the woods — I know they are there yet I’ve not taken the time to take ownership of them by cutting and splitting them and adding them to the “storehouse” of available fuel.  How often do I inventory the “spiritual woodpile” and realize I need to do some serious work of bringing into my mind the fuel of God’s Word?  Am I disciplined enough to spend the time in prayer and fasting for the sole purpose of knowing God and His will?  While all of this needs done, I believe that for many Christians the problem isn’t as much in the collecting of the fuel as it is in the igniting of the fire!

I can collect, stack, and store as much fuel as I want but until something ignites it, it simply remains fuel and never becomes a fire.  There were many in the days of Jesus — religious leaders, in fact — who were amply supplied in fuel and even experts in its storage.  Yet their fuel never caught fire.  In their hands, God’s Word simply remained a bunch of sticks that they used to beat the people with.  They never allowed the breath of God to ignite the fuel so that God’s Word would bring warmth and healing to all people. 

A big part of ignition requires the presence of both fuel components.  With a campfire, the obvious fuel is the wood.  However, without the additional fuel of oxygen obtained from the air, there is no campfire!  The religious leaders had an overflowing supply of the solid fuel of God’s Word but they seemed to be completely lacking in obtaining the “oxygen” component of God’s will through prayer and fasting.  As I consider my fuel supply, am I balanced in both collecting the word of God in my mind and life and in pursuing God’s will through prayer and fasting?

So, if my fuel supply is adequate and balanced, why am I still not on fire for God like I ought to be?  What was it that ignited the fire of the early disciples so that they gained the reputation of “turning the world upside down”?  I believe that the ignition of our fuel supply is done by and through the Holy Spirit — the breath of God given to each believer as God’s indwelling presence.  Many times we are not on fire for God because we have quenched the ignition source of his Spirit in our life.  It is God’s Spirit that empowers the fuel — the Word that dwells so richly within us.  It is His Spirit that counsels and instructs us in His will — His good and perfect will.  At some level we become so afraid of God being in charge that we never allow the ignition source to be anywhere near the fuel we have been collecting.

To be on fire for God we must walk by the Spirit even as He is in the Spirit.  We must let the consuming fire of our God ignite His Word and will in our life so that His fire is seen in us.

I pray that you and I will not simply store up the fuel of God’s Word and His will but that we will allow His Spirit to ignite that fuel so that His fire will burn brightly in each of us.

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Where’s The FIRE? (Part 1: Fuel)

Have you ever been so focused on doing something, or getting somewhere, so quickly that someone asks, “Where’s the fire?”  Perhaps you’ve done something so well that you hear the comment, “Wow!  You’re really on fire!”  Or maybe you’ve heard it said about you, or someone else, “They’re really on fire for God!” 

As I thought about each of these, and other similar phrases, I began to wonder what is at the heart of being on fire metaphorically.  What elements are needed to reach the point of “being on fire”, particularly in my relationship with God through Jesus Christ?  Perhaps looking at some elements of a campfire can help us start, or rekindle, a relationship with God that is truly on FIRE!

When I think about building a campfire, one of the first questions that must be answered is, “Where’s the Fuel?”.  There is no fire without some type of fuel source.  A typical campfire uses wood as its fuel source.  When the fuel is gone, the fire no longer exists.  The same is true if we want to be on fire for Jesus.  We must ask the basic question, “Where, or what, is the fuel?”  What is the next question?  My next question would be, “where, or what, was the fuel that Jesus used for his ministry on earth and in his relationship with his father? 

When Satan tempted Jesus to turn the stones into bread, Jesus responded, “man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.”  When the disciples try to get Jesus to eat food that they’ve brought Jesus replies, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work.”  Another time when Jesus casts out a demon that the disciples couldn’t they want to know his secret and he replies, “This type only comes out by prayer and fasting.”

Was Jesus “on fire” for God?  I would say, “Absolutely yes!”  So, what was his fuel?  What kept his fire for God burning?  I would say that even a casual reading and study of the life of Jesus would reveal his fuel was the word and will of God revealed to him through times of prayer and fasting!   He was fluent in knowing and understanding scripture in ways that amazed those who listened to him.  He was constant in his pursuit of not only knowing, but in doing the will of God.  He was consistent in seeking and finding time alone with God.

So, the answer to where’s the fire in your life begins with the question, “Where’s the Fuel?”.  To be on fire for God requires the correct fuel.  The early disciples gained the reputation of “turning the world upside down” because their fire was fueled by the same fuel that empowered Jesus.  They devoted themselves to the fuel of “the apostles teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.”  We live in a time that is in desperate need of a sweeping revival fire to turn the world upside down.  Could it be that the necessary revival has stalled out because the fire in you and I has gone out because of a lack of fuel?  May you and I examine our fuel supply, and source, as we seek to live for God

I pray that we would stock up on the fuel of God’s word and will through intentional times of prayer and fasting so that our fire for Jesus would burn brightly for all to see!