Have you ever watched a fire burn? Something has to start a fire in order to watch it burn. Something has to be added to the fire in order for it to keep burning. When the Spirit of God starts a fire in our hearts the fire has to start with something – could it be an openness to God’s Holy Spirit coming and burning away anything that God wants burned up that is blocking our lives from a whole hearted commitment to Him? Even if that is the answer, it has to start with the fire of Holy Spirit. So let’s continue crying out to God to send the Fire of Holy Spirit so we will burn with a passion for Jesus and the advancement of His Kingdom.
Hebrews tells us our God is a consuming fire. Somewhere in all this talk about Lighting the Fire has to involve being consumed by God or maybe consumed with God? Let’s look for a minute at being consumed by God. The picture is of wood burning and being consumed or burned to completion. If we are looking at anything in our lives that is not going to draw us closer to God, then we should say “Let it burn!”, but if we are looking at burning with a passion for Jesus and His Kingdom we should be asking God to let us burn like the burning bush in Exodus 3 that keeps burning and is not burned to completion. Can God do that in a person’s life? Yes He can, we have examples all through history of people who are on fire for God till their death.
What if the idea though is about being consumed with God? Hmm, that sounds a lot like so passionate with God that we want more of Him all the time and someone has to be responsible to keep throwing more consumable products on the fire to keep it burning, like wood. What types of things today can we take responsibility for throwing on the spiritual fire of our lives that Holy Spirit has started. An intimate prayer life, that is if the purpose of prayer is intimacy with God we can do that. Being around people who themselves are on fire for God, yeah . . . we should be able to find people like that. One of my favorite quotes is “my closest friends are those who motivate my thirst for God.” Maybe we could say “ my closest friends are those who are on fire for God and help keep me burning by their own love for God.” We can do that as well. Next week we are hosting our first ever “Lighting the Fire Week” at Village Chapel. Why don’t you come and be a part of Sunday – Thursday Jan 27-30, 2008? Sunday Gail Homan will be sharing at 10am, Doug Heck will come lit up at 6pm. Then Monday night at 7pm come rub shoulders with John Roddam who will be on fire with God. Tuesday evening at 7pm Dan Hammer will be throwing another log on the already blazing fire. And finally on Wednesday night Jason Phillips will come at 7pm to keep the fire going.
To be on fire for God, what a concept. Charles Wesley said, “Burn with a passion for God and people will come for miles just to watch you burn –“ Let’s get on fire for God!
