Keep the fire burning
Last night we did something different at church. We took our worship outside of the box, in fact, we took our worship OUTSIDE! That’s right, on a cold fall night, while most churches around the country have done away with evening worship services, we built a fire and held a worship service around a bonfire outside.
I looked into the fire and wondered about the power of the flames. Everyone was trying to crowd as close as they could to the flames to stay warm. The further away you got from the fire, the colder you got. I couldn’t help but think about the power of the flames that burn within me, spiritually. How warm does my flame keep others, or does it send my friends and family out to freeze in the coldness that this world has to offer?
Fire is not something to play around with. From a very young age, we teach our children to not touch the stove. “Hot, don’t touch. You will burn yourself!” That is a very good lesson to teach at a young age, but the lesson that God teaches us is quite the opposite. He doesn’t want us to step away from the fire but He desires us to jump into the fire…become engulfed in the flames of His Holy Spirit and become on fire for Him!
I don’t know what keeps your spiritual flame from burning bright, but I do know that troubles and battles of life will often keep people out in the cold. The enemy doesn’t want us to get close to the fire, because he knows that it is the fire that will ignite a revival. Not the kind of revival that begins at a place like Brownsville, Florida but a revival that begins within you and me, a revival that begins in our heart.
My husband recently preached a sermon about revival and he shared with us that true revival comes from the Spirit of God “breaking and molding the heart of an individual” into the likeness of His Son, Jesus Christ – with great humility.
I don’t know about you, but I NEED God to break and mold my heart to be more like Him. I NEED the fire to burn bright from within my soul so those around me can not just see the fire, but they can smell it and breathe it in and jump into the fire and let revival begin something so hot that no bucket of cold water will be able to put it out.
If your fire is not burning as brightly as you know it could be. Try to throw in a couple extra logs:
Log #1: Realize that you are completely forgiven through Christ’s death and resurrection.
Log #2: Consider every place that your feet takes you as a mission field where you must share the gospel.
Log #3: Take refuge in knowing that God has your back, and trusting Him will take you places you never imagined.
Log #4: Keep your thoughts and your decisions focused on Christ and how His Word leads you, don’t let the enemy snuff your fire out.
Log #5: Remember that without the fire of God burning in you, the influence you have on others will eventually turn to ashes.
“The Lord spoke with you face to face at the mountain, out of the midst of the fire.” -Deuteronomy 5:4
The Lord speaks to us thru the fire, so keep your fire burning, there are too many people out there looking for a way to stay warm. Share the warmth of Jesus Christ with someone today, who knows what kind of revival will happen because of the power of the flame!
very inspiring
Thank you Denise!
Great points to keep the fire burning. Neat that you had a worship service outside.
Thanks Iris. It was really neat, we even served communion around the fire! Very out of the box! ?