After a mostly mild winter, it was good to have a crackling fire in the fireplace. The warmth it emitted was both physical and emotive, and I found myself pulling a stool close to it to experience both its emotional soothing and the toastiness that turned my shins sundry shades of pink. After prodding the coals with the iron poker and stoking the flame with a fresh stack of logs, I turned my thoughts to the symbolic nature of fire—things like a passionate pursuit and the Holy Spirit moving within, in the words of the prophet, a fire of God’s word shut up in the bones. These inner burnings have the same effect as the fire I sat before; they must be cultivated the same way as well.
For there to be a fire, there has to be something to ignite. My son needs nothing more than a match and a wad of newspaper to get a stack of wood to burn. Starter logs are more my speed, and in my childhood, Daddy’s preference was a sliver of pine we called a splinter. A flame is a flame is a flame, but it must touch something consumable for there to be a blaze. Our inner burning is kindled when God’s spirit touches the part of us most void of him. These places, like dry tinder, are easily consumed. Dormant yearnings are quickly sparked when God’s flame of inspiration comes near. Seeking souls combust in the presence of God’s holiness. The needy heart eagerly responds to a fitly spoken promise of God. Impoverishment and brokenness are often the conditions that alight beneath the warmth of the Spirit.
But for the fire to stay ablaze, weightier wood that’s not so easily consumed must be placed upon the kindling. For a passion to stay ignited, something within the person must continue to be submitted to the source of heat. A sustained passion requires disciplines that strive for a goal. Self-denial pays the price for the next level. For our souls to stay ablaze, we must, as Paul said, “die daily.” A part of us has to be surrendered to the Source of heat if the fire of God’s word and Spirit are to continually burn in our hearts.
Many folks, however, burn only the kindling in their lives. They never prod around with the poker of God’s word to stir up the embers of their passion, gifting, or spiritual potential. They never add anything to their initial combustible experience. They saw the flames. They felt the warmth. They even burned for a while. But they became comfortable, and complacency is the killer of fire. It’s just as potent as a dousing of water upon it. The warmth fades, the flame grows weaker, and the fire becomes ineffectual without something to sustain its burn.
If passion has turned into indifference, if there’s no Spirit life of the Holy Ghost stirring the soul, if God’s Word has grown impotent, then it’s time to stoke the fire and add more fuel to it. As the flames consume what has been submitted to the burning, the result will be both comforting and powerful, a heat that warms the heart as well as the hands.
Tip/Tidbit: Pull up to the heat of God's fire and let Him set you ablaze for His glory.
For there to be a fire, there has to be something to ignite. My son needs nothing more than a match and a wad of newspaper to get a stack of wood to burn. Starter logs are more my speed, and in my childhood, Daddy’s preference was a sliver of pine we called a splinter. A flame is a flame is a flame, but it must touch something consumable for there to be a blaze. Our inner burning is kindled when God’s spirit touches the part of us most void of him. These places, like dry tinder, are easily consumed. Dormant yearnings are quickly sparked when God’s flame of inspiration comes near. Seeking souls combust in the presence of God’s holiness. The needy heart eagerly responds to a fitly spoken promise of God. Impoverishment and brokenness are often the conditions that alight beneath the warmth of the Spirit.
But for the fire to stay ablaze, weightier wood that’s not so easily consumed must be placed upon the kindling. For a passion to stay ignited, something within the person must continue to be submitted to the source of heat. A sustained passion requires disciplines that strive for a goal. Self-denial pays the price for the next level. For our souls to stay ablaze, we must, as Paul said, “die daily.” A part of us has to be surrendered to the Source of heat if the fire of God’s word and Spirit are to continually burn in our hearts.
Many folks, however, burn only the kindling in their lives. They never prod around with the poker of God’s word to stir up the embers of their passion, gifting, or spiritual potential. They never add anything to their initial combustible experience. They saw the flames. They felt the warmth. They even burned for a while. But they became comfortable, and complacency is the killer of fire. It’s just as potent as a dousing of water upon it. The warmth fades, the flame grows weaker, and the fire becomes ineffectual without something to sustain its burn.
If passion has turned into indifference, if there’s no Spirit life of the Holy Ghost stirring the soul, if God’s Word has grown impotent, then it’s time to stoke the fire and add more fuel to it. As the flames consume what has been submitted to the burning, the result will be both comforting and powerful, a heat that warms the heart as well as the hands.
Tip/Tidbit: Pull up to the heat of God's fire and let Him set you ablaze for His glory.
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