Get Back Into The Fire
A group of young people, upon returning from a youth camp, asked me how they could keep the spiritual experience they had received at camp. They were “on fire” and didn’t want to lose it as they returned to their normal affairs of life. As a coal goes cold as it is taken out of the fire, so one’s spiritual life goes down when taken out of fellowship. For the coal to glow bright it must stay in the fire. Reinhard Bonnke said that he didn’t want to “burn out” for Christ, but rather “burn bright”.
Fellowship is the sharing of spiritual life. It is not just being with Christians in a social context. Having only Christian friends and doing everything with Christians does not keep one “hot”. As Jesus shared with his disciples on the road to Emmaus they said, “Didn’t our hearts burn within us as he talked to us on the road.” The heat rises as we hear the Word spoken, preached, sung and shared. The Holy Spirit is seen as the fire of God and when the Word is spoken, He anoints this Word and it has its effect in our lives; thus the burning in our hearts.
When Helen and I went to Libya, I had an opportunity to talk about the Lord to a young Muslim man until 2 a.m. He was visible moved as I shared with him from the Word. The next day he called his wife and said that as he talked to me “his heart was burning.” When Isaiah was commissioned by the Lord for his ministry, an angel took a burning coal from the altar and placed it on his lips. When we speak the Word and when we hear the Word the fire burns brightly.
Those who neglect fellowship, inconsistent in their devotional life and who rarely talk about the Lord to their friends, quickly see their “fire” go out. I have never seen anyone who is on fire for the Lord who is lukewarm when it comes to the church. David said, “Zeal for your house has consumed me,” (Psalms 69.9). The head cannot be separated from the Body. The fire burns brightly when the coals are together on the altar.
Here are some warning signs of a lukewarm life:
- More excitement in going to parties than church.
- More time spent in secular conversations with Christians than about spiritual things.
- Rushed prayer life and little time spent in the Word.
- Excuses rather than sacrifice.
- When family, job and friends take priority over the things of God, (including church life).
Do you want to burn brightly? Get back in the fire!
Scriptures to meditate on:
Luke 24:13-35; Psalms 69:9; 119:139; Isaiah 6:6