Would You Extinguish Your Flame?

Don't put out the fire!
 

 

"Do not put out the Spirit's fire."  (I. Thess. 5:19)

 

As a child, my Dad would often grill steak for us.  At one point, all he had was a small piece of grate-like metal with short legs attached.  As a welder, I believe it was something he fashioned himself. With it, he could simply place charcoal on the ground underneath,  and grill steak anywhere we camped or even at home. 

One particular Sunday I recall, he grilled steaks for lunch.  Afterward, we decided to take a family "Sunday afternoon drive."  So he went outside, poured water on the charcoal, dug a trench around it and filled it with water.  After enjoying a drive through many miles of sand hills, local ponds, and less traveled roads, we returned home.  Imagine our horror as we passed a field attached to our home and it was ablaze with fire!

We quickly rushed home to discover that somehow the fire had remained kindled, and in fact, jumped over a trench of water to set scores of acres on  fire.  Miraculously, there was a path about a foot wide, all around our home, that never caught on fire.   But fields, pastures, and untamed woods were on fire as far as the eye could see!

I remember as  a child trying to help beat out the fire with burlap sacks. We dumped buckets of water.  We sprayed with hoses, all to the end of trying to avoid catching anyone's home on fire.  At one point, I was stranded in the middle of a patch of un-kindled land, with fire all around me.

Eventually the volunteer fire department arrived, and the flames were finally contained. Thankfully, no lives  or homes were lost that day.

It is amazing, that despite my Dad's efforts to quench the fire, that some remained active and jumped to find dry ground. 

In the Old Testament, worshipers of God, would make burned offerings to the Lord for many reasons.  Fire was essential to their worship.  In the New Testament, we the believers, are to offer ourselves as a sacrifice or instrument of worship.  Not literally, but figuratively.  We should  make ourselves  available  for the Holy Spirit, the Fire of God, to kindle upon us. We are to be "on fire" for the Lord. We are to be zealous.  Spirit-filled.  Passionate.  Powerful.  Anointed.

The best fires occur on nice, dry, wood.  Once it is doused with water, you get more smoke than fire.  How many times do we, as children of God, throw water on the fire of God?  Every time we choose not to obey, we quench the fire.  Every time we resist the leading of the Holy Spirit, we put out the flame.  Every time we are too distracted to hear His voice, we quench that fire.

"Do not put out the Spirit's fire" sounds to me more like an imperative, or command, than a suggestion!  We are NOT  to do it!  Are there things, habits, people, or ideas in your live that snuff out the flame of God?  Repent!  Turn back! 

"Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God--this is your true and proper worship."  (Romans 12:1)

True and proper worship! King James version calls it "your reasonable service."    It is true.  Proper.  And reasonable to expect that Christians will make  themselves a living sacrifice on which the fire of God can kindle and fan a flame... bright enough to light up our homes, communities and world for Jesus!  What is putting your fire out?

Dear Lord, forgive me for allowing other things to snuff out Your fire in my life.  Help me to be a sacrifice ready for the fire of the Holy Spirit to kindle upon.  In Jesus' Name. Amen.

Building A Fire

“For this reason I remind you to fan into flame, the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands.” II Timothy 1:6

 

Have you ever tended a fire?  It is amazing to me to see how a fire can go from burning so brightly that it scalds your face as you stand near it, to being just a soft glow of an ember in a short period of time.  Fires are fickle things.  Depending on what you add to it, what material you are burning and how much air it gets makes huge difference in the result.

As a child, my father often grilled steaks over an open metal grate style grill that he would build a fire under.  This was placed in the dirt, and he would build a fire underneath.  (Yes, I am showing my age and possibly my ignorance as I do not know the correct term for this type of grill!)  Nevertheless, he would dig a trench around the fire pit to avoid any embers leaping out and starting a fire.  One day after grilling, he smothered the fire with water, drenched the ground around it and filled the trench with water.  Afterwards, we went for a long Sunday-afternoon drive in the woods.  When we returned a couple of hours later, there was literally 40-60 acres of land on fire.  Mercifully, our home was undamaged; there was a wide ring around the house that did not catch fire.  We spent a great deal of time that afternoon trying to put out a fire that had seemed dead when we left.

Indeed, fire is a fickle thing.  This is also true of the fire of the Holy Spirit.  The gifting, calling and anointing that he places on us must be tended.  There are seasons that it will burn brightly and other seasons where it will smolder and appear to die.  During those seasons, we have to “stir up” what is there so that it can rekindle and return to its former purpose and brightness.  This is done a number of ways- increased Bible study, prayer time, attending conferences, calling a fast, and purposeful time spent in worship.  I have had all of these things stir up the flame in my life during different seasons.  The important thing is that we “tend the flame” enough to know the condition we are in and recognize the first signs of burning out so that we can reignite the flame within us.

Lord, please show me the things in my life that are smothering the flame of your presence in my life.  Help me to stir it up, in Jesus’ Name.  Amen.

Sherri

Putting out the Enemy’s Fire

“In addition to all of this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.”  Ephesians 6:16

 

Faith is an invaluable spiritual commodity.  By faith we receive Jesus Christ as our Savior.  By faith we believe all of the promises in the Bible.  By faith we pray to God, bringing our petitions and requests for healing, deliverance, direction and help to the Lord.  Faith is so powerful, that the Bible declares that “without faith it is impossible to please God.”  (Hebrews 11:6)

The Roman’s soldiers shield was believed to have been made by leather or animal hides and the night before a battle the soldiers would soak it in water to make it saturated to the point that it would extinguish the flaming arrows (arrows on fire) which some of their enemies would shoot at them. Additionally, the shields would be rubbed with oil to make it supple to glance blows off of it.  In the Bible, oil is often used as a type of the Holy Spirit.  When you put it all together, it is a powerful analogy.  Faith, bathed in the oil of the Holy Spirit, soaked by the washing of the water of the Word (Ephesians 5:26) will turn away all the efforts of the enemy to destroy us with his arrows.

What kinds of arrows do you face today?  Is it unkind words that have been spoken about you?  Is it a negative prognosis that has been spoken over you?  Is it divorce or losing your job?  No matter what evil the enemy throws at you- you have a powerful defensive weapon at your disposal.  You can believe, standing in faith that God will defend you.

Dear Lord, help me to take up my shield of faith.  Help me to tend it with the oil of the Holy Spirit and the saturation with the water of the Word.  Thank you for giving me the authority to extinguish the darts of the enemy.  In Jesus’ Name.  Amen.

Sherri