Keep the [HOLY] fire BURNING! 🔥🕊️

Happy 2024! ✨
May this year be the BEST year spiritually for us moving forward!

At the beginning of 2024, the word “fire” has been repeatedly on my mind. 🔥
Feeling inspired, I prayed, “Jesus, help me catch on fire this year!”
But, a follow-up question came to mind, “Wait… WHY and WHEN did the fire GO OUT in the first place?”
Convicted, God helped me change my prayer topic to: “Jesus, teach me how to SUSTAIN the fire.” ❤️‍🔥

In the Bible, there are over 500 references to “fire” and 90 link to God directly. Here are a couple:

• Exodus 24:17 – “To the Israelites, the glory of the LORD looked like a consuming fire on top of the mountain.”
• Hebrews 12:29 – “For our God is a consuming fire.”
• Exodus 3:2-6 – “There the angel of the LORD appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up.”
  
   

The Holy Spirit is often referenced as “fire”. 🕊️
In 1 Thessalonians 5:19, Paul teaches, “Do not quench the [Holy] Spirit.” In ancient Greek, the word “quench” is sbennymi which means “to extinguish”, “to put out” or “to go out.” Similar to how we put out fires.

Then I thought, what’s the difference between “grieving” and “quenching” the Holy Spirit? In Ephesians 4:30, Paul warns, “And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God…”

• To grieve the Holy Spirit = I DO what He does NOT want me to do
• To quench the Holy Spirit = I DON’T do what He wants me to do

I often forget the Holy Spirit is called “Holy” Spirit.
Unholiness or sin is like water that PUTS out the [holy] fire.
Generally speaking, I must carefully HEED God’s warning and OBEY God’s direction. This is how I KEEP the fire BURNING within me.

Now, for HOW LONG must I keep the fire ALIVE?
In Leviticus 6:9-13, three times God commanded: “the fire on the altar must be kept burning CONTINUOUSLY; it must NOT go out.”

In Leviticus, the original fire came from God. It was divine, holy fire.
In Leviticus 6:12, God commanded “every morning, the priest is to add firewood and arrange burnt offering on the fire and burn the fat of the fellowship offerings on it.”

Practically, the priest had to lay a SACRIFICE on the altar in order to keep the divine fire ALIVE. God initiated the holy fire and it was the duty of the priest to keep the fire 24-hours a day, starting with “every morning”.

In Leviticus 6:12, “every morning” stood out to me. I’m reminded in Mark 1:35 – “In the early morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house, and went away to a secluded place, and was praying there.”

• To wake up in the early morning to pray is like firewood for my spirit
• To give my first to God everyday is costly (Matthew 6:33)
• When I start to backslide, to remember Jesus’s grace, repent and repeat the first works is like a burnt offering (Revelations 2:5)
• To actively participate and achieve our church prayer topic is a sacrifice

Fundamentally, no sacrificial life = no fire
Therefore, I need to GIVE the Holy Spirit SOMETHING to burn everyday.
When I give myself to the Holy Spirit, then I am CONSUMED by Him. (Romans 12:1-2)

Every morning, ask yourself: “What will I lay on the altar TODAY to keep the [holy fire] burning?” 🔥🔥🔥

This year, may God empower us with His [holy] fire to achieve our church’s prayer topic of 400 1:1 Bible studies and God establishes 200 committed disciples from among us! 🙏🏻

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