I feel like the church has become consumers of the fire instead of being consumed in the fire. What does that even mean? Well I personally don't understand the need for a different sermon series, conference, seminar, or book on "how to stay on fire for God" every other month. I used to be one of these consumers and I'm not saying that all of this stuff is completely terrible, what I am saying is there is way too much of it.
We really shouldn't need someone to constantly remind us how and why we stay on fire for the Lord. Just think about the cross for about ten seconds and that should light the fire again really quickly. If we are honest with ourselves the reason the fire goes out or stops burning with the same intensity is because most of the time our fuel is us not God. We are fueled by how we feel, how worship is, how our life is going in general; usually it's just our own boredom with our lives that is to blame. We have to step back and ask ourselves if we are living Christ-centered lives, I don't believe we would find any room for boredom if we are truly living that way. The truth is our relationship with God is often all about us; it's about what God can do for me, when I wasn't feeling on fire previously it was often because I wasn't as entertained and served by the church. The times we aren't seeing God move or do as much as we would like is because we are not actively pursuing Him, when we pursue Him with any sort of passion He shows up in amazing ways; it never fails.
Churches tend to spend a lot of time figuring out the next big event or the newest gimmick to get people in the doors and keep them entertained and coming back week after week because we are fulfilling them. The question is once you are fulfilled by others are you giving back. I honestly believe if we served others half as much as we allowed them to serve us we would be consumed by the fire continuously. It is so amazing to me how the more obedient you are to God, the more you actively listen for His direction in your life and follow it, the better your life is overall, the more on fire you are for Him. I have been so blessed to be completely consumed by His Holy Spirit and I can't even imagine not being completely on fire for Him ever again. I can't imagine needing someone to give me additional reasons to get excited. When I share my joy with people of how amazing life is with the Holy Spirit and God being so active and present I often hear "it won't last", the only reason it doesn't last is because we quit obeying, we quit listening, we quit going after Him. God doesn't just give us a taste of Him and then disappear, we are the ones who disappear and then blame Him for not being where we want Him to be when we want Him to be there. Maybe a better way to approach this would be asking God where He wants us to be, I'm pretty positive that if I am where He wants me to be then He will be there also, usually in a really big way.
Imagine if you were in need of a heart transplant and someone gave you their heart would you ever forget that or quit being grateful for it? Could you ever think to yourself "wow, I completely forgot I got a new heart", there is no way you would ever quit being excited about something like that. Just like I think once we truly grasp His love for us and what He sent His Son to do for us we will be so utterly transformed that we could never forget that love and sacrifice, we could never not have joy overflowing because Him.
I'm not saying there won't be moments, days, maybe even longer seasons in our lives where we are in a low tide time and we are struggling to be as joyous as we know we should feel. I just don't think we should need entire seminars and sermons dedicated to this topic on a regular basis. If we live the gospel the fire within us will not falter, the Holy Spirit will keep you so ablaze you will not be able to tame it for even a moment, let alone need someone else to remind you why you are so on fire and so in love. We shouldn't need someone to remind us to be in love with our Creator or to spend time with Him. Spending time with God on a daily basis is our reminder of why we are so completely in love, I have my own daily "stay on fire" reminders with God, I talk to Him, read the Word, pray, and seek Him constantly and the fire always follows. Seek Him constantly and you will never have to attend another "get on fire" conference again, you will know how to be on fire and you will stay that way. Be consumed in the Holy Fire don't just be a consumer of the sparks of others.
In Christ's Love,
Reed Eden
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