A Life Ablazeනියැදිය

Day 1: Stir Up the Fire of God Within Your Heart

God wants us to be a blaze of fire in the earth, but this is a job that lasts as long as we live, and if we allow disappointment, busyness, habits, and distractions to divert our spiritual passion, they will reduce it to mere embers.

The book of 2 Timothy is a letter written from Paul to Timothy, who was having a rough time pastoring the church in Ephesus. The church was under intense persecution by the Roman Empire, and Timothy saw many people defect from their faith. Some leaders left, and others embraced false doctrine, so Timothy was dealing with rejection and hurt that affected him deeply, putting a damper on his spiritual fire.

In 2 Timothy 1:6 KJV, Paul wrote these words to encourage Timothy:

“Wherefore I put thee in remembrance that thou stir up the gift of God, which is in thee by the putting on of my hands”

The words “stir up” are a compound of three Greek words, and together with the rest of the verse, you can translate them to mean, “Repeat enthusiastically whatever you’ve done in the past in order to put life back into your spiritual fire. Be fervent, zealous, and vigorous about it.”

In other words, stirring up the fire of God in your life is not something that just happens. You have to be intentional about it! If you’ve ever sat around a campfire, you know that without fuel, that fire will begin to burn lower and lower until all that’s left are a few logs and embers — charred remains of what once provided warmth, beauty, and even a means of cooking.

If you don’t pay attention to the fire, eventually it will go out. That’s just the way that it works. If you are going to stay on fire for Jesus, you can’t depend on the same fire you had years ago — you’re going to have to keep adding the right kinds of fuel!

If you feel your spiritual fire has begun to wane, there is still hope for you, because even if all that’s left of a fire is embers, you can restore the flames! It all starts with being honest with yourself. God wants you to be on fire for Him for the rest of your life, so you need to determine what fuels your fire needs and keep intentionally adding them to keep the fire alive. That is going to be the exciting focus of this daily reading plan!

For Your Consideration:

• When you wake up each morning, begin fellowshipping with the Lord, praising Him, and spending time in His Word if you’re not already doing so.
• Keep a journal or notebook nearby to write what you learn or what the Lord impresses on your heart as you begin your day.