Rekindling My Fire (Part 2 of 3)
That is why I would remind you to stir up (rekindle the embers of, fan the flame of, and keep burning) the [gracious] gift of God, [the inner fire] that is in you.
2 Timothy 1:6 AMPC
Proverbs 19:15 states that slothfulness casts one into a deep sleep; and an idle soul shall suffer hunger. We tend to recognize and criticize physical laziness, yet we rarely acknowledge spiritual laziness, which carries equally serious consequences.
Romans 12:11 says, “Never be lacking in zeal.” Pastor Jentezen Franklin states that the word zeal means to keep your spiritual fervor and warns not to lack in enthusiasm and zeal for God, to not allow your spirit to get cold and indifferent but to stay hot because that’s what makes us distinctly different and powerful in God.
Slothfulness or laziness in your spirit are both inactivity or lack of effort in one’s spiritual life and a reluctance and lack of enthusiasm to engage in activities that would deepen your relationship with God for e.g. reading your bible, praying, listening to sermons, spending time to fellowship with God, worshipping and praising Him, etc.
Derek Prince once said that spiritual laziness is a sin and is something that we must repent of and ask forgiveness of God. This sin not only opens the door for the devil to attack but you are at risk of deception, something that is prominent in this evil world. Deception causes you to move further away from God and His Absolute Truth, His will and His word, Jesus.
The devil uses things of this world and manipulates our circumstances to cause different things to happen to distract us and steal that time away from developing that relationship with God, but we need to have discipline. Discipline tends to have a negative connotation in the world but it’s such a great tool to help us improve and grow.
Set a certain time out of your day to spend time with God. Let it be your appointment or date with God that you cannot miss or be late for. Be disciplined on keeping that appointment or date, trust me it’ll be the best decision you’ll ever make. Ask him to reveal more of Himself to you and grant you revelations of who He really is and as you draw near to God the Bible says He will draw near to you (James 4:8).
He is waiting and waiting patiently for us to come to Him. The God we serve is a sweet gentleman, He will never force you or push you, He will meet you where you are and where your faith is.
No matter how much help and support you have around you, at the end of the day, only God can truly make the difference and help in anything we may go through and face in this life especially in a faith slump. Only with Him through the Holy Spirit, true and lasting change is possible. Ask Him to help ignite a fire and passion with you.
In the Strong’s concordance, “ur” in Hebrew denotes “fire” or “light” and can symbolize God’s divine presence. In some contexts, it’s associated with the light of God’s guidance or revelation. When we have that fire and light ignited within us, we have His divine presence and with that we are able to receive God’s guidance and revelation.
Pastor Jentezen Franklin states that, in the wilderness, God led Israel as a pillar of fire and when Pharaoh pursued them, that fire blinded the enemy but guided God’s people. He further states that we need this same fire in our lives today and if anything has replaced your passion and power, it’s time to seek Him again.
Pastor Franklin explains that Paul told Timothy, “Rekindle the fire within you!” (2 Timothy 1:6), the Amplified Bible says, “Fan the flame and keep it burning!” God sends the fire, but we must keep it alive. “Where no wood is, the fire goes out” (Proverbs 26:20). Franklin also says that the fire in your heart needs fuel—prayer, worship, and God’s Word, he also warns to not let the fire fade.
In a faith slump the devil knows you are there, because after all, he was the cause, and it’s at this point he comes at you hard. The devil constantly monitors you to make note of your weaknesses. He then uses whatever ammo and intel he has gained on you to attack you with. It could be fear of failure or loneliness, feeling like you’re not good enough, the list goes on and on. Don’t allow him to lead you down into that pit. If you feel like you’re in that pit and don’t know how to get out read this blog post, “Perseverance: Enduring Through Adversity” CLICK HERE
The crucial point here is that the devil has no power over us, only the power we give him, we allow him to defeat us when we succumb to his lies and tactics.
When we are weak it is then we are strong because we draw on His supernatural strength and grace (2 Corinthians 12:9-11) but how could we draw on His strength if we don’t enter into his divine presence and spend time with Him? We can’t.
You make time for what’s is important to you, where there is a will there is a way and with God all things are possible (Matthew 19:26). We are to never to sacrifice our quiet time with God for anything or anyone; that’s sacred time. Work will never finish, people and things can wait but He should always come first, be your main priority and the most important thing.
Your prayers, praise, worship, bible reading, the way you live your life, etc. is like a pleasing sacrifice to God on the alter and when He manifests His holiness and sends His divine fire, it touches us, transforms our worship, eliminates spiritual laziness, and provides comfort during our darkest moments. Pastor Franklin says that the Bible says that our God is a consuming fire and as “a consuming fire,” God remains present throughout our most challenging trials, offering strength to endure and persevere.
He is our life source quite literally, like the air we breathe. Just as a lamp must be plugged into its power source to illuminate—the electrical current flowing continuously to sustain its brightness and keep the light shining. So must we remain connected and plugged into God, our ultimate power source, allowing His divine energy and illumination—the Holy Spirit—to course through us, sustaining and growing our spiritual vitality and enabling us to radiate His light into our atmosphere and to others.
Notice that if the lamp moves too far away from the plug it risks getting unplugged. When we get too distracted with the things of this world, too distracted even doing things for God and in ministry, we are susceptible to move further and further away from our power source where at a certain point, we may get unplugged.
When we unplug our light goes out but thank God for His grace and mercy because no matter what we may have done in this life and no matter how far away we may have strayed from our source, if we are truly repentant, we can always come back to Him and get plugged in again. Our flame rekindled, radiating once more.
He is the vine, and we are the branches. If we remain in Him and Him in us, we will bear much fruit; apart from Him we can do nothing (John 15:5). That’s exactly why I felt so lost, it was because I neglected to abide and remain in Him by setting aside and spending that important time with Him.
People of this world, unbelievers and even believers in Christ when they feel lost, they try to fill the void and hole deep within themselves with things of this world but are never satisfied because only Jesus can fill that hole and satisfy your soul.
When we do things in our own strength it seems so hard and we may even burn out but when we do things with Him, by being plugged in and out of the connection we get during that one-on-one time, we have more grace and strength to handle this life. Have you become unplugged? I urge to make the decision to come back to Him, your life, light and power source today.
Coming soon, Part 3 of our Easter Trilogy Journey: “Rekindled at Calvary: How the Journey Back to the Cross Restored My Spiritual Fire- Back to Calvary”. In our final installment, you will learn how important it is to live by the Spirit and how consistent communion with God creates lasting transformation and growth. Discover how important rekindling your fire is individually to fuel the fire of the church collectively. Join us as we complete this journey and say the prayer at the end to make the first step to your personal journey of coming back to the cross to rekindle, strengthen and restore your spiritual fire and light so that your light burns continuously and brightly in every season of life.
