Tending the Fire

John the Baptist said,
Matthew 3:11
11"I baptize you with[a] water for repentance. But after me will come one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not fit to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.”

The Holy Spirit is a gift to us from God; He dwells within us and to keep the fire burning in us we must continually do what Paul encouraged Timothy to do in

2 Timothy 1:6-7
I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands. 7For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.

There are three ingredients that must be present for fire to exist heat, fuel and oxygen. By eliminating any of these factors the fire will burnout and be ineffective for its purpose. In essence the fire will die.

A heat source is responsible for the initial ignition of a fire. Heat is also needed to maintain the fire and permit it to spread.

Our heat source is our relationship with Christ. It is what drives us to do fulfill our purpose, which is what Christ commissioned us to do in

Mark 16:15 He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation. Spread the fire. Remind yourself of what God has done for you. Don’t forget, it’s your heat. He has done too much for you to remain idle. All God is asking is that you be willing to tell others what you already know and to share His gift.

Over the years I have come up with a couple of rules I use when sharing Christ with a non-believer.

1. Be you when sharing, be careful not to get over spiritual. Christianease will confuse a non-believer, do not assume that just because you understand the words and phrases you are using that they will. Keep it simple.

2. Be observant of the person’s response. Don’t be afraid to back off. Maybe all you were meant to do is create a spark.

“Don’t be so on fire
That you burn the first person you see.”

I understand your excitement and desire to share the gift you have been given. . Spread the fire to everyone you know, but sometimes you have to simply be nothing more than the kindling.

After I came to a saving knowledge of Christ I wanted desperately to share my fire with one of my closet and dearest friends. We grew up together and shared so many experiences in life together that I could not imagine not sharing this with her. This was the most precious gift I was ever given. I desperately wanted her to be experience it for herself. So I came at her with the force of a back draft, telling her all about heaven, hell, sin and salvation. To which she replied, “I have lots of time. For now I want to have fun and I don’t think I believe in hell.” So I went home and loaded my flamethrower writing her a letter quoting every verse in the bible where hell and Gehenna were mentioned. Guess what she did? She shut down wanting nothing to do with my new religion or me. What I failed to realize was the she didn’t believe the bible was the inspired word of God, so she didn’t believe in hell. I could have thrown the flaming darts of bible verses all day; it was not going to matter.

I did not have all the time she thought she did. She died at 33 of coronary artery disease. The thing that upsets me the most is that we were not even close enough as friends that anyone thought to call me. I found out to late and could not attend the funeral. We had been through so much together over 25 years of friendship, but in sharing the most important thing a friend could share I managed to burn her. I choose to consume her in the bon fire, instead of letting a spark fly into her heart and light it’s own fire within her.

The fire also needs a continuous source of fuel. Fuel is what we feed the fire to keep it burning. What is the fuel that we as Christians need to feed the fire? Jesus says in Matthew 4:4, "It is written: 'Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.' " Read, memorize, medatate, study, consume your Bible. Spend time in prayer. Not only speaking to God, but spend even more time listening to God. He has things he wants to tell you, but if you are never quiet how will you hear? Let God engulf you in His Words.

The last element to a fire is Oxygen. Once you have accepted Christ as your Savior He sends the Holy Spirit to live with in you. Jesus says in John 20:21-22 "Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you." 22 And with that he breathed on them and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit works equally with the other two elements to support them.
The Holy Spirit gives us the strength, power and authority to accomplish the great commission. In Acts 2 the disciples were filled with the Holy Spirit, by of all things tongues of FIRE coming down from heaven. Immediately after receiving the Holy Spirit Peter stood up and shared his relationship with Christ, 3000 were brought into relationship with Jesus. He fulfilled the great commission. (Our Heat)

The Holy Spirit helps us to pray and hear God. (Our Fuel)
Romans 8: 26-27 says,“ In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. 27And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God's will”.

Giving us the ability to discern God’s voice from others 1 John 2:26-27
26 “I am writing these things to you about those who are trying to lead you astray. 27As for you, the anointing you received from him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about all things and as that anointing is real, not counterfeit—just as it has taught you, remain in him”.

Without any of these factors your fire will die, and you will be ineffective for the Kingdom of God. Remember your fire is your responsibility no one else’s, not the person who lead you to Christ, not your pastors, but yours. And on the flip side you are not responsible for tending anyone else’s fire. But you should do everything possible not to extinguish it. Be an encourager, don’t judge and feel it is your job to point out the sin in their lives. You give them the kindling and God will burn off the chaff. If you are busy tending other people’s fire you won’t have the time to tend to yours and from personal experience I can honestly tell you, your fire will burn out.

Our Heat is our relationship with Christ, which needs fuel in the form of the word of God, written and spoken, understood by the presence of the Holy Spirit living within us.

Jesus, God and Holy Spirit three separate yet one
Heat, Fuel, and oxygen three separate elements yet one, FIRE.