Keep The Fire Burning

Keep the Fire Burning

By

Bishop Melvin L. Maughmer, Jr.

OPENING: - It is mind blowing how God will use a situation or a scenario to get your attention and impart spiritual truth in you. This week He used a situation that literally blew my mind. In my backyard I have a 55-gallon barrel that I burn yard waste in. Recently I had a lot of limbs from an apple tree in our yard cut down and about 120 feet of bushes that had been trimmed piled in the yard, so I started burning it early in the morning. The fire had been burning all day long because I kept putting more and more brush in the barrel, it was a really good fire, the barrel was really hot and as I sprayed water on the ground around the barrel to make sure the grass was wet and would not catch fire, when the water hit the barrel, it would just sizzle, so this was a real hot fire.

Around 5:30 or 6:00 p.m. we had several rain showers come through. My wife and I were sitting on the patio under the gazebo and for about 10 minutes it just poured hard. It rained so hard in that little period that in the driveway it even puddled. My wife said Well that rain will put the fire out. As we sat there and watched the rain the barrel just smoked but the rain kept coming and the smoke was almost gone. When the rain stopped, we looked at the barrel and there was hardly a glimmer of smoke coming out of the barrel. After a few minutes the smoke began to billow out of the barrel and then all the sudden there was a poof sound, and the fire was once again raging in the barrel. Although the rain came and made the top layer of the stuff in the barrel wet, deep inside the barrel the embers were still hot, the brush was still dry, and when the oxygen connected with the heat and the fuel the fire began to rage again.

As I watched the fire burn God began to deal with me on this topic “Keep the fire burn”. So, I want to deal today with the perpetual fire of our hearts and encourage you to “Keep the fire burning”.

PRAYER: -

SCRIPTURE: - Leviticus 6:9-13 “Command Aaron and his sons, saying, This is the law of the burnt offering: It is the burnt offering, because of the burning upon the altar all night unto the morning, and the fire of the altar shall be burning in it. And the priest shall put on his linen garment, and his linen breeches shall he put upon his flesh, and take up the ashes which the fire hath consumed with the burnt offering on the altar, and he shall put them beside the altar. And he shall put off his garments, and put on other garments, and carry forth the ashes without the camp unto a clean place. And the fire upon the altar shall be burning in it; it shall not be put out: and the priest shall burn wood on it every morning, and lay the burnt offering in order upon it; and he shall burn thereon the fat of the peace offerings. The fire shall ever be burning upon the altar; it shall never go out”.

Keep the fire burning.

There is a story of a church in a small town that was struck by lightning and caught on fire. As the church burned people from the small town stood around and watched in amazement. When the pastor of the church arrived, he looked around at the people and began to console the members of the church saying God will provider and we will rebuild the church but while he was talking he noticed a few people that he hadn’t seen at the church in a long while. He approached them and began to talk saying it has been a while since we have seen you in church and we have been missing you, but the question I have is why you are here tonight. One of the people said I had to see for myself because this church hasn’t been on fire for a long time.

Some might say wow and others may find that story funny. However, the problem here is not that the church building was burning but the one who said they hadn’t seen this church on fire for a long time failed to realize the building is not the church we are. So, if the church hasn’t been on fire for a long time and we are the church not the building the question is who let the fire go out. Keep the fire burning.