Set Me on Fire Once More
In the early 1980's there was a chorus popular in the United States and here are the lyrics:
SET ME ON FIRE
ONCE MORE
I WANT TO LIVE MY LIFE TO PLEASE YOU
IN EVERY WAY
SET ME ON FIRE
ONCE MORE
SO THAT THE WORLD CAN WATCH ME BURN FOR YOU.
In the words of that song is the heartfelt prayer of believer who has lost his cutting edge and yearns to shine for Jesus once again.
In Ephesian 5:16 and Colossians 4:5 we are told we need to redeem time.
That means to make the life you are living valuable as pertains to eternity.
Currently half the world is in lock down because of the Corona virus. So today I want to talk about how this time can be redeemed. How it can be valuable in the light of eternity. I am going to put a slight twist on this message though, I want to talk about what God's purpose may in part be, during this crisis, and how we can work together with Him to redeem the time.
I want to talk about reigniting your spiritual fire, your fervor, your illumination for Christ. There are times in our journey where we may be described as spiritually stagnating. I want to show how God uses trials like Covid19 to shake us out of the spiritual doldrums.
Jesus said, John 7:38 "He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, 'from his innermost being shall flow rivers of living water.' What happens when the river is not flowing, when things are at a standstill? May I suggest to you that one strategy God employs is to light a fire under us, and boil the water out of us. I know this is a crude analogy, but work with me we are going somewhere good.
So today we are going to talk about 3 sources of fire that God will bring into believers lives that will drive us to our knees, provoke us to much prayer, and that will reignite our spiritual fervor. They are:
1. Fire from the word of God
2. Fire from the world
3. Fire from within
. First up fire from the word of God.
What I mean by that, is that there are some things in the bible that as we read them it creates an intense longing and desire to burn for Jesus. So I have 3 fires that come from the word of God to provoke us in a holy way.
A. The fire of what the word says I ought to be.
I ought to be a city on a hill.
I ought to be the light of the world.
I ought to be bearing much fruit.
I ought to be Holy even as my Father in heaven is holy.
These statements and many others tell us what we ought to be, they are a standard by which we can judge our lives. Comparing ourselves to these standards will often drive us to our knees and cry out like Isaiah the prophet, "Woe is me for I am undone!" The fire of not fully meeting what the bible calls us to be will attract the grace of God to us, as we admit our shortcomings. When I recognize I am weak is when I can become strong.
B. So, first was the fire of what the word says I ought to be. Next up is the fire of what the word says others have had, and how they have lived. As a young Christian I was very inspired by this quote of American evangelist D.L. Moody:
"The world has yet to see what God will do with a man fully consecrated to Him" Oh how that challenged me to be that kind of man!
As I look in the bible and read of Abraham, and David, Noah, Paul, and not just the big names who did great things for God. But much lesser names like Zacchaeus who was radically shaken by an encounter with Jesus and gladly gave up half his goods. The sinner woman who poured perfume on Jesus feet. The man who without question gave up his donkey when Jesus asked. People who have displayed the highest caliber of Christian graces, their lives and testimony provoke me to be a better follower of Jesus. When the word tells of the walk they had with God, it creates a fire in my soul to rise to the heights with them.
C. The third fire from the word is what the word says I have.
I have the mind of Christ.
I have the comforter to lead me into all truth.
I have the whole armor of God
God has given us every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ (Eph 1:3)
Again as I compare the life I am living with all I have been provided with I am driven to my knees to pray that I will walk in all that God has afforded me.
2. The Fire that comes from the world.
First we looked at things in the word that provoke us to prayer, now we will look at things in the world which provoke us to prayer.
A. The needs of the hour.
Is there a famine?
Is there a plague?
Is there a serious economic turndown?
Is immorality on the rise?
Is there a war?
The needs of the particular hour in which we live will vary, but they call to us and say, "Christian, how will you help at this time?" Many of these challenges far exceed our ability to meet them, and that should always drive us to our knees. The apostle Paul once struggled with all the demands on him as an early church apostolic leader, and in frustration cried out: "Who is sufficient for these things?" (2 Cor 2:16) A few short verses later he gave the answer to that question as the Holy Spirit inside bubbled up with a response: "Our sufficiency is of God." 2 Cor 3:5
B. The second fire from the world is: the needs of others.
Sick people we meet.
People going through a divorce.
People coping with the death of loved ones.
People who lose their source of income.
People without food or homes.
People who are depressed or suicidal.
All these needs of others demand that the grace of God be more powerful in our lives as believers.
These needs daily humble us with the inability to meet many of them. But that humility is the gateway to the grace of God. For whoever humbles himself will be exalted and whoever exalts himself will be humbled.
C. The third fire from the world is: personal needs.
Physical sickness/or pain.
Transportation/clothing/shelter
Finances
This area is probably the one most Christians pray the most about, and yet it is the one Jesus said we should care the least about because He will take care of our earthly needs. Be that as it may, the fact that these things get us on our knees is a good thing.
3. The 3rd and final fire I want to talk about is the fire that comes from within.
A. The fire of personal weaknesses
Fear of public speaking
Insecurities
Lack of skills/training
Emotional volatility
Again we should never accept to be stuck in these things but let them drive us to our knees where we will find grace and power to overcome.
B. The fire of personal failings.
Sin
We all fail and come short in many ways, but we can not allow ourselves to ever become comfortable with sin. God has two words for sin, and they are not, "I understand," they are, "stop it!" Personal sin needs to be overcome in the prayer closet and by claiming what Jesus did on Calvary.
C. The fire of personal problems
Conflict with others at home or on the job.
Stress about bills and deadlines.
Fatigue.
Troubled relationships
Sickness.
God uses all these things as goads to push into the prayer closet where we can be energized by His Spirit to overcome in every area.
So in summary God always wants to use trials to help us step up our game.
We are in a time where all three of these fires are coming against many people in the world, but with the grace of God we can turn them around and make them work for good. We can redeem the time, by praying until we have breakthrough.
Close: Pray for those who are going through fiery trials. Challenge the unsaved that they need Christ more than every before.
