IGNITE THE FIRE
ANCHOR SCRIPTURE: ACTS 1:8 ‘But ye shall receive power, when the Holy Spirit is come upon you: and ye shall be my witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea and Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth’.
Ignite the fire means to catch the fire, it can also mean to set something burning. In Olympic games, there is always a relay race with the Olympic torch till the last person goes and sets the lamp burning with fire and the flames are there which adds beauty to the events. No man can give fire except he is carrying fire. When dealing with fire, there is always a readiness and it is not done carelessly. One of the personalities of the Holy Spirit is fire. When a person is on fire for God, she lives a supernatural life. In the eyes of the people of the world, she becomes extraordinary because the fire of God makes a person a super being. Catching the fire of God could mean embracing the foolishness of God which is wiser than the wisdom of men.
Naturally if fire burns you, there is no gentility about it. There is no man that is burning that would not be radical about it because when fire burns you, you cannot be normal.
Catching the fire is a call to the field for the sake of Christ’s gospel. It is not for the temple bench warmers. Consider the life of Christ when he received the Holy Ghost fire ; Acts10:38 ‘even Jesus of Nazareth, how God anointed him with the Holy Spirit and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him’. He that is anointed is empowered to reach out and never to become a temple kind of person without reaching out from year to year. The purpose of the power of God upon our lives is not for us to just feel good in worship sessions, fall under the anointing and speak in tongues the few moments. Rather it is given for greater works for God.
We must be available for the zeal of the Lord to consume us. Psalm 69:9 ‘For the zeal of thy house hath eaten me up; And the reproaches of them that reproach thee are fallen upon me.’ Has the Lord’s zeal eaten you up? John Wesley said, ‘I set myself on fire and people come to watch me burn’. We must set up flames of fire burning in our localities. This is the dispensation of burning for the Lord. We need a fire encounter just like Moses had in the ‘burning bush’. The kind of spiritual encounter you have keeps you going and matters a lot. The fire encounter that Moses had was with him till he finished his earthly ministry - the appearances of the glory of God on the top of the mount, his face radiating God’s light and the pillar of God’s glory that followed them.
If you have received this fire, you must be careful of fire extinguishers and fire blankets. They are everywhere quenching the fire upon the people of God. When Jesus Christ wanted to leave His disciples, they were confused and some were afraid of the future but Jesus told them something in John 14:18 ‘I will not leave you desolate: I come unto you.’ Another bible translation said, ‘I will not leave you like orphans’. He came in the person of the Holy Ghost upon them. The baptism of the Holy Spirit turned them into extraordinary mighty men of God. The unstable Peter became bold and persuasive in the gospel of Christ with signs and wonders following them all. When a man is on fire for God, he embraces the foolishness of God which is wiser than the wisdom of men. 1 Corinthians 1:27 ‘but God chose the foolish things of the world, that he might put to shame them that are wise; and God chose the weak things of the world, that he might put to shame the things that are strong;’
THERE ARE TWO TYPES OF THE FIRE
The refining fire: the refining fire comes to burn away excesses in the believer’s life and remoulds the life constantly. This is the fire that fashions our character and ministry for God’s glory to be revealed in us.
The consuming fire: The consuming fire protects the believer from evil and the evil one – satan. You do not touch a man burning with fire without planning to be caught up in the fire. When the scriptures says, ‘Touch not my anointed’, this is what it means that touching the anointed in a manner to hurt the anointed will eventually destroy the attacker.
The baptism of fire with the Holy Spirit confers upon the baptized the authority of inviting the person of the Holy Spirit and such a person can command fire – he becomes a son of manifestations and evidence. When Peter and John met the lame man at the temple gate in Acts 3, they quickly told the man to look at them…ACTS 3:4 ‘And Peter, fastening his eyes upon him, with John, said, Look on us.’ Luke 9:54.
HOW TO KEEP THE FIRE – Luke 9:57-62
1. HEAVEN MUST BE YOUR HOPE AND MOTIVATION
Our motivation as believers should not be amongst men or earthly knowing that our place is in the Lord – Luke 9:58 ‘And Jesus said unto him, The foxes have holes, and the birds of the heaven have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head’. John Wesley said this about his Christian commitment, ‘Leisure and I have parted ways and we will never meet again’. Being earthly minded is a great weight that God demands that we must drop for us to be used mightily by God.
2. SERVE THE LORD WITH GREAT PASSION
When we stop serving the Lord, we automatically withdraw our relevance in God’s kingdom. Luke 9:60 ‘But he said unto him, Leave the dead to bury their own dead; but go thou and publish abroad the kingdom of God’. Jesus Christ was not against mourning or caring for those who are mourning but he pointed out to something important. He is most interested in those who take His work first and other things to be secondary. We do not have to allow the Kingdom work to suffer because of the cares of this world. The anointing remains on that person who has taken the place of servant till eternity.
3. KEEP GOING FORWARD
Have you considered or tried driving forward while looking backwards? Let nothing make you look backwards. God keeps walking forward and it is our duty to follow His footprints – steps. He does not want us to remain at the past mistakes and over celebrate the past glory, ‘the glory of the latter house is always greater than the former’ – this should be our mindset in the ministry that God has given us. Luke 9:62 ‘But Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.’ It is not the will of God for us to be spiritual pillars of salt – just like Lot’s wife.
HOW TO RECEIVE
Simply, it comes with a heart cry to God for fire. An encounter with the Holy Spirit can make you the best in the hands of God. Desire and put it in passionate prayers. An encounter happened with Saul of Tarsus and from that day, He became a mighty man of exploits for God. Go and seek God’s face today.
