It is SO hot!

I remember when we had consecutive days of record heat that surpass what we have right now, but I do not remember “feeling” as hot as I do now.  Perhaps aging does that to you.  Perhaps I am a wimp.  At any rate, it is SO hot.

I can drink water and try to stay in cooler places.  However, I also can take the situation and learn from it; let us do that.

Heat (or fire) is often mentioned in the Bible.  Priests had to keep the fire always burning in Old Testament days.  Jesus baptized with fire and water.  The Holy Spirit began dwelling in the hearts of believers by first coming as tongues of flames.  Christians are commanded to shine their light and burn with zeal for God.  You cannot miss the connection, but we often do.

I enjoy sitting around a fire pit.  But when that fire begins to wane, I add fuel (wood) to keep it going.  The same concept is true in my spiritual life (and yours).

The Apostle Paul wanted his dear friend Timothy to stay right where he needed to be spiritually, so he told him in 2 Timothy 1:6, “Rekindle the gift of God that is in you.”  We must do the same thing because we all know that the “fire” wanes from time to time.  For that matter, the fire seems dead in many of our fellow church members.

To keep the fire going, we need to know what Paul then told Timothy in 2 Timothy 1:7: “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but one of power, love, and sound judgment.”  We must recognize and live in what God has given us if the fire is to burn brightly.

We must not fear.  We must not allow the opinions of others to dictate what we do for God.  We must not allow our fear of failure to keep us from living for God.  We must (as we read in Hebrews 10:23) “hold on to the confession of our hope without wavering, since He who promised is faithful.”

We must rely on God’s power.  We cannot live sinlessly on our own.  We cannot accomplish great things for God in our own wisdom.  We cannot be eternally successful in our own strength.  But God promises to grant us what we need to live for Him.

We must let love reign.  We cannot be critical, mean, gossiping, selfish, or jaded people.  We must recognize that God loves us.  And God loves others.  Therefore, we must love the ones whom Jesus died for.

We must have sound judgment.  Of course that seems hard to find today, but it is not when we seek God’s wisdom.  He enables us to think clearly and choose correctly.  His Word guides us.  The Spirit leads us.  We can count on it.

We may not like the heat, but we can and should experience God’s heat.  Will you burn for Him?

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