Let It Burn 🔥🔥🔥

I was a bit of a daredevil growing up. Once, I was dared to stick toilet paper in the bathroom wall heater. I didn’t think twice about it. I grabbed the toilet paper, tore a piece, rolled it up, and stuck it in the heater. Immediately, the fire began to race towards my finger and burned my thumb. I dropped it. The fire began to burn a hole in my grandmother’s new rug. We put it out but my thumb felt like it was still on fire. I spent the next two days running my “fire finger” under cold water for relief. Due to that experience, I developed a fear of fire until adulthood.

Today, I want talk about different kind of fire….the fire of the Holy Spirit. In Acts on the Day of Pentecost, the spirit of God was described as flames above the heads of the disciples. In Hebrews 12:29, God (his Spirit) is referred to as an all consuming fire. God’s spirit comes to purify us from all unrighteousness to make us more like him. If there is any sin in our lives, we must surrender it to the Holy Spirit and let him have his way in our life. If we do, we will never be the same. In Exodus 3:2, God instructed Moses to lead his people out of slavery in Egypt through a burning bush. Although the bush was completely engulfed in fire, it wasn’t destroyed. God’s presence in the bush sustained it. This also exemplified the glory of God. That’s what God wants to do in our lives. He wants to display his power through us. Just like tissue and my “fire finger”, his fire starts working in one area of our lives and spreads to the rest. We don’t have to be afraid. The Spirit isn’t spooky or antiquated. He was sent by the Father to reside within us after Jesus went back to Heaven. Jesus had to leave so that the Comforter (God in us) could come and endow us with power from on high. We need the Holy Spirit operating within us to fulfill God’s divine plan for our lives. There is no way to live victoriously without him. Salvation without the Holy Spirit is like having a gun with no bullets. We need holy fire. We can’t withstand the fiery trials that come our way without it.

LET IT BURN!