“And the fire on the altar shall be kept burning on it; it shall not be put out. And the priest shall burn wood on it every morning, and lay the burnt offering in order on it. A fire shall always be burning on the altar; it shall never go out.” – Leviticus 6:12-13

Fire is a symbol of God in the Bible. We see the Scriptures describe God as a consuming fire; His Word is like fire, Jesus is the Baptizer with the Holy Spirit and fire, and when the Holy Spirit came, He came as flames of fire on the heads of the Apostles. This does not only speak about loudness or a vibrant personality but of passion, commitment and dedication to God.

You will burn on fire for God to the extent that you overcome excuses. Share on X

“And the natives showed us unusual kindness; for they kindled a fire and made us all welcome, because of the rain that was falling and because of the cold. But when Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks and laid them on the fire…” – Acts 28:2-3

The natives welcomed Paul and his group by building a fire for them. They built a fire even though it was raining. I want to share a few thoughts with you about this.

Stop Making Excuses, Make Fire

You will burn on fire for God to the extent that you overcome excuses.

Think of this story Paul was in. It is not the best time to build a fire when it rains. There was a reason to build a fire because it was cold, but rain kills fire. Rain is counterproductive to fire. Common sense would have said wait for the rain to stop, then build a fire. Living on fire for God is not a personality trait. But one personality trait everyone who lives on fire for God has is they overcome excuses better than those who are not on fire for God. They are not special in a sense, they don’t have wings or a halo or anything like that. Yet where others make excuses, they make fire.

Excuses extinguish your fire for God. We all have reasons. The biggest excuse people use not to be on fire for God is our struggle with sin. They believe that they cannot be on fire for God because they are not perfect, they make mistakes.

Let me tell you, God was aware that you are not as good as you profess to be, that you are capable of making big mistakes, and He still chose you and loves you. None of your hiccups in your walk with God are a surprise to God. The Holy Spirit doesn’t drop you like a hot potato when you make a mess because your only chance of living a holy life is with the Holy Spirit. How would God expect holiness from us and then remove the only source of holiness from us when we make a mistake. He does not. God is not a Pharaoh who expects you to make bricks and does not provide straw for it.

Excuses extinguish your fire for God. Share on X

When I began my walk with the Lord in my teenage years, I quickly discovered how flawed I am and became disappointed with myself. Real growth comes when you become deeply disappointed with yourself. That is when you begin to understand how much growth you still need. One of the most disappointing things about me was myself because I didn’t measure up to my own standards. I started having the idea of putting my pursuit of Jesus on hold until I had sorted myself out. But there was a scripture that the Lord used to change my life at that time and it was Genesis 3:9.

“Then the Lord God called to Adam and said to him, “Where are you?” – Genesis 3:9

God didn’t come to Adam and ask what he had done or how could you Adam? He said where are you? Which means I showed up to meet with you, why didn’t you show up? God still expected Adam to come to him, even with his guilt, shame and sin. God wanted Adam to repent, not to hide from Him. Your only hope is in the presence of God. The enemy will tell you don’t build fire because it is raining in your life, you are in error, sin, mistake, and shame but your only hope is in Jesus. Your hope is not in self, it is in the Savior. Don’t let the enemy lie to you that what you did is an excuse not to come to God.

“I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.” – Galatians 5:16

You cannot overcome the lust of the flesh without the Holy Spirit’s strength. It does not say do not fulfill the lust of the flesh so that you can walk in the Spirit. This is not an excuse to keep sinning but an invitation to pursue the Holy Spirit in prayer. Don’t distance yourself from God; run to Him. Forgiveness is not earned; it is received.

When The Fire Comes

Someone might start the fire, but it will burn from your bundle of sticks.

Be open to receiving God’s sparks. They can come while reading the Bible, praying, reading Christian books, dreams, visions, and by the inner voice of the Holy Spirit. However, sparks only last days, maybe weeks, and then they die. Every spark needs a stick. Paul gathered a bundle of sticks and laid them on the fire. It starts with a desire. You get a desire to seek God. Every desire needs a decision and every spark needs a stick.

Sometimes it starts with a dissatisfaction – you are just sick and tired of the way you have been living. The dissatisfaction is God calling you to seek for more. The way you respond to it is to make a decision right there and then to pursue Him. If you respond to God’s quickening, there is grace. But if you don’t bring your sticks, the spark will die out. When you make a decision, you will be tested by discipine. There will be moments; it is not going to be all the time when you feel like doing it. You need discipline when the feelings fade, for you to continue with what you said you would do. Add a stick to the fire by doing it anyway, when you don’t feel like it anymore.

Be A Believer Not A Feeler

God wants to build this on the inside of you that you would go by what you believe, not what you feel. But when your feelings fade away, you quit every commitment you made. As a Christian, you belong to the household of faith, not the household of feelings. You have the Word, gift, measure, Spirit of faith so that you can live a life of faith. That cannot happen if you always quit when things get harder and you lose the feelings which were attached to your decisions. Persevere through it.

Delight

Pursing Jesus is not drudgery. When you get through the desire, make a decision, and apply discipline, you will get to where living for and loving Jesus is a delight.

• Desire says, “I need.”
• Decision says, “I will.”
• Discipline says, “I must.”
• Delight says, “I want.”

If you want to build a fire for God, don’t do big things inconsistently; do small things consistently. The scripture instructs the priests to burn wood on the altar – that means something that is fire-friendly. Build fire friendly actions that can burn really well. There are things which are fire-friendly, that the fire consumes and gets bigger. In the same way, there are habits that fuel fire and there are habits that fight fire.

Consistency, Habits, and Sacrifice

Lastly, the Lord instructs the priests to lay a fat offering on the altar, this speaks of sacrifice. Anything that you do in your walk with God which lacks sacrifice, and is always only convenience, will cause you to reach a plateau you won’t be able to push through. Don’t be afraid or allergic to sacrifices, big or small. This is how to make sure the fire on your altar will never burn out.

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