NATIVES START FIRE Build Fire Part 8

#MONDAYRECAPFICB

WORD:

The islanders showed us unusual kindness. They built a fire and welcomed us all because it was raining and cold. 3 Paul gathered a pile of brushwood, and as he put it on the fire, a viper, driven out by the heat, fastened itself on his hand. Acts 28:2-3

1. God brings someone to start a fire in your life.

Who started the fire in you? (a stranger, a friend, a family member, a colleague at work, a preaching, a book, a conference, etc.)

I am reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also. For this reason, I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands. 2 Timothy 1:5-6

God sets hearts on fire by using places and people.

Jonah obeyed the word of the Lord and went to Nineveh. Now Nineveh was a very large city; it took three days to go through it. 4 Jonah began by going a day’s journey into the city, proclaiming, “Forty more days and Nineveh will be overthrown.” 5 The Ninevites believed God. A fast was proclaimed, and all of them, from the greatest to the least, put on sackcloth.
Jonah 3:3-5

God does use events, places, and people to kindle a fire. However, revival is not an event but a lifestyle.

2. It is your responsibility to keep the fire burning.

God may use the natives to kindle the fire, but you have a role to play by adding fuel to that flame. Without your help, the fire won’t last.

Paul gathered a pile of brushwood… Acts 28:3

For this reason, I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands. 2 Timothy 1:6

How do you keep your fire burning?

A. Hear God’s Word.
We live in a day and age where most of us watch YouTube videos, subscribe to podcasts, and these can be “natives” that God might use to kindle a fire, but be aware that the enemy can also use them to put out a fire. It goes both ways. The things that we listen to can either be fire starters or fire fighters.

Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ. Romans 10:17

It is very important to hear God’s word because it reveals His promises and will, sparking trust and conviction through the Holy Spirit, which acts as a fire in the believer’s heart.

“Consider carefully what you hear,” he continued. “With the measure you use, it will be measured to you—and even more. Mark 4:24

Where you put your attention today will produce your appetite tomorrow.

Your attention is the currency of your spiritual appetite.

Examine your attention, your focus, your heart. God wants to use your ears to light a fire in your soul.
Tell the person beside you: What are you listening to?

B. Read God’s Word.

Our eyes are said to be the gateway to the soul, and therefore, there can’t be fire in the heart without sparks coming through the eyes.

“I made a covenant with my eyes not to look lustfully at a young woman. Job 31:1

“The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of light. 23 But if your eyes are unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness! Matthew 6:22-23

One way that holy fire gets kindled in your heart is through reading God’s Word:

2 Timothy 3:16, All Scripture is God-breathed…

Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. Joshua 1:8

God’s word is true and effective in leading to a deep spiritual connection and guidance in life’s challenges.

“Is not my word like fire,” declares the Lord, “and like a hammer that breaks a rock in pieces? Jeremiah 23:29

Like fire, God’s word penetrates, purifies, and consumes what is false and harmful. It can warm hearts and minds, but also destroy what is corrupt.

C. Eat God’s Word.

“You are what you eat.”

If you are physically healthy right now, you are probably keeping a proper diet ( no sugar, no fats, exercise, going to the gym ), right? So, same with our spiritual fire. To keep the fire burning in us. We have to eat God’s Word. Remember the core practices? Meditate the word of God, study and memorize the word of God.

He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your ancestors had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord. Deuteronomy 8:3

As the manna set as food to fill the hunger.God’s Word set as fuel to keep our spiritual fire burning.

How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth! Psalm 119:103

Three types of feedings:

Fresh teaching – refers to biblical teachings fresh from God’s Word that give new and deeper insights, providing a new look at the old.

For I have not shunned to declare to you the whole counsel of God. Acts 20:27

Fast food teaching – focuses primarily on what just makes you feel good.

False teaching – denies Jesus Christ, glories in Christian freedom, but is actually indifferent to their Christian duties. (2 Peter 2)

3. God Himself wants to encounter you and set you on fire!

While it’s true that God will use places and people to spark a fire, we don’t want to downplay the importance of our personal encounters with God that may change our direction in life.

God spoke audibly to Paul on the road to Damascus, and all the rest is history.

As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him.4 He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” 5 “Who are you, Lord?” Saul asked. “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,” he replied.6 “Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.”
Acts 9:3-6

Although not everyone’s encounters will be as dramatic or similar, God often sparks something through personal encounters, which is why our daily time with God should be non-negotiable.

CHALLENGE:

One intimate encounter with God will change you, but ongoing encounters with God will change the world around you. One encounter with God should lead to ongoing encounters with Him. Moses’ encounter with God speaking to him in a burning bush on His mountain was just the beginning. He kept going back to His mountain to continue His encounters with the Lord.

God wants to encounter you and set you on fire! Be open to people whom God sends into your life to get a fire started in your heart.

How are you encountering God today?