Weekly Devotional - FEED THE FIRE - Devotional May 3, 2010

From Lenae, GEMS Training Manager

FEED THE FIRE

Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord.

Romans 12:11

 

Although the old saying, “A watched pot never boils” may seem accurate when we’re in a hurry to make pasta for dinner, any pot of water left long enough on the right temperature will eventually boil. It’s not boiling water, but boiling spirits that is contained in God’s command for His children in Romans 12:11, Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. The word fervor comes from the Latin word fervens, which means, “boiling.” To have great spiritual fervor is to have a boiling heart for God!


Boiling hearts chill when we serve God and Money (Matthew 6:24), worry (Matthew 6:25-27), are timid in testifying about our Lord (2 Timothy 1:7-8), participate in godless chatter (2 Timothy 2:16) and foolish and stupid arguments (2 Timothy 2:23), walk in darkness (1 John 1:6), are lukewarm (Revelation 3:15-16), turn away from our first love (Revelation 2:4), and love the ways of the world (2 Timothy 4:10).


Don’t love the world’s ways. Don’t love the world’s goods. Love of the world squeezes out love for the Father. Practically everything that goes on in the world – wanting your own way, wanting everything for yourself, wanting to appear important – has nothing to do with the Father. It just isolates you from him (1 John 2:15-16, MSG).


Sin isolates us from God and extinguishes flames! To feed the fire of love for God and zeal to serve others we must ruthlessly eliminate sin from our lives. Throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles (Hebrews 12:1), get rid of it (Ephesians 4:31), take it off (Ephesians 4:25), and put it to death (Colossians 3:5). If we become apathetic to sin and get comfortable with the things that God has told us to strip out of our lives there is a consequence for our choice. Those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God (Galatians 5:21).


Although a watched pot will eventually boil, a heart that houses sin won’t. If your heart isn’t boiling, take a look at what’s hindering the heat. What sin has entangled you?


Once we’ve repented of sin, we can persevere in the race that He’s marked out for us (Hebrews 12:1). Keep your spiritual fervor by fixing your eyes on Jesus (Hebrews 12:2) and forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead (Philippians 3:13). With Paul, let’s press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called [us] heavenward in Christ Jesus (Philippians 3:14).


PASSION Step: Ask God to reveal any sin that is keeping your heart from boiling with spiritual fervor.

Spirit filled souls are ablaze for God. They love with a love that glows. They serve with a faith that kindles. They serve with a devotion that consumes. They hate sin with fierceness that burns. They rejoice with a joy that radiates. Love is perfected in the fire of God.

Samuel Chadwick