Fired-Up Faith!

​Mark Twain once declared “I was born excited!”
 
Don’t you love that attitude? There is nothing more inspiring and motivating in life than hanging around people who are on fire for something! Even if I do not agree with their cause, I admire passionate people who are fired-up about what they believe.
 
The Apostle Paul in the Bible is one of those fired-up guys that I can agree with. Paul was “born-again” excited! God’s love burned in Paul’s heart.
 
You can almost feel the heat when Paul declares in Philippians 1:21 “For me to live is Christ and to die is gain.” Inspired and fired-up, Paul testified that his life was all about living and dying for Jesus who lived in him.  
 
Life is Christ for Christians.
 
Paul lived every day of his earthly life with the passion, power and fire of the Holy Spirit burning within. Why? Because he loved Jesus for loving and saving Him!
 
Living for Christ was Paul’s life.
 
Paul was not only on fire to live for Christ. He was also on fire thinking about dying and being with the Lord. Philippians 1:22-25 express his earnest desire to depart and be with Jesus. Note the phrase “very much better”. Think about it. “To die is gain”.
 
What believers gain by dying is being with Jesus. To be absent from our body is to be present with the Lord (II Corinthians 5:7-9). I can get fired-up about seeing Jesus face to face one day soon (I John 3:1-3). Even so, come quickly Lord Jesus! (Revelation 22:20).
 
Paul was fired-up about living and dying for the Lord. 
 
If you call yourself a Christians, how about you? Are you excited about living and dying for Jesus Christ? Are you fired-up about your Christian faith? Would people around you say that you are on fire for Jesus Christ? Do people come watch you burn because you are so hot for the Lord?
 
God’s love sets a holy fire in a born-again believer’s heart.  
 
The New Testament church was born out of fire (see Matthew 3:11, Acts 1:8 and Acts 2:1-4). Our first Christian brothers and sisters were ablaze for Jesus. The purifying fire and supernatural power from the infilling of the Holy Spirit they received at Pentecost propelled them out into a lost world with passion and energy. 
 
Deeply and unashamedly passionate for Christ, their gospel message was irresistible. Their ministry was invincible. They possessed a fired-up faith! Their evangelistic fervor turned multitudes of lost people’s lives around for Christ. 
 
Spiritual rebirth is exciting! Passing from death to life produces a joy and excitement that is beyond description. Reborn by the fire of God, you and I are to stay on fire all the days of our lives. 
 
Sadly, in 2022, many believers in Christ are passive and powerless instead of passionate and powerful. Many have allowed the fire of faith to fizzle instead of sizzle.  No wonder we struggle to reach and win a dead world. Life begets life. Lifeless people cannot give life. It is not possible to catch others on fire if there isn’t a fire burning deep within our hearts!
 
 So how is your spiritual fire burning? Is your faith tired and failing, mired in the muck of indifference, or fired-up and blazing a trail for sinners to find Jesus?  If your faith is fizzling out and needs fired up, consider doing the following things.
 
1. FIRE UP YOUR FAITH. In II Timothy 1:6 Paul told young Timothy to “kindle afresh” (KJV stir up) the gift within him. When a fire is flickering and ready to go out, stirring up the ashes brings back the flame.
 
Fire up your faith. Remember who Jesus is and what He has done for you. Do not look to someone else to fire you up. Rekindle your own fire. Get fired up by falling in love with Jesus all over again.
 
2. KEEP YOUR FAITH FIRED-UP!  Once started, a fire has to be kept burning or else it will go out.  Jude 20-21 exhorts us to be “building yourselves up on your most holy faith” and “to keep yourselves in the love of God.”  Building up faith and keeping God’s love strong in my life is my responsibility. I am required to keep putting fresh logs on the fire of my heart if my spiritual fire is to continue to burn.
 
Keep fired up by reading your Bible, praying in the Holy Spirit and staying focused on the love of God. Continually growing in our love for Jesus keeps us passionate and fervent in spirit to serve God and extend His Kingdom on earth. 
 
Three thoughts worth thinking about.
 
1.     Lukewarm is not an option for Christians. See Revelation 3:15-16.
2.     Stop feeling tired. Get re-wired with Jesus and fired-up through the Holy Spirit.
3.     Christians never retire. We re-fire so God can re-hire us for the work of the Kingdom.
Who is watching your life to see if you have fire or not? Friends, relatives, neighbors, and associates are all observing your level of spiritual heat.
 
Bottom line: Is your spiritual heat drawing people to the fire of God’s love?
 
“And though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, obtaining as the outcome or your faith the salvation or your souls”                                  I Peter 1:8-9.
 
A Word For Your Week: Fire up your faith! Life will be more enjoyable and people will come to watch you burn!