Let the Fire Burn

The sky was a shade of soft, light blue. The sun shone brightly, but hung low in the southern sky and offered no warmth. An icy wind roared across the flat ground of my front yard. It sliced through the layers of clothing I wore and bit into my skin. Its icy tendrils burrowed their way into my bones and made my body ache with discomfort. I could feel the skin of my face creak as I squinted at the bright comfortless sun. The harsh winter day attacked me but there was work that needed to be done outside, so I endured.
Able to take the bitter cold no longer I ventured inside for some hopeful relief. As I entered the door to the house, heat welcomed me pleasantly. I stepped to the wood stove and leaned my back against it. Waves of heat enveloped me like a soft hug. The warmth flowed up my back and the cold began to flee from my spine. It almost seemed to scream as it succumbed to the power of the heat. I could feel remnants of ice down my neck but they slowly faded to nothing. My body, once very tense from bearing the cold torment, now relaxed in the warm embrace.
This picture is not much different from our relationship with Jesus Christ. The cold icy outdoors is the world. It attacks us constantly trying to break our resolve as followers of Christ. The ways of the world get under the skin and try to set up in our bones, but we must endure. The warm comforting heat is the Holy Spirit, sent to us by Jesus when we accept Him into our life. Here is the difference though...For us the fire comes from within. You see, we are supposed to be the wood stove. The fire of the Holy Spirit burns from within our heart if we allow God to use us as such a vessel. When the world seems cold and unforgiving, Jesus envelopes us with the power of His love and sets the Holy Spirit fire anew inside us. As with the cold I described above sometimes it takes a little time for the remnants of the world to be overpowered by the fervent Heat of God. As a song from Casting Crowns says, "It's a Slow Fade when you give yourself away."
Jesus of all people knew this world was cold and unforgiving when He walked the earth. He brought nothing but love and kindness to all He encountered. Instead of thanking Him we nailed Him to the cross. But He rose from the dead to give us hope that one day we might do the same, but for now we must endure this world. But Jesus promised in John 14:16 that He would send us a comforter, and on the day of Pentecost that promise was fulfilled. The Holy Spirit descended on the Church and dwells among those who invite Him in. Jesus made another promise in John 14:18, He said He would not leave us as orphans, and that He would come for us. One day, perhaps very soon, Jesus is coming for us and with Him comes the gift of eternal life for all who believe. The bible says in 1 Corinthians 15:51-57 that when Jesus comes back and the trumpet sounds the dead in Christ will rise and we who are alive will be changed. This corruptible will put on incorruptible and this mortal will put on immortality.

"Death is swallowed up in victory...But thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ."

My friends and family be at peace, this world may be unforgiving but our God and Savior is not. Become an instrument for the Holy Spirit fire and remember that fire spreads if you don't try to control it with your own intentions. LET THE FIRE BURN!!!