Be Ignitable Part 2
Fuel
Luke 12:49 ESV
49 “I came to cast fire on the earth, and would that it were already kindled!
Luke 12:49, in context, is speaking on the fact that Jesus knew that His message would create division, but that division was necessary to divide the righteous from the unrighteous. Jesus looked at the world as already kindled and ready to be set ablaze. Out of division, people find liberty in the Words of Christ. Division not in the fact that we are to abandon the world, but we are no longer one with the world.
If we wish to be kindled in preparation for the Holy Spirit fire, we must be willing to step into the division to fully surrender our citizenship to the Heavenly Kingdom. We can no longer act as if we hold a dual passport, one for Heaven and one for the World. Every part of us must be aligned with God.
We do this by studying God’s Word, the Bible. In doing so, we learn many different truths, including who God is, how God speaks, how His Spirit works, and why we must pursue holiness in all that we do. This provides us with the proper foundation or proper kindling to be set ablaze for God.
We learn the mind of God, and in doing so, we begin to see the world as God sees the world. We begin to be set apart from the world as we no longer operate as the world operates.
John 15:19 ESV
If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.
Tinder
To build a foundation for the fire, you must first have what is called tinder.
Tinder— A dry substance that readily takes fire from a spark or sparks; specifically, a preparation or material used for catching the spark.
2 Corinthians 6:14-18 ESV
14 Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness? 15 What accord has Christ with Belial?[a] Or what portion does a believer share with an unbeliever? 16 What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; as God said, “I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 17 Therefore go out from their midst, and be separate from them, says the Lord, and touch no unclean thing; then I will welcome you, 18 and I will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to me, says the Lord Almighty.”
To prepare for Holy Spirit fire, you must separate yourself from all things that draw you away from God—leaving yourself with a pureness that can easily take a spark. This is done by again reading the Bible. The Bible will naturally expose what will quench the flame and guide you in what God sees as pure.
To gather fuel, separation must occur for maximum use. We eliminate things that may quench (too wet to catch a flame) or remove harmful products like poisonous material.
1 Thessalonians 5:19 (ESV)
19 Do not quench the Spirit.
By quenching the Spirit, we hinder a Godly lifestyle. If we restrict the airflow, the flame will begin to starve for oxygen. You will start to feel stagnant, apathetic, or decay in spiritual living.
We must be cautious to eliminate poor theology and begin to remove/wrestle through the doubts and fears. Poor theology that has been watered down will not catch a flame. Doubts and fears like poison, if left to fester, can kill you spiritually.
Kindling
Kindling— small enough to catch fire from the burning of tinder and large enough to allow bigger pieces of fuel to hold a flame. Examples: small twigs or small branches.
Working out of a pure foundation, now we add the meat of the fire or bigger sources of fuel.
Hebrews 5:14 ESV 14 But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.
In the kindling phase, we must begin to mature from infancy on a spiritual level. We need to begin to take hold of our faith and start to study and practice the Words in the Bible. This is always a sign of maturity when a Christian feels the urge to add more fuel to the fire.
Accelerants
Accelerants— Any substance that can bond, mix, or disturb another substance and cause an increase in the speed of a natural or artificial chemical process. For example, lighter fluid or pure alcohol.
In the final stage of preparing the fuel, we need to add an accelerant that mixes with what we have built upon the foundation. This accelerant must be put on the fuel in preparation or anticipation of a spark.
Colossians 3:12-17 ESV
12 Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, 13 bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. 14 And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. 15 And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which you were called in one body. And be thankful. 16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. 17 And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
Verse fourteen especially says to put on love which binds everything together in perfect harmony. In love, we take what we read, what we study, wisdom, and knowledge to live out our faith in love. Now we only need heat to create a spark.
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