"Stir us, Lord"

Paul wrote to the Christians of Thessalonica : "Do not extinguish the Spirit" (1 Thessalonians 5:19). Surprisingly, although the Holy Spirit is fully God, it is quite possible for Christians like you or me to hamper His work and extinguish His sacred fire.

Some people mistakenly think that, whatever God wants to do, He will do it. Consider Jesus' invitation to His own church at Laodicea : "Behold, I stand at the door, and I smite. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will go in to him, and I will sup with him, and he with me "(Revelation 3:20). If He is Christ and He wants to enter, why does not He just enter ? Why does he bother to knock and ask ? It is the mystery of God's sovereignty and our free will. We must answer Him or we will miss the blessings He has foreseen.

At one point, Paul told Timothy to rekindle the embers so that the fire could continue to burn (see 2 Timothy 1: 6). We need to do the same ! For some of us, embers are shining only weakly and we need to care for them, stir them, blow them so that they can restore real flames.

We need the fire of the Holy Spirit to change our life and our local assembly. We need to spread Him in our cities, that Christ may be glorified. May this prayer be ours today : "Send the fire, Lord. Burns, penetrates, changes, renews, illuminates. Do what you promised, when we wait in the name of Christ."

Jim Cymbala