“Set a fire down in my soul
That I can’t contain.
That I can’t control.
I want more of you God.
I want more of you God.”
-Jesus Culture
Hello Lovelies!!
Recently I’ve had the song “Set on Fire” by Jesus Culture stuck in my head and it got me thinking about what having a heart set on fire for Jesus really meant. How does God want us to be on fire for him? What would that look like in our day to day lives?
So after taking a moment to mull over those questions, I set out to find a scripture that would meet my expectations of being “set on fire”. I found a few scriptures that scratched the surface but nothing was really hitting the note I needed to hear. I wanted a clear cut scripture that aligned with those lyrics so I could see exactly what God wanted from me.
How often has that happened to you? You have {insert specific feeling or mood here} and you set off on a hunt for a verse or 2 that will quench your need. *Raises hand* Don’t you just love how 99% of the time, no matter what you’re facing, it only take a few moments in the Word to find exactly what you need to hear?
That’s normally how it works for me, however, this time…I was not getting that fulfilled feeling. I found scripture on ways to grow in the Lord but I needed something more evident of God’s desires for us to never be comfortable in our current stage of faith.
Then I stumbled on a scripture which I’m sure you’ve heard before… 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” Which is all good and dandy but then I read on 1 Thessalonians 5:19 “Do not quench the Spirit.” BOOM. Five little words with such a strong command.
Do not quench the Spirit.
Do not do things that would subdue the Holy Spirit in yourself, for when you do that, you subdue God’s ability to move within you and if God’s ability to move is limited in any way, we have begun to suffocate His fire in our soul. Woah! God, you’ve really thought of it all haven’t you?! How simple is that? If you want to have your heart set on fire for the Lord, do not let things come into your life that will suppress that fire.
How does one go about not quenching the Holy Spirit? Well I can’t really answer that for you. I know, not very helpful huh? I say that because I believe that there is no one perfect blanket answer that will work here. I think it’s something that you have to work on directly with God. When I think of having my heart set on fire for the Lord, I think about going deeper into the Word. Constantly seeking to learn more and more about Him. I want to dive into every chapter and every line.
Maybe your fire is in worship, maybe it’s in relationships with others or maybe it’s in a mix of ways. If you’re having a rough time right now feeling that fire, I encourage you to go somewhere quiet and just sit with the Lord. Pray about it! Don’t let the fear of not having the “perfect” relationship with Him deter you opening up and letting the Holy Spirit in! It takes a spark to start a flame to ignite the heart.
I hope you all have a wonderful week!
-Amanda
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This really was…again… perfect timing for me. Thank you. I have been wanting to use the lyrics from Unspoken’s “Start A Fire” for some journaling. The themes are similar.
Then, I remembered this quote from James Elliot’s book,”Through Gates of Splendor”. It is PERFECT to compliment your beautiful post:
“He makes His ministers a flame of fire. Am I ignitable? God deliver me from the dread asbestos of ‘other things.’ Saturate me with the oil of the Spirit that I may be a flame. But flame is transient, often short-lived. Canst thou bear this, my soul – short life? In me there dwells the Spirit of the Great Short-Lived, whose zeal for God’s house consumed Him. ‘Make me Thy Fuel, Flame of God.’”