Is the Fire still Burning?

 STRENGTH FOR MY DAYS 

A Daily Devotional by Bishop David

Is the Fire still Burning?

Thursday, 17 October

 

The fire on the altar shall be kept burning on it, it shall not go out; the priest shall burn wood on it every morning, and he shall lay the burnt offering in order upon it, and shall burn on it the fat of the peace offerings. Leviticus 6: 12

SCRIPTURE FOR TODAY: Revelation 3:14-22 And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God; 15 I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. 16 So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth. 17 Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked: 18 I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see. 19 As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent. 20 Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me. 21 To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne. 22 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.

 

MORE LESSON: Leviticus 6: 12-14 And the fire upon the altar shall be burning in it; it shall not be put out: and the priest shall burn wood on it every morning, and lay the burnt offering in order upon it; and he shall burn thereon the fat of the peace offerings. 13 The fire shall ever be burning upon the altar; it shall never go out. 14 And this is the law of the meat offering: the sons of Aaron shall offer it before the LORD, before the altar.

 

God instructed the Old Testament priests to put fire upon His altar and to ensure it was burning continuously. They were to refuel the fire every morning: it was an instruction they were to observe from generation to generation.

This is a picture of what God wants on the altar of our hearts. When you become born again and receive the Holy Spirit, the fire of God comes on the altar of your heart. If you remember, when you believed, you were on fire; you truly loved God. You were grateful He saved you and worshiped Him in Spirit and truth. You loved to pray, and you prayed with all your heart. You loved to go to church to be with other saints in worship. You loved to serve in the house of God and to win souls for Christ. You loved to give, to pay your tithe and to sacrifice for God. You followed God with all your heart because you were on fire for Him. This is the experience of anyone who truly becomes born again.

The fire of God upon the altar of your heart is expected to be burning continually. Just as your heart beats and does not stop until you die, God's fire is to burn continuously until you leave this world to be with Him in glory. The fire shall never go out, " but " shall ever be burning upon the altar " (Leviticus 6:13). Just as the Levites were commanded to refuel the fire every morning by putting wood upon it, refuel the fire of God on your altar through worship, prayer and feeding in the word of God, "morning by morning" (Isaiah 50:4). May the fire of God never go out on the altar of your heart, in Jesus ' name.

In case the fire has gone down, then it is time to refuel. This was the situation with the Laodicean Church; they became lukewarm and were neither cold nor hot. Jesus, rebuked them and asked them to return to their first love (Revelations 3:16; 2: 4-5). Revelations 3:19 cautions us: As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent. It is time to return to your first love for the Lord. The fire of God's love must burn again in your heart and manifest in how you worship, pray, study His word, give, serve, evangelise, love to go to the house of God, and how you love the brethren.

May the fire of God burn brightly in your heart, today and forever. Ephesians 5:14 exhorts: Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light.

 

Prayer/Action

* Give thanks to God for His great love for you and for the fire of the Holy Spirit. 

* Ask God to purge you of everything that hinders this fire from burning.

* Pray that God's fire will burn on the altar of your heart forever.

 

TODAY’S PROPHETIC PRAYER: Thank You my Father and my God for giving me life. I receive everything that makes life worth living from You now, in the precious name of Jesus.