Fire attracts. Fire motivates. Fire kindles fire; it is the nature of fire to set ablaze….
John the Baptist had prophesied of Jesus that “He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire” (Matt. 3:11; Luke 3:16). The coming of the Spirit is to have the effect of fire. Christ desired that all the fiery ministry of the Spirit be active in the life of His own. He kindled the holy flame of God in the hearts of His followers as He began His earthly ministry. Only on the day of Pentecost, as visibly symbolized by the descent of the holy flame of the Spirit, did Christ so empower by His fiery baptism that the 120 began to spread God’s holy fire across the world.
Jesus had said, “I have come to bring fire on the earth” (Luke 12:49).
God said to Jeremiah, “I will make my words in your mouth a fire” (Jer. 5:14). On that occasion God was referring to fire as a judgment. But God similarly makes our words fiery in order that His people may become aflame with holy love, zeal, and obedience.
When the Holy Spirit sets our heart on fire He will cause our words to be aflame. When our personality is aflame with commitment to Christ and with a burning vision of what He purposes to do for us, our whole leadership comes alive with life and becomes vibrant with power.
We must constantly maintain our consecration, even as the priests maintained the fire on the altar of the temple. God honors when we make repeated occasions to renew our commitment, confess our total dependence upon Him, and appropriate and implore anew His gracious Spirit’s ministry within and through us. Let us note more fully this fiery ministry of the Spirit.
He sets you aflame with His fiery baptism. “He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire,” said John the Baptist of Jesus (Matt. 3:11; Luke 3:16). This refers to “the fiery character of the Spirit’s operations upon the soul–searching, consuming, refining, sublimating–The inner fire of the Spirit sets the Spirit-filled person ablaze with His divine presence.
He empowers you with His fiery divine energy. The fire of God speaks also of His divine energy constantly ready to empower His own who are totally surrendered to Him. Christ desires that all the fiery ministry of the Spirit be active in our life. “I have come to bring fire on the earth” (Luke 12:49). He kindled the holy flame of God in the hearts of His followers as He began His earthly ministry. But He knew they needed more of the Spirit.
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