Start A Fire In My Soul! (Replay)

2 Timothy 1:5-6 “I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, dwells in you as well.  For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands.”

I was listening to some praise and worship songs this morning and I was looking for one song in particular because I just love it.  I couldn’t remember the name but I remembered which playlist it was on, so I searched through and found it.  It is called Start a Fire and it is by Unspoken.  I love this song so much because I feel like it speaks to my soul.  I feel it expresses how I feel so deeply.  I love many praise and worship songs for this reason.  I find the artists ability to capture how I feel about God and put it into words is remarkable.  This is why I love listening to Christian music so much.  I will hear a song and find myself nodding my head and saying, yes, that is exactly it.  Sometimes I didn’t even know that was how I felt, I just couldn’t put words to it but as soon as I heard them I knew it was true.  

I want to share the words of this song with you:

This world can be cold and bitter

Feels like we're in the dead of winter

Waiting on something better

But am I really gonna hide forever?

Over and over again

I hear Your voice in my head

Let Your light shine, let Your light shine for all to see

Start a fire in my soul

Fan the flame and make it grow

So there's no doubt or denying

Let it burn so brightly

That everyone around can see

That it's You, that it's You that we need

Start a fire in me

You only need a spark to start a whole blaze

It only takes a little faith

Let it start right here in this city

So these old walls will never be the same

Over and over again

I hear Your voice in my head

They need to know

I need to go

Spirit won't You fall on my heart now

You are the fire, You are the flame

You are the light on the darkest day

We have the hope, we bear Your name

We carry the news that You have come to save

Only You can save

There are so many things I love about this song.  I love the part where it says over and over again I hear your voice in my head, let you light shine, let your light shine for all to see.  I feel God is telling all of this.  He wants us to let our light shine.  It even says in the Bible, don’t hide your light under a bushel, put it on the table for all to see.  I love the part where it says, am I really going to hide forever?  As if we can hide from God.  He sees us, He sees all of us and guess what, He loves us, just as we are.  I love the part where it says, “Start a fire in my soul.  Fan the flames and make it grow so there’s not doubt or denying.  Let it burn so brightly that everyone around you can see that it’s you, that its you that we need.”  This is what God wants from us.  He wants His light to shine so brightly in us that everyone can see it.  He wants us to be a reflection of Him and to pass His light on to others.  This is my prayer for each one of you listening.  I pray God starts a fire in your soul.  Actually I pray He fans the flames on the fire He has already started.  You would not be listening to this podcast if there wasn’t already a fire in your soul.  I also love the part that says, “You are the fire, You are the flame, You are the light on the darkest day.”  This is so true.  I hope you know that.  I hope you know that God is that fire you feel inside, He is the flame.  God is the light on the darkest day.  Your darkest day, that one where you felt alone, that one where you feel sad, mad, angry, or depressed.  God is there and He is your light.  He will light a way where you didn’t think there was one.  

The verse above starts by saying, “I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, dwells in you as well.” I met with some of the ladies in my prayer group yesterday to review what we had learned at a recently attended conference.   During the conversation we started talking about the faith that was passed down to us from our parents, who received it from their parents.  Your faith came from some where and I think we underestimate how important it is that our parents passed our faith down to us.  Maybe some of you listening didn’t have that.  Maybe you found your faith on your own.  Well, maybe God led you to your faith in another way.  That is great if you were able to find your faith despite the lack of faith in your childhood.  

For those of you that grew up going to church, I would like you to take a minute to appreciate how great that is.  Maybe you didn’t appreciate it at the time because, let’s be honest, most kids don’t enjoy the fact that their parents made them go to church.  However, if you look back now, can you see what a gift that was?  Can you see how your parents were giving you a firm foundation on which you can rely for the rest of your lives.  

I really don’t know if I would have made it through I made it through if I didn’t have my faith, if I didn’t have God right there with me.  I don’t know if I would have had the strength to keep fighting, to keep searching for answers, to keep trying.  Our family of origin, the family we grew up with has a large impact on who we become.  Sometimes we can get caught up in seeing all the negative things that came from our family.  Maybe today we could take a moment to think about all the good things that came from our family.  Maybe we can think about what a gift it is that our parents passed down the faith to us.  We can think back to how many other generations have kept the faith alive in our family so that we could have the foundation we have today.  If you didn’t have that firm foundation, if you had to find it on your own, maybe think about how important it is to pass that along to the next generation, so that they aren’t lost and so they don’t have to find God on their own.  What a gift that would be.  

The verse above ends with, "For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands.”  It reminds us that God is a Gift.  Not everyone knows God, not everyone has received this gift.  This verse is telling us to fan the flame of that gift.  Fan the flame of the fire inside of us.  As the song says, “Fan the flame and make it grow, so there's no doubt or denying. Let it burn so brightly that everyone around can see that it's You, that it's You that we need.”  What if your love for God burned so brightly that there was no way to deny it?  What if it burned so brightly that is spread like wild fire to all those you meet?  Have you ever been with someone who had an infectious laugh?  They are filled with so much joy and when you are around them you can’t help but laugh too?  What if we were like that with the Holy Spirit?  We were so filled with the Holy Spirit that when others were around us they can’t help but be filled with the Holy Spirit too? What if we made that our goal?  What if our goal for 2023 was to fan the flame of our faith so that it grew so brightly that all could see it?  This is my goal, will you join me?

Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless all those listening to this episode today.  Lord, we love you and we want to fan the flame, will you help us?  We want to be so full of your love and goodness that it spills out on all those we meet.  We want the fire inside of us to be like a wildfire that spreads to each and every person we come in contact with.  We don’t want anyone to have to go another day without knowing your love, your mercy, your glory, and your grace.  You are so amazing Lord.  We are so grateful for those who came before us and passed on your faith to their loved ones.  Please help us to pass on our faith to our loved ones as well.  Give us the strength and the will power we need to do this Lord.  We love you and we ask all of this in accordance with your will and in Jesus’ holy name, Amen!

Thank you so much for joining me on this journey to walk boldly with Jesus.  I look forward to bringing you another witness tomorrow.  Remember, Jesus loves you, and so do I!  Have a blessed day!

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