Does anyone else ever feel like their once burning bonfire for Christ has turned into a fizzled flame? I have been a Christ-follower for a long time. I dedicated my life to Christ as a sophomore in high school. That was when the song “Jesus Freak” by DC Talk was still very popular, and I was a proud Jesus Freak!
This continued until about just out of college. I can’t really point to one thing that stopped fueling the fire but Luke 8:14 mentions that the cares, riches and pleasure of this world can choke the word of God in our lives. This is probably what happened as a new career, new marriage and some family changes occurred.
God has brought a person into my life through work and I always think of us as unlikely friends. We were talking recently and mentioned a town near Detroit. I had been there in high school with the youth choir doing a concert in the park and evangelizing. She was there doing other not-so-upstanding activities like partying and drugs.
Throughout the last two years she has become interested in learning more about Christ, so I invited her to the starting point class. I didn’t really expect to get a ton out of it. It was my intention to use this class as a tool to begin discipling her. But God had something else in store for me!
If anyone wants to add fuel to their fire again, just hang out with new believers. They are so excited and hungry to learn about Jesus. They were just the fuel needed to get my fire burning brighter! It was such an exciting experience to see these new believers discover more about Jesus. One practical solution to a fizzling flame, start discipling someone! No matter where you are at God can use you! It will restore that fire to the burning bonfire it used to be.
Michelle Heriford
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I SO know where you are coming from on this... I have spent a couple of hours with a new believer who is just on FIRE for the Holy Spirit and I left her feeling like I had missed the "excitement pill" handed out at my own salvation.
ReplyDeleteBUT...it is so important to allow that energy to pull us in tighter to God and let Him fill us with the same fire, as the enemy is so good at spinning their flame into our failure.
Great reminder...thanks!!
Amen Sister...we all feel that way at times and need a little spark to spur us on. Thanks for sharing. Patricia Harvey
ReplyDeleteThis is the opportunity I was looking for: I want to thank you, Michelle, for serving in Starting Point! I always look forward to hearing what you have to say about our weekly topics, and am always challenged by our discussions. So glad you were open to discipling us. :)
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