A
daily, Bible-based perspective of hope, encouragement and
exhortation.
Tuesday,
June 22,
2021
"A
Consideration Of Being Hot"
Listen
to this message on your audio player.
"Never
be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor,
serving the Lord" (Romans 12:11). "Do not put out
the Spirit's fire" (1 Thessalonians 5:19). "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, for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of
power and love and self-control" (2 Timothy 1:6,7).
It's
been very hot in our area with temps in the
mid-nineties yesterday here in Lancaster County with
the RealFeel® even higher. David, a friend from Texas,
wrote that he and his wife Sabra were talking Sunday
on the way home from church, and how happy they were
that the days are getting shorter because that means
they are heading to Fall when the high 90 and 100
degree days they are experiencing right now will end
in Texas. This was in response to Brooksyne's sense of
sadness as the days get shorter. Well, that's a good
way to look at it!But the
hottest temps here in the US have been out west with
record breaking high temps in the Death Valley. We
visited there several years ago in late September
before it is recommended that tourists visit (which is
mid October at the earliest). It was very, very hot
although I have also been to Phoenix in the middle of
summer with similar temps 110°
and above. There's a point when it's just unbearably
hot!
In
yesterday's text we noted following the great flood
that God promised, "As
long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold
and heat, summer and winter, day and night will
never cease" (Genesis 8:22).
So, both the cold and the heat are a part of God's
design
and essentially a fulfillment of His promise. That, we
feel, is a good way to look at it!
Hot not only describes the outside
temperatures but also the foods we eat that contain
capsaicin. Yesterday Brooksyne bought some sushi on
sale and brought me a plate with several pieces and
sat it in front of me at my desk. She customarily places a very small dab of Wasabi
sauce on it making it even tastier. Well, in my food
world a little more is usually even better, so a few
minutes later I went upstairs and helped myself to
some more sushi and overdid it with the Wasabi sauce.
My, o my, did I ever pay the price! That stinging heat
sure went up my sinuses and I think into my brain. I
still don't know if I'm quite back to normal yet.Even
after my personal, rather unpleasant experience, I
want us to consider being hot as a positive and
desirable spiritual condition.
"Being
on fire" is an expression used to describe a real sold
out, committed believer. The daily Scripture texts
teach that this is how Christians ought to be, to "keep your spiritual
fervor". The underlying Greek word for
"fervor" in our first daily text is "zeo", which
means, "to be hot." It's used to describe the
preaching of Apollos in Acts 18:25 who "spoke with
great fervor".
The challenge in the spiritual life is to "keep your spiritual fervor", that is to stay on fire. I sure find a tendency for my fire to wane so I need to regularly heed Paul's words to Timothy "to fan into flame the gift of God" (2 Timothy 1:6).
We also need to heed that short word of exhortation expressed in the second verse and "not put out the Spirit's fire". Many of us are familiar with the way the King James Version words this phrase, "Quench not the Spirit". The word for "quench" literally means "extinguish" and although I am thankful for fire extinguishers, as well as the extinguishing effect lots of water can bring after eating too much Wasabi sauce, we need to be very careful that we do not extinguish the Spirit's fire!
The challenge in the spiritual life is to "keep your spiritual fervor", that is to stay on fire. I sure find a tendency for my fire to wane so I need to regularly heed Paul's words to Timothy "to fan into flame the gift of God" (2 Timothy 1:6).
We also need to heed that short word of exhortation expressed in the second verse and "not put out the Spirit's fire". Many of us are familiar with the way the King James Version words this phrase, "Quench not the Spirit". The word for "quench" literally means "extinguish" and although I am thankful for fire extinguishers, as well as the extinguishing effect lots of water can bring after eating too much Wasabi sauce, we need to be very careful that we do not extinguish the Spirit's fire!
Be
encouraged today, (Hebrews 3:13)
Stephen
& Brooksyne Weber
Daily
prayer: Father,
help us to stir up the fire of the Holy Spirit
in our lives through faithful reading and
application of the Scriptures. Though there are
daily temptations and experiences that seek to
extinguish the fire of the Holy Spirit in our
lives, we thank You that Your abiding presence
in our hearts grants us power to defeat the foe
that seeks to deter us. May we always be
attentive to Your still small voice and the
convicting power of Your Holy Spirit so that we
keep our spiritual fervor in serving You. Amen.
Daily
prayer: Father,
help us to stir up the fire of the Holy Spirit
in our lives through faithful reading and
application of the Scriptures. Though there are
daily temptations and experiences that seek to
extinguish the fire of the Holy Spirit in our
lives, we thank You that Your abiding presence
in our hearts grants us power to defeat the foe
that seeks to deter us. May we always be
attentive to Your still small voice and the
convicting power of Your Holy Spirit so that we
keep our spiritual fervor in serving You. Amen.Today's
Suggested Music and Supplemental
Resources
Faces of Daily Encouragement:
Sunday is a
Nigerian reader who periodically writes
us. In fact yesterday he shared that they
also celebrated Father's day in Nigeria on
Sunday. He lives in Lagos, Nigeria with
his family and describes himself as a
"lover of God, and a follower of Jesus
Christ". "The world around us is filled
with darkness which allows evil to thrive,
and this can be discouraging most times.
But with the help of the Holy Spirit, we
have been able to stay in God's love, and
shine God's light from our small corner of
the world."
Today we share a song that has attained world-wide popularity and has blessed millions during this last year that originated in Nigeria. "Way Maker" Video Sinach
The
song has been translated to over 50
languages and covered by many artists all
around the world.
In many cases we become
friends with the people we visit in the
course of our chaplaincy ministry since we
are there weekly. For many years we have
been visiting Curtis at White Oak Design and
Display in Palmyra, PA. Curtis is a coach in
numerous youth sports and often shared of
his desire to not only win but to instill
lifelong character on his team members.
Yesterday I said farewell since he is taking
a position at a Christian School here in our
area and will have the perfect opportunity
to instill those spiritual virtues of which
he was alluding to.
Faces of Daily Encouragement:
Sunday is a
Nigerian reader who periodically writes
us. In fact yesterday he shared that they
also celebrated Father's day in Nigeria on
Sunday. He lives in Lagos, Nigeria with
his family and describes himself as a
"lover of God, and a follower of Jesus
Christ". "The world around us is filled
with darkness which allows evil to thrive,
and this can be discouraging most times.
But with the help of the Holy Spirit, we
have been able to stay in God's love, and
shine God's light from our small corner of
the world."We
want to encourage Sunday and his family
and all the believers in Nigeria, many who are suffering
persecution in an oddly way
under-reported story. Dennis Shelley, a
long-term missionary to Nigeria, is part
of our Adult Bible Fellowship (Sunday
School Class). He often expresses his love
for the Nigerian people and calls them
regularly to encourage them in the faith.
Dennis explained the likely origin of
Sunday's name is a common custom among
Nigerians to name a child after the day
they were born.
Today we share a song that has attained world-wide popularity and has blessed millions during this last year that originated in Nigeria. "Way Maker" Video Sinach
The
song has been translated to over 50
languages and covered by many artists all
around the world. "After
this I looked, and behold, a great
multitude that no one could number, from
every nation, from all tribes and
peoples and languages, standing before
the throne and before the Lamb, clothed
in white robes, with palm branches in
their hands, 10 and crying out with a
loud voice, 'Salvation belongs to our
God who sits on the throne, and to the
Lamb!'” (Revelation 7:9,10).
Farewell
Curtis:
In many cases we become
friends with the people we visit in the
course of our chaplaincy ministry since we
are there weekly. For many years we have
been visiting Curtis at White Oak Design and
Display in Palmyra, PA. Curtis is a coach in
numerous youth sports and often shared of
his desire to not only win but to instill
lifelong character on his team members.
Yesterday I said farewell since he is taking
a position at a Christian School here in our
area and will have the perfect opportunity
to instill those spiritual virtues of which
he was alluding to.
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a message to Stephen
& Brooksyne
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Weber".Scripture references are from The Holy Bible: New International Version. © 1984 by International Bible Society; NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, Copyright © 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, New King James Version (NKJV) Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. and the King James Version.
Personal Mission Statement: "I am created by God to bring Him glory. Through God's Son Jesus Christ I have been redeemed and make it my life's goal to please the Lord. My mission in life is to honor God through my faith and obedience and prepare myself and all whom I may influence for eternity."
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