Maintain Your Fire

Day 25

“That is why I remind you to fan into flame the gracious gift of God, [that inner fire—the special endowment] which is in you through the laying on of my hands.”

– 2 Timothy 1:6

Footnote in the Bible: “In ancient times, embers were kept slowly burning so they could be fanned into flame at any time.” As believers, we have some regular maintenance we need to do to keep the flames of our special endowment burning. Endowment here means: natural capacity, power, or ability. Basically, God has placed His power within us as our own endowment and it is our job to keep that power active. Let’s look at doing this from the natural perspective of maintaining a fire compared to maintaining our special endowment fire:

First, whoever is maintaining the fire has to poke the fire. This breaks up ash and separates the coals so they burn better. The Holy Spirit does this for us when we let Him in; He pokes at the things that need to change: our attitude, our friend group, our confession. As He pokes, He is making them burn better, longer.

Second, the fire maintainer has to clean up the ash, making sure the ash does not stifle the flames. Once the Holy Spirit has poked through some “coals” in our lives there is going to be some ash that is leftover and needs to be cleaned up. Standing on scripture, you can begin the “cleanup” by changing your confession, speaking the Word out over situations, and praying.

Lastly, don’t smother the flame with cold-coals – add them strategically. If the fire is dying down and needs additional fuel, it is best to place fresh coals into the fire one at a time in strategic locations rather than dump a pile of cold coals on top.

…we need to…keep the flames of our special endowment burning.

How does this apply to our Spirit Man? Are you spending time regularly with God, or only as you need Him? If you are regularly spending time with God, then you are practicing the art of strategically refueling by placing “coals” in one at a time. If you only go to God when you need something, then you are dumping a whole bucket of cold coals on an already dying fire!

Believing with you,

Yvonne

Harvest Church