Topic: Hearts for the Harvest: Removing the Ashes, Rekindling the Fire in our Hearts

Text: John 4:34

Passion in the hearts of men is likened to burning fire. This fire is not burning materials but the impact of its presence or absence is seen by all. One of the visible aspects of Jesus’ ministry is His passion and burning desire to accomplish the Father’s business. As crucial as food is, its presence or absence did not deter Jesus. As weakening as fatigue is, this still did not reduce the passion of Jesus. The reason Satan sends the arrow of discouragement, lack and disappointments in the direction of a believer is to quench the fire of his passion for God. One passionate man will help advance the kingdom of God than one thousand passionless and fireless Christians.

In accomplishing the business of our Father as echoed by Jesus in John 4:34, one thing is needful. We must remove the ashes of the fire that burned in the past and seek to keep the fire burning. The presence of ashes limits the intensity of the fire. God’s command to the Levites in regards to sustaining the fire on the altar was to remove the ashes. See Leviticus 6:9-12.

Ashes represent past glory; the exploits of yesterday. But we cannot dwell on the past forever. It is time to take our journey forward (Deut. 1:6). If the task of completing the Father’s business must be fulfilled, we must appreciate the exploits of the past but allow them to be in the past so that we can move forward. Territories have been conquered, glory to God. Now, let’s move forward. The question should be, what next? A complacent church is a dangerous church. Such a church is an enemy of revival. Complacency kills the fire of revival.

It’s time to rekindle our fire for evangelism and missions. If we have truly maintained the fire we started with, we shouldn’t have been here. Let’s begin to burn, the way we were burning in the days of revival. It is time to go back to our first love (Rev. 2:4). It is time to rekindle the fire that discouragement and competition quenched. Remove the ashes of the former glory and rekindle the fire for the new glory.

Finishing the task demands facing your front. Every day we are tempted to look back in order to measure the miles we have covered. To continually look back and building monuments will hinder the completion of the task. See Philippians 3:13-14. Keep pressing until the kingdom of this world becomes the kingdom of our god.

Prayer:

• Appreciate God for the fire He ignited in you in the past and how that has yielded so much impact in the body of Christ.
• Make a commitment to leave the glory of the past behind and trust God for fresh fire.
• Remove the ashes that have beclouded your fire and has reduced its impact.
• Ask the Lord to rekindle the fire of evangelism and missions in your life.

Ezekiel Atuluku,

Lead Pastor, Portals Christian Centre, Abuja.