A team of college students from Auburn University has boarded a plane from Miami to Managua. They have chosen to spend their spring break working with Chosen Children ministries in Nicaragua. For the past two weeks before their trip, they have gathered at the Auburn Chapel every afternoon to pray. On Thursday, my eldest son, Kirby, who is a part of this team, sent me an email with the devotion he shared with the group that day. The story of college students choosing a different way of living their lives and this devotional lit a fire in my heart. I pray it does yours as well.
Just something the Lord put on my heart last night…
“There the angel of the LORD appeared to him in flames of fire from
within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire. IT DID NOT
BURN UP.” Exodus 3:2
I love fire. It’s awesome. You can do a lot with it…fire transforms,
purifies, and keeps things aflame. I love how God’s word references fire
in so many ways.
When fire touches and burns something, it can never return to what it
once was. It is forever transformed. The same is true once the eternal
flame of the Father touches our hearts. And once we invite the Living
God to transform our hearts, the Holy Spirit burns in our hearts daily
to keep us pure. But this is no ordinary fire, this is a flame
insusceptible to the “fire suppressants” of this world, and what a
reason to rejoice! What joy we can take in the flames of the everlasting
God!
“His word burns in my heart like a fire. It’s like a fire in my bones! I
am worn out trying to hold it in! I can’t do it!” Jeremiah 20:9
“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 did not give us a
spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of
self-discipline.” 2 Timothy 1: 6-7
Let’s pray that the fire will burn so vibrant in our hearts that we
can’t hold it in! Let’s be his “servant flames of fire” fanned and
air-breathed by the wind of the angels! (Hebrews 1:7) Let’s pray for a
“ring of holy fire” of protection around our group…confidently going
forward and knowing that God will keep us safe. Let’s pray that fire of
the Holy Spirit will continue to transform, purify, and ignite our
hearts so that his warm presence may touch the cold and broken hearts of
this world through us!
He is so, so GOOD and FAITHFUL and his flame never ceases. The Olympic
torch ain’t got nothin’ on our God! Really looking forward to next week,
there is no limit to the transformational power of His eternal flame!
See ya’ll this afternoon.
Let the fire burn and His love flow,
KLT