You CAN REIGNITE Your Fire!

Leviticus 6:13 - The fire must be kept burning on the altar continuously; it must not go out. 

Revelations 3:16 - So, because you are lukewarm and neither cold nor hot, I will spew you out of My mouth!

It really wasn't that long ago, we have grandparents who most likely remember these days. What days? The days of fire or coal being the primary source of heat, or maybe the only way cooking got done. Let's remember back.

The year was 1880 when Thomas Edison patented the electric distribution system, electricity. Before this time.... our great grandparents, and ancestors were cooking over a fire....

BEFORE YOU SHUT ME OFF thinking this is going to be a boring lesson of history... PLEASE READ ON.... it will not be.

I was listening to our pastors wife on Sunday and she shared for a few minutes on "fire." Before electricity, our great grandparents would get a fire going and continue to stoke it, making sure to keep somewhat of a flame going. Why? This was their ONLY source of heat for the home, and was how they cooked. If they let the FIRE GO OUT, it was much more work to get a fire started again. It took collecting more firewood, getting a flame going, stroking the fire, getting the fire really hot, and then, finally cooking after the fire was hot enough. IF the fire got COLD and went out, it was not impossible to get it going again, but it just took much greater work!

You are the same. This applies to every area of life. Think about it... when you are in the habit of working out every day, continuing the habit is relatively easy. BUT... if you go a few days or weeks without working out, it's easier to get colder and colder towards the gym, until the habit is gone and you have drifted back into an unhealthy habit of no exercise. The same could be said of drinking water, reading a good book, limiting time to social media, eating healthy, etc., etc.

Your spiritual walk is the same! DON'T LET THIS FIRE GO OUT! If your fire has gone out, maybe you haven't been spending time in the Word. Maybe life has gotten busy and you have gotten away from it. Sleeping in has won instead of waking up and extra 15, 30 minutes or even an hour early each morning. YOU CAN REIGNITE THE FIRE! It just takes a few good days of re-establishing the habit until the great feeling will WIN out. Choosing not to hit snooze, but getting up. Pouring your cup of coffee, snuggling in on the couch by lamplight and opening up your Bible before the day gets busy.

REIGNITE YOUR FIRE! Friend, it's worth it. When you have reignited your fire in the Word, I promise, you will find that every minute spent has been worth it. I believe you will watch as it's almost like God ADDS time to your day to finish things. He gives you supernatural energy even though you woke up early... you find yourself not being tired. He directs you to where you need to be and what you need to be doing. He PREPARES you ahead of time with the exact verse you will need for the day, so in "that" moment when it could be stressful, you don't get overwhelmed.

Sure... life still happens, but when you really have roots firmly planted in the Word, life sure is easier. And once you have your FIRE REIGNITED, DON'T LET IT GO OUT! Keep the fire lit! Like our great-grandparents, once the fire went out, their homes started to get cold. It took much more work and it was messy to get a new fire going. Imagine the black soot that would get on you trying to prepare the new wood to reignite the fire. Stoking it, ashes flying up, poking it with a stick, moving wood and sticks around. Friend, KEEP YOUR FIRE in the LORD GOING! Don't let it go out! I heard Joyce Meyer say the other day, even if it was just ONE prayer she said before leaving the house, she made SURE not to leave without spending some time with the Lord... even if it was just one sentence!

Commit today to REIGNITE the Flame! Reignite and KEEP IT BURNING!

Do you have any tips you can share that HELP you stay "ON FIRE" or keep you consistent in your time with the Lord? WHAT HELPS YOU? We'd love to hear your secret tips!!

#59 - Go ahead and Cry

GOOD MORNING!! What a great morning it is! :) I AM HOME! It is so nice to be home!! It has been almost 2 weeks that I have been gone. Home sweet home for sure! It was such a blessing to be with my family. It was a blessing to visit with my grandma before she passed away. The viewing and funeral brought back floods of memories as 250+ people came through visiting with the family. Friends, neighbors, extended family, lakers. What a blessing. The floodgates of tears did come at the last good-byes. Seeing grandma in the flesh for the last time before the casket was closed....that was a bit hard. But.... overall, there was closure. There was rejoicing. And, there was much time spent with family during the unrushed trip to Northern Indiana. Praise the Lord that I was blessed to be able to resign from Corporate America to be able to spend time, unrushed. What a blessing!


Well... this morning... we are going to add a few things to our daily "reading". I have thought this would be coming as I have just been stirring inside, but have not been ready until now. Along with our Proverbs chapters, we are going to add in Psalms. I heard Billy Graham talk about reading Proverbs and Psalms every day, "Proverbs helps me in my relationship with men, Psalms helps me in my relationship with God." So.... check out the "Bible Reading Schedule" tab to see what chapters to read each day. We will continue to read Proverbs 31:10-31 daily, as well as our regular Proverbs verse. Ok... let's go...


Reading Schedule Today: Proverbs 31:10-31, Proverbs 30, Psalms 30, 60, 90, 120, 150. 

Psalms 30:5b, 11a - Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning. You have turned my mourning into dancing for me.

Psalms 50 - PRAISE THE LORD!

Proverbs 31:18b - ...her lamp goes not out, but it burns on continually through the night [of trouble, privation, or sorrow, warning away fear, doubt, and distrust].

It's ok to cry! Cry it out. In the Bible, we know of the word lamp as it refers to the Word, the Bible, Jesus, Jesus being the "way", the guide, the lamp! The Lamp... guiding us to where we want to go, guiding us to the next place, giving us light, revealing, exposing, showing us the way. The Lamp. 


Here, we see that our Proverbs 31 friend keeps her Lamp continually burning. It is continually burning, in troubled times, God is close. In sad times, her Word is at hand. In sorrowful times, she is still being guided by the Holy Spirit. In tough times, she is being comforted by her closest friend, Jesus. During the night, even she, even our excellent Proverbs 31 friend.... even she during the dark hours of the night may weep, may cry, may mourn. But PRAISE THE LORD, JOY COMES IN THE MORNING! Throughout the mourning and sad times, JOY will come! 


The WORD. The WORD is our Lamp. At a time of loss, death, or trying times, the WORD is there to comfort us. We are not macho to try and just "stay tough".... even the Word acknowledges that there are times when weeping may come, sorrow may arise.... but there is a time to look forward too... a time of JOY. A time that JOY will arise, and sorrow will not remain. It will not be night forever. JOY will come! But even during those hours or days where the night seems to be all we can see... the darkness seems to be all there is, the LAMP does not go out. We are not alone. If we could see through spiritual eyes, we would see our friend, our confidant, our comfort, Jesus, sitting right there with us... and probably even joining in our tears. Crying with us with compassion for our loss, on behalf of our sadness. 


But... PRAISE THE LORD, He does not leave us there! He does not leave us there in the darkness, in the night. He is WITH US until the morning comes. He is with us to see us to the JOY! And the JOY WILL COME! With the joy there will even be a time of dancing! Where the music is turned up, we are spinning in circles, arms spread wide, just thinking, thanking and praising God, "Does it get any better than this? Could I be more blissful?" Our faces to the sun, eyes closed, heads faced up to the heavens, "Does it get any better than this?"


Morning will come. Joy will come. But tears are ok. Cry if you need to but look forward to YOUR MORNING. Your morning where there will be no more mourning. It will come. Keep you lamp on. Cry and be comforted. You are not alone. Your morning will come. :)