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Relight that Fire

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We bought our house almost exactly 5 years ago. At the time we were desperate to get out of our lease (thanks to an 18% increase…yuck!), and we were on a tight budget, so this little place really suited us well. Sure, we had to compromise on a few things we wanted, but there were some things that we really loved about this place,  specifically the wood-burning fireplace.
 
Nichole and I both grew up with wood-burning fireplaces. We love the look, the sounds, the smells…Some people find them too messy, but there is just something about it that is comforting to us. Needless to say, we were ecstatic to try it out.
 
I excitedly bought some wood and proceeded to build a fire worthy of the cover of Fireplaces R Us magazine (ok maybe that’s not a thing, but I sure acted like it was). It was perfect!…in my head, at least. Logs neatly stacked, Aim 'n Flame in my hand, I lit the fire starter and watched the glorious flame grow...and then die. "This can’t be right!" I lit it again. The flame began to grow and then died.
 
Puzzled, I began the checklist in my head.
Flue open - Check
Wood dry - Check
Check outside, is there anything blocking the chimney? - Nope
 
What in the world?!
I tried and I tried, and I could not get that fire to stay lit. I bought fire logs. No go. I tried different types of wood from different stores. Nope. I did all sorts of things to get a fire going, and I couldn’t keep a fire lit to save my life! Defeated, and feeling my man card being revoked [insert “he didn’t go there” sigh here], we closed the flue, sealed up the front of the fireplace, and settled into our fireplace-less lives.
That is, until last year!
 
Determined to get my money’s worth out of this fireplace, we decided try to give it another shot…THREE YEARS after my devastating defeat!
 
This time I consulted with a good friend, and he gave me some clear direction. He told me to experiment. “Start with small pieces of wood until you have a nice bed of coals, and then add in the large logs. Move the grate around to make sure you have sufficient air flow on all sides of the fire.”
 
He gave me a bunch of other advice to which I responded, "I didn't realize there was that much to it!"
 
His response: “It’s just fire science, Bro”.
 
I couldn’t believe it. How could I miss something so basic?!
 
With a renewed sense of resolve, I picked up some wood at Lowe's, tried a few of the tactics that he gave me, and voila! We had a fire! Excited from the newfound success, we continued to experiment to make sure we had the formula down. We experimented with the grate position, played around with the way we stacked the wood, and eventually found that if we take steps “X, Y, Z” then the fire started and continued to burn every single time. Now, every time we try to start the fire we get the same result!
 
"So what?!" you say. Well, our struggle with building a fire in this fireplace is similar to the fire we have inside for the Lord!
 

Don’t close the browser just yet! Hear me out…

 
How many times have you felt defeated in your walk with God? You “TRY” to get into the Word, glorify God, and “be a Christian”. Then something doesn’t go right, you run into a rough time, and all of the sudden "it’s not working” for you. You feel like your walk is ineffective. Maybe you get to a point where you feel like studying doesn’t result in what you want. Or maybe it feels like you’re constantly battling with thoughts that you know you shouldn’t or struggle with bitterness and anger and don’t know how to get away from it.
 
So you stop, close up the flue, and put a cover over it. It’s still there…you’re still a Christian, you still love God, yet you’re not doing anything about it because you simply can’t keep the fire going. 
 
You know, I could have had fires in this fireplace for the last three years had I just tried something different. It’s the same in our walk! We get defeated in our faith, and even though we're still saved, we can't seem to progress in our faith.  So what can you do? My simple advice is this: Change what you’re doing!
 
Of course, there are many things we can do to draw closer to God, but I would encourage you to start simple and simply change something that you're doing!

Study in the evening instead of in the morning

Get away from the house and study

Go to a park and study

Read the Bible online

Read from a commentator along with the Bible

Listen to an audio Bible 

Study in your Pantry 

Pray in your Garage

 
Sometimes we just need a little CHANGE in how we're approaching God to help us break through and relight our fire for Him!
 
So as we begin 2019, I encourage you to take some time, think about the areas where you’re stale, and make a change! Shuffle the coals around, move the grate, increase the air circulation. Do something different to light that fire again!
Posted by Ben Young with 1 Comments
Tags: fire, god, love, study

The Resting Faith: Be Encouraged by Others

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“There are three kinds of faith in Christ:
1. Struggling faith, like a man in deep water desperately swimming.
2. Clinging faith, like a man hanging to the side of a boat.
3. Resting faith, like a man safely within the boat (and able to reach out with a hand to help someone else get in).” 
-- Dwight L. Moody
 
 
Hello again, and welcome back! If you recall, we previously discovered how asking God for stronger faith and getting into the Word will both strengthen your faith. These are logical, practical steps to transitioning from that place of struggling faith that we're all so familiar with to a resting faith, where we're firmly grounded in the Lord and able to help encourage and strengthen others. Yes, you CAN get to that place in your relationship with God! 
 
In this last segment of the Resting Faith series, I want to share another way that you can strengthen your faith -- maybe a way that you wouldn't expect. What is it?
 

Be encouraged by others!!

 
That's right! Be encouraged by others! Stick with me. You'll see what I mean.
 
If you're like me, you tend to withdraw when you're struggling. Things aren't going the way you hoped they would; everywhere you turn, plans seem to fail. You've tried to get into the Word but feel like it's not making sense. You've been asking God for more faith but feel like He hasn't heard you... You feel alone, desperately swimming, and your faith is slipping. Questions begin to swirl in your mind:
 
"Is God real?"
                                           "What is this all for?"
                                                                     "How does that person seem on fire for God?"
               "What if all of this is a lie?"
 
Of course, the fact that you've pulled away from others, not wanting them to know what's going on or see you feeling like this, doesn't help!
 
It's in these moments of struggling faith that we NEED to surround ourselves with brothers and sisters in Christ who can encourage us, pray for us, and build us up. Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying that people are a replacement for God or that you should turn to people instead of Him. I'm simply pointing out that surrounding yourself with other believers is a crucial step to growing in your faith. When you're around other believers, you see God work in their lives, and God uses them to speak into your life. They can often answer your questions, and they can help you get out of the brain fog that you've become trapped in.
 
Hebrews 10:24-25 says:

24 And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, 25 not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching. (NKJV)

 
Let's break this down...
 
 "Let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works" -- The Greek word for "consider" is katanoéō, which means to perceive, consider attentively, or fix one's eyes or mind upon something. It's really a simple concept. When we turn our focus to others, love and good works naturally follow and our faith is strengthened. Don't believe me? I challenge you to serve God sacrificially. Do something outside of your comfort zone to serve someone else, and watch how your faith follows.
 
Verse 25 goes on to say, "not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another..." It's really pretty clear -- "not forsaking the assembly" quite literally means not to abandon the assembly of people together (and this verse isn't talking about people in general; it's speaking about the followers of Christ).
 
It turns out, people back in the early church struggled with many of the same things we do today, and withdrawing from the church was (and still is) an issue. I don't know how many times I've seen people who are struggling with their faith, really having a hard time figuring out who God is and what He wants from them, and through the confusion they decide to stop communicating with other believers. They stop going to church, stop calling or texting their believer friends, all the while using the excuse that they "just need time" to figure things out. 
 
Oh, my heart breaks for these brothers and sisters! The writer of Hebrews gave us this exhortation because he knew the positive impact that being around other believers would have on our faith!
 
When we're struggling, the last thing we should do is isolate ourselves.
 
We're family, brothers and sisters in Christ, and we need to help each other as we walk through this thing called life and as we grow in our faith. If we isolate ourselves, we'll soon begin to spiral into destruction. 
 
If you've found that you're in the "struggling faith" category, draw close to other believers. You'll soon find that they will encourage and strengthen you as you walk through this life. 
 
So there you have it -- three things you can do to strengthen your faith. Ask God for it, get in the Word, and be encouraged by others! No matter where you find yourself in the spectrum of faith, whether you're barely treading water or boldly standing in your faith and helping others out, these three principles should be in the front of your mind, and if they are, you'll find that your faith will be strengthened day by day!
 
God Bless! I'll see you next time!
-Ben

 

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