[CS-FSLUG] "How to Start a Fire"

[Fred Miller]

A WORD WITH YOU
By Ron Hutchcraft
#4615 - "How to Start a Fire"
1 Kings 18:32 

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        One sure way to get our whole family together in one room at one time 
was to turn down the heat a little on a cold night and then build a fire in 
the fireplace. Slowly but surely, the kids' rooms upstairs would empty out as 
they made their way downstairs and said, "Man, it's cold up there! Hey, 
you've got a fire in here!" We all loved those fires. Building a good one 
involved several key steps, of course. First, you roll some newspapers into 
logs and put them into the fireplace. Then those little sticks that burn 
easily - they're the kindling. Then the logs stacked alternately on the 
kindling, leaving plenty of room, of course, for air to circulate around the 
wood. It looked nice, but it wasn't a fire. There was a missing ingredient. 
It took that match to make it a fire. But a match all alone did not a fire 
make. 

        I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "How 
to Start a Fire." 

        Before the match lit up the fireplace, I always had to do all the 
things needed to get the fire ready. That's what it takes for a spiritual 
fire to start, too. The kind of fire that may be what your church, your 
ministry, your life desperately needs right now. 

        We can learn a lot about our part in bringing down fire from God in 
our word for today from the Word of God in 1 Kings 18, beginning with verse 
32. God's prophet Elijah has challenged 450 leaders of Baal worship to a 
spiritual duel on Mt. Carmel. Whose God could answer from heaven and consume 
by fire a sacrifice on the altar? That true God would be the one Israel would 
worship. 

        In spite of every spiritual contortion the Baal Gang could go through, 
their sacrifice sat untouched on the altar. The Bible says Elijah took the 
following steps: "He built an altar in the name of the Lord. He arranged the 
wood, cut the bull into pieces and laid it on the wood. At the time of 
sacrifice, the prophet Elijah stepped forward and prayed. Then the fire of 
the Lord fell and burned up the sacrifice. When all the people saw this, they 
fell prostrate and cried, 'The Lord - he is God! The Lord - he is God!'" 
Elijah got things ready for a fire that only God could send. He acted like 
fire would come, doing everything he could do, trusting God to do what only 
He could do. 

        That's so often God's modus operandi in sending us the miracle that is 
our only hope. Abraham has to move from his home in order to found a new 
people in a new land. Noah has to build a boat before there's any need for 
that boat. Moses has to take the step of faith by choosing to go with a 
nation of slaves instead of staying with a nation of masters in order to see 
the miracles of the Exodus. You get things ready by steps of faith and 
obedience that God calls you to do. Then He sends the fire. Our approach is 
like this: "Do something, God, and I'll get moving." God's approach: "No. You 
start moving, and I'll do something." 

        Billy Graham has often told the story of a visit to Yosemite National 
Park where visitors gathered in the valley beneath Inspiration Point, and 
this fire blazed at the top of the mountain. The U.S. Park Service put on 
this amazing demonstration. The voice boomed across the valley, "Let the fire 
fall!" And it did! A ball of fire cascading down the mountain in this blazing 
Niagara! 

        Often in recent days, I have prayed, "Lord, let the fire fall" on our 
ministry, on those I love, on spiritually important meetings or 
conversations. I want the fire of heaven to come down and do the life-giving, 
amazing things that only God can do. But He's got something He's wanting me 
to do, and you, to get ready for the fire.

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-- 
"Running Windows on a Pentium is like getting a Porsche but only being
able to drive it in reverse with the handbrake on."