What is up everyone!!! So this week, one word has been on my mind lately. It is the word FIRE. It is crazy that for each letter of the word, another word is formed from each letter. I think that is called an acrostic, but I am pulling a blank, so please bear with me haha.
The first letter in F.I.R.E is F, which to me says faithful. Jesus calls us to be faithful, as it is a fruit of the Spirit (Galations 5:22-23). What does it mean to be faithful? Well, it means to essentially have a steadfast allegiance. This is so key because that is a monumental character trait. To me, faithfulness means to be consistent and unwavering. Of course, in a relationship, it is good to be faithful to your significant other, but I want to take this a step farther. With our relationship with God, we need to be faithful because He has been so faithful to us. A perfect example is when He leads us to people, we should take that guiding from the Holy Spirit and be consistent with that person. I really believe in my heart that Jesus desires for us to be people who are faithful to Him and to others.
The next letter is I, which says intentional. This word intentional compliments being faithful. To be intentional means that you do something for a reason and a purpose. We don’t just do things for the heck of it, but rather we are strategic with the things we do and do not do. For me, intentionality comes into play when I am spending time with God. To be totally honest, I have my times where I slack from that time, but thank God for His intentional grace!!! When people see that we are intentional, we gain influence and we become people that others can count on. This is strong, especially when we are to be a witness to people we come in contact with. This generation lacks intentionality because to be honest, it is very inconvenient. Nobody wants to take the time out of their schedule to consistently meet with someone and get to know them, or to spend intentional quality time with Jesus. We get so busy with life, that we miss out. BE INTENTIONAL!!!
The next letter is R, which to me is to be receptive. To be able to receive what God has for us, and for us to move in that. We need to be receptive that our plan may not be the best move for us, and that we need to seek the Lord and His will for our lives. This is key because I know with myself, I think I know what is best, but it is a shock when someone challenges that. It causes me to at first dismiss their perspective, but as I have matured, I have learned that I need to be open to change my plan, and to be receptive of feedback and to clearly hear what God and other people are trying to say to me to help me grow.
The last letter is E, which to me is the word expectant. That means that we have a “gut feeling” or that we can tell or desire something to happen. When I go to church or spend time with God, I am ready and expectant that God will show up and do something miraculous. This is so key because I feel like we get so much into routine, that we lose our hunger and expectancy for miracles to be done. That needs to desperately change. We need to expect good things to happen to us, and we need to expect the best in people so that they can be built up and so that they can have confidence that someone is cheering them on. After all, in Galations 6:7, it says, whatever a man sows, that he will reap”. From this we can see that when we sow, we should have expectancy to reap a harvest, whether good or bad. We need to sow into something that will bear good fruit.
Overall, we need fire in our lives and in our walk with Christ. I don’t know about y’all, but I know that without fire, life and this faith is boring to be honest. I believe that we should ask God for a fire in our walk, that we may show the world faithfulness, intentionality, receptiveness, and expectancy. When we show these qualities, we will live more effective lives full of strength and joy. I pray fire and passion in all of us as we go through the rest of this week.
Love y’all,
Ryan W.
