Kindle the Flame!
“I overflow with praise when I come before you, for the anointing of your presence satisfies me like nothing else. You are such a rich banquet of pleasure to my soul.” Psalm 63:5 TPR
Listen Online
Message
Yesterday, The LORD spoke to my soul while standing at the window waiting for winter’s beauty to arrive.
I had my eyes fixed on a pair of snow birds playing among the bushes beckoning the first snow. I am always amazed at the playful nature of these black-and-white tiny creatures, also known as Snow Buntings.
Each year, shortly after they their joyful appearance our snow successfully arrives without fail. They migrate from the Arctic each winter tumbling across our fields and into bushes with flurry making the dark and cold days come alive.
The quietness of the morning sings within my soul like an open window to heaven letting The Father’s Light brush my spirit with His Voice.
“I will open the windows of heaven for you. I will pour out a blessing so great you won’t have enough room to take it in!” Malachi 3:10b NLT
I close my eyes and immediately I am taken up. Abba The Father is sitting upon His Throne full of luminous light reflecting a radiate glory over a group of robed believers praying on bended knee before Him.
I note how their tattered worn robes are worthy of merit as they have traveled far to reach this sacred place to pour out their souls before The LORD.
I watch as each one’s petition soars above their head like an eagle floating towards God’s Throne. A tiny light begins to form within their tethered hearts, ever so slowly becoming the size of a tennis ball growing until it fills them completely.
As they pray, the light continues to grow until the entire room is filled with the glorious light of The LORD God in Heaven.
Opening my eyes, only a few seconds has passed and I catch sight of my playful snow birds again within the bushes as we both wait for the first snow to arrive.
If we have faith in God, His Grace fills all of our emptiness.
The spiritual fire among the hearts of the believers can be seen in a person’s life by the way they live. Their worn tattered robes of those praying is evidence that they sit at the foot of Jesus in devotion. But their kneeling for strength and are focused towards heaven not earth by giving every thing in their lives to Him.
It takes Great faith to receive a great supply from God.
If we do not have enough, the fault lies completely with us. Almost every believer is familiar with the Book of Hebrews. The entire book is about having great faith.
I use to see 11:11 on the clock and for years prior to my awakening never knowing what these numbers meant.
The LORD was revealing Himself by saying, “Have great Faith in Me …. it brings Hope to what you can’t see!”
With great Faith, our petitions of prayer forge a bonfire within our hearts that grow into a blaze for The LORD. This fire comes from God and it builds until it completely covers our hearts and minds becoming a bonfire that reaches Heaven’s Throne.
Now Faith brings our Hopes into reality and becomes the foundation needed to acquire the things we long for. It is all the evidence required to prove what is still unseen. (Hebrews 11:1)
The foundation for great faith is produced inside each one of us as we STAND in spite of our what we see, feel or experience.
God says, “I will give you strength to stand; I will give you strength to survive and I will give you staying power. If you try to fight one or two battles in your own strength, it’s not going to take too long before you figure out — I do not like this.” You just cannot do it in your own strength. It has to be in the ability of God.
~ Rodney Hogue
You know the saying, “Let go — let God”!
Standing is the struggle for most of us, but it is the key to keeping the flame of faith burning in our life.
It begins as a small flame that is forged by the Word of God and grows into a deep fellowship until we come to know and trust God.
“If indeed you remain grounded and steadfast in the faith and are not shifted away from the hope of the gospel that you heard. This gospel has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and I, Paul, have become a servant of it.” Colossians 1:23
No matter the outcome, we have become assured that God knows every intricate detail for our lives and He’s always working.
When we finally come to this place in our journey, it’s like we have been raised above it all and we are watching from a distance. Our Faith is unmoved and our struggles have no authority over us! Hallelujah!
This strong faith spreads to discover an intimate fellowship with The Spirit of God. His Spirit comes to rest upon us by guiding those who rely on God’s power and providence no matter their circumstances because they have learned to stand!
“Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues. All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them to each one, just as he determines.” 1 Corinthians 12:7-11
When we are unable to receive like Martha because we are too busy with all our stuff, we are placing our blessings on hold.
This is not because The LORD has used up His Power, but because we are not able to hold any more.
“According to your Faith be it done to you.” Matthew 9:29.
This is the case when we still relying on ourselves for strength and endurance and continue to face one storm after another because we have not learned to fan our flame of Faith.
The big secret to fanning the flame of faith takes courage and the ability to overcome one’s ego of self reliance.
When we give up our ego and learn to accept God’s timing and provision, God becomes our defender in all circumstances and will move on our behalf.
“This is why I remind you to fan into flame the spiritual gifts God gave you when I laid my hands on you.” 2 Timothy 1:6
God has been sharing how to over come areas of self or “ego”, so this will be a two part message.
The Spirit reminded me of an incident that occurred many years ago. I was driving on the highway and a jeep drives up behind me super fast honking wildly.
This wasn’t just like one single honk this went on for a couple hundred yards. I wasn’t sure what was happening and my initial response was to make this crazy person wait, because I was driving the speed limit on this two-lane highway of 60 mph (97 kph).
But then, I humbled myself and moved my car over to the right of the lane’s edge to let the jeep driver pass. I thought we’ll maybe there is an emergency or something. NO, nope this driver just wanted to pass me!
I was shocked by the danger this could have caused and The LORD said, “This is what happens to those who refuse to humble themselves.The enemy wildly comes up from behind to run them off the narrow road.”
The secret is great Faith is to yield! Every single time. Pride never wins! Let us get out of the way of The LORD so he can move to protect us. The gate of pride opens and the enemy comes wildly after us!
God’s providence combined with our faith will not only destroy the our open gates, walls of Jericho, but also part our Red Sea!
When we can’t see a way within our circumstances look to Jesus, God always has a Way!
That’s why we are told in His word, He’s the way the truth and the life! (John 14:6)
I love this truth! We can be free of our anxiety when we lift up every thought and concern in the presence of The LORD.
“Be still in the presence of The LORD, and wait patiently for him to act.” Psalm 37:7
After we pray, we patiently expect Him and He will act on our behalf. It’s never in the way we think either, but He makes all things work out for all those who love Him! (Romans 8:28)
In the Book of John, Jesus calls the disciples from the shore and they are unaware who is calling, until they are face to face with Him showing His Power with not only instructions, but He a huge bounty of fish in their poverty.
He is calling you to come to His Shore. (John 21:4)
I’ve learned and I urge you to anticipate breakthroughs by letting go of your self reliance and own understanding, so God’s power can shine through!
If you want to try this out for yourself, go to a busy shopping center like Costco and try and to find a parking space during the holiday season.
While we are driving around the parking lot looking for a parking space, we are faced with multiples of people doing the same thing, right?
What happens when someone leaves and a parking space opens up? Do you rush to get it before someone else? Or if someone is waiting for this space too, do you fight for it because you’ve been waiting longer? This is our ego in action.
Next time, pray and ask The Father to provide a parking space that you don’t have to fight for before you get to the shopping center and see what happens!
We can never cease from praying! In all our ways acknowledge God and He will guide our paths and make provisions for us far better than anything we can manage. Right down to a simple parking space if we let him!
God is continually making me and breaking me and I just keep thanking God for His work. This is how we abide in Him and become closer to Jesus.
God knew what he was doing from the very beginning. He decided from the outset to shape the lives of those who love Him along the same lines as the life of His Son.
Jesus stands first in the line of humanity that He restored. We see the original and intended shape of our lives there in Jesus Himself.
After God made that decision of what His children should be like, He followed it up by calling people by name.
“After He called them by name, He set them on a solid basis with Himself. And then, after getting them established, He stayed with them to the end, gloriously completing what He had begun.” Romans 8:29-30
In our waiting periods, we shall continue to maintain our trust in God for He already has a plan, we just need to align ourselves with Him. When we wait on Him, we are stepping into His supernatural provision for breakthroughs and upgrades.
Every effort is necessary to cease from striving in our flesh and rest by His fuel of grace and wisdom.
I am always astonishment at what God can accomplish when I allow Him to move mightily on my behalf.
I shouldn’t be surprised, but I am. I am provided not only a stronger faith, but I receive a deep filling of joy in the process. This is our union with Christ established by faith and rooted in our devotion to Christ and through Him.
In the same way you received Jesus our Lord and Messiah by faith, continue your journey in faith to progress further into your union with him!
Your spiritual roots go deeply into his life as you are continually infused with strength, encouraged in every way. For you are established in the faith you have absorbed and enriched by your devotion to him (Colossians 2:6-7 TPT).
Let us be the sons and daughters of God who carry the spiritual flame of faith burning for Christ no matter the times we are living.
Snow Bunting : Wiki Commons
Shalom
~ Angela Reese
Angela is the owner of “Fruits of His Vine” website, to encourage and equip those still in wandering, or in captivity, to find our Savior in His Holy Tabernacle.
Beautiful message, thank you so much.
Very encouraging! Thank you! I had to laugh at your parking illustration. My sweet, now departed mother in law lived in a high density part of the country where parking is always at a premium. She would say “I am praying for a good parking space”, every time. To this day, when we get a close-to-the-door space, we say we got the space Mom prayed for. It’s like a little visit from her.