Dear Precious Friends,
On this beautiful new day, I pray you are waking with joy in your heart that God has given us a new day and knowing that If we are to ever experience all that’s available to us in this life, we must learn to pay attention to the feelings, thoughts, and desires of the God within us. The Holy Spirit.
God shares with us, His disciples, an important command in Romans 12:11: “Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord.” Do you ever feel slothful in zeal? Here, Paul is talking about feeling sluggish in our relationship with God. He’s describing a feeling of laziness, a lack of desire. Do we ever feel like our spirit is anything but fervent? The word fervent here is better translated as “boiling over.” Do we ever feel like our spirit is more like stagnant water?
OUCH!!!
Let’s look today at how we as followers of God can stir up our affections for the Lord. Let’s make space for God to put fire under any area of our spiritual life that feels stagnant that it might boil over in him.
Foundational to understanding Romans 12:11 is the knowledge that God will never ask us to do something or be something without his help. We are never alone in our spiritual growth. Our job is simply to create space in our heart for God to mold and shape us. Our job is to engage with him and let the Spirit teach, lead, and fill us. Our heavenly Father is near to us. He has a perfect plan to guide us into spiritual growth and fervor. So, in light of that understanding, how can we engage with God and allow him to mold and shape us into a person of greater fervor and zeal?
Psalm 19:7 says, “The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul.” And Psalm 19:8 says, “The precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart.” Scripture makes clear that to be zealous and fervent in our service to God, we must spend time allowing His word to inflame our spiritual fire. Spending time reading about the depths of God’s love for us, His people, the length he will go for us as His child, and the example of lives empowered by the Spirit will assuredly fill us with passion and zeal.
When we spend time in God’s word, we are not only reading incredible stories, but hearing the voice of our living and active heavenly Father. Spend time with Him in His word, allowing His voice to direct our soul to finding its rest and passion in Him.
When we spend time with God, we will naturally be filled with a desire and passion to serve Him. Reflect for a moment on how different we feel when we are inflamed with passion in comparison to feeling slothful.
We have the power to choose how we will live life every day. We have the choice to engage with God, read his word, spend time in His presence, and allow him to mold and shape us. We also have the power to live a passionless life. The choice is ours. But know God is faithful to fill us with His Spirit every day if we will make space for him to do so. He has total grace for the times we feel sluggish; at the same time He has a perfect plan to lead you out of that state into being “fervent in spirit.”
Let's be purposeful to engage with God today in prayer. Meditate on his word. Let Him fill us with the power and anointing of His Holy Spirit.
The Message translates Romans 12:11 as saying, “Don’t burn out; keep yourselves fueled and aflame. Be alert servants of the Master, cheerfully expectant.” May you experience today the life of a “cheerfully expectant” person “fueled” and set “aflame” by the love and leading of God.
YES MY FRIENDS!!! I love this!!! Focus for today: Be cheerfully expectant!!! Be fueled by the Holy Spirit, Be Set Aflame by the love and leading of Him who loves us!! BE FERVANT (GLOWING) IN SPIRIT!!
I LOVE THIS!!!
AMEN!!!!!
Source: Holy Spirit, God's Word, First 15
