Don't let it quench! Week 18,2011

“I don’t know; how do I keep the fire burning? I still read my Bible daily and pray, but the kind of zeal to serve you talk about goes up and down. It’s inconsistent.” You and I have the responsibility to keep the fire on: Fire shall be kept burning on the altar continually; it shall not go out Lev 6:13(ESV). Did something happen? Were you going through a difficult time? “Actually at a point it looked as though God turned His back on me. I wasn’t getting answers to some prayers. Even getting meaning from the Bible was not easy.” Dark days huh, like you were in the night? “Yes, why do you ask?” A burnt offering is to be left on the altar all night long, and the fire is to be kept burning Lev 6:9(GNB).
At such times of night when you cannot see your way through, and you ask “God why?” do like Jesus. He also experienced darkness at noon; He also asked God why and apparently got no answer. “Is that true?” At noon the whole country was covered with darkness… Jesus cried out with a loud shout, "My God, my God, why did you abandon me?" Mat 27:45-46(GNB). “Yes, so what do I do? How did He handle it?” He drew nearer, called God father. Then Jesus cried out with a loud voice and said, "Father, into your hands I entrust my spirit."Lk 23:46(ISV). Get closer, move with the same shout from “My God” to “My Father”. Refuse to stop loving Him, refuse to reduce giving to God and serving Him.
“But it hurts a lot.” Though it hurts don’t allow the burnt offering (that is presenting yourself as a living sacrifice) to be removed because you don’t understand. "Lord, to whom would we go? You have the words of eternal life. Besides, we have believed and remain convinced that you are the Holy One of God." Jn 6:68, 69 (ISV).
“But sometimes after a spiritual “high”, when I am not going through a dark patch it still happens.” Times of victory can be a challenge too. David’s fall from grace followed victories; see that you remove the ashes of yesterday’s victories and put fresh wood, fresh commitment on the fire. The next morning … clean away the ashes left by the sacrifices and pile them beside the altar. The fire must never go out, so put wood on it each morning. After this, you are to lay an animal on the altar Lev 6:10, 12(CEV). “As well as ashes of yesterday’s failures?” Exactly, exactly: one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead Philp 3:13(ESV).