Monthly Writing for December..."Holy Spirit Fire"...12/3/18

Good morning.

Today's writing is shared by Cathy Friberg who writes at the beginning of every month. The writing  is called, "Holy Spirit Fire" which discusses how people can find themselves on fire for God due to meeting Him and putting Him first at the start of the day. When we do that you we become more effective in life as we live it throughout the day.

Cathy wrote, "This holiday season may God give us grace to keep Him first in our hearts. May we be a blessing to the believers and to the lost as we pour out the love God has bestowed upon us." 

This is a great time as we ready ourselves for the celebrations of December to practice the habits included in this writing.  

Blessings from

Cathy

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The December Writing of the Month
"HOLY SPIRIT FIRE"
Written by
Cathy Friberg

Thank goodness for microwave ovens. How did I ever navigate the kitchen before the invention of the microwave oven? These were my thoughts as I reheated my cup of coffee the other morning. There is nothing like a steaming hot mug of coffee, I mused. Luke warm java just doesn't provide the impact, the joy, and the satisfaction of its piping hot counterpart.

The Lord seems to have the same viewpoint concerning His people. However, our heavenly Master is even more adamant about the spiritual temperature of His followers. 

Jesus declares.

"If you are lukewarm 
I will spew you out of my mouth,"
Revelation 3:16 

These are strong words and a stern warning to those of us who are called by His name. 

What does it look like to be a lukewarm Christian? Or better yet, what does it look like to be on fire for our Royal King? Well, I can tell you what it involves for me. These are the things I have to stir myself up about. For me its easy to be overtaken with the cares of this life. It becomes a matter of priorities. 

Do I start each morning with praise and worship, reading the Word, and prayer? Once I neglect morning prayer time for household chores, responding to correspondence, or even taking the dog out for his walk, my spiritual condition heads down a slippery slope. Remember how the Lord warned the disciples to pray for an hour lest they enter into temptation?   (Mark 14:38) Without my morning devotional and prayer time, resistance to the temptation to be lukewarm becomes difficult to overcome. 

It is then easier to ignore those promptings or even direct commands of the Holy Spirit. At that point, friends don't get a phone call, I become too timid to witness or defend my faith, my temper gets the best of me when challenged, and offenses loom greater than they should. In other words walking in love and obedience becomes challenging and I miss the mark. My faith wanes and I lose my heavenly perspective on circumstances surrounding myself and my loved ones. 

I think the antidote for a lukewarm spirit is to imitate the wise virgins spoken of in the Bible. (Matthew 25:1-13) They took vessels of oil with them to fuel their lamps. That oil, of course, refers to the Holy Spirit. We can purchase that oil without money. We do so by seeking the Lord's presence. "First things first" devotional time each day is a great start. Then staying in communion with God throughout the day, minute by minute actually, will keep us on track and burning with His love. 

Checking in with the Lord on our decisions, thanking Him for every blessing, and praying in the Holy Spirit will ignite our hearts and bring pleasure to our beloved savior. This holiday season may God give us grace to keep Him first in our hearts. May we be a blessing to the believers and to the lost as we pour out the love God has bestowed upon us. 

"Freely you have received, freely give."

 Matthew 10:8
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Third Day 
singing
"SOUL ON FIRE"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Prayers are lifted up daily for you

 by the Devotional Writers and the Monthly Writing Staff

 of Women's Focus Ministries.

Blog Writers:

Jan Andersen, Sandy Billingham, Carol Steficek,   

 Brother Thomas Ukwute, Jody Ward,  Karen Bennett, 

Bre Miller, Cathy Friberg, and  Corinne Mustafa
Elizabeth McElderry, Betty Espindola,  Lynda Kinnard
Amie Spruiell, and Debbie Rodriguez

Occasional Contributors:

Kathy Bireley, Terri Baker, Beverley Napier,
 Kelly Dobyns, Glenna Williamson,  

Amie Spruiell, and Lisabeth Lipp