White Hot Week 3 Discussion - Wait! I have a responsibility? Fan into Flame!

Giving the fire to us is God's responsibility; tending the fire is ours. This week we talked about what the Bible means when it tells us to "fan into flame" the gift of the Spirit that God placed in us. We revisit the question we asked when we started this series : What will we do with what God has placed inside us?

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:18

Welcome to navigate, a podcast discussion from Tower Life Center, where we talk about how to navigate life, living as a follower of Jesus in a fallen and ever-changing world. Let's join the discussion.

SPEAKER_02 0:30

Hello, podcast world. How are we doing?

SPEAKER_00 0:34

Hey guys.

SPEAKER_04 0:34

Good morning. Good morning. Good afternoon. Good evening. All the other people. That's true.

SPEAKER_01 0:39

We always say good morning as if we assume they're listening at the only the same hour.

SPEAKER_00 0:43

We're meeting you where you're at.

SPEAKER_01 0:44

Unfortunately, this isn't live yet, so it's probably not morning much. Honestly, that's probably good that it's not live.

SPEAKER_03 0:50

Yeah, let's go. Um, yeah. But it's in. Hopefully, no matter what time of the day you're listening, it's been a good day.

SPEAKER_00 0:57

Yes.

SPEAKER_03 0:58

Uh and it it should be, right? Yeah. This is the day the Lord has made. Let us rejoice. Let's be glad. And be glad in it. Even if there is frost on the ground.

SPEAKER_05 1:06

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:07

Even if you didn't even be frost on the ground. Yeah, that's true.

SPEAKER_03 1:10

But maybe, maybe this morning you had to, you know, let the car warm up for 10 minutes or so. Or scrape it. Yeah. Or scrape that bad boy. Or maybe you decided to plant these flowers a little premature and now they're frosted and that's the thing.

SPEAKER_04 1:26

This morning, taking Bailey to school, there was a couple high school kids that had obviously not planned for frost this morning because there was little just scrape hole just big enough to see things. Hang on.

SPEAKER_01 1:37

You think these high school kids didn't plan their day out?

SPEAKER_04 1:40

Took me back to like, oh no, there's frost or something in the morning. You didn't really like plan for that. It's a good thing high school kids are such good drivers, they don't need the full windshield. Right.

SPEAKER_05 1:49

I'm gonna get a tardy today.

SPEAKER_02 1:51

Leaned over the wheel, just barely peeping in the barely peeping out the hole. There you go.

SPEAKER_04 1:57

Waiting for the defroster kid. Probably when I was in high school.

SPEAKER_05 2:00

Yeah.

unknown 2:00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 2:01

Probably. Before I had precious cargo in the bag.

SPEAKER_05 2:04

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 2:05

My own personal. Are you talking about golf clubs?

SPEAKER_05 2:07

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 2:10

Golf clubs, yeah. A little funny. I can't remember. But yo, if you have been diving in with us, we are in part three of a uh five-week series that we started on Easter called White Hot. We're gonna be diving into part three, which is fan into flames. Kyle, give us a little update to keep up the speed.

SPEAKER_01 2:31

Yeah, so I think let's just walk through it like we have been, and you guys can interrupt me at any point.

SPEAKER_00 2:37

You love to be interrupted. You're giving us permission to do this?

SPEAKER_01 2:40

Wow, never mind. Raise your hand. Like right there, that interruption just sent my nervousness.

SPEAKER_03 2:46

The Holy Spirit helps form us through circumstances and through people. He's getting all the above this morning.

SPEAKER_01 2:53

Yeah. Wow. Uh that that mister. Um, okay. So yeah, so part three, white hot. Um the the premise of this whole series is is not just to have a cheesy line about like, man, we should be like on fire for Christ, but understanding that there is a a real biblical um basis for what it would mean for us to be so on fire for Christ, for um the message of the gospel, that our lives become what we said from a scientific standpoint, white hot. Where in that, like in us becoming white hot, we now become transformable and we are able to be mend uh not mended, but um what what would be the word not melded? I wish I would have thought about this before I started down the track. I said it yesterday. Malleable, malleable, thank you. Okay, thank you. Wow, that was a Holy Spirit thing. Yeah, I'm like Brad's staring at me as if I'm speaking German. Brad and Zach are just over there, like, let's let's see how long this goes. Yeah, come on, bring it. Let's watch him burn. I was trying to point out talking about fire, but thank you for bailing me up. So, so we want to be so on fire for the gospel and um for what the God is doing in us that we would be malleable, that we would be able to be formed and transformed, which uh if you had joined us all the way back through our Holy Hands series, we set all of this up with this premise of saying, Hey, you know what? We are to be formed into the image of Christ. Like, so if we're if we are to be formed, the only way that we can live a life where we're formed is where we are heated up to the point where we're on fire for it. Because then that white hot is when a metal, a steel, as it's heated up to white hot, would be formable.

SPEAKER_00 4:53

So yeah, so good.

SPEAKER_01 4:55

There's a pivot point in this series between week two, like the first two weeks and weeks three, four, and five. So the first two weeks were all about, man, the fire that's been given to us. Right? The first two weeks were Easter, and then the week after, where we're kind of talking about, man, what has God done in us so that we have the ability to be on fire for him? Right? Like we can't build a fire on our own. It's not our responsibility to build the fire. But then after the first two weeks, that this week that we're gonna talk about, and then the next two, now begin to talk about, man, what is our responsibility? We we're transferring from man, what has God done to what is he now asking us to do? And that's where we're at this pivot point in the series. And so we said uh there's there's a handful of assumptions that we were going to make at the beginning yesterday to lay the groundwork and the foundation for our discussion yesterday and really for next week and the week after. So here's um if you're if you're driving, don't write these things down. If you're listening some other way and you you want to write it down, here's the assumptions that we made. Uh our God is fire, he's not like fire, he's not similar to fire, he is fire. Hebrews 12 29 tells us that. And then he gave fire to us in the form of himself, who is fire, and the Holy Spirit. Acts chapter 2, verses 1 through 4 tells us that. As a result of that, we have constant and direct access to the presence and the power of the Spirit of God who lives in us. That's Romans 8 11. As followers of Jesus, the Spirit of God seeks to form, shape, and transform us to become more like Jesus over the rest of our time on earth. Romans chapter 12, verse 1 and 2, 2 Corinthians verses 3 chapter 3, verse 18. Right, so that whole thing is the premise for the week we're on in the next two weeks. Right? God is fire, he gave us that fire, because of that fire, we are now able to be formed into his image. But him giving us the fire was his responsibility. What we do with the fire now is our responsibility. That's why we looked at the verse in uh 2 Timothy chapter 1, verse 6. It says, as Paul talked to Timothy, he said, This is why I remind you, fan into flames the spiritual gift that God gave you. Right. So now this gift that God gave us, the Holy Spirit, Paul is encouraging Timothy, hey, I'm reminding you, it's your job to fan into flames. And so we said that um in this concept, right, fire can fade without going out completely. And we spent probably the first, I don't know, 10, 15 minutes talking about the the concept of fire fading, because I think so many times, and I don't know, I want you guys to speak into this after this next sentence or so, but so many times we think, man, like fire fading sounds really bad, like man, I must have walked away. I must have chose to live in like this really big bad rebellion where I committed just the worst crimes and I did all the worst things, and we don't want to identify with that, but yet we also know in our in our spirit, we're like, man, but that fire has faded.

SPEAKER_05 8:21

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 8:21

And we kind of talked about the concept of man, for fire to fade, you just have to be distracted, you have to be overwhelmed, you have to be misprioritizing things, you can neglect fire, right? It doesn't have to be that you're you sit at home and and commit crimes or do like yeah, exactly.

SPEAKER_00 8:38

You can be desiring other things, you can have a heart of discontentment. I mean, it doesn't look like I killed someone, right? But it can look like all these other smaller, smaller things.

SPEAKER_01 8:49

A hundred percent. And it's just fading over time, right? By you us choosing, hey, I'm gonna choose the things of this world. So I'm gonna choose the schedule, I'm gonna choose uh to be busy, I'm gonna choose to be distracted, I'm scrolling, I'm on whatever.

SPEAKER_00 9:05

It can also be good things. Like you can be overly busy with good things, you know?

SPEAKER_01 9:11

A hundred percent.

SPEAKER_00 9:12

And sometimes it's just realizing, wow, I need to step back, I need to slow down, I need to make sure that I'm spending time with it.

SPEAKER_01 9:19

For sure. I mean, one of Satan's biggest tactics I feel like would be if I can't get you to if I can't get you to steal, lie, cheat, watch porn, be addicted to that, tear your spouse to shreds, get divorced, whatever. If I can't get you to do that, what if I just get you busy? What if I just get you distracted? For sure. Yep. You know, I'm just gonna take your eyes off of like it doesn't have to be a bad thing.

SPEAKER_00 9:43

What if I just get you to love the things of this world?

SPEAKER_01 9:45

Yeah. I don't need you to watch porn, I just need you to watch a Netflix series that has 85 episodes, and that's just what you do for the next three weeks. Benjamin.

SPEAKER_00 9:54

Or I need to get you on your screen time. I mean, that's a that's a big one. Yeah. It's just one little decision that's forming us away from Christ.

SPEAKER_01 10:08

Yeah, I don't need you to I don't need you to hate church. I just need you to not go because you're at your your kids' baseball games or the basketball tournament or you you you worked you worked really long, you've been working six days a week, you've been doing six tens or six twelves. Yeah. And now it's like I don't have the ability to go to church. No, no, no, no, no. Yeah. Right? He doesn't need you to hate church.

unknown 10:28

Right.

SPEAKER_01 10:28

He just needs you to love other things more.

SPEAKER_00 10:30

Yeah. And prioritize other things more.

SPEAKER_01 10:33

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 10:33

Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_01 10:34

It's go ahead.

SPEAKER_00 10:35

I just just gonna say, I think about the imagery of a fire, like when you're camping and you're sitting around the campfire and you know, it's it's big and billowing and just a beautiful fire. And then by the time that you're done with that campfire and everybody's getting ready to walk away, and you just the amount of time it takes for that fire to actually burn out if you're not going to just snuff it out, it takes time. Like it takes I mean, sometimes all night you'll wake up and it's still smoldering when you're camping, right? So I I envision that with you know, letting our our faith fade, our fire fade out. It's it's a slow burn, baby. It takes time um and we have to remember we have to keep eating it.

SPEAKER_01 11:16

We have to keep yeah. Yeah, and so all of that, because I think that's great imagery, all of that to say, like, all right, it we don't have to be some big bad I'm doing air quotes, big bad person, yeah, right, to have the fire fade. You know, we talked about the church in Revelation chapter two, verses two um through five, where uh John is prophesying from what God had told him uh to this church, and he says, I know all the things you do, I have seen your hard work, I've seen your patient endurance, I know you don't tolerate evil people. You have examined the claims of those who say they're apostles, but they are not. You've discovered that they are liars, you have patiently suffered for me without quitting. That's the first two verses, right? That sounds like somebody who's doing things the way that God would want them done.

SPEAKER_06 12:10

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 12:11

Right? But yeah, then he comes back and in verse four he says, But I have this complaint against you. You don't love me or love each other as you did at first. Look how far you've fallen. And I think that that's the best way we can find it in scripture to say to say, like, man, it's not about all of these big bad things that we've done. Like if the fire is fading in our life because we aren't tending the flame, right? We aren't fanning into flame as as Paul told Timothy. It oftentimes isn't because we've walked away and said, I don't believe any of that. It's because we said, Man, there are other things. Like, yes, I've done some good things. Yes, I get up and I I I read my Bible most days. Yeah, I listen to some good podcast. I watch that other I watch that video, I don't do these things, I whatever, right? Like I've got this whole checklist of things uh that I'm doing. But he says it's not just about the things you've done, it's about what have you not done and you've forgotten your first love, or um you don't love me, he says, or each other as you want to. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 13:27

And that's that's where it all begins, is the relationship with him, communing with him, remembering our first love with him.

SPEAKER_01 13:34

Right. And so then we come back to what Paul tells Timothy, which is fan the flame. This is why I remind you, fan the flame of the gift that God has given you, right? So he's placed fire in us. Now he said, now the fire is in you, it's your job to fan that flame. Right. And so kind of the the tipping point yesterday before we kind of got into some more practical examples and just some things that we can take away was helping build this idea that it's God's responsibility to place the fire in us. We can't do that, only He can. But He did ask us to tend the flame, and so we have to understand that tending the flame doesn't earn the flame, tending the flame honors the flame. Right, which is what we are which is what we are called to do in the responsibility we have. For sure.

SPEAKER_03 14:22

And I think going back to like this imagery of like this campfire is a campfire is meant to be enjoyed. Like you're not just working the fire the whole time. Yeah, you're maybe adding a log to it, maybe getting it going, but then like you're just enjoying it. Like it's meant to be a place of peace, yeah, a place of just like enjoyment, place of relationship, yeah, for sure. Yeah, and so I think like we maybe it's whatever analogy you want to use, like you place the log on the fire, maybe uh you start your day off in the presence of the Lord, some way, shape, or form. Yeah, that way you can just enjoy then that fire throughout your day. Like just sitting there and being, you know, with the fire, with with Jesus, with his presence.

SPEAKER_05 15:13

I love that.

SPEAKER_03 15:14

But there's a little bit of work that goes, I don't even know if it's work, but like there's and some intentionality that goes into that, so then you get to just enjoy it.

SPEAKER_05 15:24

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 15:24

I mean, I think it's fair to call it work though. Yeah. Right? What relationship do you have in your life that you don't work for? I'm not saying work to earn it, work to keep it, work to steward it, work like yeah, manage. Yeah, it's it's not like I we just talked about this in our small group last night. Like it's not that I don't want to be with you, it's not that I don't love you. I'm pointing at Amanda, not you too. Um but at the same time, like I still have to work to have a healthy relationship with you.

SPEAKER_00 15:52

But when you put in the work and you put in the intentionality, then you get to enjoy the fruit. A hundred percent from that work.

SPEAKER_01 15:59

Yeah, a hundred percent.

SPEAKER_00 16:00

Hand in hand. Yeah, I like that.

SPEAKER_01 16:02

But we don't live in a fairy tale world where no relationships work, we're just all prince and princesses. Well, and we just float around and everything is perfect all the time.

SPEAKER_00 16:12

I think it goes back to expectation too. And I think a lot of us have this expectation that we want life to just be easy. We want relationships to be easy, we want our homes to be easy, we want our circumstances to be easy.

SPEAKER_01 16:25

Like we have to readdress the in this life you will have troubles. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 16:32

Imagine what it would have been before the apple. That's probably what it would have been like before the apple. Well, you know, 100%. It would have been easy.

SPEAKER_01 16:39

I love the I love the imagery of the campfire that you brought up, Amanda. And I love the the the thing where you're like telling people, like, man, just enjoy it. Because think about somebody who like really enjoys the campfire. Because for some of us, if I were the one listening, I can understand the analogy you're giving, yeah, but I can't relate to it because I'm not the type of person who loves to go camping and sit around a fire. But I know that the I know the people who are right. And so if you're not that person and you're like, Well, I don't want to sit around a campfire, well, that's where the analogy stops, right? So think about somebody who does.

SPEAKER_05 17:13

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 17:13

And they're like, man, this is awesome. You know what? Like, I I've got a friend who, whenever we have campfires at our house, uh he always is like, Do you want me to just like take care of it? Like, I love being tending the fire. So then putting the log on, sure, it's work. I've got to go get the log, do all of that. But I love putting the log on.

SPEAKER_06 17:33

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 17:34

Like I love reading the Bible in the morning. That's putting a log on. Right. I love praying, that's putting a log on. I love serving, putting whatever, right?

SPEAKER_04 17:42

But you have to love the fire in order to love the work that goes into it. Maybe you don't like camping, but maybe you're like Kyle and you just want to sit in a bath with a bunch of candles around you. Come on. That takes some work. The candles are gonna light them. That's right. That's right. That's right.

SPEAKER_01 17:56

You have to get the ponds or flip on on the bottom if they're battery, battery, pepper.

SPEAKER_04 17:59

You were talking through this yesterday, and so Jennifer leans over and she she makes this motion. I'm making the motion like with your fingers up in the air, like like mimicking fire. Yeah. And I don't know if you remember from the French. I remember they did rock, paper, scissors, and Joey throws up the fire. And they're like, what is that? It's like, it's fire, it beats everything. Yeah, it's like, yes, it does. It does, it beats everything. And I think to me, it was it was kind of interesting because it is life, it is like a campfire. I mean, yeah, you have to tend it. You don't put wood on it, you get busy talking, you fall asleep, whatever, it goes out. Like, there's seasons in life where like the fire fades, it's gonna happen. It's not when it or if it happens, it's gonna happen. And you gotta either one tend it yourself, yep, ask for help, or get with somebody who can. And you know, if you've ever seen like force fires, yeah, they jump roadways like get near people. Yeah, that's cool. Have their fire burning. I've never I've never heard that jump across to help help you.

SPEAKER_06 18:56

Yeah, that's cool.

SPEAKER_01 18:58

I love that. Yeah, it's uh yeah, it's I I do love that analogy that you guys brought up of the of the campfire because there are just some people who absolutely love it. And when you see that that thing that that for some of us it feels like work. For me, going and chopping wood and putting wood on a fire feels like work. Like I want to be sitting there by the fire on the side that the smoke's not going to. And the reality is some of us want that to be our our walk with Jesus, right? Like, I don't want the smoke.

SPEAKER_00 19:30

Yeah, so I'm not even gonna sit around the fire.

SPEAKER_01 19:31

Yeah, like I'll sit back a little bit.

SPEAKER_00 19:33

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 19:33

Like if I have to put a log on, you know what? I'm fine without a fire.

SPEAKER_00 19:37

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 19:37

This life's not that bad without campfires, right?

SPEAKER_00 19:39

Or I'll settle for an artificial.

SPEAKER_01 19:42

Right. Yeah. Come on, somebody rope some propane in there. Right.

SPEAKER_00 19:45

So I'll I'll settle for something that's less than.

SPEAKER_01 19:48

Yep. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 19:49

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 19:49

Yeah. Which this is a whole thing. Yeah, this is a whole thing. Which I love it. It's good conversation. But yeah, uh, I mean, gosh, we could be here in an hour.

SPEAKER_05 19:58

Yeah, right.

SPEAKER_04 19:59

Um and yeah. It just helps the the imagery to land, I guess.

SPEAKER_01 20:04

For sure.

SPEAKER_04 20:05

Because everybody's seen it, whether you like it or not, everybody's seen a campfire. Everyone's seen how a fire is yeah, made or how it's kept going.

SPEAKER_02 20:12

And who in the Midwest doesn't enjoy a good fire?

SPEAKER_00 20:16

I feel like I just identified. My name's Kyle.

SPEAKER_01 20:21

Full-time listener, first-time caller. I don't love fires. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 20:25

I feel like you do like fires.

SPEAKER_01 20:26

If someone else is responsible for it.

unknown 20:28

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 20:30

But for real, I want to sit on the side opposite the smoke. I'm really not trying to be hot from it. I'd rather have a blanket and a hoodie on and look at a fire.

SPEAKER_00 20:39

Yeah. Well, I would love to hear from people too. If you are like, kind of let us know come on, where are my people at?

SPEAKER_01 20:46

Where are my pot people? Okay, so the question then is why in the world, like, if my fire is fading, right? Because to Zach's point, we all go through seasons where fire feels like it might fade. Or we all are like, man, for some of us, like, I'm on fire, man. Why is everybody else's fire not like mine? And not from a comparison or judgmental, but like maybe even like a cautionary tale of like, well, I don't want to end up without the fire.

SPEAKER_06 21:16

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 21:16

Right? Like maybe I'm new to this, I'm like, I don't want to end up with so why does a fire fade? Okay, we we said there's three things. Number one is fire that's not fed fades. Okay, fire. So what we just spent time talking about.

SPEAKER_00 21:31

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 21:31

If we're not putting the what's our input? Yes. If we're not putting the log on, if we're not um, I don't know, somebody else who likes fire, tell me what else you would put on a fire.

SPEAKER_00 21:41

Gasoline.

SPEAKER_01 21:42

Gas. Better not be roasting marshmallows.

SPEAKER_00 21:45

That'll really do it.

SPEAKER_01 21:46

Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 21:47

Some cardboard.

SPEAKER_01 21:48

Yes, cardboard. Yes. Amazon boxes. I don't know if anybody has excess Amazon boxes. Shots fired. Here we go.

SPEAKER_00 21:56

Anyways.

SPEAKER_01 21:57

All of those things, though, if we're not feeding the fire. So to go out to go beyond a literal fire, and we're gonna talk now about the metaphorical fire that is God.

SPEAKER_05 22:06

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 22:06

Right? To feed that fire then looks like prayer. Yeah. Looks like reading the Bible, looks like being in community, right? And so we'll talk more about that a little bit uh later, but we have to understand that if we don't feed the fire, the fire will fade.

SPEAKER_00 22:23

And we have to ask, what are what am I feeding my my flesh and my spirit?

SPEAKER_05 22:28

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 22:28

Like we really do have to become aware to Brad's point on awareness constantly, repeatedly, over and over again. What am I what am I feeding my flesh and what am I feeding my spirit? And how intentional am I being with both of those things.

SPEAKER_01 22:43

For sure. For sure, because we're always going to feed something. Yeah. Right. Like that's just how our lives live, our lives are lived, and that's how things happen, right? And so we have to make sure that we um that we are able to identify what are the things that we are feeding. Okay, so fire that's not fed fades. The other thing is fire that's not free fades. Right? Think about the analogy I used yesterday was if if you have a grease fire in your house, or like you got these blankets you could throw on it to smother it. The word you used was you just used was snuff it. Oh yeah. To snuff it, right? How do I make it so that it's so not free that the there's no oxygen, that the fire just is gonna fade and go out? Yeah. Right?

SPEAKER_00 23:33

Cold turkey.

SPEAKER_01 23:34

Yes. Yeah. It's it's to your campfire analogy is overnight you get rain.

SPEAKER_06 23:39

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 23:39

And now what used to what we expected to be on a little bit or like smoldering in the morning is now just out. Right? Because it wasn't free to have the oxygen and all the things that it needed.

SPEAKER_00 23:50

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 23:51

Um yeah.

SPEAKER_00 23:53

So what are ways that we can get free? Like what does that what does that look like? What would that entail?

SPEAKER_01 23:58

Yeah, so things that would make it not free, uh the the things I wrote down were uh distraction, outside influence, noise, sin patterns, right? Delayed obedience or disobedience, right?

SPEAKER_00 24:11

There are just things that forgiveness and unforgiveness.

SPEAKER_01 24:15

Yep, a hundred percent. It's like, what are the things in my life?

SPEAKER_00 24:19

Emotional victimhood.

SPEAKER_01 24:20

Yes, that are the opposite of what God would have for me.

SPEAKER_00 24:23

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 24:24

And when I'm living in the opposite, yes.

SPEAKER_00 24:27

I can keep going.

SPEAKER_01 24:28

I would love it if you would keep going, but only once I start ascending.

SPEAKER_00 24:31

You told me I had permission to interrupt.

SPEAKER_01 24:33

Yeah, that is true. Yeah. New rule for next episode. But no, that you're 100% right. There are all these things that are the opposite of what God would desire for us. Yeah right? God desires holiness and righteousness. There is sin, and then there's things that are just the opposite. Like, like we said, it doesn't have to be bad things. Your spouse can be a great person, and you're supposed to, if you're a husband, you're supposed to lead your wife, and you're both supposed to submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. Like, the Bible's clear about all of that, but you're submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ, not out of reverence for each other or for your kids, right? Like, so we have to understand that there are things that can be good things.

SPEAKER_04 25:13

Which can be hard to wrap your head around too. A hundred percent. Like, I'm supposed to care for my wife a hundred percent. Like to hear her.

SPEAKER_01 25:20

No second. Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 25:23

Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_01 25:23

But if you're a great husband and a crappy follower of Jesus, you're missing like you're out of order. Right.

SPEAKER_00 25:28

Yeah. Yeah. I just think it's important that as we are learning and understanding it's important that we are free so that we can continue to fan this flame. Yeah. It's important to name the things that hold us back. The things that would prevent us from walking in what Christ has for us. Um and if you need help naming that, that's why a community is really important to have around you. And you can ask people, you can invite them in and say, Hey, what are some areas that it seems like in my life are holding me back from all that God has for me? Like what what are areas that I might not be free in? Um, do you see things that I don't see? Like check my blind space. Again, just an important piece of community and make sure it's with someone that you trust and love. Don't just go walk up to Joe Schmoe on the side of the street and ask them that question. But um, invite people in that are close that you love and trust and ask them those questions.

SPEAKER_01 26:25

Yeah. Yeah, no, I think that's great. And you just bridged us to the third reason. Fire that's not fused fades. And so I had to find a word that started with F and fused was the closest one. But it's the it's it's the idea that connection. That yes, if we're not connected to other things and people who are on fire, right? So to Zach's point, the the wildfire can jump the road. Why? Because it's so hot, it's burning so brightly that there are things that aren't on fire the way that they should be that end up on fire because someone else is, right? Fire was never meant to exist in isolation. That's why one coal is almost impossible to light on fire, but then to stay on fire, you have to be around other coals if you think of a fire in that in that way. And so you're right, Amanda. You do need you do need to have um you do need to have relationship and community with other believers. Right? Like it's not their responsibility. Like, I want to be very clear. I said it yesterday, and I want to be very clear because we're gonna say it again next week. Yeah, it is not other believers' responsibility to fan your flame.

SPEAKER_00 27:34

It is not this podcast's responsibility, it's not Kyle's responsibility, it's not the responsibility of other pastors, other podcasters, other things that you're listening to.

SPEAKER_01 27:44

Other social media, none social media correct. It is not there, it is your responsibility to fan your flame. Now, you can use tools like this podcast, like other podcasts, like your Bible, like your pastor, like your small group, your community, your life group, all of those things.

SPEAKER_00 28:03

Your prayer and worship time.

SPEAKER_01 28:04

Yes. All of that are tools that help you fan the flame. But if the fan, if the flame is not being fanned, you can't go look at a podcast, a social media channel, a worship group, a prayer time, whatever, and be like, I can't believe that they're so bad at fanning my flame. No, it's my responsibility. Yeah. And that's the level of spiritual maturity that we're gonna begin to walk in, hopefully.

SPEAKER_00 28:29

Yeah, like we can't let like just think about first thing in the morning. Like we can't let a podcast or even like I mean, I guess worship songs too, but like we can't let that replace our time, our alone time with God. Like, those are great tools, like you said, great resources to, in addition to our time with the Lord and spending time in his word, but like we cannot let that replace for sure reading our Bibles.

SPEAKER_01 28:54

Now, those might be ways that you feel connected to God through worship and through a group of people who are discussing scripture and walk like that might be a way that you can grow in your relationship with the Lord. Fine. That's a way that you are fanning into flame.

SPEAKER_00 29:08

Right, right.

SPEAKER_01 29:08

But if the song doesn't hit right, if the podcast wasn't the topic I wanted, if blah blah blah blah blah, right? Like that doesn't mean that they're not fanning your flame. You're not fanning your flame by replacing those things in those moments with things that will fan, like fanning your own flame. And so we have to understand that we have that responsibility.

SPEAKER_03 29:29

And because I'm a foodie, I feel like this connects with me. But like this analogy of like, I think as we grow in our relationship with the Lord, just like certain cravings we might have, yes, uh, like the so is true for our soul. Yes. Like sometimes like you're like, man, I I want something sweet. And you you you eat that and you're like, yes. But then other times where you know, like for example, like when I have just a black cup of coffee, or like if I have something sweet, like a black cup of coffee, it just sounds so good to me all the time. Yeah. Where if I have like something sweet in my coffee, no longer am I wanting something sweet. Um, because that is like coming from that source. But then on the flip side, for our soul, I think the same can be true. Is like sometimes we gotta listen, like, what does my soul need? Do I just need to sit alone with Jesus? Or do I need to open up my word? Do I need to listen to something that is I need guidance on?

SPEAKER_05 30:35

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 30:36

Um, do I just need to go on a walk and talk and talk out loud to God? And I think the more that we understand like our different cravings, because sometimes, and there's certain times where you're like, man, I don't want to read my Bible either, but I need to. Like, for example, I'm hungry, and if I don't eat something that's good for me, yeah, I'm just gonna go to the next thing I see and just eat it.

SPEAKER_00 31:03

Yeah, blood sugar crash.

SPEAKER_03 31:05

Yeah, but if I choose to eat something that is satisfying, say like some chicken and rice, yeah, like that, and I'm like, man, now I'm not craving that crap. And I think too, like when we think about it from a spiritual perspective, like, man, to be honest, the the chicken and rice doesn't sound that good right now, but I'm hungry, so I'm gonna eat that, and now I'm not tempted by a bowl of cereal.

SPEAKER_06 31:27

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 31:28

Or, and then from this point here, it's like I'm I don't want to read my Bible, but you know what? I'm gonna deny my flesh anyway. I'm gonna read it, and now I'm not scrolling on Instagram.

SPEAKER_06 31:41

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 31:41

Like does that make sense? Like so just like filling your like keeping that fuse that we need to have, and then we're not filling it with the crap or our our soul is is satisfied. Um I think that just like I don't know, makes sense to me, like in the sense of if we if we continue just to not fill ourselves with the good, we're gonna naturally just go towards our own, like what's gonna make me feel good instead of what's going to satisfy.

SPEAKER_01 32:13

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 32:13

Yeah, that's good.

SPEAKER_03 32:14

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 32:15

That totally makes sense. And so a little bit of what we're talking about now is kind of this where we were going yesterday morning, um, is what do I do with this information? Right? Like, what do I do as I begin to collect this? And so we said there's two things that we need to do. The first one was assess the state of the fire. So if we say, all right, man, maybe my fire is fading a little bit, or I don't really know. Is my fire fading? Is it not? Where am I at? Like the the way that we kind of transition to what can I do? Because this was week three, which is kind of this 50,000-foot view, where we're talking about what's our responsibility. And week four, we'll talk about if I accept that responsibility, then what do I specifically do? But like, what can I walk out of this podcast or yesterday morning? What can I walk out of service? Like, what can I do between part three and part four? And we have to say, all right, number one, I've got to assess the state of the fire. Where's my fire at? Is it fading? Is it growing? And we kind of said, hey, there's three different things, three different states our fire can be in. It can be a spark, right? So for some of us, it like it just got sparked, it just got lit. Man, we are feeling like, man, I'm encouraged. I'm like, this is exciting and new, but like how do I fan this spark into a flame? Right? Like, how do I I'm on the upward trajectory, I'm climbing the mountain, how do I get to the mountaintop? Yeah, right, as if the mountaintop is achievable. But like, how do I continue to move up? And we said, man, I would encourage you, fan the flame, and we'll talk about how do we do that, right? Then there are some of us who may feel like the flame is not a spark, but it's smoldering, right? It feels like it's or another S word would be it's it's being snuffed out, right? It feels like, man, that's not what it used to be. And so I wanted to encourage you guys that we could fan into flame by rekindling, right? Some of us need to say, hey, we need to rekindle the smoldering fire. We need to continue to say, hey, I've got to assess it, right? Where's it at? Is it smoldering? And then the third one was a steady flame. Not everybody's flame is fading. Some people are like, man, right now it's going good. I enjoy sitting around the metaphorical campfire. I enjoy throwing a log on. I love my prayer time. I love that. I love this rhythm. I love that discipline, man, I love that practice, I love all of that. Right now, things are good. Right? So, where in the world is our what's the state of the fire? Because we have to assess it. Then, based off of what we assess, we then have to go and say, the second thing we can do is address the state of the fire. So we don't just assess it and say, yeah, it's smoldering. That fire sure is fading. Guess I can't do anything with it. Right. No, we have to then be say, Do I want to address it? And the principle we said yesterday was if I don't address what I assess, it will be a mess. Right? Like, once I know the assessment of my fire, but I don't address it, then it becomes a mess. Right? Like, if we know, but we don't want to do anything about it, then we're gonna start to look around and see, man, what is the mess of me not relying on the Holy Spirit, not having the fruit of the Holy Spirit, not allowing the convictions of the Holy Spirit to convict my life and help convict me of not just sin, but then what is God's righteousness, as we talked about in week two. Right? I'm not using the gifts, I'm not using the the talents he placed on the inside of me. Right? So if I assess I'm not doing that, but I don't address it, then I'm gonna look around and say, man, there's some things in my life that are probably a mess. If I don't want to have love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control, then I'm gonna look at my relationships around me and be like, well, that's a mess. That's a mess, that's a mess. The situation at work is a mess, that situation over here is a mess.

SPEAKER_00 36:30

Well, and I think the way that you go about doing that is like when you're addressing this, it's having a heart posture of humility and saying, like, wow, these are some serious areas in my life that I'm sitting in where I'm missing the mark, I'm falling short in these areas.

SPEAKER_05 36:45

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 36:45

Not to condemn you, not to shame you, not to guilt you, none of that. But to get you to a heart posture of humility, of confession and of just like, wow, I'm living in unrepentant sin right now, and these are some areas that are are blocking me from fanning my flame with with the Holy Spirit.

SPEAKER_01 37:04

Yeah, for sure. For sure. And it's you can't even assess it without humility. And so then to address it without humility would be almost impossible. But that's a good point. Like, and I missed that earlier. We have to assess it humbly because the worst thing we could do is have a smoldering flame, but in our pride call it a steady flame because we are afraid to admit or we don't want to admit, or we're insecure.

SPEAKER_00 37:33

We don't want to touch the sin that is unrepentant in our lives.

SPEAKER_01 37:36

Right.

SPEAKER_00 37:36

You know?

SPEAKER_01 37:37

Right. So let's just call it steady and not smoldering, and then I don't have to address anything. Yes.

SPEAKER_00 37:42

Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_01 37:42

Yep.

SPEAKER_00 37:44

We have to we yeah. We can't keep giving sin power in our lives. Like we have to be in a place where we're naming it, we're confessing it, we're bringing it to the light.

SPEAKER_01 37:53

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 37:54

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 37:55

So assess it, then decide if you're gonna address it. And if let's say we said, Hey, all right, Kyle, I want to address it. I can't wait till next week. I said, What can we do? Well, I said, let's look back to Easter, right? The the two guys who walked alongside Jesus on the road to Emmaus after the day of the resurrection, they spent time with him and they said, Didn't our hearts burn within us? This is Luke chapter 24, verse 32. Didn't our hearts burn within us as he talked to us, as we spent time with them and he explained the scriptures to us. And so if you're like, man, what can I practically just do this week, real high level? Next week I said we're gonna double-click into it, but what can I do this week? I can spend time with Jesus and I can read his word. And I can begin to have it explained to me, whether that's through podcasts, whether that's through um reading commentaries, whether right, whatever those things are. Like, how do I do I have a study Bible that has notes and all of that in it, right? Like, I need to spend time with them and spend time with his word. Those were the two things that had originally had those two guys' hearts burning within them. And for us, we'll talk more practically next week, but for us, it's like, what can we practically do? It's that right, it's it's spend time with them and spend time praying. Um and so that's where I would that's where I would basically say what can I address in my assessment? It's like, what can I do? Because I don't know about you guys, but I'm somebody who's like, well, tell me what to do then. Not like what specif like okay, so I practicality. How do I address it?

SPEAKER_04 39:33

Well, it's back to the campfire analogy. You wake up in the morning and your campfires dwindle down, what are you gonna do? Right.

SPEAKER_00 39:40

Add more wood. Right?

SPEAKER_04 39:42

Well, yeah, that's what you would think. But how many of us just get up and I'm just gonna go make some breakfast and I'm gonna do this. I'm gonna hop on here and like to Brad's point. I wonder what's happening in social media today. Yeah, yeah. Let me hop on here and do this. I mean, start with a three-minute prayer. Hey God, thank you for giving me a good night's rest. Thank you for waking me up again today. Start differently. Yeah, just yeah, throw some throw some sticks on the fire. Yeah, yeah. Like start small and then watch how much that changes. Yeah, that's good. And then what's something else you can do? I mean, flip on some worship music, something while you're getting ready. Some change the mood instead of you know, don't listen to whatever that podcast depressing thing, whatever it is that yeah, changes your mood for the whole day that gets you upset or don't flip on the news first thing or some worship music on, you know? Yeah, something.

SPEAKER_00 40:33

Yeah. What are you what are you feeding your mind first thing when you wake up? Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's good.

SPEAKER_01 40:38

I I like that. I I like bringing it back to that campfire, right? Yeah. You wake up in the morning, it's well it's not what we know.

SPEAKER_04 40:43

It's easy, it's an easy analogy because it's what we know.

SPEAKER_01 40:45

Yeah. Yeah. You wake up in the morning and it's not what you thought it was. Right. You're like, but man, I was I was expecting to have a fire. So the question is, do I just go in and say, well, I guess I'm skipping breakfast, or I'm just gonna go have cereal or whatever, right? Or am I gonna go and say, hey, I'm gonna throw some sticks on because I'm about to make some breakfast.

SPEAKER_00 41:03

I like that too. You can't have breakfast without banning the flame in the morning.

SPEAKER_01 41:08

Right. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 41:08

Like you have to actually do something. You have to add logs on before you can cook yourself breakfast while you're cooking.

SPEAKER_01 41:13

That's right.

SPEAKER_00 41:14

So that's really neat.

SPEAKER_01 41:15

That's right. So those are some basic things that we can do. And so then as we were wrapping up yesterday, I brought us back to 2 Timothy chapter 1, verse 6, which is this is why I remind you. Fan the fan into flame the spiritual gift that God gave you. And I would say the same thing today that I said yesterday is there are some of you who are like, what do you mean this is why you remind me? I never knew that it was my responsibility. And so I will apologize on behalf of whether it's myself, the local church, the way that you were taught growing up. If you didn't know it was your responsibility to fan the flame, I'm sorry. Right? We should have done better, we should have taught you better. Now you know. The next time you read this, you can be reminded.

SPEAKER_06 42:01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 42:01

But now you know. But for some of us who did know, this is why we're reminded. Fan into flame. Right. So the question then is am I going to accept the responsibility to fan into flames the gift that God has given me? Right? Like, that's a question we all have to answer. In order for us to go to next week and be able to say, all right, well, practically what do I do? The question we have is am I gonna am I going to accept that responsibility? Because we can't talk about maturity without responsibility.

SPEAKER_06 42:32

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 42:33

Next week is maturity, this week was responsibility. Like, are we willing to own the peace that that God has given us? Yeah. Right? And I said maybe a little bit more directly, and this is a question we asked on Easter, and it comes back now in week three. What will I do with what God has placed inside me? That's the that's the decision point we're at today.

SPEAKER_06 42:57

Yep.

SPEAKER_01 42:58

Next week is about disciplines. This week was about decisions. We could talk disciplines all day long, but if we don't make the decision to do the discipline, all we're doing is this is where I use the word minutiae. We just get into this minutia of stuff that's like, well, why am I doing that? Why would I ever I don't even know how to blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah minute details? Yes, yeah, minute details, right?

SPEAKER_06 43:19

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 43:19

But if I didn't make the decision to accept the responsibility, then I don't if I don't think that it's my responsibility to fan into flames, then I'm not going to say, Well, yeah, I should probably read the Bible, I should probably develop a prayer rhythm, I should probably talk about repentance, I should probably do all of these things.

SPEAKER_06 43:36

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 43:36

We're just gonna be like, Well, it's not my responsibility to do that.

SPEAKER_06 43:39

Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_01 43:40

It's that podcast, it's that pastor, it's that church, it's that video, it's that social media channel, it's that person at small group, whatever, right? It's my mentor.

SPEAKER_06 43:48

Yeah, right.

SPEAKER_01 43:50

So what are we going to do with what God has placed inside us? That's where the plane was landed to be refilled this week so it can take off again. next week. What thoughts does anybody have um about the rest of what we've talked about? Anything you want to add? I feel like I talked a ton today.

SPEAKER_04 44:12

I think God breathed life into each one of us. Yeah. God breathed the flame right into each one of us. Yeah. And so it's there. Whether you feel it or not, it's there. And it's your responsibility to recognize it.

SPEAKER_06 44:26

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 44:27

What can I do? And am I willing? Yeah. The biggest question for this week I think is are you willing?

SPEAKER_00 44:33

Willing heart. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 44:36

I do find it interesting to that question of um of what like if I'm willing or if I say well hang on. I don't know if I'm willing or not. What do I have to do? Right? Like I think that's something that's so easy for us to say like I before I tell you if I'm willing to show me the do before I tell you I'm willing. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 45:00

Yeah that's not how it works.

SPEAKER_01 45:01

Yeah not how it works.

SPEAKER_00 45:02

Which how often do we do that like here in this life when when people give us good gifts? We receive the gift, do we not?

SPEAKER_01 45:09

Well it depends. Most of the time.

SPEAKER_00 45:11

I mean unless you've got like a really unhealthy person hanging it over your head as they're handing it to you.

SPEAKER_04 45:16

But here's this thing but you have a membership attached to it. Sure. Mayonnaise and Brussels sprout casserole for Kyle's a gift.

SPEAKER_00 45:26

In general yeah we want to receive it. We like I think about like a little toddler's birthday party they receive the good gifts they don't ask why are you giving me this gift or what is what does this have to do with anything that you have for me or what all does this entail? What what's tagged along with this? They say hey thanks. Yeah if they understand what gratitude means. But um and I just think how often are we doing that with the Holy Spirit? He he is our gift. He he has given us um I mean the power of love and self-discipline and a sound mind. Like he he gives us good gifts.

SPEAKER_01 46:03

So why would we why would we not want to accept that yeah well because I mean it does come with responsibility. It comes with it this it comes with dying to sell dying to the thing that the thing though I love this because I think this this is a good um this is a good way to end today. Yeah. Because we're going to talk about this next week but when you think about this concept of a gift think about the person on the prices right who wins the car.

SPEAKER_06 46:27

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 46:28

In that moment it's like this is awesome. And then you find out like the little the fine print is that you actually have to pay the taxes and insurance on the so why would I not want the car that I won?

SPEAKER_00 46:40

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 46:41

Is because I actually still have some responsibility.

SPEAKER_00 46:43

Right, right.

SPEAKER_01 46:44

And so now what we have is we've been given a sweet car.

SPEAKER_00 46:48

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 46:48

It's awesome.

SPEAKER_06 46:49

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 46:50

But now there's some taxes and insurance that are due.

SPEAKER_06 46:52

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 46:53

For us to maintain that car. Yeah that's good. And that is where we're going to talk next week about the taxes and insurance that come with the car that is the Holy Spirit. We've been given one for free but it's our job as a family.

SPEAKER_04 47:03

And in the grand scheme of things is a much smaller price than what Jesus paid that's right.

SPEAKER_00 47:08

Come on. That's right.

SPEAKER_01 47:09

Woo come on now. Red anything else? Nope. Okay. Amanda, you want to close us in prayer?

SPEAKER_00 47:15

Sure.

SPEAKER_01 47:15

Okay, let's pray.

SPEAKER_00 47:16

All right. Thank you Lord so much. Holy Spirit for being with us today on this podcast episode. Thank you for guiding our thoughts, our minds, our hearts um, and our spirit. Thank you for being the lamp beneath our feet. And I just pray for the listener today, Lord, that you would help them as they are learning what it means to continue to fan into flames the gift that you've given them. And I just ask Lord that you would empower them and encourage them. And I just speak a spirit of boldness over them as as they learn to walk into this. And I'm just so thankful, Lord, that we get to do this together as a church body. Thank you for the local church. Thank you for the people that you have placed here at this house so that we can go on this journey together. We just love you so much. We're so thankful for everything you've done and we count it a joy and an honor to love you and to serve you. And I just pray a special blessing over every single listener this week. I pray for a hedge of protection over them and their families and I just pray that they would have hearts that burn for you Lori. We love you. In Jesus' name we pray amen.

SPEAKER_01 48:22

Amen see y'all next week we love you.

SPEAKER_04 48:27

Part four throw some kindling on the fire. That's right