Fan the Flames
by Jim Person
One of my tasks here at Ellel USA is to burn the debris which storms bring down from the trees. Recently we had a huge storm which caused many trees to fall. When burning the massive stumps from those trees, I found out that they take a long time to burn. But I’m only allowed to burn things until dusk. Having no water nearby, I used dirt to cover over the smouldering logs to put them out. The following week, I went out and uncovered the logs, only to discover they were still burning, and they burst into flames again!
We’re called by God to fan the flames of the gifting that’s given to us at our baptism in the Holy Spirit. It was by fire we were baptized, so we’re to keep those gifts hot within our lives.
Even though life ‘dumps’ stuff on us occasionally, attempting to put out our fire, all we need is a little stirring, and once again we will burst into flames.
As we grow in our ability to be used in the gifts of the Spirit, we are more functional as a body. When we are aflame with the Holy Spirit, it affects those around us, igniting their gifts. I love it when we all come together as the body of Christ and stir up the fire in our spirits. We need words of wisdom, words of encouragement, and words of knowledge to be fully functional in the body of Christ in this world today.
Are you in a state where you have been dumped on by life’s dirt? Are you in a place where you are not able to remember the last time you burned with passion for the Lord? Have you been cold in your walk with the Lord? If so, I encourage you to go the Lord and allow yourself to be stirred by His Spirit, and gather together with other saints and fan the flames.
Jim Person Jim grew up in Alaska and from a small child commercial fished every summer with his family. God called him, his wife Tanya, and their four children to move to Hungary as missionaries in 2003. God then led him to join Ellel Ministries in 2005. After serving in various positions with Ellel in Central and Eastern Europe, God led them back to the United States, where he is now serving with the Ellel USA team. Jim and Tanya have a passion to see leaders restored, the church discipled and walking in God’s fullness of life and freedom. They also love mentoring the existing and developing Ellel teams wherever God leads them. Jim also has a real gift for working with the land to create a beautiful and welcoming environment.
Please feel free to use this devotional to send on to your friends or share with your church fellowship. Provided full acknowledgement is made to Seeds of the Kingdom as the source, you are also welcome to use it in a non-commercial way and reproduce it in magazines or other Christian websites. The copyright for any commercial use of the material remains with Ellel Ministries International.
