Catching on Fire!

Not a pretty picture but one that proves a point.

My morning ritual...

• My eyes flutter open
• I grunt out my "good mornings" to the Lord
• Let my dogs out of their crates if my hubby hasn't
• Make my way to the bathroom
• Find my house-shoes
• Shuffle down the hall to the coffee maker
• Flip the switch hoping it hurries before a bad mood sets in
• Make my way to the sliding glass door to let the dogs out
• Grab my cup of coffee and find my Bible
• Move my chair in front of the fire if I haven't left it there the night before
• Sit down...coffee in one hand Bible in the other
• Stare into the fire...sipping coffee...asking the Lord to overcome my deficiencies so that once again I can hear Him.

It was at this exact moment that the picture above came into sight. I sat there watching the flames lick at the pieces of wood and soon felt the heat of the energy they produced together. I am hoping that you can see the two pieces that are standing on both sides of the flame. They stand erect, balancing on their ends. They are much taller than the other logs that are laying down in the midst of the flames. It got me thinking...
There are some people who when asked what church they attend quickly reply, "Oh I don't go to church. You don't have to go to church to believe in God." Agreed. Or how about this reply, "I don't attend a church because I haven't found one that I like." Really? Even better yet is "Oh I am not a church going man. There are too many hypocrites there for me." I love that excuse. As I watched the flame flicker some things became so evident.
First of all, the heat was being produced by the collection of wood feeding off each other in order to stay lit. Secondly, while the pieces of wood that stood alone on their ends were smoldering, that is all they were doing. The others were being consumed by the heat and the flames were the evidence of all that was taking place. As the fire burned the wood settled in and as it did it popped and hissed as if it almost begged for more to be added. While the concert of sounds were being given the heat that was being generated was to my benefit. I was warmed to the core as I realized this is the body of Christ in so many ways.
We who stand together in the midst of others have so much to offer to those who are in need. Producing heat and light for someone who has nothing to offer back is amazing. But it's so much more than that. I was designed for this purpose and so were you. When I stand before the Lord at the end of my life I want to know that I was in the midst of what was taking place. That I was right in the middle of Him doing His thing and because I was He was able to use who He created me to be for His purpose. I don't want to be a log standing alone only smoldering with His presence. Neither giving light or heat. Oh the pride of those who choose to stand on the outside will soon lead to their smoldering faith. My prayer for myself and for you is that we jump into the fire. That by the presence of many we burn with the faith that is generated when we come together to live out our lives. Funny thing is that the fire this morning could have been even brighter and hotter still. If only the two pieces would have joined in. The Bible tells us over and over that we are One body. Not our own...but One that is of Christ.
Corinthians 12 talks a lot about the body of Christ. The 27th verse is one of my favorites...
"Now all of you together are Christ's body, and each one of you is a separate and necessary part of it."
Did you realize you were necessary? Absolutely without a doubt ...necessary! You may not feel it or think it, but you are. God said so...so unless you want to argue with Him you must make a decision today. Will you live in the midst of your mindset, your discomfort with the church, your ideas on what it means to be a part of something bigger? Or will you live out of the bodies (that being Christ's body) necessity?
I love you all so. You have all been so supportive in this endeavour to speak positively into lives of brother's and sister's in Christ regardless of what church you do or don't belong to. You have written email upon email that have stated that you love coming here for encouragement. Please don't get me wrong when I say this...as much as I love hearing what God is doing through this blog...this in no way takes the place of God's church. He created you to be IN the midst of the fire. He created you for relationship with like believers. He created you as family. Please if you don't have a church family find one. In fact don't waste time....run to one. It is there that you will find more Holy Spirit heat than you know what to do with. Again I love you and can't wait to hear from you and how God is using you to spread heat and light to others.


Blessed to be His
Kim