Good Morning! Recently, I was reminiscing with some old high school buddies about our days as members of the North Love Lancer basketball team.  During our conversation, one of the first memories recalled were the grueling preseason “camp weeks” that occurred each summer prior to the commencement of the school year.

Oh, friend, how I loathed those weeks of my life!  You see, our coach, Ron Greene, loved to watch his team run.  And run we did!  I’m not talking about a few sprints at the end of practice, oh no, I’m talking about running around the perimeter of the church lot for large chunks of the day.  Without exaggeration, I would guess we ran enough to complete at least two marathons during each of those “camp weeks”.

Each time my teammates and I completed a “circuit” (45-min run), we would stand bent-over gasping for breath as Coach Greene assured us, “sacrifice for me one week now, fellas, and you’ll thank me when you’re hoisting-up that championship trophy!”  Well, we never did win that trophy, but we were, in fact, a better team for our effort.  More importantly, each man on the team learned a valuable character lesson-sometimes one must give something away in order to gain something of far greater value.

The morning following my chat with these old friends, I awoke early to meet with the Lord.  Soon I found myself fixed in the book of Romans.  Upon finishing chapter 11 and proceeding into 12, I froze… it felt as if the Holy Spirit had just leapt from the pages of my Bible into my heart.  In verse one, the Bible says, “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, [which is] your reasonable service.”

Although I have previously extracted an untold amount of truth from this verse, the Spirit of the Lord sought to show me more…  Man, I love when He does that!!  Anyway, I slowly began to crystallize a fantastic thought that had never registered before-one which made me appreciate those dreaded “camp weeks” of my past all the more.

In Romans 12:1, Paul is begging us to lay down our worldly lusts and surrender completely to God-why? Because it is only reasonable we do so for the ONE who saved us from eternal death. But with only this verse to go by, it appears we are indebted to God, and this is the sole reason we should sacrifice our lives for Him. This is, of course, only half the truth.  Nonetheless, many live frustrated Christian lives thinking this way.  My friends, there are even more GOOD reasons to give our lives in sacrifice to God.  One of which is it’s reasonable, but the second of which is because it is rewardable!

I often see this mentality in our schools of discipleship.  Men and women (mostly baby-Christians) often arrive at our homes thinking, “I will live for God …it’s the least I can do for Him in return for Him saving me from my sin.”

What these students fail to realize when they initially arrive here is that there are two benefits to their recent salvation experience.  There’s justification-God saving us from an eternity in hell, and then there’s our sanctification-God saving us from the power of sin while we enjoy, in victory, His “championship” here are on earth.

However, as our students mature, they eventually realize living for God provides them with much more than just the satisfaction of “reasonable service”; for they learn  that by dying-to-self they place themselves under the “spout where His blessings come out”, so to speak.  What I mean by this is by the time these men and ladies graduate, they clearly see life is much better living IN Christ then it ever was living outside His will.  In other words, they have learned to internalize and thus capitalize on both benefits of their salvation!

Jesus, Himself, explains this reality in Matthew 16:25, “For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.”  He is saying that in order to experience your best life (His life), you must first give up (lose) YOURS!

Remarkable!  Just as my teammates and I sacrificed dearly by enduring the stresses of rigorous training so we could become the best team possible, God wants us to sacrifice what we are now so we can ultimately have (His life), which is our best life possible.

And, there’s more.  While it took an inordinate amount of effort and sacrifice to be apt basketball players, it takes absolutely no effort on our part to sacrifice our lives for God.  Oh no, friend…He does all the work; all we need is FAITH coupled with simple submission!

Tell me this, if a 16 year-old boy could muster-up enough faith in his coach to labor until near meltdown because he told me I would be better off, why would I ever lack the faith in my Christian life’s Coach when He tells me by that by trusting Him I will be much better off as well?

Maybe it’s because sometimes I’d rather be good at “the game” than in glorifying His name.

Have a great day IN the Lord!
Steven Curington

Buy Bro. Curington’s classic book, NevertheLess I Live, at our new RU E-Store for $18.00. Become a Fan of this book on Facebook!

Hello and good morning!  My friend, as we begin our day may I ask you a question?  HOW IS YOUR MEDITATION PREPARATION?  HOW HAS IT BEEN? My prayer is that you have spent some time in sweet communion with our God this morning, for dwelling on God’s goodness during this special time of dedication with Him will indeed keep our meditations pure and holy throughout the day.

If you are like many of those with whom I work in Rockford and those I have met from chapters around the world, you have most probably gained a great victory over a majority of the external sins that bound you prior to coming to Christ.  But now, our Savior is focused on everything we have framed in our minds. The Bible tells us it is what’s on the inside of man that will ultimately defile him (Matthew 15:11). All throughout Scripture, we see all sin originates in the mind. God views a sinful thought, which we have chosen to frame in our minds, just the same as if we choose to engage, or act upon, that thought. Remember in the Sermon on the Mount Jesus called us to a greater accountability when He concluded that it is our motives that define our true level of godliness.  This is a truth that takes a measure of faith to accept; but accept it we must, friend!

Yes, indeed, Jesus equated sinful thinking with actual participation in the sin itself when He said: “But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart” (Matthew 5:28)..

So we surely can see, we are defiled by what is found within-that is the origin of sin!  The Bible warns us to protect this because that is where the Spirit of God lives.  First Corinthians 3:16-17 says, “Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?  If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.”

It is quite amazing to meditate on the fact that the Spirit of God dwells within us!  With that said, it is ever so important that we do not defile or ruin by moral influences the place where God lives.

Remember the Reformers Unanimous principle that says, “It is easier to keep the heart clean than it is to clean it after it has been defiled”?  Our ultimate goal as Christians should be to obtain holiness just as Christ Himself is holy.  We are to be like Him.  But, how do we achieve this desired goal?

If He abides inside, then we have His ability within us to think right thoughts.  We must listen to the Holy Spirit within us and use His motivational meditation preparations throughout the day.  He will tell us when we are wrong.  When He speaks, we are to yield to Him; and the more we yield to Him, the more we will be yielded to that which is holy, which means we will be Christ-like.

As this happens, we will find those thoughts that are framed in our minds are thoughts that are acceptable in His sight.  So, friend, spend time with Him so the battle you will win.  Let Him abide inside and be our Guide to stem the tide from the one who lies!

Note: the following blog is a small excerpt of Steve Curington’s newest book to be released in September, Recovery through God’s Fire.

The Protective Fire Feeding of Our Government Leaders

Managing our spiritual flames under our umbrella of protection (preacher, parents, teachers, employer, and government) will take a spirit of cooperation on our part. The word cooperation means “the act or instance of working together for a common purpose.” Will you allow others to manage your fire? Will you allow them to make decisions for you with little or no information about your preferences? Will you trust them with your spiritual and interpersonal fires?

The leadership God places over us will, if we allow them to make the decisions for us, keep our fires burning. But this type of sacrifice of your life’s decisions will take cooperation—advance meditations that promote cooperation with those who are working with you for a common purpose. What is that purpose?

“For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works. These things speak, and exhort, and rebuke with all authority. Let no man despise thee.” (Titus 2:11-15).

First, God wants us to become like Christ: to live soberly, righteously, and godly. This is the crucified Christian life. Secondly, He wants our lives to bring Him glory. He wants us to live a peculiar people who are zealous of good works. Finally, He wants us to reach more people for Him. To speak and exhort these things to those who need to learn the same. These three goals require cooperation. Not only with God, and His indwelling Spirit, but with the commands of His written word and the pressure of His ordained authorities who have Kingdom priorities as their guiding principles. Leadership is not here to make decisions that maximize your life; but rather that will magnify the Christ life!

The Protective Fire Feeding of Our Government Leaders

Our governmental leaders are not just our elected leaders, but they are God’s ordained electorate! I live in the land of Lincoln, the state of Illinois. I reside in Machesney Park, work in Rockford, and worship in Loves Park. I am a citizen of the greatest country in the world—the United States. If it were not for the justice system of this land and the leadership of our local and state governments, I would be a criminal behind bars with little hope of ever being a free man. I thank God for my country, my state, and my city. The greatest investments they have ever made in me were to enforce her rules on me as a juvenile delinquent. These are all things we cannot take for granted.

Whether you voted for them or not, agree with them or not, you are to be in subjection to them. Romans 13:1 teaches “Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God.” Paul went on to teach in verse 2, “Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation. For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power? do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same.”

God wants to use these choicest of servants. But when we reject God-ordained leaders, we will always embrace an alternative. Like children who reject parents and embrace their friends, members who reject their pastors and build ties that blind and bind, students who choose infamous people over un-famous teachers and employees who are insubordinate to the chain of command, those who hate their government will often reject these powers as evil and try to refuse it. When that doesn’t work (which it won’t because you “can’t fight city hall”) then they move from a desire to refuse it to a manipulative desire to use it. They figure out how to get the system to work for them and they use if for their own benefit. The devil’s alternative to governmental sponsorship is personal entitlement. Instead of being a government of the people they want the government to be there for the people!

I believe it is the abuse of governmental social systems has been the primary reason for the lack of revival in America. If government can be leveraged for maximum personal benefit, why create your own fire and cook your own food on it? This ought not to be. Paul said that our governmental leadership “…is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil” (Romans 13:4).

This is the conclusion to the spiritual logs of umbrella theology. It is part of the protection God has created for us and part of His three-fold cord: internal persuasion of the Spirit of God, written proof of the Word of God, and external pressure (or, outside pressure) from God-ordained authority.

I am a man most fortunate. It may have taken me many years to fully understand what God has granted me. But, I now clearly understand this wonderful gift. I now use this gift to protect me from the dangerous elements that would damage my spiritual fires. This umbrella of protection has been the outside pressure that God has used to bear witness with His inside persuasion of the Holy Spirit. With this dual influence at work in my life, I have been able to make spiritually wise decisions. These fire protectors have helped me choose my life’s mate, Lori, and they have also helped me to develop our marital relationship for our benefit and for the benefit of our children. They have helped me make good decisions concerning my career. This umbrella has taught me the value of protecting my income. Through wise counsel, I have been brought from enormous debt to full payment of all former creditors and a debt-free lifestyle, while at the same time enjoying my position in Christ as a “cheerful giver.” Using this umbrella of protection, I have learned to walk with God during the most difficult days of my life.

Check out Bro. Curington’s classic book, Preparing for Peace, at our new RU E-Store for $8.40.
Become a Fan of this book on Facebook! 

Note: the following blog is a small excerpt of Steve Curington’s newest book to be released in September, Recovery through God’s Fire.

The Protective Fire Feeding of My Employers

Managing our spiritual flames under our umbrella of protection (preacher, parents, teachers, employer, and government) will take a spirit of cooperation on our part. The word cooperation means “the act or instance of working together for a common purpose.” Will you allow others to manage your fire? Will you allow them to make decisions for you with little or no information about your preferences? Will you trust them with your spiritual and interpersonal fires?

The leadership God places over us will, if we allow them to make the decisions for us, keep our fires burning. But this type of sacrifice of your life’s decisions will take cooperation—advance meditations that promote cooperation with those who are working with you for a common purpose. What is that purpose?

“For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works. These things speak, and exhort, and rebuke with all authority. Let no man despise thee.” (Titus 2:11-15).

First, God wants us to become like Christ: to live soberly, righteously, and godly. This is the crucified Christian life. Secondly, He wants our lives to bring Him glory. He wants us to live a peculiar people who are zealous of good works. Finally, He wants us to reach more people for Him. To speak and exhort these things to those who need to learn the same. These three goals require cooperation. Not only with God, and His indwelling Spirit, but with the commands of His written word and the pressure of His ordained authorities who have Kingdom priorities as their guiding principles. Leadership is not here to make decisions that maximize your life; but rather that will magnify the Christ life!

The Protective Fire Feeding of My Employers

You may think, “My employer doesn’t seem to have my best interests at heart! I can promise you they do not. Though this might sound counterproductive, my friends it is not. Having leaders who do only what is best for you is a rather juvenile way to look at your umbrella of protection. God has not called them to be your umbrella of cooperation! Just like the preacher is not necessary considering only your best interest at heart, but rather the things that are Christ’s; the employer should have the overall good of the organization as his primary goal. If he does so, your future looks bright. And friend, if you were to calculate it yourself, you would find that if your organization fails, you future is looking pretty bleak, too!

The passage in Ephesians 6 tells us to be obedient as servants to our master. These words are old English for the modern English terms employee and employer. They are intended to be our employee and employer relationship guidelines. It is God’s intention that where they lead, we follow and what they feed, we swallow! Is that blind obedience? No. It is simple obedience. If God does not like what your employer is doing, He won’t lead you to disobey the employer, He will get you a new job! Trust God to lead through flawed and even unsaved man in the area of employment and you will be surprised what God will do for you even spiritually.

Though most of this area deals with the character of the soul – hard work, obedience and respect remain lost traits on many employers. Listen to how Peter, an avid, hard-working fisherman, viewed employee and employer relations. This illustration, given by this failed fisherman turned sheep feeder, would be quite alarming in today’s circle. Surely this behavior could lead a born again believer to justify walking off the job with no notice; but not so in the day of our Lord.

“Servants, be subject to your masters with all fear; not only to the good and gentle, but also to the froward. For this is thankworthy, if a man for conscience toward God endure grief, suffering wrongfully. For what glory is it, if, when ye be buffeted for your faults, ye shall take it patiently? but if, when ye do well, and suffer for it, ye take it patiently, this is acceptable with God. For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps: Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth:” (1 Peter 2:18-22).

Christ’s example was to accept wrong responses as well as poor and flawed leadership willingly and respectfully. This led to power on His humility and it truly glorified God. My friend, this is no better way to claim fame from your flame than to be an employee that will shine in every aspect of productivity and performance. But how much less promotable are we when we are proud and persistent in our selfish motives for advancement and give dogmatic demands for personal respect.

Respect from those over us is not something we demand. It’s something you gain when you obey their commands. When we reject God-ordained leadership in the workplace (like our alternatives for parents, preachers and teachers,) our rejection of that leadership will lead to embracing of another philosophy. Usually the philosophy of rebellious and proud personnel is to resist authority and embrace a negative and pessimistic personal perception. This leaves the employee un-enjoyable, un-promotable, un-manageable and eventually un-employable. The worse among us will usually become self-employed part-timers coasting from career to career trying to fool our spouses we are hard workers when really we are just hard-headed! The devil’s alternative to employer advocacy is individual monarchy, where you are the one and only person in charge, or want those in charge to do as only you would prefer.

Buy Bro. Curington’s classic book, NevertheLess I Live, at our new RU E-Store for $18.00.
Become a Fan of this book on Facebook! 

The Protective Fire Feeding of My Teachers

Managing our spiritual flames under our umbrella of protection (preacher, parents, teachers, employer, and government) will take a spirit of cooperation on our part. The word cooperation means “the act or instance of working together for a common purpose.” Will you allow others to manage your fire? Will you allow them to make decisions for you with little or no information about your preferences? Will you trust them with your spiritual and interpersonal fires?

The leadership God places over us will, if we allow them to make the decisions for us, keep our fires burning. But this type of sacrifice of your life’s decisions will take cooperation—advance meditations that promote cooperation with those who are working with you for a common purpose. What is that purpose?

“For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works. These things speak, and exhort, and rebuke with all authority. Let no man despise thee.” (Titus 2:11-15).

First, God wants us to become like Christ: to live soberly, righteously, and godly. This is the crucified Christian life. Secondly, He wants our lives to bring Him glory. He wants us to live a peculiar people who are zealous of good works. Finally, He wants us to reach more people for Him. To speak and exhort these things to those who need to learn the same. These three goals require cooperation. Not only with God, and His indwelling Spirit, but with the commands of His written word and the pressure of His ordained authorities who have Kingdom priorities as their guiding principles. Leadership is not here to make decisions that maximize your life; but rather that will magnify the Christ life!

The Protective Fire Feeding of My Teachers

The third most important people in the development of spiritual fires are our teachers and mentors in life. I have had many great teachers over the years. From Sunday school to Christian school to the school “of hard knocks”, each of them has been instrumental in explaining life in a beneficial way. I have enjoyed the educational enlightenment of many great authors, dynamic preachers, intuitive counselors, insightful ministry board members, and invested friends who have all sharpened my iron in one way or another.

When Jesus was given power over all the universe, One of His first directives was to mankind. He commanded man in Matthew 28:19 to “Go ye therefore, and teach”. Jesus’ power was manifested by an empowerment to teach. But what were they to teach? “Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you” (verse 20). God wanted Jesus in charge and Jesus wanted to place teachers as delegator leaders of His educational platform for obedience to God. This was a powerful position of influence. When we cooperate with His commands, as taught by His God ordained teachers, our fires are sure to enflame His name!

This position of teacher and mentor is not only a valued commodity of Christ, but it is a major position within his body. In Ephesians 4, Paul gave the breakdown of ministerial positions of influence and listed teachers, along with pastors and evangelists and others as primary “perfecters” of the saints. It was God’s intention to use these firemen and women for the development of His people, the management of their fires and the edifying of the body. Why? It is so that there would be unity.

Teachers and preachers are used by God for unity. The inverse of this is self-centered disunity. This is the behavior found in many children. God uses teachers to develop us from childish dividers to adult unifiers. Paul wrote it as such.

“And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ: That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro. . .” (Ephesians 4:11-14a).

But again, the devil’s goal is to get us to reject the very teachers God has told us to respect. What causes this? Again, perceptions what appears to be hypocrisy?

Romans 2:21a warns, “Thou therefore which teachest another, teachest thou not thyself?” If someone senses their teachers are unwilling to heed as they lead, students will often fall away. A failed fire is always the result.

I indicated when young people reject their parents, they usually embrace their friends. When they reject their preacher, they usually develop unhealthy soul-ties who make their most important decisions “with them”, but actually “for them”, like a preacher is intended by God to do. But when they reject their spiritual, personal, and educational teachers, they always find attraction instead in those that are famous. The devil’s alternative to biblical teacher training is infamous idolatry of idiotic people.

That’s right. When someone rejects a teacher for what they perceive are human flaws, it is because of the allure of famous influencers who the devil is using to create division in the home, church, or life. I didn’t learn accept my parent’s view of the “facts of life” nearly as much as I did the views of those who acted on television and the big screen.

I made this horrendous mistake. I rejected my teachers and looked to those who were the lead singers or face men for my favorite bands. These influencers were my teachers. Horrible teachers at that! And they led me to destruction that was only predisposed by their own personal destruction. Almost every single person I idolized with any level of fame as an adult is either a dead or a dying “burn out”. Fame is no way to claim a flame. They almost all flicker out in their youth.

But when I placed myself under the teachers God designed for me, I began to succeed in life, just as they had! They fed my spiritual flames. They saved my life, as well—yet another role of a fireman. When we cooperate with God’s ordained teachers, our fires are sure to enflame His name!

Check out the Personal Recovery Kit, at our new RU E-Store for $79.00. For more information on this product go to       http://www.personalrecoverykit.com

The Protective Fire Feeding of My Parents

Managing our spiritual flames under our umbrella of protection (preacher, parents, teachers, employer, and government) will take a spirit of cooperation on our part. The word cooperation means “the act or instance of working together for a common purpose.” Will you allow others to manage your fire? Will you allow them to make decisions for you with little or no information about your preferences? Will you trust them with your spiritual and interpersonal fires?

The leadership God places over us will, if we allow them to make the decisions for us, keep our fires burning. But this type of sacrifice of your life’s decisions will take cooperation—advance meditations that promote cooperation with those who are working with you for a common purpose. What is that purpose?

“For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works. These things speak, and exhort, and rebuke with all authority. Let no man despise thee.” (Titus 2:11-15).

First, God wants us to become like Christ: to live soberly, righteously, and godly. This is the crucified Christian life. Secondly, He wants our lives to bring Him glory. He wants us to live a peculiar people who are zealous of good works. Finally, He wants us to reach more people for Him. To speak and exhort these things to those who need to learn the same. These three goals require cooperation. Not only with God, and His indwelling Spirit, but with the commands of His written word and the pressure of His ordained authorities who have Kingdom priorities as their guiding principles. Leadership is not here to make decisions that maximize your life; but rather that will magnify the Christ life!

The Protective Fire Feeding of My Parents

My parents have been an integral key to my personal development. My mom worked as a school janitor to put her boys through the Christian school. My dad worked sixty-five hours a week at Chrysler to provide for his wife and four boys. They gave me a life they never had. I am forever grateful for their investment in me. The greatest investment ever made in me by them was their daily intercessory prayers when I ran from God for over a decade.

We see God’s commands, which are a bit more than suggestions in two passages written with distinct similarities. “Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right. Honour thy father and mother; (which is the first commandment with promise;) That it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth.” (Ephesians 6: 1-3). And the second similar passage found in Colossians 3:20 reads, “Children, obey your parents in all things: for this is well pleasing unto the Lord.”

These passages strongly suggest parental authority as a youth that is not only obedient externally but respectful internally, as well. Both passages also come with a warning to the father. Ephesians 6:4, “And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.” And Colossians 3:21, “Fathers, provoke not your children to anger, lest they be discouraged.”

These responses, such as provoking our children to wrath (which is an extreme feeling of getting even) and anger (which is an immediate response of emotional frustration) will hinder the parent’s role of control in the life of that child. Many children are driven by nothing more than the devil to reject parental authority, but when the parents manipulate them with anger or wrath in their training process, that child rejects them. I have learned that the Lord wants to use the parental role to assist Him, but the devil wants to use the parental role to drive children to reject their parents. When a child rejects God’s system of parental control, the child will usually choose their friends’ influence over their parents. The devil’s alternative to parental control is peer pressure.

When dad and mom lose control of a child, that child will find his identity in his friends. You will never find a rebellious child who is equally uncooperative with their inner circle of friends. However, every cooperative child will choose cooperative friends that do not divide the leadership of the home.

This is by no means a child rearing handbook. But this foundational principal is solidly true: God uses the role of the parents to protect us. No matter if we are fifteen or fifty, we would be wise and blessed to cooperate with that protection. Yes, age changes things. Marital status changes things. But the principals of God’s words never change. This is the first commandment with a promise.

The Protective Fire Feeding of My Preacher

Managing our spiritual flames under our umbrella of protection (preacher, parents, teachers, employer, and government) will take a spirit of cooperation on our part. The word cooperation means “the act or instance of working together for a common purpose.” Will you allow others to manage your fire?  Will you allow them to make decisions for you with little or no information about your preferences?  Will you trust them with your spiritual and interpersonal fires?

The leadership God places over us will, if we allow them to make the decisions for us, keep our fires burning.  But this type of sacrifice of your life’s decisions will take cooperation—advance meditations that promote cooperation with those who are working with you for a common purpose.  What is that purpose?

“For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works. These things speak, and exhort, and rebuke with all authority. Let no man despise thee.” (Titus 2:11-15).

First, God wants us to become like Christ: to live soberly, righteously, and godly.  This is the crucified Christian life.  Secondly, He wants our lives to bring Him glory.  He wants us to live a peculiar people who are zealous of good works.  Finally, He wants us to reach more people for Him.  To speak and exhort these things to those who need to learn the same.  These three goals require cooperation.  Not only with God, and His indwelling Spirit, but with the commands of His written word and the pressure of His ordained authorities who have Kingdom priorities as their guiding principles.   Leadership is not here to make decisions that maximize your life; but rather that will magnify the Christ life!

The Protective Fire Feeding of My Preacher

My Pastor has been the catalyst God has used for the greatest gains in my Christian life. As my youth pastor, he was compassionate but zealous. As my senior pastor, he has been patient but firm. In both roles, he directed me toward what God wanted me to be. He has managed me well and kept me balanced in all my responsibilities. The greatest investment ever made by my preacher was his willingness to allow me, a novice in the Lord’s work, to begin a little Bible study in his church and then choose to oversee me in it as it exploded to an international phenomenon for the Lord.

But this process that stoked my spiritual fires by my preacher required me to cooperate with both his demands and God’s commands. The role of the preacher is portrayed in Jeremiah 3:15 when God’s people are backsliding spiritually.  They have fires that are dimming and diminishing.  The prophet said God will “give you pastors according to mine heart, which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding.” God uses particularly chosen men who know and understand God’s heart. God uses these men as a portal for direction, correction, and instruction in righteousness. We cannot assume we know more, even if we are more intelligent.  We cannot expect to be able to understand more, even if we have more experience with life or society.  God has said that He will provide personal preachers who will think like Him and will be capable of feeding us spiritually that we may learn to know and understand His ways, which are not our own.

I gain the benefits of my preacher being my umbrella of protection because I cooperate with him as my authority. But the devil gains control in our life when he can get us to discredit the authority of the chosen man whom God uses to teach us His heart—our preacher. He wants us to reject our preachers.  And he leads many of us to do so, by simply showing us the humanity or a perceived sense of vanity in the man whom God has called to lead us.  This ought not to be our focus.

Preachers are not without warning and are given an obvious stiff standard in the Bible to maintain their role as Shepherd. Paul warns preachers of the dangers of hypocrisy in Romans 2:21b, “thou that preachest a man should not steal, dost thou steal?” Wrong perceptions of our preacher’s motives can ruin a flame faster than a follower could ever fan it.   Ezekiel warned of his modern day shepherds that rejected their call to integrity in Ezekiel 34.  It led them to be disqualified as shepherds and did not let sheep find other folds.  God is the Controller of the pastors of his people, not the people and their perceptions of the imperfections of their pastor.   Though pastors need to be careful to be men of integrity, men who follow their preacher should be careful to follow their leadership because when a person rejects pastoral leadership for perceptions they always choose an alternative.  Like the teen who chooses friends over family when there is a conflict of interests, likewise a church member will choose personal soul-ties over their pastor’s authority when there is a conflict of interests. The devil’s alternative to pastoral influence is soul-ties with people to whom they prefer.

What a heavy weight the pastor carries! Like a parent, a pastor must live a life that will be scrutinized by those for whom he gives himself. Yet, he (the pastor) must live above reproach so he will not be the reason for their denial of the Christ. I Corinthians 9:27 teaches this: “But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway (or, disqualified).”

The word castaway literally means disqualified.  Friends, God has not designed his children to investigate, manipulate, castigate, or create “pastor gate” with negative perceptions of our parents as children or our pastors as adults!  But God has called our leadership to live a life above reproach.  My pastor has done so and more and this has led me to not only cooperate with his management of my spiritual fires, but to actually trust Him in the use of my spiritual fires for the advancement of the Kingdom of God.

How is your relationship with your pastor? Is it strained? Have you found reasons to not obey him? If so, your umbrella will be weak and your will be exposed to the elements of inclement weather.

Our personality is the portion of man that makes us all truly different—at least on the inside.  It is what makes up our “personality DNA”, so to speak.  Our ability to relate properly toward others, the essence of developing relationships, is found within the make-up of our personality.  The development of a person is the development of their soul.  It is character development that is the second most important development a man can have (second only to development of the spirit).

For the fires of our interpersonal relationships, I believe the best healthy “log”  is praise and quality time. Throwing this “log” on someone’s fire is one of the most influencing tools to challenge someone to lasting change in their character.  The word praise means “worth commending.” If you are not giving words of praise to those in your relationships, then these interpersonal fires of importance will dwindle quickly.  Proverbs 27:21 reads “As the fining pot for silver, and the furnace for gold; so is a man to his praise.” Solomon is teaching us that when a man is praised, it removes his imperfections.  I counsel many disgruntled relationships. I find that often they want to see change in the other’s personal weaknesses. More oft than not, when I inquire about their fire (soulical relationship), I am amazed at how the fires have dwindled because they failed to feed it the logs of praise and quality time.

We have what seems to be a natural tendency to focus on the negativity of others. We don’t praise the good when it shows up because we are so focused on the overwhelming annoyance, whatever that may be. Let us suppose that you are a supervisor, and one of your employees is always late for work. But that one time they show up on time, we tend to handle it as a sarcastic mistake or such. But rather, I have found that what compels my employees to fulfill my expectation on our organization’s standards is noticeable appreciation from me on their sincere working at their sin issue.

No matter the relation or age, all of us thrive on being noticed and appreciated. Proverbs 27:21 is telling us when we praise people for proper behavior through commendation; it is the “contraption” that is used by God to bring them to “liquefaction for the sake of personal purification!”  What does that mean?  It means if you will compliment, commend, praise, and affirm those with personality problems when their behavior is unexpectedly and excitedly proper, then the praise will contain the necessary components to precipitate improvement in the person. In other words, you cannot make a person change by verbal persecution or vehement preaching nearly as much as you can make a man change by vocal praising.

Praise is one of the greatest tools we have in child-rearing, yet we neglect it with regularity. It is so easy to constantly remind a child to clean his or her room, take out the trash, brush their teeth, or turn off the lights when exiting a room. When this is done continually, the parent begins to “nag”  the child and the child tends to “tune them out” much like Charlie Brown’s teacher! However, if that parent will use praise to its fullest extent when that child does one of these tasks, or even a different task, that child will enjoy the praise so much that he/she will want to do something else to receive that word of commendation!

This log of personal investment into a relationship will help these interpersonal fires burn. It is this log of praise, coupled with quality time spent together, that leads our students to be loyal to our ministry and faithful to the Lord Jesus Christ. It is this flammable fire log that causes a leader’s staff to stay with an organization through difficult circumstances in the workplace jobs, especially in ministry work.  The battle is too intense for us to not be appreciated for what we are doing.  Though it is not the reason for doing things, appreciation is a reasonable thing to be done.

In a marriage relationship that is sorely suffering, the couple often cannot find anything good about this person that they were head over heels in love with some time back at the marriage altar. But the lack of finding that which needs to be praised is because you have an investment problem. It is the investment of your time and energy on behalf of the other which holds great value.  For all they are worth, praise them and watch that worth increase!

In our family relationships (our marriage and our children), we tend to reap that which has our focus. For example, if our attention is always given to our children when they have misbehaved, the child’s mind computes that they get your attention when they are bad. As a child, we are created to want and need the attention of those caring for us. Oh what a dangerous and destructive stage of life to not throw the log of praise and quality time on this fire! I am sure in years down the road, we will not think that the things that angered us or stole our time will be as important as the lost heart of that child. We need to feed their fire by praising them and giving our children our most valuable commodity—time.

Jesus’ earthly ministry was a beautiful picture of this “log.” Though He was daily confronted with the failures and insufficiencies of everyone around Him, He still spoke praiseworthy words and gave of His quality time to those under him. Jesus’ ministry through you will be evidenced by the manifestation of praise and quality time.

II Corinthians 10:17-18 says, “But he that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord. For not he that commendeth himself is approved, but whom the Lord commendeth.” Our only responsibility for glorying (which is defined as, to make another look good) is to make any commendations a glorying of the Lord. I will tell you, one of the best ways we self-focused Christians can start giving glory to God is by starving our appetite for creating our own commendations!

If we want to get along, we have to do some things for a long time.  Praising is not something we can do every once in a while and get along.  Time spent together is not something we can do every once in a while and get along.  Affirmation and attention must be done with regularity, spontaneity, and quality if we are going to get along for long!

Years ago, a black man in California was mercilessly beaten and left for dead by some wicked and wrong law enforcers.  Yes, this man was a troubled man, not the type of man you would easily trust or give heed to his antics.  But this was out of line and it caused a national debate. It was a time of complete and utter unrest. Riots were breaking out across Los Angeles. This was later termed “the Rodney King riots,” as if this quiet and unassuming man was the originator of such riotous behavior. This young black and homeless man uttered a phrase that probably best defined the culture that had begun in that generation—the later decade of the 20^th century.  The phrase was: “Can’t we all just get along?”

This phrase was repeated by thousands of people on air waves across the globe.  Everyone was moved by the question.  However, no one ever answered it.  I now want to take the opportunity to answer that question. Sadly, the answer is “no, we can’t just all get along;” at least, not in our fleshly ways of our world. “Getting along” does not happen by everyone seeing everything through the same lenses of life. Nor will it happen when we have political justice.
We may not be able to control all the relationships of the world, but in the relationships in which you influence, I can tell you how to get along. It will happen when we decide to throw the log of praise and quality time. Rather than dousing our fires with negative and pessimistic judgments of others, seeking to win their love through giving is far more effective. Start using praising and quality time to throw a log on the fire of those you love!

Like twigs, wooden sticks are an integral part of getting a fire going. Sticks also play a vital role in keeping a fire under control.  However, sticks are a bit different than twigs.  They are not the best accelerant for starting a fire, but yet they are the very best accelerant to add once the fire is started.  I believe the best allegorical comparison to sticks and our spiritual fires is that of separation. Separation takes the self-denial and develops something meaningful out of it.  It brings purpose to the sacrifices of our soul. We can deny ourselves; but if we don’t separate, we will never be used by God. The word sanctification means “called out,” or “set apart for sacred use.” I know a lot of people who are set apart for sacred use, but they are never used sacredly because they won’t deny self. Many will deny self, but they remain at that small level of spirituality because they will not strengthen their denying of self by making the sacrifice of separation.  They won’t satisfy themselves with any worldly pleasure, but they won’t please God with any other portions of their life either.

If you will, picture a monk sitting in a castle somewhere, just sitting there, meditating on his “scriptures.” Do you know what monks do all day?  Separation and meditation.  That’s what monks do best!  They deny themselves every worldly pleasure in a form of separation from the world and they meditate for the sake of personal enlightenment.

Are they separated for sacred use?  Sure, they are separate, but they are never going to be used sacredly.  I am a proponent for separation. However, I am grieved by the breed of Christianity that separates from the world, foolishly thinking that is obedience to our call to separation.  God has not called us to separate from the world; He has called us to separate from worldliness!  There is a big difference. Jesus ate with publicans and sinners. He did not separate from the world, like the Pharisees had, but rather He maintained His separation from their worldliness. God’s call to separation, found in II Corinthians 6:17-18, is a charge to separate from worldliness, but to integrate into the world.

II Corinthians 6:17-18 and 7:1 beckons us, “Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, and will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty . . .(7:1) Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.”

We see in these verses three same-truth principles, said three different ways: (1) come out from among them, and be ye separate, (2) let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, and (3) perfecting holiness in the fear of God. I believe what separates these commands from being a behavioral conforming matter to an internal change is the last statement – perfecting holiness in the fear of God. When you understand the deeper meaning of “perfecting holiness”, I think you will see how beautifully separation is painted for us. Satan deceives us by painting separation in a different light.  Please do not be scammed by his trickery.  I exhort you to carefully grasp this delicate truth, for it is the spiritual telescope that will illumine your ability to see much farther than the naked eye could ever comprehend.

Let us dissect and define “perfecting holiness.” Perfect means “to develop, to make it perfect, to improve it.” This is our part in the process. We keep developing and improving. However, holiness is not something we do. Holiness is Who He is, and Who we are seeking to allow to live through us. Holiness is something we become. That means we must transition out of one thing and into another. We transition out of the filthiness of flesh and spirit (meaning, our flesh’s desires to have our spirit operate in disunity with the  Holy Spirit) and transition into the perfecting of holiness. I Peter 1:15-16 says, “But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation (or, deportment); because it is written be holy; for I am holy.” What it does not say is, “do ye holy.”

We tend to look at holiness as something we develop, like we develop character traits. Quite the contrary! When we finding ourselves trying to do what we ought to do, without being who we ought to be, we have not walked in the Light of legitimate spiritual fire. Friends, we do not become holy to come to God; we come to God to become holy! That which is unholy needs to be crucified. Our verse (II Corinthians 7:1) agrees with the crucifixion of that which is not holy—“cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit.”

This verse does not say that we are to be purged of our soul. He Who is holy needs to increase (Spirit-control), and that which is unholy and imperfect must be decreased (self-control).  Of course, I realize we are no longer of this world.  But yet, we are still in the world and we are called to be a light in the MIDST (middle) of that world.  What will you find in the middle of the world?  Paul called it a wicked and perverse nation (Philippians 2.)  We become lights when we shine into that world.  Separating to a life within an environment absent of sinners or sinful influence will not keep you from sin anymore than it kept Adam from sin.  Sin will find its way in.  Innocence cannot protect you from worldliness.  Only Holiness will protect you from worldliness.  Holiness is an spiritual practice, not a personal practice.

My friend, denying self is not going to be enough to keep our fires burning.  We will not be holy just by saying “no” to ourselves. We will be holy because we separate from the world, and we say, “I am not going to be anything like the world, I am not of it, I am in it.  And because I am not of it, I will not be like it while I am in it!  Now then, when we do that, it is going to build a fire:  Twigs of denying self will start the fire and sticks of separation from worldliness will enflame the fire.  These two fire starters will cause people to gaze at your fire ablaze!

John 15 is a beautiful picture of the Husbandman’s nurturing and pruning of us as living branches. “Every branch (or, believer) in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit.” A branch that is not bearing fruit will be cut off by the Husbandman. Another branch, on the same vine, may be bearing fruit but needs purging. The purging is only for the purpose of enabling the Vine to produce more fruit through that branch. Verse six continues: “If a man abides not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.” A man seeking to live independent of the Vine is just like the barren twigs of a branch. Both are unhealthy detractions to the fruit-bearing branches.

It is crucial to note that denying self is not self-denial.  Self-denial is to deny one’s self things as a form of obedience in order to project an image of a person who is bearing fruit. But on the inside, everything remains all about you.  If this sounds like you, you may look alive externally, but you are not abiding internally in the Vine.  You look alive on the outside with your sacrifices painting a well kept facade, but you are dead on the inside.

Self-denial is what we choose when we obey rules for the purpose of outward conformity to a set of standards as proof of our righteousness to people.  That is symbolism.  Paul warned us of these type of Judiazers when he said beware of dogs, evil workers and those of the concision (Phil 3:2).  These people groups stressed faith through outward conformity alone.  Outward conformity should not be onlystressed, but rather should be expressed.  Conformity is an outward expression of your inward Possession – Christ.  Outward conformity should originate from what the Word would suggest; our minds are able to ingest so our hearts can digest.  Then our spirit will impress and the soul, at rest, will beautifully express.  Conformity should be an expression.  Not simply dogmatically stressed by leaders.   When it is only externally stressed, it creates a mess in which your followers regress and eventually digress.  Standards are important (self-denial of your preferences to adhere to particular biblical, spiritual, or professional standards.) Self-denial is admirable and profitable.   But still, outward conformity to the God’s law is not denying self.  It’s only selfish denials.

Self is defined best as “one’s own fondness for their private interests whereby they obtain a sense of personal identity.” It is who you think you can be if you could only be what you wished you could be.  Denymeans “to contradict.” To deny self is simply contradicting that person within us that seeks our own private interests over the interests of the Christ living within us.

We find a perfect picture of One denying self in a garden, on a dark and sobering night. One Man found weeping. His agony is so intense that He is literally sweating drops of blood. His crying words must have shaken the courts of heaven, as His Heavenly Father listened to the weeping cry of His only Son—“Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done.” (Luke 22:42) He knew the agony of having his own private interests, yet being willing to contradict His flesh and yield to the interests of His Heavenly Father.  There is no better example of One dying to self.

Foreknowing His cross to bear, the Lord Jesus cried out to His inquisitive followers: “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up my cross, and follow me.” (Matthew 16:24) Denying self demands a death. It is a death to the portion of our branch that doesn’t need the Vine—the self life. It bears no fruit. And if it gains control of our being, our entire branch will be full of its death.  But the branch that will remain connected will not be rejected; its life will not be neglected.  Denying self does not look for deliverance of the impending death of self.  But denial of the self life realizes it is the only way to the Life found after the cross. Denying self recognizes it is for the sake of others who may never appreciate it or utilize the benefit of it. Denying self begins with awareness to the emptiness of self and is fanned by a passion to yield to the greater Life living within.

Any spiritual fire that is struggling for oxygenation is being suffocated by the presence of one element—the presence of self. A suffering spiritual flame is in some form or fashion holding on to a private interest whereby one obtains his sense of personal identity. Whatever it is for you, my suffering friend, it is slowly snuffing out your spiritual blaze. You may know in your head that you need to let go. You know the words to say, “I just trust the Lord.”  But in your prayer garden, your words to your Heavenly Father are questions, wondering why He would allow such a threat to your private interests. Sure, they may even look spiritual. But nonetheless, they are yours. And you won’t let go of whatever it is. Friend, it is such a person who has mastered self-denial, but has no clue in denying self.

This principal of denying self lays the foundation to the Crucified Christian Life. When one has discovered it, he too can proclaim as the Apostle Paul, I die daily! Denying self will keep the embers burning of a consistent flame. Denying self will revive a dying flame. And denying self will keep the barrenness removed from our branches.