MEMORISE: I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. Matthew 3:11
BIBLE READING: 1 Kings 18:36-39
36 And it came to pass at the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, that Elijah the prophet came near, and said, LORD God of Abraham, Isaac, and of Israel, let it be known this day that thou art God in Israel, and that I am thy servant, and that I have done all these things at thy word.
37 Hear me, O LORD, hear me, that this people may know that thou art the LORD God, and that thou hast turned their heart back again.
38 Then the fire of the LORD fell, and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood, and the stones, and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench.
39 And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces: and they said, The LORD, he is the God; the LORD, he is the God.
MESSAGE:
The Holy Spirit often manifests Himself as fire, and in the Scriptures, we see many instances of this. In Acts 2:3, the Holy Spirit descended on the disciples as cloven tongues of fire, and they began to speak in other tongues.
Hebrews 12:29 says that our God is a consuming fire. Ananias and Sapphira played with this fire and they paid with their lives (Acts 5:1-11). They lied to a man of God regarding the proceeds from a property they had sold. Peter simply confronted them on why they chose to lie to the Holy Spirit, and within seconds, they fell down dead.
In Ephesians 4:30, the Bible says, “And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God…” Anyone who offends or grieves the Holy Spirit is toying with fire. This is why Jesus said, in Matthew 12:32, that blasphemy against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven. My dear child, I plead with you to be careful not to offend or grieve the Holy Spirit in your actions and words. The same fire that brings power when it falls on a believer can also consume a fellow who prides himself or herself in sin.
ACTION POINT:
Ask God to fill you with the fresh fire of the Holy Spirit.
BIBLE IN ONE YEAR:
Luke 5:1-16, Joshua 16-18