Coals

{Time to introduce another new All4God contributor – Caleb Ames, who I have worked with for the past couple of summers at Beaver Cross . Caleb is passionate about following God, and he is very into country music, but I don’t hold that against him…}
This summer bought up a good point and a very good illustration. We experienced an amazing move of God this summer at Beaver Cross Camp. Beaver Cross is an Episcopal Church Camp settled in the Greenwich, New York. It is where parents send their kids for a week to learn more about God and of course have fun. The campers experienced God like they had never before and the counselors grew in their faith, it was amazing thing to be a part of. How this happened was an array of things put together in the right way. Prayer is a very mighty one and another is we as Christians are Coals. How can you say that we are like coals, how does that make any sense? Well, let me take awhile and explain it to you.
Do you ever remember hearing from your youth group leader or pastor or someone speaking, that you need to get on fire for God? They are right in saying that, because we do need to get on fire for God, but how do you do that? Well, that’s where ‘we are like coals’ comes in. Have you ever just watched a fire burn down till there are just the coals? It is cool because in order for the fire to go completely out you must separate the coals so they can each cool down. If you don’t the fire will still be there in the morning and if you wanted to add wood to that fire and it will start back up again. Coals are very important part to a fire; they are the start of everything. WE are like coals, coals that if you put together with other coals can start a fire. The Bible says, “Where two or more are gathered in my name, there I am in their midst.” (Matt 18:20) A good explanation for that is that we are coals and when you put two coals together they heat off of each other to keep each other hot. If you add more coals the more heat comes from them and fire will ignite quickly if you add fuel to that fire. As Christians we need each other, God created us to work off each other and together. Proverbs 27:17(NIV) says, “As iron sharpens iron, so a man sharpens the countenance of his friend.” It is so true and really amazing thing that God does. He works on each of us in different ways, but if you think you can do it alone you are a fool. God created the body to work as a whole body not as a finger all by itself. This is why we need to be communing with our Christian friends that love our Lord and Savior. Without that we will be useless.
There is another part to this that was brought up at Generation Conference 2011 in Albany, NY. Rich Wilkerson Jr., the first speaker of the conference, brought it up: You can come to a place where the Holy Spirit is moving and you can “feel the fire.” The problem comes when you think it is the fire in you, but all it is the people around you. The fire isn’t coming from you. This is why I say we are coals. When we are near someone that is on fire for God you can feel that fire, because coals can catch a fire easily. Once you leave that place you no longer feel it. What then can we do to get the fire in us? Fall in Love. Fall in Love with Jesus as your all in all. Be a disciple of Jesus Christ. It is one thing to be saved it is another to be a disciple for Jesus. God called us to be disciples (Mat. 28:19) not to be, “The saved.” Being a disciple is not easy, God never said it was going to be easy, but that would be rewarding. It takes discipline, which involves sacrifice, to be a disciple. So instead of getting that fix of fire when you go to church, conference, and/or camp, let Jesus be that fire that will never go out.
So this is my challenge for you who read this find those people that love the Lord and are going after Him. When you do, search for the Lord together and you will be a power the devil cannot stand against. Don’t ever give up on the Lord, because He has never and will never give up on you. He loves you. Get in a body that Loves Jesus and will Love you. Don’t be a coal that cools down, be part of a fire or one who starts a fire. Let the Lord Jesus Christ start that fire in you. Coals are good, but coals that are on fire are much more useful to the Kingdom. Love the Lord as much as He Loves you and you will start to see the fire grow inside of you.