{"id":951,"date":"2019-04-11T09:39:08","date_gmt":"2019-04-11T09:39:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.tyndale.com\/unfoldingfaithblog\/?p=951"},"modified":"2019-07-19T07:58:55","modified_gmt":"2019-07-19T07:58:55","slug":"keep-the-fire-burning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.tyndale.com\/unfoldingfaithblog\/2019\/04\/11\/keep-the-fire-burning\/","title":{"rendered":"Keep the Fire Burning"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n

This week’s blog is written by Jarrid Wilson.<\/em><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

One of my all-time favorite childhood activities in the mountains was starting the nightly campfire. It\u2019s no secret that all children are closet pyromaniacs. Something about kids and fire just goes hand in hand. Fire is mesmerizing, to say the least, and it begs to be played with, poked at, and stared at until someone yells, \u201cStop playing with the fire! You\u2019re going to burn yourself, Jarrid!\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

But I couldn\u2019t help it. It was fire, one of God\u2019s greatest creations (next to morning cartoons!). I was ten, and starting the family fire was a duty of honor. Getting to do so was almost a spiritual experience.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Lighting the fire was an art, and I loved every step of the process. I\u2019d always start with some tiny wood shavings, stack a few logs on top of one another, and then add a small piece of paper to the bottom to finish it off. I\u2019d imagine that my family was stranded in the middle of a desolate forest, cold and hungry, and for some reason I was the only one capable of igniting the flames that would bring us comfort. Not only was the fire going to bring our family warmth for the night, but it was also the way we would bring light to our campsite. And some nights, it\u2019s how we would even cook our food. It was a necessity.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

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In order to keep the fire roaring, I would find myself constantly adding more wood. Every twenty or thirty minutes, I\u2019d add one log and then another and then another until we all decided it was time to head to bed. But even then, some nights we\u2019d take turns adding logs overnight to keep the bears away. We were adding fuel to the fire in order to keep the fire alive.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Just as we cannot rely on old logs to keep the fire burning, we also cannot rely on the faith of yesterday to keep our relationship with God flourishing today. And, as I heard an old preacher once say, we \u201ccan\u2019t ride the coattails of our father\u2019s faith.\u201d Keeping our passion alive for God is something that we have to choose to do each and every day. God\u2019s love is always available, but if we don\u2019t find ourselves constantly receiving that love and if we don\u2019t keep going back for more, our unique and beautiful relationship with God will diminish to embers, ceasing to produce anything of value.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

That\u2019s not a place any of us should want to be in, especially as people commissioned with the incredible task of sharing the gospel with all nations and all people. God has provided us with everything we need to keep our faith in him active and vibrant, but we have to make the decision to receive it and apply it. I think we\u2019d all be surprised to know how many people are handed God\u2019s wisdom and guidance but don\u2019t utilize it.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

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We must always be on the lookout to add more nourishment to the fire pits that are our spiritual lives. God\u2019s love fuels not only our own spiritual lives but also everything we do to love others and make a difference in the world for Jesus\u2019 sake. It\u2019s like the great John Wesley once said, \u201cGet on fire for God and men will come and see you burn.\u201d And that\u2019s exactly what we\u2019re called to do. Without our hearts ablaze in faith, we\u2019re no good to the cause of Christ. Without our souls on fire with love, we\u2019re nothing more than darkness. And that\u2019s exactly where Satan wants us to be. We cannot do anything in our own love, because our own love isn\u2019t really love at all. Only through the power and fuel of God\u2019s love can we make a difference in this world.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

But what does adding fuel to the fire of your faith really look like? Well, the best way I can think of putting it is that the relationship you have with God should be like a flourishing and vibrant marriage. Your relationship with God is single-handedly the most important relationship you will ever find yourself in. You should take it very seriously, and you can\u2019t afford to drift away. You must do everything you can to make sure your relationship with God stays healthy, fiery, and passionate. Because if not, your relationship with God will just become a statistic\u2014you\u2019ll just be another Christian going through life with no real purpose or meaning. But keeping the fire going is easier than you may think.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

In January of 2014, I wrote a blog post titled \u201cI\u2019m Dating Someone Even Though I\u2019m Married.\u201d[i]<\/a> Yes, the title may have seemed a bit crazy. But it was the best way I could think of to stress the conviction I felt to pursue my wife as I did when we were dating. I wanted to regain and deepen that spark, passion, and desire. I wanted to go back to that feeling of butterflies in my stomach, the nervousness that made my palms sweat. I had unintentionally lost it. The reason for writing the post was hard for me to admit, but it was something I needed to say\u2014and something that a lot of couples needed to hear.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

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My wife and I realized that the daily routine of marriage can set in pretty quickly, and if you\u2019re not careful, that exciting and new relationship can accidentally get put on the back burner, while work and other things are made more of a priority. That\u2019s where I was. And it wasn\u2019t at all on purpose. Nobody sets out to do this when he or she gets married. My way of showing my wife I loved her had become working hard and providing for her financially. Those are both really good things. But I\u2019d become so focused on them that I\u2019d stopped pursuing her heart in the ways she desired. I stopped doing all the awesome things I once did when we were dating and engaged.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

The things that showed her I was willing to go out of my way to express my love for her. She yearned for me to pursue her, because it showed her that I was still interested in who she was, even though we were already married. That I was choosing her over and over again despite the fact that we already had rings on our fingers. I quickly realized how important it is to constantly invest in my relationship with my wife, regardless of how long we\u2019ve been together. That I can\u2019t just rely on the actions and words and intimacy of yesterday to fulfill what needs to be done today. The pursuit should never end.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

That seems like a pretty obvious statement, but you\u2019d be surprised how many couples needed to confront this truth head-on as much as I did.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

What I said struck a chord. Millions of people read the post and really resonated with the idea of relentlessly pursuing their spouse. In fact, the post gained so much exposure that it was featured on numerous news stations and media outlets, and Juli and I were even flown in as guests for Steve Harvey\u2019s daytime TV show. It was a pretty surreal experience. I think the words resonated with so many because deep down we all want to be loved and pursued.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

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The idea of pursuing your spouse should be in the forefront of your mind. Why? Because you\u2019ll never learn enough about the person you are with. There is always more to learn, more to experience, and more to adventure with each other.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

And the same is true for a relationship with God. See where I\u2019m going with this? The similarities are quite extraordinary. We must live in constant pursuit of our God, constantly longing to know and love him more, so that we may then fuel our own lives with his love, truly loving him and loving others. It comes full circle.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

God relentlessly pursues you every day, and he deserves the same in return. Pursuing God\u2019s love isn\u2019t a \u201chave to\u201d; it\u2019s a \u201cget to.\u201d It\u2019s an undeserved blessing. Discovering the wonder of God\u2019s love isn\u2019t a one-time affair but instead a daily process. And the daily pursuit of God can come in many shapes and forms. Prayer, worship, servanthood, and studying God\u2019s Word are all ways to pursue God\u2019s heart and find rest in his love.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

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Doing these things in selflessness and humility is the key to engaging in a fruitful relationship with Christ. All of God\u2019s most influential and righteous followers were all those who relentlessly pursued him. Yes, they may have all had some hiccups along the way, but the pursuit nonetheless defined their lives. Only the man or women who chases after God will come to actually know him and dwell with him and not just be a spectator.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

God deserves our relentless pursuit: a pursuit that jumps hurdles and goes above and beyond. We must live in a posture of yearning for the love and righteousness of God as if it were the first time we\u2019d ever taken notice of it. The fire that is our relationship with God must be fueled daily and kept roaring so that no matter what obstacles we face in life, God\u2019s love will propel us forward.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

[i]<\/a> Jarrid Wilson, January 6, 2014, \u201cI\u2019m Dating Someone Even Though I\u2019m Married,\u201d Jarrid Wilson, http:\/\/jarridwilson.com\/im-dating-someone-even-though-im-married\/.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n

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Excerpt from Love Is Oxygen: How God Can Give You Life and Change Your World<\/strong><\/a> by Jarrid Wilson<\/h2>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Love. It\u2019s that thing everyone talks about but very few will ever truly put into action. It\u2019s the fuel with which we are called to live, and it\u2019s the very reason Jesus\u2019 body was brutally broken upon that splintered cross. It\u2019s unbeatable, unrestricted, and hands down the greatest attribute of God. It will transform the way you see life, and it will radically invade the way you see others. The question is, have you discovered and harnessed it the way God intended?<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

In Love Is Oxygen<\/em><\/a>, you will engage with the reality of God\u2019s love as something you can know and personally experience. This love transcends fear and circumstances, and it pushes us into places we never imagined. After all, living God\u2019s love is like breathing\u2014it gives life as we breathe it in . . . and then we can\u2019t help but breathe it out to the people around us. Learn more HERE>><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

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This week’s blog is written by Jarrid Wilson. One of my all-time favorite childhood activities in the mountains was starting the nightly campfire. It\u2019s no secret that all children are closet pyromaniacs. Something about kids and fire just goes hand in hand. Fire is mesmerizing, to say the least, and it begs to be played […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":957,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0},"categories":[230,232],"tags":[241],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.tyndale.com\/unfoldingfaithblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/951"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.tyndale.com\/unfoldingfaithblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.tyndale.com\/unfoldingfaithblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.tyndale.com\/unfoldingfaithblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.tyndale.com\/unfoldingfaithblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=951"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/sites.tyndale.com\/unfoldingfaithblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/951\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1205,"href":"https:\/\/sites.tyndale.com\/unfoldingfaithblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/951\/revisions\/1205"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.tyndale.com\/unfoldingfaithblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/957"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.tyndale.com\/unfoldingfaithblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=951"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.tyndale.com\/unfoldingfaithblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=951"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.tyndale.com\/unfoldingfaithblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=951"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}