Leonard Ravenhill said "When you’re on fire, everyone knows it". In other words, fire cannot be hidden.

Fire used in the scriptures is symbolic of several things such as; Holy Spirit, judgement, refiner, presence etc. For the sake of our discussion, fire will represent the presence of God. Every believer is designed to carry fire, that is to be empowered by the Holy Ghost.

A believer carrying fire is someone having a devoted passion for the presence of God. Someone zealous for God and the things of God. One of the things that announces a believer in the realm of the spirit is the fire he carries.

Because we're designed to carry fire, God expects every believer to carry fire. This is why God dislikes lukewarmness.
Revelation 3:16 So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth. It talks about God spewing lukewarm people out of his mouth. God spewing you out of his mouth does not mean you'll go to hell, it means you cannot be useful in the hands of God. Don't let anybody preach you out of being on fire for God because they'll later come to you for help. As you're carrying your fire beware because some people and some things are “fire extinguishers and fridges”. The same way fire can be caught, it can be quenched too.

WHY DO WE NEED FIRE

  1. Fire purges / purifies / cleanses - Isaiah 6:5-7
    Isaiah saw his sinfulness before a holy God and cried, "Woe is me!" Then a seraphim touched his lips with a live coal from the altar, and his guilt was taken away. Fire here pictures God's holiness burning away sin, guilt, and impurity, making us fit for His service.

  2. Fire illuminates - Exodus 13:21
    God led Israel through the wilderness with a pillar of fire by night. In darkness and uncertainty, fire gave direction and protection. Spiritually, God's fire guides us, showing us the way when we cannot see ahead.

  3. Fire enlightens - Psalm 18:28
    "You, LORD, keep my lamp burning; my God turns my darkness into light." Fire does not just show the path, it opens our understanding. The Holy Spirit enlightens our minds to understand Scripture and discern truth from darkness.

  4. Fire warms the spirit - Luke 24:32
    On the road to Emmaus, after Jesus explained the Scriptures, the disciples said, "Were not our hearts burning within us?" The fire of God's Word and presence rekindles cold hearts, reviving love, zeal, and devotion.

  5. Fire consumes - Hebrews 12:29
    "For our God is a consuming fire." God's fire destroys what cannot stand before Him: sin, pride, idols, and every work of the flesh. It is both judgment against evil and total devotion, calling us to offer ourselves fully to Him.

1 Thessalonians 5:19 Quench not the Spirit. Quench not the Spirit or the spirit fire but we know that if you ignore a flame, it'll go out.

We want to look at some things that can quench the fire of God in us.

✓1. Little foxes: Song of Solomon 2:15 (NLT) Catch all the foxes, those little foxes, before they ruin the vineyard of love, for the grapevines are blossoming!

Song 2:15 (YLT): Seize ye for us foxes, little foxes- destroyers of vineyards, even our sweet-smelling vineyards.

The little foxes, "the little things" we do that we don't even pay attention to, that no one sees, that we see to be trivial, they matter. That lust building in you, the pride showing up that friends are telling you and you think they hate you, that secret sin that nobody knows about but it's eating you up gradually, that nobody can tell me what to do attitude, etc. All these, though very little, can destroy the vineyard of your relationships, the vineyard of your marriage, the vineyard of your connections, the vineyard of your spiritual life, etc. Gal 5:9 KJV A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump. Interestingly, the Greek root word for the word foxes is shô‛al which means handful. This is to say, though we might think it's little but it's not, it's a handful, so much attention needs to be channeled to it and to deal with it else it's just waiting for the appropriate time to expose you. One of the dangers of little foxes is that they have the ability to gradually siphon your hunger and fire for the Lord.

John 12:6 This he said, not that he cared for the poor; but because he was a thief, and had the bag, and bare what was put therein.
Judas had a love for money and was even stealing from Jesus until one day his love for money made him betray his Messiah for just 30 pieces of silver. Elijah performed 16 miracles, Elisha performed 32 miracles (double portion), Gehazi was supposed to perform 64 miracles but he ended up carrying leprosy because of his love for material things. The little foxes destroy the vine of destiny. These little foxes are inward and we mostly don't pay attention to them. Sometimes, it'll even take the Holy Ghost to draw your attention to it coz it can be so silent in you, waiting for a perfect time to show up. Why do you think when some people are poor, they are chaste but when they have some level of riches, then all of a sudden they become womanizers? It's not that they have changed, NO money came to expose the foxes inside of that man. Little foxes just wait for big opportunities and then they show up big time to destroy. Let's allow the Holy Ghost to help us deal with them before it is too late.

✓2. Flesh and/ Self: flesh is the affections and desires that are contrary to God or the corrupted and transmuted body. This flesh was not created by God but is a mixture of God’s creature and sin. The flesh always battles with the spirit because the flesh wants to show up and do what it wants. The flesh wants comfort and does things contrary to the word of God. This statement has killed many Christians and buried the potential of many... "the flesh is weak" and "you know we're human beings". The Lord says, wake up at dawn and make prayers for 30 mins each day for one month because there's a certain kind of anointing I want you to contact, but we say the flesh is weak. We end up not doing what the Lord asked us to do that's why we are still at the same level till now.

SELF: Self is the inner man that was corrupted by the fall of man. According to Scripture, even after salvation, "self" must die. When we yield to Christ, we must reckon ourselves dead to sin and alive to God so that Christ can have His way in our lives freely. The new self is being renewed into the image of Christ, yet the new self is not what we are to glory in, but Christ. Here, the believer understands “Not I but Christ.” Isaiah 14:12-14: Lucifer used five "I"s (self) when he wanted to ascend the throne of God. When self comes into the picture, selfishness and pride are inevitable. You're somebody now by the grace of God and because of the position and money you have; now, even your parents, you don't honour them. By the grace of God, you can prophesy small, and because of that, all the fathers are not spiritual. David became the greatest king and won many battles, but during the time kings went to war, he stayed at home. It was war that made David who he was, a great king, but greatness made him forget where the Lord took him from. Sometimes forgetting where the Lord took you from can be why you'll fail because pride begins to set in. David won several battles, but after sleeping with Bethsheba, he didn't achieve any better thing, even building the temple God didn't allow him to build because his hands were full of the blood of Uriah. Child of God, don't forget where the Lord took you from. When greatness begins to come your way, don't let self dominate when the Lord is helping you.

✓3. Distractions: Proverbs 4:25 (MSG) Keep your eyes straight ahead; ignore all sideshow distractions.

Distractions have a way of diverting your course or purpose towards something. Distractions may not necessarily be sinful but have the capacity to divert your course; sometimes it can even look spiritual. On the path of destiny, there are a lot of side attractions, but when you fall for them, they become distractions. In 1 Kings 13 (you can take time and read it), there was a young prophet who cried against the altars in Bethel, and there was a clear sign that God was with him. God charged him not to eat or drink until he returned home, but this young prophet was distracted by something that looked spiritual. An old prophet came and told this same young prophet, whom God had charged not to eat, to rather eat and drink. The young prophet hearkened to the voice of the old prophet and ate. Right after eating, the word of God came to him by that same old prophet, and the end of the story was that a lion devoured the young prophet because of his disobedience. As spiritual as it was, but it got him distracted. Some people were very spiritual until they had a beloved; some ladies were very spiritual until they gave birth; others were God-conscious until they had money. Money, marriage, and friends are not distractions unless they begin to shift your focus from God. In Matthew 19:28, Jesus promised his disciples that they'll sit on 12 thrones to judge the twelve tribes of Israel in the world to come. Judas Iscariot was distracted by 30 shekels of silver and so instead of sitting on a throne to judge the tribes of Israel, he was distracted by just 30 shekels of silver. You were doing well in life until you met a friend who has contributed to the decline of your life. Even men can also be distractions; let's open our eyes to see distractions and avoid them. Sometimes your parents can even be distractions and can hinder your breakthrough. Have we not seen parents who prevent their children from fasting while the children know clearly they've to fast? God, open our eyes to see distractions on our way into destiny.

✓ 4. Ignorance and Negligence: Hosea 4:6 Because of ignorance or lack of knowledge, people are quenching their fires. Some people are ignorant of the fact that some things can quench their fire, and sadly they've embraced those same things. Little did "the prodigal son" know that taking his possessions and leaving the house was rather going to drain him and bring him to nothing. Little did the young lady know that the relationship she called nice and fun was rather killing her slowly. King Solomon was ignorant of the fact that, though he had wisdom and could write proverbs and wise sayings, marrying 700 women and having 300 concubines would cause him to serve other gods - 1Kings 11:3. He started well with God, but women pushed him away from God. Others are also very careless about their spiritual fire, and so anything is just okay for them. Worldly songs cannot help you guard that holy fire, but they'll tell you, " Oh, it's nothing; you don't know how that's gradually draining your fire". Sampson was careless about his spiritual fire until his hair was shaved. He knew exactly what Delilah was planning to do, but negligence led him to his grave. People of God, we need to be aggressive, conscious, and focused to protect and guard the holy fire in us. We can't let our guard down and lose our spiritual investments. The spiritual life of some people is on and off; today they're on fire, and tomorrow they're down because of negligence. To them, everything goes, but that's not how investments and stamina are gained in the spirit. You fast for months, and you can see your spiritual senses are active, and that guy who has lied to you that after all we'll marry so we can have fun, have sex with you. She can even bear witness to herself that you're spiritually drained. Five virgins were called foolish because they were negligent or careless about the fact that they'd need extra oil. Can we vow to ourselves this day that we'll do everything we can, with the help of the Holy Spirit, to guard the fire in us? The excuses are too many; God will certainly forgive you, but you cannot go far in the spirit because you have no fire. Sleep is good, but don't let sleep strip you of your spiritual investments. At first you were on fire, what has happened to you now? At first you were very sensitive, but what happened? At first you were very prayerful, but what has happened to you now? But the good news is that you can go back and carry fire; it's not too late.

✓5. Association: 1Co 15:33 ISV: Stop being deceived: “Wicked friends lead to evil ends.”
Association or friendship has a way of quenching one's fire.
Pro 27:17 EasyEnglish: People learn from each other, as an iron tool makes iron sharp.
Association has a rubbing effect, and so you'll definitely contact something from the association you find yourself in. Every association has an aura it carries, and you'll definitely be a partaker of it. You'll either be affected positively or negatively; you're either drained or charged up. Surround yourself with people who are on fire for God, and you won't go out of fire. One of the mistakes I find young people make these days is that people who are on fire date people who can quench fire; it's just a matter of time before you're dry. We cannot joke with association because it has a way of adding up our fire or quenching our fire. Have you not seen people who got in touch with some spiritual fathers or mentors and now their godly standards are no more? When you're associated with Jonah, you'll definitely meet the storms, and when you're associated with Joseph too, your dreams will definitely be interpreted. Sampson had an association with Delilah and his fire was quenched, Adam and Eve associated with the serpent and we know the story. Association is key if we want to sustain fire.

Please, we shouldn't forget that if we want to continually carry the fire of God then we cannot do away with the "little things" - prayer, the word of God (both the written and spoken word), fellowship, fastings etc. By these, the fire of God is stirred up daily in us. By these, you gather wood into the fire so that the fire isn't quenched.

Jeremiah 20:9 (NLT) But if I say I’ll never mention the LORD or speak in his name, his word burns in my heart like a fire. It’s like a fire in my bones! I am worn out trying to hold it in! I can’t do it.

When your fire is being quenched, what do you have in you that can remind you of the path you're taking? Remember the spiritual exercises you gave yourself some time ago and rise again, child of God. It's not too late; you can start again.

CONCLUSION

1Th 5:19 KJV Quench not the Spirit.
In other words, quench not the fire in you.

If we ignore the Holy Ghost, we'll quench the spirit fire. We have a part to play in continually fanning the fire in us into flames. We cannot ignore the flame and expect the fire to burn.

Leviticus 6:13 (NLT) Remember, the fire must be kept burning on the altar at all times. It must never go out.

I came to remind us with this write-up in case we've forgotten, in case we're negligent, in case we're ignorant of the fact that we're to guard the fire we carry.

John Wesley said, "I set myself on fire, and people come to see me burn".

May a time not come in our lives where we will say at first I was on fire, but now even the ashes cannot be found.
MAY THE LORD HELP US AND GOD BLESS YOU.

Dennis Nemi