Fruitful Living
Igniting the Pentecost fire: Nine ways to light the spiritual fire in your life
When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. Acts 2: 1-3
INTRODUCTION
“Get on fire for God and men will come and see you burn”. – John Wesley
Last Sunday, 23rd May, 2021 was Pentecost Sunday and I would like to invite us to allow the Holy Spirit to put us on fire. Recently I have been thinking about what the Apostle Paul meant when he talked about being fervent in spirit in Romans 12:11(NKJV): ‘Not lagging in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord;’The Greek word for fervent is “zeo” which means to boil with heat. This means that we have a mandate to keep our fire for the Lord hot no matter what the spiritual climate is around us.I am sure that all of us can remember the very pointed quote about being hot or cold in the book of Revelation.
Revelation 3:15-16 – “I know all the things you do, that you are neither hot nor cold. I wish that you were one or the other! But since you are like lukewarm water, neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth!”
None of us want to be distasteful to the Lord. None of us want to make Him sick. None of us want to be viewed as tasking like lukewarm soft drink that has lost its fizz. So what do we do to keep the flames of fire burning in our spirit? Here are nine ways that will help you keep those revival fires burning.
NINE WAYS TO LIGHT THE FIRE OF THE LORD IN YOUR SPIRIT
1. Feed the Flames with the Word of God
In Matthew 4:4 Jesus said that man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. What I am talking about is not dutifully doing our daily devotion with sleep filled eyes every morning. It is not about hungrily searching the scriptures for the voice of the Lord within their pages. Just like the disciples on the road to Emmaus who had their hearts set ablaze when the scriptures were explained to them by Jesus – Luke 24:32 we need to dig into the scriptures and allow the Lord to start explaining the scriptures to us just as He did to them.
2. Stoke the Furnace with Prayer
There are three things we need to have a blazing fire, fuel, oxygen and heat. Prayer is the oxygen we use to stoke the flames high. Spending time in prayer is spending time in the presence of God and the presence of God is the air that our souls need to be on fire. Oswald Chambers puts it bluntly: “Prayer is the vital breath of the Christian; not the thing that makes Him alive, but the evidence that He is alive.” When we pray, we are breathing. We are taking in the vital element that gives life to our soul.
3. Worship the Lord with Extravagance
One of the things that keeps fire small is containment. We cannot have a big fire in a small metal box. The way to break these walls of containment is to worship the Lord with extravagance. Let us go beyond our comfort zone. Let us offer up sacrifices of praise with our lips in greater degrees than we are comfortable with. Let us make praise and worship a true sacrifice of ourselves conscious and self inhibitions.
Let us firmly decide that we will praise God in a more vocal, uninhibited way this year than we have ever done. If we need help praising God, let us play a recording by a favourite Christian artist and sing along. Let us challenge ourselves to learn how to raise our hands, bow our knees in worship, and even fall flat on our faces. These things will break down any walls of containment where we are keeping the fire in a small metal box.
4. Allow the Holy Spirit to Move
The Apostle Paul gives us a very pointed exhortation in 1 Thessalonians 5:19 – “Do not stifle the Holy Spirit”. Is there anything in your life that is hindering the Spirit’s work? Are you resisting doing something or giving up something that you know the Spirit is tapping you on the shoulder about? Do you have mindsets or mentalities that are contrary to allowing the Holy Spirit to move?Some of the greatest breakthroughs I have had in my life have been when I stopped telling the Holy Spirit how He can operate. I am very good at setting up preconditions that the Holy Spirit has to fulfill before I believe that it is Him. I may be good at setting those preconditions up, but I have found that the Holy Spirit will not kowtow to my whims. Those preconditions were stifling the Holy Spirit and I learned quickly to allow the Holy Spirit to have His way in my life.
5. Do a Spring Cleaning Of Our Heart
The Bible says that in the last days the love of many will grow cold – Matthew 24:12. Many times this is caused by unforgiveness and bitterness taking hold and growing in our heart rather than love. Let us take time to do a spring cleaning of our heart; let go of any unforgiveness we may hold towards someone and remove any roots of bitterness that might have sprung up. Let us forgive one another as in Christ God has forgiven us – Ephesians 4:32 and Colossians 3:13. Nothing puts out the flame of God’s love faster than bitterness. Do not let us allow unforgiveness to freeze our soul. Let us guard our heart and deal with offences quickly.
6. Bring Your Flame Closer To Other Flames
Those of us who have been Boy Scouts can remember having a raging fire at night during camping. Many times in the morning there will still be some embers from the fire wood and if we need to build a new fire, the first thing we would do is gather all the smouldering firewood or charcoal together. This is why we should never live the Christian life in seclusion. God has called us to be in community. But let us make sure we are in a church that is on fire for God – because a dead church could put out what is left of our fire. If our church compromises God’s Word or ignores the Great Commission, we should find a new church home.
7. Start Making Your Fire Useful
Spiritual passion is ignited when it is being used to serve others. Start using the gifts and talents that God has given us to help others. Every believer in Jesus has been given gifts and talents and we are no exception. We must face our fears and stretch our faith as we begin to step out, but soon we will find there is no greater joy than being an instrument of the Holy Spirit to bless people. When we become obedient to stop burying our gifts and talents and start investing them into the lives of others, then we will be given even more to give as we read in Matthew 25:14
8. Find a Personal Firebrand
Everyone has to learn how to make fire. We do not normally discover it naturally. We need spiritual fathers and mothers to teach us how to light our spiritual fires.
Let us sometimes ask these firebrands to lay hands on us and pray. We can also make appointments with them so we can glean from their wisdom and experience. It is certain that when Elisha saw Elijah go to heaven in a fiery chariot, he was affected by the heat, so let us also get as close as possible to those who are burning for God, and we will be ignited.
9. Spread the Flame
The biggest thing we can each do is to raise our spiritual temperature and light the fire of God in our life is to spread our flame. There is nothing more exciting I can say than leading a person to faith in Christ. I guarantee if we step out of our timidity and share the gospel with a neighbour, a co-worker, or a stranger on the bus, our spiritual temperature will instantly rise to 30 degrees – and we will want to share with someone else. Just as John Wesley said that if you light yourself on fire that men will come for miles to watch you burn. Part of that is spreading the flame of the spectators. Let’s challenge ourselves this year to speak of our faith, share our testimony, and pray with people who need the reality of Jesus Christ in their life.
Culled from: ViralBeliever.com
Stay blessed!
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Fruitful Living
Sanitation, Hygiene, and the Morality of Public Space: Reclaiming Ghana’s Civic Virtue through Faith and Policy (Final Part)
A. The Role of Religious Leaders and Counsellors
Religious leaders wield immense influence in shaping public values. Every mosque, church, and shrine should integrate environmental stewardship into its doctrine. Islam views the earth as a masjid—a place of prostration (Sahih Bukhari, 335). Polluting it is akin to defiling a sacred space. Monthly khutbahs should focus on amanah and tahārah, connecting spiritual purity to environmental discipline.
As a counsellor, I affirm that behavioural reform requires both moral teaching and psychological reinforcement. When believers internalise that cleaning a drain is an act of ʿibādah (worship), they transform routine labour into sacred service. The Prophet (peace be upon him) taught: “Removing harmful things from the path is a branch of faith.” (Sahih Muslim, 35). This hadith perfectly captures the theology of civic virtue.
B. Individual and Community Pledge
Moral renewal begins with personal accountability. Every household must adopt responsible waste practices—segregating recyclables, composting, and cooperating with collection services. Citizens must also exercise al-amr bi-l-maʿrūf wan-nahy ʿani-l-munkar (enjoining good and forbidding evil) by correcting neighbours who litter or misuse public spaces, with gentleness and wisdom (Qur’an 16:125).
Communities should establish local sanitation committees under mosque and church leadership, creating faith-driven accountability structures. Supporting local enforcement, rather than resisting it, must be seen as a contribution to maslahah—the public interest that the Sharia seeks to protect.
This collective moral reawakening must integrate faith, governance, and citizenship into one moral project: cleanliness as worship, sanitation as patriotism.
C. Conclusion: Cleanliness, Dignity, and the Maqāṣid al-Sharīʿah
Ghana’s destiny as a great nation is inseparable from the cleanliness of its environment and the conscience of its citizens. The choked gutters, polluted rivers, and scattered waste are not only environmental failures but spiritual wounds upon our collective soul. The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: “Allah is pure and accepts only what is pure.” (Sahih Muslim, 1015). A nation that aspires to divine favour must first reflect divine purity in its public spaces.
To achieve this, we must view sanitation through the lens of the Maqāṣid al-Sharīʿah—the higher objectives of Islamic law—which aim to preserve life (ḥifẓ al-nafs), faith (ḥifẓ al-dīn), intellect (ḥifẓ al-ʿaql), wealth (ḥifẓ al-māl), and posterity (ḥifẓ al-nasl). Clean environments are essential for all five objectives:
- Preservation of Life (ḥifẓ al-nafs): Proper sanitation prevents disease and death. Protecting human health is a divine imperative. Allah says, “And do not throw yourselves with your own hands into destruction.” (Qur’an 2:195).
- Preservation of Faith (ḥifẓ al-dīn): Islam equates purity with faith. An unclean environment obstructs worship and spiritual growth, violating the believer’s covenant of cleanliness.
- Preservation of Intellect (ḥifẓ al-ʿaql): Healthy surroundings promote clarity of thought, while pollution and disease diminish cognitive vitality and learning.
- Preservation of Wealth (ḥifẓ al-māl): Waste management safeguards public funds, prevents costly health crises, and preserves natural resources.
- Preservation of Posterity (ḥifẓ al-nasl): Environmental care ensures a habitable planet for future generations, fulfilling our amanah to the unborn.
By aligning sanitation with these higher objectives, we transform a civic duty into a sacred mission. Achieving the Maqāṣid requires cooperation between policy and piety—laws enforced justly, education grounded in values, and citizens inspired by faith.
Let every believer remember that a clean street is a silent dhikr (remembrance of Allah), a purified drain is a fulfilled amanah, and a healthy neighbour is a protected trust. When our gutters run clear and our air smells fresh, it will signify not merely progress but piety—proof that Ghana has reclaimed its moral and civic virtue under the gaze of the Almighty Allah.
Thank you.
- By Imam Alhaji SaeedBAbdulai, the Author
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B. Instead, walk in righteousness and true holiness … (20–24)
1. This is how you learned Christ
- As you heard Him and were taught by Him (through His apostles, of course – Matt. 28:19-20)
- In Whom is the truth – John 8:31; 14:6
2. For you were taught to “put off” the “old man”
- That is, your “former conduct,” how you behaved before you were saved – Col. 3:5-9
- Putting off the old man is needed because it is never content, but grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts (like addictive drugs, you always need more).
3. And to “be renewed in the spirit of your mind”
- Which is the key to true “transformation” – Rom. 12:1-2
- You “renew your mind” only as you “set your mind on things above” – Col. 3:1-2
4. And to “put on the new man”
- A new man “which was created according to God” – Col. 3:10
- A new man, “in righteousness and true holiness” – Col. 3:12-17
In giving the admonition “No longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles,” Paul has made it clear that it involves both a “putting off” and a “putting on.” That is, our “Walking in Truth and Holiness” is not just a bunch of “Thou Shalt Not’s,” there are also some “Thou Shalt’s.”
To illustrate further the difference between the “old man” (how the rest of the Gentiles walk) and the “new man” (how Christians are to walk), we find Paul making…
II. The Application – (25–32)
Case in point: lying (25)
- The “old man” thinks nothing of lying
- The “new man” puts away lying, and in its place speaks truth with his neighbor (especially to those who are members of the same body)
Case in point: anger (26–27)
- The “old man” gets angry and lets it linger, or get out of control
- The “new man” may get angry, but does not…
- Let it linger (“do not let the sun go down on your wrath”)
- Allow it to prompt sinful behavior (“nor give place to the devil”)
Case in point: stealing (28)
- The “old man” is willing to steal
- The “new man” not only stops stealing, but works so he can help others in need!
Case in point: corrupt communication (29)
- The “old man” doesn’t worry or care what comes out of his mouth
- The “new man” not only avoids “corrupt communication,” but seeks to speak that which is uplifting to those who hear
Summary (30–32)
Why be concerned about putting off the “old man” and putting on the “new man?”
When Christians act like the “old man,” it grieves the Holy Spirit. By the Holy Spirit we were sealed for the day of redemption – Eph. 1:13-14.
Therefore, we ought to put away those things befitting the “old man” (bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, evil speaking, malice). And in its place, we need to put on those things befitting the “new man” (being kind, tenderhearted, forgiving one another just as God forgives us in Christ).
Conclusion
What a contrast there would be if all those in the church truly carried out the admonition to “Walk in Truth and Holiness!” The church would stand out like “a city that is set on a hill” – Matt. 5:14-16.
And the world, though it now has “their understanding darkened,” would be more likely to come to see the truth that is in Jesus. But what hope is there if the church is more like the world than the “holy temple” it is to be?
Brethren, are we “grieving the Holy Spirit of God?” – Ephesians 4:30. While the increasing worldliness in our society naturally concerns us, let us be careful not to react with attitudes that reveal our old characteristic when we were in the world.
BY Rev. Dr Joyce Aryee,
the author
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