the Christian journey is a marathon not
a Sprint and this means that there will
be times when you'll be tired there will
be times when you pause to take a breath
and there will be times when you're
energized to run
when you're faced with down times or
when your fire goes out
what should you do
well you may face down times it's
important that you mustn't stay down for
long
because the devil will try to attack you
in your time of weariness
the Bible says that though the righteous
fall down seven times
he rises again
no matter how down you are it's not your
end
you have to realize that because the
enemy will try to fill your heart with
thoughts of fear to stop you from rising
again
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he'll try to fill you with so much guilt
that you can no longer go before the
presence of God
the problem isn't with your failing the
problem isn't with your following
the problem is with the devil trying to
keep you down
so you have to decide that no matter how
much your fire goes out
you will rise again
no matter how guilty you feel
you will take your guilt before God and
repent
when your fire goes out you must decide
to light it again
one of the Psalms of David says restore
unto me the joy of my salvation
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this means that he got to a point when
he lost the joy of his salvation
the Troubles of this life sickness
poverty and even the good things like
wealth and influence can steal away the
joy of your salvation
they can so distract you that you become
weary and no longer focus on your
spiritual health
forgetting that physical things are
temporal but spiritual things are
eternal
have you ever gotten to that point when
it seems you've lost your focus or when
your fire has gone out
then you'll understand David's prayer
restore the joy of my salvation
the beautiful thing about being a
Believer is that even when we lose the
joy of our salvation
there's a provision for Restoration in
the kingdom of God
no matter how down you feel
you can still be on fire again
restoration is real restoration is
possible and you can ask God for
restoration
before we continue
can you take a minute to ask God to
restore your fire
Hallelujah
so what do you do when your fire goes
out
what are you to do when you're down
spiritually
here are some steps you can take if
you're facing this
get into a community
there's a reason why it's written in
Hebrews that we shouldn't neglect the
Gathering of the Saints
we are stronger together and we do
better together
let's use this illustration when we have
a group of burning candles in the light
of one of them dies
it's a lot easier to pick up the candle
and get it lighted from contact with
other candles
truthfully fervency is contagious
you can't keep staying around those who
are fervent keep talking to them
relating with them and just
fellowshipping with them and not be
influenced by them
someone said that you are the sum of
your closest friends
you need a community that is fervent so
that you can get back on track
do you want to burn again
then keep the company of those who burn
consistently
when Predators whether lions tigers or
any other Predator want to attack their
prey they tend to Target Those Distant
or away from the herd
because it's easier to attack and kill
the prey when it's alone than to attack
the whole herd
there's protection in the community
the devil our adversary is like a
roaring lion she someone to devour
and he targets those far from the
Christian Community
your community may be a church it may be
a group of friends who pray together and
it may be your family
just ensure that you're in a community
of those on fire
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the more immersed you are in that
Community the faster the fire catches up
to you look around you and find a
community of Believers that you can be a
part of and join yourself to them
set your atmosphere
another thing to do when your fire goes
out is to set your atmosphere
you know the way you set the atmosphere
for a romantic dinner
you get the rose petals and place them
around the venue get the right kind of
music and ensure that you have a bit of
privacy
you can also set the atmosphere of your
place of fellowship with God
how do you do this
play the right kind of music around you
when your fire goes out that's not the
time to fill your ears with secular
music of sexual content or content that
goes against your faith instead
that's the time to intentionally
surround yourself with music that fills
your mind with the word of God
listen more to worship music listen to
Christian rap listen to songs about God
you may say that you don't have the time
for this but that's a lie
on your way to work plug your earbuds in
and listen to Godly music
while you're working out plug your ears
you're picking out groceries plug your
ears
ensure that the right kind of music
consistently surrounds you
worship music tends to Spur you to pray
apart from filling your mind with the
word of God
they also speak to your soul and spirit
and make it easier for you to pray and
connect to God
you can also listen to messages or
teachings on the sound doctrine of the
word
technology has made many things easier
for us and if you're struggling with
studying your Bible
you can use an audio Bible and listen to
it when you're about to sleep let the
word of God continually surround you
guard your heart
also guard your heart in this season
the gates to your hearts are your eyes
with which you see your ears with which
you hear and your mouth with which you
speak
while your eyes and ears would take in
information from your heart
your mouth expresses what's in your
heart
when your fire is down
ensure that you guard your heart don't
expose yourself to any wrong or ungodly
content in this season
be careful of the kinds of movies you
watch and the music you listen to the
truth is that information is the Soul's
food and whatever you feed will grow
if you want to grow spiritually and if
you want to be fervent
you have to feed on what will help you
spiritually and protect your heart from
all that will harm your spiritual health
vulnerable with God
when your fire goes out it's not the
time to start pretending with God
vulnerable with him and let him know
that you're struggling
talk to God about your struggles and ask
him for help
Jesus our high priest understands us
he was once a man
and he had struggles that he faced but
triumphed
you don't have to be perfect before God
you only have to ensure you come to his
presence
it is in his presence that you grow into
perfection
be accountable and get partners who can
help you
when you're struggling spiritually it's
important that you're accountable and
that you get partners that can help you
get a prayer partner and reach out to
someone in your community with whom you
can pray
you can also get a Bible study partner
that you can study the word with and
discuss the scriptures with
no one is a spiritual Macho we all need
each other's help and accountability
will help you
we must realize that at the point when
our fire goes out what we need is the
discipline to bring it back
at this point prayer will seem tedious
studying the Bible may also be difficult
but you must continue
ignore your feelings and focus on your
growth
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keep seeking God no matter how difficult
it seems and as you continue
you will receive God's help and get to a
point when it's no longer difficult
can get back your fire never forget that
don't listen to The Devil's lies that
you'll remain like this forever
I pray that your fire will be restored
in Jesus's name
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