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Hearts on Fire!
 

   Joyce Rupp, in her collection of reflections, May I Have This Dance, writes in the one entitled "Hearts on Fire": 

   Sitting before a campfire on a cool August evening can be a very contemplative experience.  The flames dance on the logs and light up the night.  The bright, dynamic life of the fire can draw me into a quiet reverie.  I find it easy to enter into the vibrancy of the flames with their sudden spurts of energy and sparks of life.  Awe and surprise fill my heart when another piece of wood is placed on the glowing embers and new flames suddenly fill the darkness with radiant light.  (Rupp, 106)

   The prophet Jeremiah uses the image of fire with its intense light and penetrating heat to describe the presence of God within him.  The prophet’s experiences our Loving Creator as a passionate presence- - a fire that kindles and transforms.  The flame is always meant to transform us, just as wood is changed to flame. 

     All of us will have challenges and trials, as we experience God’s flame within.  That fire can enable us to see ways that we are being called to grow and change.

     Throughout the scriptures fire is used to represent the divine presence.  Moses moves towards the fire of the burning bush and hears the scary call to lead the people from slavery to freedom (Ex 3:2).  The Exodus travelers experience the pillar of fire at night as a comforting sign of God’s guidance and protection, something that refines their faith (1 DT 16-9).

     I have come to see that, in our time, the fire of God’s presence enables the young and older to be

 transformed people.  Transformation does not happen instantly or painlessly, for most.  It is a process of purification that comes through the struggles and pain of our lives.  How we respond to difficult situations is what makes the difference.  When we are willing to go through God’s fire, there is grace to endure.  There is grace to grow and change.

     How do we keep the flame of God’s love aglow, in us?  We stay near to God through daily prayer.  We stay near to God through an on-going desire to be in the will of God.  Then there are times when we need to add to those spiritual  disciplines, spending time with a brother/sister, in the faith.   Someone who, also, desires transformation, according to God’s plan.

     None of us know the day when the spark in us will burst into greater fire.  We cannot force the flame before its time.  We can do our part and trust the kindling to our God and the people God brings into our lives

                                                                       Grace and Peace,

                          Pastor Brenda
                                          brendaf@odsgc.net

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1106 North Main
"Corner of Kansas and Main"
Garden City, Kansas  67846
620-275-9171
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