by Eddie James
“The spirit of man is the candle of the Lord.” Proverbs 20:27
Floating, surrounded by floral wreaths, in fancy silver candelabras… there are so many decorative ways you can display a candle, but is it fulfilling its destiny? Was it created to look cute in the garnishment you place around it? No, it is to shine in a dark place! When it is dark, a candle helps others find the way. Our world is dark. I believe across America we have well-decorated church facilities and youth group rooms, but are they lit up with the fire of heaven?
Do you burn as you should b e burning? Do you have a fire?
The candle is not fulfilling its destiny until it is lit on fire. The same is true of you and me. Somebody who is hurt or broken is not going to get healed because we look cute. What these people need is somebody on fire. You, on fire, are the key to a dark world. You, on fire, are the key to your family, your job, your city!
Do you remember singing, “This little light of mine, I’m going to let it shine?” I have a problem with the theology of that song, because if the Holy Ghost is lighting you up, your light is not little. God wants you to be a city that sits on a hill, one that cannot be hidden. He doesn’t just want you on fire; He wants you so on fire that your entire city can see what it means to burn for Jesus Christ!
It is not God’s heart for you to be a candle that’s not burning. It saddens Him when we put on our Sunday best, but there’s no burning in our hearts. It grieves Him when we do our thing at work or school and call ourselves a people of faith, but there’s no passion for the God that we serve. Think of the challenge this poses: why would people in darkness want to serve the God that you say saves, but you don’t burn for? They already serve a devil they burn for! Why should they burn for God, if we don’t? Why should they be attracted to a God we find a pain to worship? Why should they be attracted to a God Whose children spend more time complaining about how loud it is in church than worshiping with abandonment? They go to the clubs dancing and shouting, having a good time right now! Why can’t we shout, clap and praise more? God is worthy of it all, isn’t He?!
You remember the story of Pentecost in Acts 2. There were rushing winds, and cloven tongues that resembled fire lit upon the disciples’ heads. They were filled with the Holy Ghost! This all took place because God was about to move the disciples into the greatest season of their lives. Before they could enter in, God had to light them with the power of the Holy Spirit. It is the same for you. The fire inside of you is greater than the attack in front of you. It is greater than the resistance that you face. It is greater than the opposition that comes against your purpose.
The fire keeps you going. The prophet Jeremiah wanted to quit. He was tired of speaking to a rebellious people. But God’s word was in him like fire shut up in his bones (Jeremiah 20:9). Despite his discouragement, he kept ministering!
I believe today you’re going to step into your destiny. God is bringing you to your best place, and you will walk here with levels of grace you have not experienced before. You’re about to have financial breakthrough, health breakthrough, and dimensional breakthrough! But expect that with every level, there’s a new devil. There’s going to be opposition, attacks, gossip, backbiters, haters, but God wants to light you up with the fire that will keep you moving forward despite it all. You will press forward! “Greater is He that is in you, than he that is in the world (1 John 4:4).” “If God be for you, who can be against (Romans 8:31)?”
God wants to put a fire, a passion, on the inside of you that will not stop with opposition. It will not stop when you’re told you can’t do it. You will press forward. Fire puts a tenacity, an endurance, in you that causes you to keep moving when all the odds are against you, when the statistics say no way! Something on the inside of you won’t give up or let go when everything around you seems impossible. If God said it, that settles it. He is faithful. He will accomplish what He said He’d do. “The promises of God are yes and amen (2 Corinthians 1:20)!”
Learn to stand. If you’re sitting, make a prophetic gesture and stand where you are right now. The devil thinks he can keep you down, but you just stand. If everyone else walks out, you stand. There’s a fire, and God wants to light you up.
Back in the day when I was younger, my sister would use a hot comb to make her hair straight. One day, I put my hand on that hot comb. Your body has a way of responding to that kind of heat! Not only did I get burned, I was jerking and shaking! Several hours later, there was still an internal burning. On the outside I looked fine, but internally, I kept being reminded that I was on fire!
There was a church in the book of Revelation, the church at Ephesus. The problem with this church was not that they didn’t love God. It wasn’t adultery or drug abuse. It was that they didn’t love Him like they used to. God wants you to burn hotter than ever before in your relationship with Him. Leonard Ravenhill put it this way: “If you could reflect back in your history to a time when you were more on fire then than you are now, you are backslidden.”
Another church in Revelation, Laodecia, thought what they had in the natural was the same as in the spiritual. They said, “We are rich,” but they were lukewarm in spirit. If God could get sick, it would be because people say they love Him, but don’t burn for Him.
Do you love Jesus? Do you burn as you should be burning? Do you have a fire? Fire purifies, creates intimacy with God, gives you the fuel to press on in the things of God. You need the fire! No one wants someone who goes through the motions of an intimate relationship. Imagine if your spouse went through all the theatrics of relationship, but when you looked into his or her eyes, they’re not burning for you, there’s no real passion behind it.
Let God rekindle your fire. Let Him set your heart ablaze so that when your friends or co-workers see you, they think, “There’s something in him (her).” Then, you’ll be a powerful tool in the hand of God. You will light the way to Christ, and lives will be changed because of your burning!Eddie James, born in Phoenix, AZ, accepted Christ as his personal Lord and Savior at the age of 8. He entered into music ministry at the tender age of 9 and it is for this reason that Eddie recognizes the gifts of God inside of young people. God has placed a burden inside of Eddie James, to minister to those who are hurting and lost, with an extraordinary emphasis on youth and young adults. As a result of his efforts, God has established Eddie James as a leader of music and ministry in the nation and around the world.
Eddie James Ministries was founded in 1993. Under this umbrella are the following groups: The Phoenix Mass Choir, ColourBlind, Asaph, Tab, and Ultimate Call. Eddie is also the founder of his label, Fresh Wine Records, Fresh Wine Publishing, Fresh Wine Productions, and Dream Life. Dream Life is a recovery program that rehabilitates troubled youth and college age students. To learn more, visit www.ejworship.org
