For we walk by faith and not by sight (2 Corinthians 5:7) is one of the portions of the scriptures that is overblown by believers who do not want to labour in order to grow in spiritual things. But this scripture is in respect to the eternal expectations of the saints of God. By faith, what we desire will be met by God.
There are people who think they will enter heaven because they believe that they will. I heard an elderly preacher speak and say you need to believe that you will go to heaven. But the unfortunate truth is that no one will see God just by believing they will. Heaven is for those who have washed their garments white, who are sold to righteousness and holiness. As it is written, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” – Matthew 5:8
Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. (1 Corinthians 6:9-10)
Make every effort to live in peace with everyone and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord. (Hebrews 12:14)
These scriptures will put in check the mind that thinks having faith to see the eternal home will result in entering it.
Having fire is one of the signs of a true Christian. One professing to be on fire will not automatically result in having fire. The Christian fire does not happen by faith but by the deposit of the Holy Spirit, and willingness to fan into flames that which we have received from God. It does not come because you believe it; you don’t walk by faith in this matter.
Kingdom power is not just by faith; it is mostly by the deposit of grace and anointing of the Holy Spirit. You cannot heal the sick just by believing that when you pray for them they will recover. There is an anointing that heals the sick. When the anointing comes, faith will blossom when you begin to see your prayers do countless wonders.
While those who are not endued with power most times cannot heal the sick by prayer even if they believe, those who have been anointed with this gift will do much, whether they have faith or not. Faith has its part, and the anointing has its own role.
How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him. (Acts 10:38)
When one surrenders to Jesus, he receives the power to be called a son of God. By the baptism of the Spirit, he receives power to witness. Why do we need another power to witness when we already have the power of sonship? Why can we not walk by faith, believing that we can win souls and move strongly in evangelism? But Jesus says we need to be empowered to succeed in witnessing and service. Having faith that we will win souls in our outings will not bring souls for God; kingdom work is done by power, anointing and faith not excluded.
So that there is an anointing that heals the sick. There is an anointing that raises the dead; there is an anointing that quickens the feet of the lame; there is an anointing that enables effective teaching and preaching. You don’t walk in these graces by faith but by deposit of the grace of God. Also, you cannot become a prophet and operate the prophetic by faith. You have to be called and anointed into it.
The general point I am shooting at is that believing that you have something doesn’t mean you actually have it. For example, claiming to have the fire of the Holy Ghost doesn’t make it so. And if you truly have this fire, there are signs that must show for it. It is called a sign of fire.
Traits of fire
Fire is an element that burns or heats anything that comes in contact with it. If a material is combustible, fire will burn it. If it cannot be burned, fire will heat it.
There is small fire and big fire. The bigger the fire, the greater the task it can accomplish; the greater the destruction it can do. Fire never takes rest until it has consumed all the things set before it, unless the fire is small. A big or strong fire needs a lot of effort to stop. Sometimes, firefighters leave the task to nature when the fire is too great.
A sign of fire in a Christian
Christian fire is showcased in prayer, evangelism, and other services rendered to God. A chorister could be set aflame for choir ministry. If one truly has fire, we will see it in their eagerness to turn up to their kingdom service unto God.
One of the signs of fire is an undying outing towards the service of God—always wanting an opportunity to do God’s service. Such believers are always there when we call for prayer, evangelism, ministrations, etc. There is what I call “staged fire.” The fire we see when we gather or when one is on performance.
When I was young, we once lit a firecracker and threw it into the bush. Later, we got a report that the firecracker had started a big fire. The fire started small, but it didn’t stop burning in secret until it got big enough to be noticed. People who will not burn on their own, away from public eyes, but only turning up in gatherings have staged fire.
A sign of fire is when we have minimized our excuses for not fulfilling the kingdom duty. This is why some always turn up to God’s service. The very excuses others give is not enough reason for them not to turn up before God. They are not immune to the situations that weaken the feet of others, but the fire in them is real and is burning, able to burn up the foreseeable excuses. This is a sign of fire.
In the years when I still lived with my parents, sometimes we would make a journey and get to our destination very late at night. My mom will make sure to feed the family, then she will retire late. Even if she retires at about 11:00 PM, when you wake up at 1 or 2 AM, you will see her already praying.
Back then, I did not understand such an undying passion for her prayer duty until the Holy Spirit began to do the same with me. And sometimes one could be really sick with a headache and malaria fever but cannot say no when the Spirit wakes us up for night watch. This is a sign of fire.
It is not your job that is keeping you from prayer, evangelism, singing in the choir, and other kingdom service. It is not the lack of time; it is the lack of fire. A man who has fire cannot but burn.
The language of fire when anything is thrown at it is “can I burn this?” If yes, fire will begin to work on what has been set before it. Even if the object thrown into it cannot be burnt, nonetheless, fire will act on it and leave its mark as a sign of fire. Similarly, no task is too big for those on fire for God. Even the ones that are cumbersome they will like to take a shot at it.
It was a fire that caused an 85-year-old Caleb to say, “Give me the mountains.” At 85, he was still lit for kingdom conquest. No excuses, no retreat, no surrender. Age does not diminish the zeal of a Christian who has fire. In old age he may not be able to do rigorous tasks, but one thing is for sure: he will always turn up to his kingdom duty as a sign of fire. Fire does not grow old, men do!
Fire burns at night, day, and midday; it burns every time. Fire burns in cold seasons; it burns in hot seasons. In winter and in summer it burns. In harmattan it burns; in rainy seasons fire burns. There is no time Christians on fire cannot step out and do kingdom work. They labour in season and out of season as a sign of fire.
I also mentioned that fire heats up the immediate environment. If our Christianity and Churching cannot make any impact in our society by steering godly fear and bringing in a consciousness of God in men’s hearts, if the cold believers are not revived, it is a sign of zero fire. Even a little fire should bring a little heat.
A sign of great fire
Finally, we know that the devil is a schemer of evil and the downfall of Christian ministry and kingdom service. And this is where we shall know the size of a believers fire.
Men will labour to stop any great fire. When Satan sets his eyes on a believer with fire. He begins to deploy his arsenals to bring him down and quench his fire. But herein is the test of the greatness of his fire. Even firefighters have fires that they cannot fight. So that when Satan begins to labour with attacks, perils, opposition, trails, and persecution; when the devil begins to stir up turbulent seasons, when men come with ridiculing and cajoling to break our spirit and quench our fire, if a believer will allow these things to stop him from burning in his duty and turning up to his post, it is a sign that his fire was a small fire after all. A big fire can withstand big opposing factors, but a small fire cannot stand in the face of big opposition.
The question is, look at your Christian life; do you see a sign of fire? If so, what is the size of this fire within you?
