faith unfaded

What holds you back from fully serving the Lord? Your ego? Your pride? Unforgiveness? Your stubborn way of doing things?

This week’s focus is on throwing it all in the fire. I remember a time almost 30 years ago when I had a calendar of contacts, my own “little black book.” I’d pack it away when I’d draw close to the Lord and pull it back when I’d run. But one day I decided I didn’t need to put my vices on a shelf; I needed to throw them in the fire. Quite literally. Throwing that calendar into a roaring fire was a declaration that I wasn’t holding on to any of it. I wanted real change not a “for now” change.

What are you holding onto? What do you need to take off the shelf and throw into the fire?

In Isaiah 48:10, the Lord talks of being put in a refiner’s fire, of being burnished until all that is left resembles Him. There is no room for darkness in a Christian’s life…all of it must go.

See, I have refined you, though not as silver;
    I have tested you in the furnace of affliction.

No Survivors (Jeremy Camp, 2024)

I’m at war with my humanity
Trying to reclaim my sanity
Nothing in my veins but vanity
It’s the same old, same old

You told me it’s Your battle, God, so I need You to fight
‘Cause if I’m gonna live then there’s some things that need to die

My ego, my pride
My grip on my life
Throw it all into the fire
And leave no survivors
Survivors