To tell God’s Good News accurately, we must know it. To tell it effectively, with faith’s supernatural substance, we must allow it to continually burn in our heart.

How can we tell Christ’s story with the Holy Spirit’s fire? Before I got out of bed this morning, this poem formed in my heart:

Heart Fire!
When Christians retire
God’s inner fire,
They get caught up
In self-focused desire.
To follow Jesus
Will always require
A heart ablaze
With God’s Holy fire.
(Revelation 2:4-5.)

Mankind has always sought control — freedom from daily dependence on God. From the first humans until today we have wanted to disobey God instead of fully trusting in and surrendering to His spiritual life. Because of this we have reduced God to an academic subject, devoid of the supernatural substance of faith, to be understood with human knowledge, but God longs to be the living heart-fire who burns within us.

To restore humans to intimacy with Him, God chose a man named Abraham to give birth to a nation that would bless the world. He revealed Himself to that nation through Spirit-led judges and prophets, but they mostly ignored His efforts to lead them to daily live His presence.

Finally, God sent His Son Jesus — Immanuel — “God with us” — the Creator in human flesh. Jesus lived a life of total obedience and through the sacrifice of His life on a cruel cross paid the penalty for all human sin and restored access to the ancient Tree of Life to whosoever will “taste and see that God is good” and be led by Christ’s Spirit rather than by human desire. (Romans 8:14.) Jesus rose from the dead and abides with us today as “Christ in you, the hope of glory” — living and working in all who will daily following and obey Him.

Following a preacher on a platform wasn’t the norm in the New Testament. The first Christians opened their heart to let Christ reside and live inside. They followed Him as their inner Guide — “Christ in you, the hope of glory.” If you won’t listen to your conscience, it doesn’t do much good to listen to a preacher. (The people who are most anointed are very often the least wanted in a church.)