Marriner’s Moment: ReIgniting the Fire – Part 1

By Pastor Melvin O. Marriner
Grove Church

How many times have you sat down to a meal and – out of habit – quickly blessed your food with the same hollow, ritualistic words? In our rushed everyday lives, our tendency is to take too much for granted. Many of us take our loved ones, our freedoms, our jobs and, yes, even our God for granted. On the other hand, when life throws us a curveball or when we get bad news from our doctor, suffer the loss of a loved one, lose our jobs, or face a myriad of other fears, frustrations or unexpected catastrophes, the first thing most of us do is cry out to God for help, answers, peace or deliverance. If we are to be honest, apart from our ‘emergencies,’ the ‘fire’ or passion we have for God is more like a flicker.

As this hot and humid summer winds down, vacations or stay-cations end, and kids return to school, this is a good time to reignite the fire for Christ! If you no longer feel that excitement and energy you felt when you first came to Christ, ask yourself what happened? Who moved? What changed? Certainly not God, for Hebrews 13:8 tells us “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.”

Sometimes we simply suffer from ministry burnout, or it could be that we just have so many other things on our plate that we put our relationship with Christ on the backburner. Too many of us have passion without purpose and religion without a relationship with God. This can cause us to feel overwhelmed; living a sub-par life that is unfulfilling and certainly not the life God intended for us. This month, we will explore ways to reignite our fire for Christ.
Peace and power.

© Dr. Melvin O. Marriner,
September 2016

We invite you to join us at Grove Church, 5910 West Norfolk Road, Portsmouth, Virginia, Sundays at 8 a.m. and 10:30 a.m., Tuesdays at noon and Wednesdays at 7 p.m.