[Notes from Senior High Camp with guest speaker Chet Caudill]

The idea of being branded is that cattle will be marked for life by its owner as to not get lost or stolen. My question to you is simply this: what marks you?  Are you marked by God because you live a godly life or are you marked by other things? Check out some great verses: Luke 3:16, Luke 24:49, and Acts 2:39. The people were patiently waiting for God to fill their lives with more of his love. The Holy Spirit is what they were waiting for…only they didn’t quite know that yet. When they were actually filled with the Holy Spirit, it came in FIRE. It was just them in a room waiting on God. After they were filled, they were empowered, emboldened, and passion was ignited in their hearts. 

You may ask why you even need the fire of God. The fire of God, otherwise known as the Holy Spirit, is for multiple reasons. The Holy Spirit is a comforter, counselor, confirmer, and convicter. Yes you can be a Christian with Spirit of God working in your life and yet still not be filled with the Holy Spirit. However, God offers more for believers when they wait on Him to be filled with his Holy Spirit. Are you being sensitive to the fact that God might want to do more in your life through his Holy Spirit? 

People can say they are “on fire” for God but often they are people that are super spiritual and self-righteous and are not acting in the Spirit but themselves. Others may very well be “on fire” for God. The real fire of God announces itself. It will not be forced (Acts 2:5-6). The real fire of God attracts attention to itself. Fire is attractive not to what it is burning but to its very self. The fire of God in your life draws attention to Jesus and not to you- Refer to those super spiritual people that I am sure you know (Acts 2:6-7 and Galatians 5:16). The real fire of God is aggressive…not in the sense of violence, etc. Instead it is something that needs to be used and shared with others.

Have you had a real encounter with God lately? The main thing about the fire of God- his Holy Spirit- is that is affects the area surrounding, meaning the fire in you needs to affect you and those around you (Acts 8:4 and Acts 11:19-20).