Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshippers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshippers the Father seeks. John 4:23

The whole thinking behind the name of this devotional column, Stoke the Fire is that you stoke the fire with wood, not paper, and then you get to enjoy the fire while it burns. Too many of us are “wood” Christians. We like the substance, the Word, but we don’t really like too much talk of the Holy Spirit. We know he is there and he sort of works, but not too much of Him please. And then many on the other hand are “fire Christians” who like the things of the Spirit – power, tongues, miracles, swinging off the chandeliers – the whole nine yards. And yes they know Scripture to back up just about everything they do, but they don’t know how to interpret Scripture with Scripture and don’t have an appreciation of the whole counsel of God. Or as Paul would put it, they are not sound in doctrine.

Our worship of God ought to be both in Spirit and in truth; it’s not either one or the other, but it’s both and. Let us be a people who are strong in both the word and the Spirit, exactly the type of worshippers the Father seeks. As someone once said, “Just Word and you dry up. Just Spirit and you blow up. Both Word and Spirit and you grow up”. And remember the Word of God is also known as the sword of the Spirit; likewise the Holy Spirit is also known as the Spirit of truth. Let’s grow up as we fill ourselves with both the Word and the Spirit of God.

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