Get Your Fire Back With the Psalms!

Scripture: Revelation 2:1-7

I need to start with a confession.

I can be judgy. But, before you think less of me, I wonder if you can be judgy, too.

Have you ever made fun of people who live near the beach but never play in the ocean? Do you know anyone who lives near a mountain but never goes skiing or even throws a snowball? Have you ever met someone with a great car they never take out for a drive?

We all wonder why they aren’t enjoying what they have. We see what they have far differently than they do.

We live in a fantastic world! So many things could provoke our wonder, but they often don’t. We were once on fire, amazed and in awe of it all, but somewhere along the way, something changed. The fire burned out, and the wonder wore off.

However, our biggest problem isn’t our lack of wonder at creation or even that we lost our fire. Underneath the absence of our passion, our biggest problem is our lack of wonder at the Creator. We are no longer amazed at God and His work in our lives, and as a result, we have lost our passion for Him.

Have you lost your fire? Your passion? Do you still see the world with fresh eyes, or has your vision gotten tired?

In Revelation, through the Apostle John, Jesus rebukes the church at Ephesus because it has one glaring problem.

“Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken the love you had at first. Consider how far you have fallen!”‬‬

I wonder how far you have fallen. When did you last feel the warmth of God’s love in your heart or the fire of passion for serving Him?

I want to share five things with you during this plan to help you regain your fire. First, you need to know that your wonder about God fuels your passion for God. When you no longer consider what God did for you special, everything else will lose its luster.

The church in Ephesus experienced this firsthand. As described in Revelation 2, this church had a lot going for it. They were disciplined and faithful, even opposing those who taught a false gospel. However, Jesus critiqued them for something unseen. Their hearts were no longer motivated by love. They are going through the motions and have fallen from a great height. Put differently, the fire inside them is gone, and they no longer burn with love for Jesus.

You may think, “Scott, I thought this plan was about the Psalms?!” This plan is about the Psalms, and we’ll dive deep into a psalm in the following devotional. But before we get there, I want to help you do a heart check.

Do you have any sense of awe about God? Any sense of wonder when you read Scripture? When you review your testimony, does it still blow you away that you are God’s beloved, forgiven, and made new because of what Jesus did for you?

Without wonder, your life with God won’t flourish. You won’t live with a fire, passion, or zeal for God. I want to help you get your fire back. And it starts with getting honest about your wonder meter today.

In the next day’s devotional, we’ll examine the second thing you need to know to get your wonder back. It involves doing something you may not have done for a long time!

Scripture: Psalms 8:1-2

Did you grow up in a big city?

If so, you likely found it hard to see the stars at night because of all the light pollution. I grew up in Las Vegas—”Sin City,” as many call it. My hometown is full of neon signs, with one hotel/casino shooting light into the sky from the top of a pyramid. As a kid, I didn’t see many stars.

However, in college, I remember traveling internationally to study abroad and share my faith. One evening, after eating dinner with new friends, we walked out of a yurt in a remote part of Asia, and the brightness of the stars stopped me in my tracks. What I saw in the sky made it hard to breathe. I could not comprehend what my eyes were beholding.

In the book of Psalms, King David had many moments like the one I experienced. Specifically, in Psalms 8, he writes what many commentators believe is the first hymn included in the Psalms. Psalm 8 was sung by the people, not just read aloud.

The hymn begins with David declaring, “Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory in the heavens.”

David is overwhelmed with God’s magnificence. The natural human response when encountering God is awe and wonder. Every time someone encounters God in the Old Testament, they are overwhelmed, in awe, and frankly afraid!

And yet, because of experience, distractions, and even sin, we struggle to sustain the wonder and passion that David expresses. If you’re honest today, you might have more in common with the Ephesians in Revelation 2 than David in Psalms 8.

When our family moved to a new area eight years ago, it was a significant adjustment because our new home was in a much smaller town. One night, as I was dragging out the garbage can, I looked up, and the brightness of the stars took my breath away again. I realized they had been this bright in our old town, and they had been this bright every other night since we moved into our new home. In our previous city, excessive light pollution dimmed the stars’ brilliance. At our new home, I hadn’t stopped to look up.

So, here’s the question for you. When was the last time you slowed down, looked up, and marveled at God’s glory and majesty?

The character and power of God haven’t changed as you lost your fire. What changed was your sense of wonder about God and the attention you’re giving to God. Perhaps, like light pollution that dulls their brilliance, habits and actions in your life are clouding your ability to see God’s beauty.

The second thing you need to know to get your fire back is this – you cannot appreciate the glory and majesty of God if you never give your full attention to God.

You don’t have to look at the stars to regain your sense of wonder. You need to follow the equation I first heard from author and pastor Mark Batterson. He said, “Change of pace + change of place = change of perspective.”

ACTION STEP: Today, I encourage you to slow down and pay attention. You may need to stand outside and look up at the stars tonight. You could take a drive or go for a hike without music or noise. It might help to find a river, lake, or ocean to sit next to for a while.

Re-read Psalm 8:1-2 and consider the glory and majesty of God in creation. Reflect on what you see and what that tells you about God.

Tomorrow, we will examine God’s work in a place much closer to home. You’ll be surprised by what you find!

Scripture: Psalms 8:3-8

All languages create shorter words over time to speed up communication.

However, the introduction of text messaging on phones has created a whole new language.

For example, LOL means “laughing out loud.” BRB means “be right back.” SMH means “shaking my head (in disgust).”

But, there is one phrase in the text message vocabulary that I want you to consider more seriously. That’s the phrase NBD, which means “no big deal.”

When I type NBD, I’m trying to let someone know not to worry about something or that I consider it insignificant. But I can also use those three letters to minimize something they think matters.

One of the saddest things I see is followers of Jesus who lose the sense of wonder we once had about God’s love for us, the grace God extended us, and how God has transformed us. It’s one thing to tell someone “NBD” when they thank you for holding the door open for them at a store entrance. It’s another thing to say “NBD” when you think about what God has done in your life.

While there’s a significant gap between those two uses of NBD, both happen every day. What once provoked wonder now fails to register as important. What once took our breath away produces a yawn instead. Experience over time can dull our wonder.

Here’s the important question for today: Have you lost your sense of wonder about what God has done for you?

Some of you reading this devotional shouldn’t be alive after what you’ve been through.

Some of you reading this shouldn’t be joyful with what you’ve endured.

Some of you shouldn’t be married or be in your children’s lives. It seems unbelievable that you’re out of prison or sober. It is incomprehensible that you are healthy or in church today.

Apart from the grace of God, your life could look very different.

Is it possible you lost your fire because you’re overly familiar with what God has done in your life?

King David hadn’t lost his wonder, and we see evidence of this in Psalm 8:3-8. There, David remarks on humanity’s place in the magnitude of creation. He asks God, “What is mankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them?”

The third thing you need to know to get your fire back is that wonder regarding what God has done in the past keeps you engaged with God in the present.

I love what David says. Here’s how I would paraphrase it, “what is man, in light of all you’ve done, that we’re such a big deal to you? I don’t get it!” It’s unreal to David what God has done in our lives. And it can be unreal to us if we cultivate a sense of wonder about it.

David encountered God in creation. He was overwhelmed with awe and wonder, and then he connected the two. He asked God his honest question: “Why do I matter to You? Why have You extended me grace and given me honor and responsibility in this creation?”

ACTION STEP: Before you close the app today, I want you to ask yourself a question. Looking back at your life thus far, what causes you to step back with awe and wonder? What fantastic thing has God done in your life story? I wonder if the fire you’re looking for might be found when what God did in your past becomes impressive to you in your present.

Tomorrow, we’ll explore how a quality we all had as small children is vital to rekindling our passion for God as we age!

Scriptures: Psalms 139:17-18, Revelation 2:4-5

I’ve had the privilege of worshiping with other followers of Jesus across America, Mexico, Africa, and Asia. During those experiences internationally, I’ve learned that worship is not dependent on what we think it’s dependent on in America.

Since childhood, I’ve witnessed “worship wars” between followers of Jesus. We’ve started churches, split churches, killed churches, changed churches, and lost friends over our preferences in worship: loud music or quiet music, hymns or modern worship songs, piano and organ or drums, guitars, and loops.

But worship doesn’t have to do with those potentially divisive things. When the focus is on those things, worship is about us, not God. Worship is about wonder, and wonder enables us to flourish with God.

King David was full of wonder. In Psalm 139, he wrote these words.

“How precious to me are your thoughts, God!

How vast is the sum of them!

Were I to count them,

they would outnumber the grains of sand—

when I awake, I am still with you.”

Our worship is often lacking because our wonder is waning.

In this passage, I see something present in David but absent in me.

David considered God’s thoughts to be precious. They were valuable; David wanted to know them. He had a curiosity that I lost during my season of burnout and bitterness.

I have a hunch. If you’re struggling with passion, you’re also struggling to stay curious. Our struggle with wonder often includes a lack of curiosity.

When you recognize how much you don’t know, don’t understand, and yet want to explore that unknown, that curiosity sets you up for a life of wonder, a moment of awe.

We live in a world where we can get anything instantly via our devices. These tools offer us endless knowledge, access to real-time news, and a promise of solving every problem.

But an AI assistant like Siri or Alexa won’t tell you God’s thoughts. A piece of software won’t help you understand God’s ways. Understanding God requires you to pursue life with God. If this series has shown you that your life with God is not as flourishing as you wish, maybe it’s time to become curious again. How can you get curious again about God’s thoughts? How can you bring freshness to your prayers and time in the Bible?

The fourth thing you need to know about getting your fire back is that sometimes, to get back what you once had, you may need to go back and do what you once did. My wife and I have been married for 16 years. There have been seasons when our marriage was strong and seasons when it was weaker. There were times when the passion burned hot and times when our vows carried us through difficult days.

Repeatedly, we have discovered that sustaining the little habits that keep the fire going is hard. It takes intentionality to maintain our passion for each other. For example, scheduling babysitters, blocking off the calendar, and planning date nights takes work. Listening to each other share takes effort after an exhausting day. It takes discipline to look for little ways to serve the other person. But those things came naturally in the beginning when the fire we had for each other was a burning inferno. When we go back and do what we once did for each other, it’s incredible the difference little acts of love and kindness make.

Like John encouraged the church in Ephesus, it might be time for you to go back and do the things you did when you first became a follower of Jesus to regain the fire you had then.

ACTION STEP: How can you begin again what you stopped doing a while ago? You could switch the translation of the Bible you’ve always read. You could explore new prayer practices from another era of church history. You could even reach out to someone whose passion or wonder you admire to learn from and be mentored by them.

Tomorrow, we’ll wrap up this plan by exploring a comforting truth I know will encourage you as you seek the fire you once had. I turn to this truth when things don’t happen how I want or at the speed I like.

Scriptures: Psalms 139:7-12, Psalms 139:18, 1 Corinthians 15:9-10, Philippians 3:4-9, Psalms 51:10

David spent many long seasons in the wilderness.

During one of those seasons, David wrote something remarkable in Psalm 139.

“Where can I go from your Spirit?

Where can I flee from your presence?

If I go up to the heavens, you are there;

if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.”

Later in Psalm 139, David writes, “When I wake up, I am still with you.”

David sensed that he was never out of God’s presence. Psalm 139 has become one of the most famous psalms because David wrote it in response to his experience with God. That’s what worship is. Worship is our response to encountering God. If you’re always with God, then you have the opportunity to worship God always.

Yesterday, I shared how my experiences outside my cultural context have informed how I view worship. Another thing I’ve learned is that worship is far more about what we bring with us than what we receive when we arrive.

There will be some days when worship feels like a chore, and you will struggle to sing words because you don’t believe them. In those moments, getting caught up in preferences or being a consumer is easy. But bringing a sense of wonder, choosing defiant joy, or focusing on your gratitude to Jesus will ignite your worship experience!

The Apostle Paul sustained his fire and passion from his conversion through his execution. Part of me wonders if Paul’s fire remained strong because he never forgot where he came from and what God had done for him.

In 1 Corinthians 15, Paul makes an honest confession. “But by the grace of God, I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect.”

In Philippians 3, he lists his achievements and accomplishments, which once gave him a sense of significance and superiority over others. But then, he pivots and makes a shocking statement. “But whatever were gains to me, I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.”

That’s fire! There is a sense of passion and wonder that burns so bright that it draws other people who long for the same thing. And that kind of fire is available for you today.

Like David in Psalm 51, you can pray to God and ask Him to “Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.” Like the Ephesians, you can go back to what you once did. Like David, you can marvel at the stars and consider how much God values you.

ACTION STEP: So, what will you do? Before you complete this plan, please finish this sentence. “To get my fire back and reclaim my wonder, today I will ______________________.”

We cannot ignite that fire, and we cannot force wonder. But, we can cultivate a heart that sustains wonder. We can set up the wood that can be ignited by God’s fire.

I’m praying for you today. You don’t have to stay where you are. God can light a fire again inside you. Don’t delay when you get an idea to get started today. Take action! Your responsibility is obedience. God’s responsibility is the outcome!