Be Fervent in the Spirit | Pastor Raph | Jun 7, 2026

Be Fervent in the Spirit

Romans 12:9-13 9 Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. 10 Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. 11 Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord. 12 Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. 13 Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality.

Today, we will start a series of “The Heart of God for Us”.

 In the next weeks, I would like to share what God has intended us, as His people, to be known. The qualities that would make us distinct in our families, workplace, school and community.

We will not follow an order here. But we will try to share what the Lord wants us to be like and how He empowers us to respond to this identity.

Today, we land on Romans 12:11

Romans 12:11 Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord. 

“be fervent": a primary verb; to be hot.

The image is to boil, of liquids; or glow after you heat up a metal, of solids. That is, be fervid, earnest, be fervent.

Thomas Edison tested thousands of bizarre filament materials—including carbonized bamboo and even human beard hair—scientists finally settled on tungsten because it has the highest melting point of any metal on Earth. To make it work, they take about six feet of microscopic tungsten wire, tightly coil it up to fit inside that oxygen-free glass bubble, and let it burn at temperatures rivaling a star's surface, all without ever actually turning to ash.

Be a burning bush

Exodus 3:2-4 2 And the angel of the LORD appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush. He looked, and behold, the bush was burning, yet it was not consumed. 3 And Moses said, “I will turn aside to see this great sight, why the bush is not burned.” 4 When the LORD saw that he turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.”

Moses’ calling and his usefulness were about the fire in his life. That is why God called Him out of the burning bush. 

True usefulness to God relies entirely on the fire of His presence rather than human capability.

We Are "Common Bushes": God did not choose Moses for his intellect, charisma, or strength. A desert bush is a rough, ordinary, and unimpressive plant. God does not seek out our natural attributes; He chooses us despite who we are. Our beauty and uniqueness do not come from our natural "wood," but from the fire of God resting upon us.

The Fire Sustains the Work, Not the Bush: If a physical fire burns a bush, the wood is eventually reduced to ash. But in this vision, the fire did not consume the branches.

God’s heart for us is fervor without burnout. To be set on fire by god without being consumed by the demands of the work.

Many leaders fall into the Messiah trap—the belief that they must convert people, save people, fix marriages, heal broken lives, or deliver someone from addiction. But we can’t. Those things are far beyond what any human being can accomplish on their own.

We can preach the gospel, disciple people, pray, counsel, encourage, and walk alongside them. We can plant and water the seed, but only God can bring the growth. We can create an environment for transformation, but only the Holy Spirit can transform a heart.

When leaders take responsibility for outcomes that belong to God, they eventually become exhausted, discouraged, or controlling. Our calling is faithfulness, not sovereignty. Jesus is the Savior, not us. He is the one who changes hearts, restores marriages, breaks chains, and brings true freedom.

So, we should not rely on human strength to accomplish His work. If you try to carry God's work on your own shoulders, you will burn out. True spiritual fervor means allowing God to work through you, so that He sustains the energy, provision, and impact.

The Fire Attracts: Moses could not resist the fire (vv. 3). When we are fervent in the Spirit and clothed in Christ, people no longer see our natural limitations; they see the glory of God. There is a famous saying often attributed to John Wesley: “I set myself on fire, and people come to watch me burn.”

Fire and Usefulness

How could a fearful and cowardly Peter be used by Jesus? Before Jesus’ crucifixion, Peter denied Jesus.

Matthew 26:69-70 69 Now Peter was sitting outside in the courtyard. And a servant girl came up to him and said, “You also were with Jesus the Galilean.” 70 But he denied it before them all, saying, “I do not know what you mean.”

After Jesus’ resurrection, Peter and the other apostles were afraid of persecution and purposeless. They went back to their old life as fishermen. 

John 20:19 (ESV) "On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being locked where the disciples were for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, 'Peace be with you.’"

John 21:1-3 (ESV) "After this Jesus revealed himself again to the disciples by the Sea of Tiberias, and he revealed himself in this way. Simon Peter, Thomas (called the Twin), Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two others of his disciples were together. Simon Peter said to them, 'I am going fishing.' They said to him, 'We will go with you.' They went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing."

They needed something else. They needed the fire.

Acts 1:4-5 (ESV) "And while staying with them he ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, 'you heard from me; for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.'"

Remember, they were already with the Holy Spirit within them. Jesus, on the occasion of appearing to them in the locked house, had breathed over them and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit."

John 20:21-22 21 Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.” 22 And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.

If a police officer is assigned to direct a massive crowd at a Fourth of July parade, it is not enough for him to have completed training, carry a badge, or hold the title of officer. He may possess the identity of a police officer, but to exercise authority effectively, he must also be clothed as one. The uniform visibly represents the authority behind him. People respond not merely to who he is, but to the authority resting upon him.

Scripture speaks of being clothed with power from on high, being baptized in the Holy Spirit, and being filled with the Spirit. This is not about receiving a new identity; it is about receiving divine empowerment.

The Holy Spirit within gives us life. The Holy Spirit upon us gives us power. The Spirit within produces character; the Spirit upon enables ministry. Just as the officer needs both his identity and his uniform, believers need both the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit and the empowering presence of the Holy Spirit resting upon them. God's work is accomplished not merely by who we are in Christ, but by the power of the Holy Spirit operating through us.

They needed special clothes for the great commission they were receiving. That is why we understand the covering, suiting the dressing of the Holy Spirit. Or, as the baptism of the Holy Spirit and Fire. 

Acts 2:1-4 1 When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. 2 And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. 3 And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. 4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance."

In only moments after that event, the same Peter and the same apostles changed completely. 

Acts 2:14 (ESV) (Bold Peter) "But Peter, standing with the eleven, lifted up his voice and addressed them: 'Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and give ear to my words.’”

They were on fire. Fervent. Boiling. Fuming. And the result was amazing.

Acts 2:41 (ESV) (Three thousand added) "So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls.”

The Fire Combination 

So the question now is how to keep the fire burning.

Every physical fire requires three essential elements to exist: fuel, oxygen, and heat.

Heat is the ignition source. It raises a material to the temperature where combustion begins. Fuel is any combustible material. Fire is essentially a rapid oxidation reaction—combustion. For combustion to continue, all three components must remain present simultaneously. 

If you want to quench a fire, it is just a matter of removing one of these elements.

1 Thessalonians 5:19 (ESV) "Do not quench the Spirit."

Similarly, spiritual fire has a triad to sustain the fire within our hearts.

Faith, Hope, and Love

1 Corinthians 13:13 (ESV) "So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love."

Just as a natural fire needs three elements. In order to keep the fire, in order to abide, one must keep the three. 

“abide” - μένω - Menō. to last, endure of persons, to survive, live, to remain as one, not to become another or different.

The fire within us requires faith, hope, and love. Remove any one of these, and the fire goes out.

They must all be deeply connected.

Faith and Love.

For me, God's love for us is the activator: Faith does not operate in a vacuum; it is activated by love.

Galatians 5:5-6 5 For through the Spirit, by faith, we ourselves eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness. 

6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love.

There is no trust if one does not know they are loved. Faith comes from first knowing and experiencing the love of the Father.

1 John 4:16-19 16 So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. 17 By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because as he is so also are we in this world. 18 There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love. 19 We love because he first loved us.

It is the love and faith that make us hopeful.

Love and Hope

Hope is the Sustainer: What determines whether a person overcomes trials and hardships is often whether they hold on to hope. Hope is just as essential as faith and love.

Romans 5:3-5 3 Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4 and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 5 and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

Hope and Faith

Faith is a settled confidence that something in the future—something that God has promised—will actually happen because God will make it happen.

Hebrews 11:1-3 1 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. 2 For by it the people of old received their commendation. 3 By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible.

The unbreakable triad is established, and that is what flames our fire and fuels our ministry and a call.

1 Thessalonians 1:3 (ESV) "remembering before our God and Father your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.”

2 Timothy 1:6-7 6 For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands, 7 for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.

The key is what Paul said: abiding in His love for us. When we understand God's love, our faith is energized, and our hope remains steadfast.