horton's who
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learning about God's grace
| fire inside |
Fire and Ice, You come on like a flame, Then you turn a cold shoulder, Fire and
Ice. I wanna give you my love, But you'll just take a little piece of my heart. You’ll
just tear it apart.
Pat Benatar
I like to grill. One of my favorite new shows on television is, “License to Grill”. It
gives you all sorts of ways to cook almost anything on the grill. And so I try to cook
almost everything on the grill. Anything from green peppers, mushrooms, onions,
corn on the cob, chicken breast, and nicely marbled steak sizzles on my grill. But I
do have one little problem – my igniter is broke.
My usual practice to get the propane burning is to lift out one grilling rack, turn on
the gas, light a match or bic near the base, and then hope I keep my hairy arms
and eyebrows. Sometimes the burst of propane flame is low, sometimes high. It
depends on how fast I put a lit match into the grill. But I’ve learned that fire does
not respect anything. It will burn whatever is near, be it hairy arms, eyebrows,
propane, or a nicely marbled steak.
Jeremiah 20:9 – But if I say I’ll never mention the Lord or speak in His name, His
word burns in me heart like a fire. It’s like a fire in my bones! I am worn out trying
to hold it in! I can’t do it!
In the context of this verse, Jeremiah had been beaten and publicly ridiculed for
saying what God told him to say. It was an unpopular message of punishment
and judgment because of sin and disobedience. Jeremiah was tired, sore,
frustrated, and angry. He knew God called him to be a prophet, but he just didn’t
want to do it anymore. He had come to his breaking point. Quitting, however, wasn’
t an option.
Jeremiah likened God’s message and God’s call to a fire – a fire in his bones. He
couldn’t hold it in or stop altogether. What Jeremiah knew as God’s call and what
he knew to be right was inescapable because of the overwhelming feeling he had
inside. It was a feeling, an influence, burning inside of him because of the fire of
God. So, whether beaten, humiliated, frustrated, angry, or uplifted and on top of
the world, Jeremiah was going to continue proclaiming God’s message. It was
the right thing to do no matter what the circumstance.
Have you ever struggled with a decision to make? Have you ever wavered
between two opposites? Have you ever wondered if you were doing the right
thing? Have you ever hesitated because you weren’t sure if you should go or
rushed because you weren’t sure if you should stay? If so, you know how
Jeremiah felt. And how you should handle your particular situation and decision
can be based on Jeremiah.
Basically, Jeremiah’s decision was made for him. He wanted to stop speaking
God’s unpopular message but he couldn’t because it was burning inside of him.
Jeremiah was close to the flame of God and God burned within him. It was
almost as if he were to implode if he did anything against that fire.
What burns within you? Whose flame are you allowing to burn within you? A lot of
difficult life decisions are made more difficult because we are not close to the
flame of God. We wrestle with options and opinions, with desires and passions
that never should have been burning within us.
If we stop and allow God’s fire and influence to burn within us and totally
consume our lives, our decision making process will become a lot easier.
Remember, fire does not respect what surrounds. It burns whatever is near. What
fire are you close to?
Ice. I wanna give you my love, But you'll just take a little piece of my heart. You’ll
just tear it apart.
Pat Benatar
I like to grill. One of my favorite new shows on television is, “License to Grill”. It
gives you all sorts of ways to cook almost anything on the grill. And so I try to cook
almost everything on the grill. Anything from green peppers, mushrooms, onions,
corn on the cob, chicken breast, and nicely marbled steak sizzles on my grill. But I
do have one little problem – my igniter is broke.
My usual practice to get the propane burning is to lift out one grilling rack, turn on
the gas, light a match or bic near the base, and then hope I keep my hairy arms
and eyebrows. Sometimes the burst of propane flame is low, sometimes high. It
depends on how fast I put a lit match into the grill. But I’ve learned that fire does
not respect anything. It will burn whatever is near, be it hairy arms, eyebrows,
propane, or a nicely marbled steak.
Jeremiah 20:9 – But if I say I’ll never mention the Lord or speak in His name, His
word burns in me heart like a fire. It’s like a fire in my bones! I am worn out trying
to hold it in! I can’t do it!
In the context of this verse, Jeremiah had been beaten and publicly ridiculed for
saying what God told him to say. It was an unpopular message of punishment
and judgment because of sin and disobedience. Jeremiah was tired, sore,
frustrated, and angry. He knew God called him to be a prophet, but he just didn’t
want to do it anymore. He had come to his breaking point. Quitting, however, wasn’
t an option.
Jeremiah likened God’s message and God’s call to a fire – a fire in his bones. He
couldn’t hold it in or stop altogether. What Jeremiah knew as God’s call and what
he knew to be right was inescapable because of the overwhelming feeling he had
inside. It was a feeling, an influence, burning inside of him because of the fire of
God. So, whether beaten, humiliated, frustrated, angry, or uplifted and on top of
the world, Jeremiah was going to continue proclaiming God’s message. It was
the right thing to do no matter what the circumstance.
Have you ever struggled with a decision to make? Have you ever wavered
between two opposites? Have you ever wondered if you were doing the right
thing? Have you ever hesitated because you weren’t sure if you should go or
rushed because you weren’t sure if you should stay? If so, you know how
Jeremiah felt. And how you should handle your particular situation and decision
can be based on Jeremiah.
Basically, Jeremiah’s decision was made for him. He wanted to stop speaking
God’s unpopular message but he couldn’t because it was burning inside of him.
Jeremiah was close to the flame of God and God burned within him. It was
almost as if he were to implode if he did anything against that fire.
What burns within you? Whose flame are you allowing to burn within you? A lot of
difficult life decisions are made more difficult because we are not close to the
flame of God. We wrestle with options and opinions, with desires and passions
that never should have been burning within us.
If we stop and allow God’s fire and influence to burn within us and totally
consume our lives, our decision making process will become a lot easier.
Remember, fire does not respect what surrounds. It burns whatever is near. What
fire are you close to?