Like A Burning Fire

LIKE A BURNING FIRE

 

 

Jeremiah 20:1-2 Now Pashhur the son of Immer, the priest who was also chief governor in the house of the LORD, heard that Jeremiah prophesied these things. 2 Then Pashhur struck Jeremiah the prophet, and put him in the stocks that were in the high gate of Benjamin, which was by the house of the LORD.

 

 

Jeremiah 20:7 O LORD, You induced me, and I was persuaded; You are stronger than I, and have prevailed. I am in derision daily (I am ridiculed all day long); Everyone mocks me.

 

Jeremiah 20:8 For when I spoke, I cried out; I shouted, “Violence and plunder!” Because the word of the LORD was made to me a reproach and a derision daily…

 

 

Jeremiah 20:9 Then I said, “I will not make mention of Him, nor speak anymore in His name.” But His word was in my heart like a burning fire shut up in my bones; I was weary of holding it back, and I could not.

 

 

Psalms 49:15 But God will redeem my soul from the power of the grave, For He shall receive me.

 

Psalms 73:26 My flesh and my heart fail; But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.

 

Acts 7:9 "And the patriarchs, becoming envious, sold Joseph into Egypt. But God was with him…

 

Romans 5:7-8 For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

       

 

BUT.

 

2 Cor 4:7-9 But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. 8 We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; 9 persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.

 

Matthew 4:4 Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”

 

Job 23:12 I have not departed from the commandment of His lips;
 I have treasured the words of His mouth
 more than my necessary food.

 

 

“God looked into chaos and spoke the hopeful words of creation. He looked into the chaos of our sin and declared us righteous in Christ. By speaking those words, coupled with our belief in them, He reconstituted our reality.

 

If He had declared us lost He would have spoken truth, but He spoke a greater truth by recreating us with His words.

 

In other words, others might tell me I am a failure, an idiot, a clown, evil, incompetent, vicious, dangerous, pathetic etc., and these words are not just descriptive: they have a certain power to make me these things…in the eyes of others and even in my own eyes…as self-doubt creeps in and the Devil whispers in my ear.

 

But God speaks louder, and his Word is more powerful. You may call me a liar, and you speak truth, for I have lied; but if God declares me righteous, then my lies and your insult are not the final word, nor the most powerful word.

 

I have peace in my soul because God’s word is real reality.

 

That’s why I need to read the Bible each day, to hear the Word preached each week, to come to God in prayer, and to hear words of grace from other brothers and sisters as I seek to speak the same to them.

 

Only as God speaks his Word to me, and as I hear that Word in faith, is my reality transformed and do the insults of others, of my own sinful nature, and of the evil one himself, cease to constitute my reality.

 

The words of my enemies, both external and internal, might be powerful for a moment, like a firework exploding against the night sky; but the Word of the Lord is stronger, brighter, and lasts forever.”  – Martin Luther

 

 

·      What happens IN YOU is more important than what happens TO YOU.

 

 

Psalm 39:1-3 "I will watch my ways and keep my tongue from sin; I will put a muzzle on my mouth as long as the wicked are in my presence.  2 But when I was silent and still, not even saying anything good, my anguish increased.  3 My heart grew hot within me, and as I meditated, the fire burned; then I spoke with my tongue:

 

·      When life happens to you, what’s in you will COME OUT.

 

 

Jeremiah 20:13 “Sing to the Lord!  Give praise to the Lord! He rescues the life of the needy from the hands of the wicked!”

 

Jeremiah 20:12 “O LORD Almighty, you who examine the righteous and probe the heart and mind…”