Best Practices in our God-Relationship

Christianity is not merely a religion, it is a faith lived in loving relationship with a personal God. Yahweh, the God revealed in the Bible, desires to have a personal relationship with us, and with you. God desires to call you His friend, His child, His precious servant. Because of Jesus Christ’s atoning death on […]

Spiritual Formation – What Does It Really Mean?

“Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.” (Mark 12:30). The Bible tells us that the human person is not just a physical mass of atoms joined together. Neither is the human person a soul that is stuck within a physical […]

God’s Mission and You

Our God is a missional God. Mission is part of God’s very nature. Consider these: When He created the world, He did not create a static paradise, but one that would be fruitful and grow. Ever since mankind disobeyed Him, our God has been on a mission to draw us back to Himself. In that […]

Coming To and Becoming Like Jesus

Jesus welcomes anyone to come to Him. Even the small and insignificant members of society. Even those who feel unworthy of God’s blessings or are deemed so by others. Jesus’ invitation is issued to all. “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish […]

Covenant Not Contract

“But from the beginning of creation, ‘God made them male and female.’ ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.’ So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.” (Mark 10:6-9 ESV) God-willing, […]

I Believe in Miracles

What is a miracle? According to the Oxford Dictionary, it is “an extraordinary and welcome event that is not explicable by natural or scientific laws and is therefore attributed to a divine agency” and its origin is Middle English via Old French from Latin miraculum “object of wonder”, from mirari “to wonder”, from mirus “wonderful” (https://www.lexico.com/definition/miracle). The Easton’s Bible Dictionary lists […]

Daily Devotional Journal

Scripture:
Daniel 3:19-23; Jeremiah 17:7-8

Thu, 30 March 2023

The Heat of Adversity Increases

Observation:

What significant observations can you make about the heat of adversity in
Jeremiah 17:7-8?

Deeper Reflection
Nebuchadnezzar threw Shadrach, Mishael and Abednego into the blazing furnace for adamantly refusing to worship his golden statue. And they “fell into the furnace of blazing fire” (v.23). The Aramaic word for “fell”, nephal, occurs seven times in Daniel 3 – with six times used in “fall down and worship” Nebuchadnezzar’s golden statue (Dan 3:5, 6, 7, 10, 11, 15). The writer makes the point on discipleship choice very sharply: nephal before Nebuchadnezzar’s golden statue or nephal into the blazing furnace. Which nephal will I choose?“Filled with wrath”, Nebuchadnezzar commanded the furnace to be heated “seven times” more before throwing Shadrach, Mishael and Abednego into it (v.19). There are times when the heat of our adversity increases. Four waves of devastating troubles fell upon Job one after another with this repeated report transition, “While he was still speaking, another also came and said” (Job 1:16, 17, 18). The fourth wave was very painful: the loss of Job’s beloved children (Job 1:18-19). Job worshipped God in his perplexing pains (Job 1:20-22). But little did Job know that the fifth wave was about to come… (Job 2:1-8). Nevertheless, Job endured, though not without tensions with God (Jas 5:11).Discipleship adversity is like being in a forest fire. And we can be a tree that “when the heat comes, its leaves will be green”, not burned (Jer 17:8). That’s a miracle. That’s God’s power working mightily within us. But we must be “planted by the water” with our “roots by a stream” of the Word of God by which we trust in God (Jer 17:7-8; Psa 1:2-3).

Application:

How do I respond to an increase of troubles in my discipleship journey?

Prayer:
Write a prayer to God as your response from your meditation on and application of the Scriptures.

Prayer Pointers:

Give thanks and praise
Pray for Outreach/Missions/New Life leaders: To be strengthened in faith in facing adversities
Pray for significant people
Pray for those in need
Pray for self