“Will You Trust Me to Father My Own Child?”

Fatherhood is a meaningful and rewarding journey. But it is certainly not without challenges. Who do we turn to when we have exhausted all our means? A Covenanter shares his journey as a father to his son, and as a son to our Heavenly Father.

Surprised By a Divine Opportunity to B.L.E.S.S.

What does it look like to walk in divine appointments as led by the Spirit? This is what Michael and Phyllis experienced as they prayed for divine opportunities to B.L.E.S.S. someone.

Love Makes Room for Others

Would you make room in your home to someone you don’t know? It is certainly not going to be an easy decision. Nevertheless, a Covenanter family decided not only to open their home, but also make room in their hearts to B.L.E.S.S. a stranger. Find out what moved them to extend such love, and how […]

Persevering in Prayer

“Prayer does not equip us for greater works — prayer is the greater work … When you labour at prayer, from God’s perspective there are always results. What an astonishment it will be to see, once the veil is finally lifted, all the souls that have been reaped by you, simply because you have been […]

A Life Transformed — At Home.

Missions. What comes to mind when you hear this word? Developing nations? Community service? English lessons? Most of the time, we think of stepping out into another world. What about including those within our own homes into our world? This is how one simple invitation set off a ripple of blessings. A Timely Invitation In […]

When Missions Hits Home

Serving in Home Missions impacts more than just strangers, as Winnie from Covenant EFC’s China Nationals Fellowship found out. When we think of missions, our minds may inadvertently drift to stories of great missionaries travelling thousands of miles away from home — braving persecution, reaching out to indigenous peoples, doing heroic work for the Kingdom. After all, those […]

Yes, God Can Use Your “Little”!

How God opened doors for Cheryl and family to open theirs From the Bible, the call to serve rings loud and clear. It doesn’t matter who you are or what you have — Jesus Himself served and calls us to serve (Luke 22:25-27). But what comes to your mind when you think of serving? Is it […]

Whatever Our Circumstances, We Can Be a Blessing!

Sharing God’s story can sometimes feel daunting. What we often forget that God is always ahead of us preparing the way The Bible reminds us that we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do (Ephesians 2:10). This is what Jade Wong discovered […]

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