Fire
Holiday greetings to all our friends in Canada, who are celebrating CANADA DAY!
My words are a powerful fire; they are a hammer that shatters rocks. ~ Jeremiah 23:29 (CEV)
I came to set fire to the earth, and I wish it were already on fire! ~ Luke 12:49 (CEV)
God, I'm not comfortable around fire. I'm very cautious and careful. Why are you so eager to start things on fire? Maybe you are warning us that you are going to use some kind of fire to render judgment. You are going to burn away all that is bad, leaving only the good. Maybe I shouldn't be so afraid of that -- especially if I start turning from the bad things now. God, I am distancing myself from the things which displease you and am turning to you for protection not only from evil but also from judgment against evil. I seek protection in the arms of Jesus -- the one who was powerful enough to overcome even death. There is no safer place. I am not afraid of what might or might not happen today. Amen.
Challenging Words
- render -- to cause something to be or happen, to make
- distancing -- the act of making space or distance, moving away from, having nothing to do with something or someone
TRANSLATIONS
ABP = Authorized Boydston Paraphrase — my own freestyle biblical adaptation — somewhere between paraphrase, commentary, and sermon
CEB = Common English Bible (©2011, the Common English Bible)
CEV = Contemporary English Version (©1995, American Bible Society)
MSG = The Message (©1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson)
NIRV = New International Reader's Version (©1996, 1998, Biblica)
NIV = New International Version (©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011, Biblica)
NLT = New Living Translation (©1996, 2004, 2007, 2013, Tyndale House Foundation)
