A Dose Of Hope

Fired Up!

One summer my parents went on a mission trip and I stayed home to take a college summer school course. One of the Sundays while home alone I came home from church and thought, “A broiled tomato sounds yummy.” So, I took a beef steak tomato, sliced it in two, sprinkled some parmesan cheese on it and popped it in the broiler.

The next day on the way home from my college physics course I thought, “I think I’ll have another one of those broiled tomatoes today for lunch. The one yesterday was so deli…hmmm…I don’t remember eating that tomato yesterday…is it..oh no! It must still be in the broiler!”

I was relieved to arrive home to see that the house hadn’t burned to the ground. But sure enough, the broiler was still on. I opened the oven door to see—not a beautiful broiled tomato, but a cremated pile of ash. That tomato was burnt to a crisp!

Similarly, when you go through the fires in life – if you ask God for help—you won’t get burnt to a crisp. You’ll be fired up! Trust Him to shield you and strengthen you and He will! Ask Him to empower you and protect you with the fire of the Holy Spirit and watch out! The next thing you know you will be fired up for the Lord!

PRAYER: Lord, this fire is hot! It is relentless! Deliver me, Oh God! Shield me! And fire me up so I can be all that you want me to be. Amen.

“I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me will come one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not fit to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.” – Matthew 3:11