Listen to Pastor Nick read the “Firestarter” and 1 Kings 16:1-7.

Anger and sadness often go together. When we lose a dear one in death, the loss produces grief. However, first there is anger, especially when we view the loss as a violation of justice.

In this passage, the anger of the Lord comes after years of unfaithful kings, one after another. The grieving of the Holy Spirit becomes complete exasperation. The Hebrew word for anger is cha’as: the kind of anger that wells up after being constantly provoked. It is not the reactive anger of which we are so familiar in our sinfulness.

Reflect upon anger in your life.

1 Kings 15—16

Bible Breaths Learn More…
Example: May my heart be true to You. 15:3

Tuesdays are dedicated to the Old Testament books of history
and the Hebrew “Writings.”
In this season, Proverbs 20-11; 1 Kings

For the Firestarters I recommend the ebook.  You will have the entire program of well over a thousand of these introductions with you on your phone or tablet. Check the menu options at the site for more information.

Listen to Pastor Nick read the “Firestarter” and Hosea 10:7-12.

Just as the world of farming shapes Jesus’s parables, so it is with Hosea’s words here. The soul is as hard ground in verse 12. It needs to be loosened so that proper seed can yield nourishing produce, in place of the poison hemlock of verse 4.

Seeds of God’s justice result in the nourishing food of compassion. It is the same message as Paul, last Thursday: what you sow you will reap. Sowing without faith in the Lord yields plants poisonous to self and others.

Assume a physical posture that expresses total surrender to the Lord. With your soul now loosened in abandoned prayer, receive the Word today as seed of saving grace for each hour.

Make these chapters in Hosea personal to you. Are there inner echoes in these verses? Where do you place your confidence in life? Is it in banks, works, contracts, plans, relationships—the Lord on the sideline of your life? Repent from being only with God now and then, instead of always.

Hosea 10

What are “Bible Breaths”? Learn More…
Example: Sowing seeds of righteousness v. 12

Mondays are dedicated to the reading of the Hebrew Prophets.
In this season we read Hosea; in the 9th week, we read Lamentations 3.

For the next several weeks, the Firestarters will be from the original version of this program. For these Firestarters I recommend the ebook.  You will have the entire program of well over a thousand of these introductions with you on your phone or tablet. Check the menu options at the site for more information.