August 10, 2022

[CLICK THE IMAGE ABOVE TO WATCH SUNDAY’S MESSAGE.]

Have you felt that very uncomfortable, sometimes even painful, refining fire this summer? You are not alone. All of us are feeling the burn.

You who have made me see many troubles and calamities will revive me again; from the depths of the earth you will bring me up again. You will increase my greatness and comfort me again.
Psalm 71:20-21 ESV

Revive — make alive, repair, restore, make whole
Bring Up — cause to arise, ascend, BURN
Increase — bring in abundance
Greatness — dignity, majesty, mighty acts
Comfort — to sigh or breathe strongly; to be sorry or repent; pity, console

In order for the Lord to “bring me up”, He lights me on fire. Our rising is a life of burning incense to the Lord. God uses trouble, distress, adversity, and tribulation with the intention of repairing, restoring, and reviving. It’s from the lowest places that He sets us on fire. The burning causes us to arise. Through the process, we can count on Him abundantly increasing our Godlike dignity, majesty, and mighty acts; and we can count on Him to intimately and compassionately comfort and console us.

Lord Jesus, revive us, bring us up, increase our greatness, and comfort us. May our lives rise as a pleasing aroma before You! Forgive us of any areas in our hearts that have been hard, and make us soft by Your compassionate hands. And we pray You would also have mercy and compassion upon the people in our lives and soften their hearts. Regardless of what others do, we trust You and we fall into Your mercy. Your Word says that we who trust in You will never be disgraced. Amen.

Holy fire come!
Matt