July 12 & 13, 2025 – Putting Out The Fire With Fire

Putting Out The Fire With Fire

July 12 & 13, 2025

KEY FROM GOD’S WORD:

Proverbs 12:1
Whoso loveth instruction loveth knowledge: but he that hateth reproof is brutish.

 

THOUGHTS ON GOD’S WORD:

 

     On TV, I saw a raging fire on the West Coast of the US burning out of control. The firefighters on the scene were not trying to stop the blaze; instead, they were concentrating on ensuring the flames did not spread much farther. They realized it was out of control and were busy trying to control the amount of damage it would do. To do so, they ignited a controlled fire around the blaze, large enough to consume everything in its path. They hoped that when this raging inferno reached that point, it would no longer have anything to burn and that the pre-burned area was too large for the flames to leap over. Fortunately, it worked. Yet, to control the fire, everything around it had to be destroyed.

 

     Often, people who believe they are right and will not listen to counsel are just like that fire. No matter what the facts say, no matter what the evidence of God’s hand at work says, no matter what, they believe they are right. It is not until everything around them has been destroyed that they begin to realize that in their unwillingness to learn, they destroy themselves. There is nothing left to consume. No one left to complain to or listen to them and their ideas. People avoid the destructive fire of a stubborn heart.

 

     Today’s verse says, “he that hateth reproof is brutish.” The word “brutish” here means eaten up or self-destructive. Just as the fire was destroyed by fire, so will people who are unwilling to receive instruction destroy themselves by destroying relationships all around themselves.

 

CARRYING THAT THOUGHT THROUGH THE DAY:

 

     You might be asking if I realize that it is me, and I am in the middle of it, how do I change? Reach out to the mighty hand of God to pull you free. Ask Him to open your heart to the truth. Do not try to get God to align with what you are doing. Instead, find out what God is doing and align yourself with Him.

 

What might be one area of life where you need to align yourself
better with God’s design and desire for your life?

 

IF YOU ARE JOURNALING:

Ask yourself, what are MY THOUGHTS concerning this Passage and today’s Devotion?

 

Do I find within this reading a CHALLENGE for my life?

 

What are one or two things I WILL DO today or this week to accept that CHALLENGE?

  

GOD TALKING TO ME:  July 12, 2025

THROUGH THE BIBLE ACCELERATED READING
^{(OT-1,/NT & PS-2,/Prov-Monthly)}
2 Chronicles 31-34 / Psalm 12
Proverbs 12-13 / Matthew 15

 

THROUGH THE BIBLE OLD & NEW TESTAMENT DAILY
Neh. 4-6 / Acts 13:29-52

 

WHAT TO DO ON SUNDAY:

 

    There will not be a Daily Devotion sent out on Sundays. Instead, we encourage you to attend your church and listen intently to what God has prepared in the heart of your Pastor. Write down all the scriptures he uses in that message, then, when you get home, re-read those passages for today’s reading. God has given your Pastor exactly what He desires for you on that day.  

 

GOD TALKING TO ME:  July 13, 2025

THROUGH THE BIBLE ACCELERATED READING
^{(OT-1,/NT & PS-2,/Prov-Monthly)}
NO READINGS ON SUNDAY

THROUGH THE BIBLE OLD & NEW TESTAMENT DAILY
NO READINGS ON SUNDAY