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Is not my word like fire, declares the LORD, and like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces? -Jeremiah 23:29 (NIV)

Remember Jiffy Pop? It’s a packaged pan of unpopped popcorn under an aluminum foil top. When you slowly move this pan over the heat of a stove, you start to hear popping noises inside, and the once flat foil top grows upward and outward like a chef’s hat, eventually bursting from all the popcorn inside.

Our lives can be a lot like that pan. If we play it safe and avoid the discomfort of stepping out in faith to do what is God-honoring, we’re left with a cold pan and lots of unpopped kernels…lots of untapped potential and growth.

But when we apply the heat of God’s Word and truth to our lives, by walking in faith and trusting God as the safety net for our lives, our lives can be bursting with growth. Sometimes God will apply the heat for us, and though times may seem downright tough, we can trust that we will grow as a result.

Jesus didn’t play it safe. He lived boldly, right in the heat and the thick of the action. He is our model for living, is He not?

Unpopped popcorn kernels are seeds. And they need extreme heat–not mild warmth–to pop open. And so it is with our walk in faith. The searing heat and light of God’s Word will burst open and demolish the enemy’s strongholds of fear, trepidation, false comfort, and sloth.

If you find areas of your life cold, tepid, tasteless, or in ruts, God can help. Apply His heat to your life so it’s bursting and energetic, no matter what the circumstances, and know that you honor the Lord in doing so, and He will carry you through the heat!