December 11th, 2025 Devotional

LIVING WATER VINEYARD DEVOTION

Thursday — “When the Fire Doesn’t Go Out the First Time”

There are moments in life when it feels like the very ground beneath us is shaking. Storms rise without warning. Fires burn where we least expect them. And sometimes, even after we believe a trial has passed, the flames return hotter than before.

Peter knew that feeling well. And he wrote these words to believers who felt like life was burning down around them:

1 Peter 4:12–13

“Dear friends, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that has come on you to test you… But rejoice inasmuch as you participate in the sufferings of Christ…”

Peter is telling them:

“This fire is not strange. It is forming something in you that comfort never could.”

Paul echoes the same truth:

Romans 5:3–5

“Suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.”

Hope is not born in calm waters.

Hope is forged in storms… in heat… in pressure… in those long nights where you feel like the waves won’t stop hitting.

As a pastor, I’ve watched many people walk through storms that seem endless.

They survive one wave only to see another rising behind it.

They put out one fire only to smell smoke again later.

And that is exactly what happened to me one cold winter night.

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THE FIRE THAT CAME BACK

Years ago, we heated our home with a wood-burning stove. We didn’t know that behind the stone wall, a hidden pipe was slowly overheating. For weeks, the house held a faint smoky smell. I cleaned the chimney several times. Everything looked fine.

But one night around 2 a.m., I jolted awake — suddenly, sharply — the kind of waking that doesn’t feel natural. I looked up and saw flames crawling across the ceiling.

“Tamar! Get up!”

We grabbed the kids, the dog, and ran through the freezing night into our minivan.

Fire trucks arrived, dousing the flames.

They told us it was safe to go back inside.

But it wasn’t.

An hour later, more flames.

More smoke.

More fear.

The fire had been burning inside the wall, unseen.

And that’s what some of life’s trials feel like:

You think you’ve survived the worst…

but something hidden flares back up again.

You think you’re out of the woods…

and then the storm intensifies.

Wave after wave.

Fire after fire.

But let me tell you something with all my heart:

Jesus was there the whole time.

In the waking.

In the running.

In the fear.

In the rescue.

In the rebuilding that came after.

And He is with you too.

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WHY WE SET OUR MINDS ABOVE

Paul wrote:

Colossians 3:1–2

“Set your hearts on things above… set your minds on things above…”

Why does he say that?

Because down here, storms are real.

Fire is real.

Pain is real.

But above — in the presence of Jesus — Scripture gives us a breathtaking picture of our future:

A sea of glass.

A sea like crystal.

Still.

Calm.

Untouched by storms.

Revelation 4:6

“In front of the throne there was what looked like a sea of glass, clear as crystal.”

Revelation 15:2

“I saw what looked like a sea of glass glowing with fire…”

No waves.

No fear.

No chaos.

No cancer.

No divorce.

No prodigals.

No war.

No hunger.

Why no waves?

Because the Lamb is on the throne.

This is shalom — God’s definition of peace:

   •   Wholeness

   •   Nothing missing

   •   Nothing broken

   •   Harmony with God

   •   Deep well-being

This is where your story is heading.

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JESUS AND THE PROMISES THAT HOLD US

Jesus didn’t pretend storms wouldn’t come:

John 16:33

“In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

And He didn’t say fear was foolish:

John 14:1

“Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in Me.”

And when the enemy floods your life:

Isaiah 59:19

“When the enemy comes in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord will lift up a standard against him.”

He lifts a banner.

He pushes back the water.

He is never late.

And He never abandons His own.

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A CHRISTMAS HOPE STORY — WHEN LIGHT BROKE INTO A TRENCH

In 1914, Europe was locked in the first winter of World War I. Mud, blood, fear, and heartbreak filled the days. A young Christian soldier named Alfred Anderson, only 18, crouched in a freezing trench in France while his pregnant wife Charlotte prayed for him back in Scotland.

It was Christmas Eve.

Gunfire echoed nonstop.

Alfred said the trenches were “mud, rats, and darkness.”

Death lay only feet away in no-man’s land.

But then — something miraculous happened.

The guns stopped.

Silence — real silence — fell over the battlefield.

Then, floating through the frozen air, Alfred heard it:

“Stille Nacht, heilige Nacht…”

Germans singing Silent Night.

The British soldiers began to sing too.

Voices carried across the battlefield like a hymn from heaven.

Then lanterns appeared.

Then trees.

Then something impossible:

Unarmed soldiers from both sides climbed out of their trenches.

Hands raised.

Risking everything.

They met in the middle — on ground that belonged to death just hours before.

They shook hands.

Exchanged small gifts.

Showed pictures of wives and children.

Some prayed together.

Alfred said:

“For a moment — just a moment — the God of peace walked the battlefield.”

Hope broke through the fire.

The light of Christ pierced the darkest trench.

And Alfred survived the war and returned home to hold his child.

If Jesus can quiet a battlefield,

He can quiet your storm.

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THREE QUESTIONS FOR TODAY

1. Where do you feel the flames rising again — a trial you thought was over but has returned?

2. How is Jesus forming perseverance, character, and hope in you right now?

3. Which promise do you need to cling to today — Jesus with you, Jesus calming the storm, or Jesus preparing the sea of glass?

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TODAY’S WORSHIP SONG

🎵 “Another in the Fire” — Hillsong United

A reminder: you are never alone in the flames.