Life is always cooking; you're always on the stove. In the United States, you can often divide pressure in two components; (1) the actual situational heat of life's circumstance and (2) the generated smoke from our over-dramatization of the relative hotness. The over-dramatization is because we expect smooth sailing as our birthright; when in fact we're actually born into a frying pan called this world. On the other hand are those who expect (almost desire) the burning, and so they dramatize to maximize their pain.

If we would alter our base line expectation to accepting a little heat as the norm (John 16:33), we might toughen up some and have a more realistic approach when things get really hot. The question today is “Are you simmering, boiling or burning? Are you in the pan, crock-pot or pressure cooker? Do you (will you) let Jesus turn the heat down?”

1. Pressures (1,2,5,6) - I'm pursued, pressed, plotted against, paranoid, prideful. Categorize our pressure points and identify there reality.

2. Perspective (3,4,10,11) - 2Cor. 4: 7-12. Notice David's enhanced view from verses 3-4 to 10-11. We generally have a verse 3-4 approach, while we need to be a verse 10-11 follower.