Faith?
Reading through Daniel as Keith preaches through it. It's been really good. This week I've been reading through chapter 3 and something continued to catch my eye, but I didn't put all the pieces together until this morning. The key was verses 28-29. . .
On the other hand, here's Nebuchadnezzar who has seen the power of God through the furnace incident AND through Daniel's ability to not only interpret the king's dream, but tell him what it was in the first place. And I'm thinking, "This guy hasn't trusted or worshiped the "God of gods"? What's wrong with this guy? What's it going to take to get his attention? God has given him two HUGE manifestations of His power and ability, and this guy can't or won't worship God? Holy Moly, something's wrong here!
Then I stop and think about how many times I've seen God's power in, through, and around my life and I wonder, "Why don't I trust God more?" Why don't I bow down and give my all to the one who saved me? Why won't I worship the God of creation? When am I going to trust Him with everything in my life? I'm finding it harder and harder to condemn Nebuchadnezzar.
How about you? What about the church? You willing to die for God? Do you or your church trust God for even the smallest thing or the biggest thing? Do you trust Him to provide a job or take care of your needs? Does your church trust Him enough to step out on a limb that could get sawed off if He doesn't step in and rescue you? Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego did. Their very own words declare the depth of their faith, "O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from it, and he will rescue us from your hand, O king. But even if he does not, we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up. "
I think we are so lacking in our faith. We serve the God who saved us from the penalty of our sins, but won't go out on a limb for the Kingdom, because we don't believe He can, or will, save us. What's wrong with this us? What's it going to take to get our attention? God has given us two HUGE manifestations of His power and ability, and we can't or won't worship God? Holy Moly, something's wrong here!
God, have mercy on us. Help our unbelief and deepen our faith in you. Help us to step out and trust you in new ways today.
Mike
Then Nebuchadnezzar said, "Praise be to the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, who has sent his angel and rescued his servants! They trusted in him and defied the king's command and were willing to give up their lives rather than serve or worship any god except their own God. Therefore I decree that the people of any nation or language who say anything against the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego be cut into pieces and their houses be turned into piles of rubble, for no other god can save in this way."These two verses present two sides to the same spiritual issue - FAITH! I define faith as putting trust in action. And Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego put their trust into action when it came to a life or death issue. Even Nebuchadnezzar recognized it. He said they trusted God to the point of defying the king and giving up their lives for Him. Now that's putting trust into action. That's faith.
On the other hand, here's Nebuchadnezzar who has seen the power of God through the furnace incident AND through Daniel's ability to not only interpret the king's dream, but tell him what it was in the first place. And I'm thinking, "This guy hasn't trusted or worshiped the "God of gods"? What's wrong with this guy? What's it going to take to get his attention? God has given him two HUGE manifestations of His power and ability, and this guy can't or won't worship God? Holy Moly, something's wrong here!
Then I stop and think about how many times I've seen God's power in, through, and around my life and I wonder, "Why don't I trust God more?" Why don't I bow down and give my all to the one who saved me? Why won't I worship the God of creation? When am I going to trust Him with everything in my life? I'm finding it harder and harder to condemn Nebuchadnezzar.
How about you? What about the church? You willing to die for God? Do you or your church trust God for even the smallest thing or the biggest thing? Do you trust Him to provide a job or take care of your needs? Does your church trust Him enough to step out on a limb that could get sawed off if He doesn't step in and rescue you? Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego did. Their very own words declare the depth of their faith, "O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from it, and he will rescue us from your hand, O king. But even if he does not, we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up. "
I think we are so lacking in our faith. We serve the God who saved us from the penalty of our sins, but won't go out on a limb for the Kingdom, because we don't believe He can, or will, save us. What's wrong with this us? What's it going to take to get our attention? God has given us two HUGE manifestations of His power and ability, and we can't or won't worship God? Holy Moly, something's wrong here!
God, have mercy on us. Help our unbelief and deepen our faith in you. Help us to step out and trust you in new ways today.
Mike
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