Daniel 3: Do you believe there is another in the fire?

2020! What a year!

I would ask for a do-over, but no thanks. Let’s keep moving forward, please! I do not think we should have a complaint because you can either see this dumpster fire year as some hell and grow bitter or use the adversity to grow. Either way, 2020 HAPPENED, and none of it was a surprise to God. For me, like a lot of others, this year has been filled with putting my faith into action. He has picked me up countless times, carried me when I couldn’t walk, and held me close when I wanted to distance myself from Him because I was hurt. He’s heard my crying, my confessions of unbelief, and listened to my outbursts of anger and didn’t leave me. My God is a Miracle worker, promise keeper, the Light in the darkness. He has been through every dark hallway and confusing turn when I couldn’t see.

“For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for? But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it. Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.”- Romans 8:24-26

I lost someone extremely close to my heart that we prayed and believed, without any doubt, he would be healed. God chose to heal and make him whole in Heaven. His ways and plans are higher.

That event set in motion a new beginning for me because I learned life is too short to hold on to things God did not intend for me to keep. I was no longer afraid to let go or move forward because I had to learn to let go of something I honestly didn’t think would have to so soon. Surrender.

If God allowed all these things to happen and learned to trust Him, why do I doubt Him now? If He is the same God from my darkest day, why do I believe He wouldn’t still guide my path?

“Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path.” Amy Grant Thy Word

I won’t share the details, but as a Christian, we will be persecuted. Satan runs this world, and if you are a chosen child of God living in this world, there will be tests. Jesus said blessed, are you when you are persecuted for His sake.

We are living in the world, but we are not supposed to be of the world. What does it mean to be set apart and have a mind like Christ? Would you stand for God and what He says if you were the only one doing so? It’s easy to say that you will be firm when things are great, but when you are in a fire, will you burn up or feel the heat and get stronger? Are you indeed willing to not back down on your convictions?

I was awake all night, worrying about something I know God will take care of. That sentence sounds like an oxymoron because if I know God will take care of it, why would I be tossing and turning?! Do I have faith in Him, or is it myself? Do I believe I have control, or He is IN control?

While getting dressed for work this morning, God reminded me of Meshach, Shadrach, and Abednigo. They were thrown in literal fire because they would not bow down to the king and were willing to die for their convictions.

“If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king.

But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up.” – Daniel 3:17-18

We know the rest of the story:

“And he commanded the most mighty men that were in his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, andto cast them into the burning fiery furnace. Then these men were bound in their coats, their hosen, and their hats, and their other garments, and were cast into the midst of the burning fiery furnace.

Therefore because the king’s commandment was urgent, and the furnace exceeding hot, the flame of the fire slew those men that took up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.

And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, fell down bound into the midst of the burning fiery furnace.

Then Nebuchadnezzar the king was astonied, and rose up in haste, and spake, and said unto his counsellors, Did not we cast three men bound into the midst of the fire? They answered and said unto the king, True, O king.

He answered and said, Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God.

Then Nebuchadnezzar came near to the mouth of the burning fiery furnace, and spake, and said, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, ye servants of the most high God, come forth, and come hither. Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, came forth of the midst of the fire.

And the princes, governors, and captains, and the king’s counsellors, being gathered together, saw these men, upon whose bodies the fire had no power, nor was an hair of their head singed, neither were their coats changed, nor the smell of fire had passed on them.

Then Nebuchadnezzar spake, and said, Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who hath sent his angel, and delivered his servants that trusted in him, and have changed the king’s word, and yielded their bodies, that they might not serve nor worship any god, except their own God.”-Daniel 3:20-28

The three godly men were thrown in the furnace without one of their hairs being singed on their heads. Meanwhile, the king’s men, who threw them in the furnace, were killed.

There was ANOTHER in the fire Who had the likeness of The Son of God.

They stood for the truth no matter the consequence because they refused to bow down to the false gods.

As Christians (especially living in America), we may not be thrown in literal fire, but we will have trials and stand testing because the world cannot stand God. Who will we stand for?

Is it your family, friends, government, or job, you have to stand against? Chances are it is all of them.

Are you willing to lose your family, your friends, or your job for your beliefs?

Jesus says in Matthew 10, those not willing to leave their families are not worthy of Him. Who is our family?

Is God our provider like we profess He is when we are up against our jobs? Do we bow down for the sake of security and insurance or do we take a stand knowing He will make a way in the wilderness and river in the desert?

Right when you want to give up, the miracle happens. Keep running the race. Keep fighting the Good fight. If you’re not willing to stand up and fight for what you believe if you’re not willing to be uncomfortable. What is the whole point of all this? Why did you turn to Christ and choose this life … the ONLY LIFE … if you want an easy way out and blend in with the world.

Stand back up and dust yourself off.

The Lord will fight for you. You need only to be still…… do you truly believe that?

Graves into Gardens YouTube

“I searched the world, but it couldn’t fill me. Man’s empty praise and treasures that fade are never enough. Then You came along and put me back together…

And every desire is now satisfied here in Your love.

Oh, there’s nothing better than You

Lord, there’s nothing… Nothing is better than You

I’m not afraid to show You my weakness. My failures and flaws, Lord, You’ve seen them all and You still call me friend.

‘Cause the God of the mountain is the God of the valley.
There’s not a place Your mercy and grace won’t find me again.
You turn mourning to dancing… You give beauty for ashes… You turn shame into glory…

You’re the only one who can.

You turn graves into garden… You turn bones into armies… You turn seas into highways… You’re the only one who can.

Oh, there’s nothing better than You… Lord, there’s nothing… nothing is better than You.”

Devotional from Utmost- Oswald Chmbers

October 2

The Place of Humiliation

By Oswald Chambers

If You can do anything, have compassion on us and help us. —Mark 9:22

After every time of exaltation, we are brought down with a sudden rush into things as they really are, where it is neither beautiful, poetic, nor thrilling. The height of the mountaintop is measured by the dismal drudgery of the valley, but it is in the valley that we have to live for the glory of God. We seeHis glory on the mountain, but we never live for His glory there. It is in the place of humiliation that we find our true worth to God— that is where our faithfulness is revealed. Most of us can do things if we are always at some heroic level of intensity, simply because of the natural selfishness of our own hearts. But God wants us to be at the drab everyday level, where we live in the valley according to our personal relationship with Him. Peter thought it would be a wonderful thing for them to remain on the mountain, but Jesus Christ took the disciples down from the mountain and into the valley, where the true meaning of the vision was explained (see Mark 9:5-6, Mark 9:14-23).

“If you can do anything….” It takes the valley of humiliation to remove the skepticism from us. Look back at your own experience and you will find that until you learned who Jesus really was, you were a skillful skeptic about His power. When you were on the mountaintop you could believe anything, but what about when you were faced with the facts of the valley? You may be able to give a testimony regarding your sanctification, but what about the thing that is a humiliation to you right now? The last time you were on the mountain with God, you saw that all the power in heaven and on earth belonged to Jesus— will you be skeptical now, simply because you are in the valley of humiliation?

Thank you for reading. I hope you have a blessed day. Related blogs posted below: