Dear Precious Friends,
On this beautiful new day, this gift from God, I pray you are waking up knowing the Lord is with you and with today being the "fourth" ( Star Wars Fans understand) ...I had to share this amazing reminder today! I also want to remind everyone that the National Day of Prayer is tomorrow and we all need to be in prayer. 2 Chronicles 7:14 reminds us "If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land. Most of our local communities are having gatherings, schools are having gatherings, businesses are having gatherings... May we be involved in prayer for our country to live out 2 Chronicles 7:14!Here in Lake Mary at the Lake Mary Event Center we are having an hour of prayer from 12-1p.m. I will share a post later today as a reminder!
He said, "Look! I see four men walking around in the fire, unbound and unharmed, and the fourth looks like a son of the gods."
I love the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego from Daniel 3. Their faith is solid whether God chooses to save them from the fire, or not. God not only saves them, but those who intended to execute them become the key witnesses of their faith and God's miraculous deliverance. They are not only sons of the One True God, but they are also examples to all of us who are tempted to compromise our faith to get along in a society that has lost all respect for the Almighty God.
Nebuchadnezzar had a 90 feet tall and 9 feet wide gold statue built, which he ordered everyone to worship. If anyone was found not worshiping it, they would be thrown in a fiery furnace. Daniel’s 3 Jewish friends refused to bow down. These young men had such a strong sense of commitment to the Lord that they were willing to go against the popular tide and die rather than worship a false image. Every one else seems to have bowed down to worship except these 3. They calmly told the King:
If that is the case, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us from your hand, O king. But if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we do not serve your gods, nor will we worship the gold image which you have set up. (Dan. 3:17–18)
This is faith not just in God’s deliverance, but faith in Him and whatever He chose to do. These young men were saying, “We are sure of God, but we are not sure what God will do.” We notice the peace these 3 young men had during their fiery trial, casually walking around in the fire as if they did it every day. They were not panicking or running, trying to figure some way out. They trusted the Lord and He was with them, physically, and Nebuchadnezzar saw Him.
The Son of God still goes into the fire with His children, 2600 years after He was with these 3 young believers. He will meet us and protect us, just as He did them. The hot furnaces of life might scare us to death, but it’s in those places that we find a deeper relationship with God the Son. Life doesn’t always end up the way we would like. So we must have the same kind of faith these 3 men had, who though they hoped for a miracle, didn’t demand one and were willing to leave everything in God’s hands!
“LORD, give us renewed faith to accept Your will for our lives this day. Use us, LORD, to lead others to You, in Jesus name.”My Prayer...
Dear Father in heaven, please give me the same kind of faith that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego demonstrated! When adversity, persecution, ridicule, and ostracism come, I want my faith to stand up to the test. Thank you, dear Father, for giving me the Bible, which is my book of heroes who stood their ground and kept their faith, especially under fire. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
Source: Holy Spirit, God's word, Pastor Eds devo, Heartlight devo
