Study from God’s Word… Daniel, Chapter 3 … Passage for Reflection: Daniel 3: 16 – 18 … NIV 16 Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to the king, "O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. 17 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. 18 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."
My Journal for Today: Dr. Smith, the Editor of The Daily Bible in Chronological Order,has his readers today going through one of my favorite chapters in the OT, … that great – TRUE – story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego and their confrontation with King Nebuchanezzar. If you’re a fan of OT stories, I’ll bet it’s a favorite of yours as well.
And like Dr. Smith, I always come away from this story wondering if I would have been as brave as these three were if my very life was threatened and my faith challenged as theirs was. I do hope so; but if I did stand up for God they way these three lads did, it would only be because I surrendered to God, received His empowering grace, and allowed Him to lift me up the way His word promises in passages I have in my heart and memory, … passages like Isaiah 41: 10, Romans 8: 31, and Philippians 4: 13. But these young warriors for God did stay strong in their witness for their faith; and in doing so they gave powerful witness to a pagan and prideful king, who had to take notice of God from their incredible faith and the awesome display of power from their God. You can go back and read about their influence of witness in Daniel, Chapter 3, verses 28 – 30.
LaGard Smith, as he does daily, closes his devotional today with a self examination question. He asks, ”What would I be willing to give up for the Lord, even if there was no hope of rescue?” And I have to say that I’m radically convicted by such a challenge. I say convicted because I find myself even unwilling to give up some sinful, selfish eating patterns in my life, knowing that my God would be honored if I was readily willing to restrain myself in my eating patterns.
Do you have any “fiery furnaces” in your life, as my gluttony is for me? And by conviction, is God asking you, as He is for me, to give witness to Him by giving up something or doing something which recognizes God’s power to overcome the fiery furnaces of our lives … just as God did for Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego? I’ll let you wrestle with God for His blessing over that one as I’m doing right now over my eating habits. And if we can surrender to our God as these three boys did, perhaps we can be stronger witnesses for our God than if we turn away, not believing that God can – and will – give us the strength we need to be warriors for Him rather then wimps for self.
My Prayer for Today: Lord, thank you for the pain of conviction, which draws me closer to becoming the man You desire me to be. Amen
Showing posts with label witnessing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label witnessing. Show all posts
Saturday, September 04, 2010
Monday, January 25, 2010
2010 – Day 25. Jan. 25 – The Next Generation
Study from Exodus 11 – 12; Passage for Reflection: Exodus 12: … NIV 26 And when your children ask you, 'What does this ceremony mean to you?' 27 then tell them, 'It is the Passover sacrifice to the LORD, who passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt and spared our homes when he struck down the Egyptians.' "
My Journal for Today: Being into the Passover story at this portion of his devotional Bible reading apparently reminded Dr. Smith, my devotional shepherd, of the importance of this event and relating it to the next generation; so, the lesson today focused on how God has given us – to the Jews in the Passover and now for Christians in the celebration of Communion – a wonderful way to pass along the truth of how God delivered His children from Egypt or why/how Jesus delivered mankind from sin.
And Dr. Smith reminds his readers, as I will follow and do so today, that children have a natural curiosity built in which makes it easy to relate this story to them, witnessing our faith from one generation to the next. Kiddos just naturally want to know the “why” or the “how” about almost everything they don’t understand. They are like little information or truth sponges, soaking up everything they can’t understand or about which they don’t know. So, when they see the bread and the “wine” being passed for the Eucharist in church, it’s a perfect time to answer their natural questions or to teach them something they’ll want to know about, even if they haven’t asked the “why” questions verbally. Just assume they want to know and explain what the bread and the juice are all about.
Several years ago, our little granddaughters, each at about five years of age at the time in their lives, gave themselves in rebirth to their Savior. It was wonderful to see; but in each instance their parents had to relate and explain the Passover/Easter stories to our granddaughters. And each of them, after hearing about Jesus, and believing on The Christ as their Savior, accepted Him as their Lord. And wanting toknow if is the real deal of conversion, they could explain to you or others how Jesus died on the cross for their sin. And now at ages 8 and 5 respectively, they could explain for you how they are sinners and how Jesus became their Savior. It’s wonderful to see happen at such a young age in their lives. In fact, not too long ago, as evidence of their understanding, our daughter’s youngest, then about 4, was acting out in some way; and her mom sent her to her room for a “time out.” And as she sullenly went off to her room, her mom heard her say, “Oh I wish Eve hadn’t eaten that apple.” Our daughter had to hide her laughter as little Brooklyn was sent off to her punishment. But our daughter realized just how deep this little one’s understand was for a pretty deep theological issue. And as their granddad, I praise God that our kids are passing along the truth of our faith to the next generation.
My friends, one thing we’ve learned as a grandparents, blessed to have five little ones. And that is the fact that they take in and understand much more than we think they can. So, especially when our kids or grandkids ask questions, we need to give them answers; and we need to give them the stories of truth from the pages of the Book of Truth. I hope we’re all being used by God to transfer our faith to the next generation with our witness of truth with our family.
My Prayer for Today: Lord, thank you for giving us the privilege and the joy to see our grandchildren be shaped for eternity at such a young age. Amen
My Journal for Today: Being into the Passover story at this portion of his devotional Bible reading apparently reminded Dr. Smith, my devotional shepherd, of the importance of this event and relating it to the next generation; so, the lesson today focused on how God has given us – to the Jews in the Passover and now for Christians in the celebration of Communion – a wonderful way to pass along the truth of how God delivered His children from Egypt or why/how Jesus delivered mankind from sin.
And Dr. Smith reminds his readers, as I will follow and do so today, that children have a natural curiosity built in which makes it easy to relate this story to them, witnessing our faith from one generation to the next. Kiddos just naturally want to know the “why” or the “how” about almost everything they don’t understand. They are like little information or truth sponges, soaking up everything they can’t understand or about which they don’t know. So, when they see the bread and the “wine” being passed for the Eucharist in church, it’s a perfect time to answer their natural questions or to teach them something they’ll want to know about, even if they haven’t asked the “why” questions verbally. Just assume they want to know and explain what the bread and the juice are all about.
Several years ago, our little granddaughters, each at about five years of age at the time in their lives, gave themselves in rebirth to their Savior. It was wonderful to see; but in each instance their parents had to relate and explain the Passover/Easter stories to our granddaughters. And each of them, after hearing about Jesus, and believing on The Christ as their Savior, accepted Him as their Lord. And wanting toknow if is the real deal of conversion, they could explain to you or others how Jesus died on the cross for their sin. And now at ages 8 and 5 respectively, they could explain for you how they are sinners and how Jesus became their Savior. It’s wonderful to see happen at such a young age in their lives. In fact, not too long ago, as evidence of their understanding, our daughter’s youngest, then about 4, was acting out in some way; and her mom sent her to her room for a “time out.” And as she sullenly went off to her room, her mom heard her say, “Oh I wish Eve hadn’t eaten that apple.” Our daughter had to hide her laughter as little Brooklyn was sent off to her punishment. But our daughter realized just how deep this little one’s understand was for a pretty deep theological issue. And as their granddad, I praise God that our kids are passing along the truth of our faith to the next generation.
My friends, one thing we’ve learned as a grandparents, blessed to have five little ones. And that is the fact that they take in and understand much more than we think they can. So, especially when our kids or grandkids ask questions, we need to give them answers; and we need to give them the stories of truth from the pages of the Book of Truth. I hope we’re all being used by God to transfer our faith to the next generation with our witness of truth with our family.
My Prayer for Today: Lord, thank you for giving us the privilege and the joy to see our grandchildren be shaped for eternity at such a young age. Amen
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