Trusting Jesus: "you only have to die"
Daniel 3:17-18 “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 golf you have set up.”
This is the question that we deal with every day. Are we going to serve God or the powers of the world? How could it be better to die serving God than to live denying God? Could it be that dying as a result of staying devoted to God is really living and that living by denying God is really dying? Could it be that these three in the fire really choose life even though it looks like they choose death? Could it be that as Jesus goes to the cross Jesus chooses life even when it looks like He really chooses death? Could it be that when we yes to Jesus and no to the world that it looks like a crazy decision but it is really the most responsible decision we could ever make? Could it be that we will never experience true life until we choose Jesus over the world and are willing to trust God even if it means going to the gas chamber. It takes the deepest kind of courage to say yes to Jesus and no to Nebuchadnezzar. It takes a courage that can only come through the grace of God. What I find, is that when I respond to God’s grace and act with this courage I put myself in a situation where I am never separated from God. Saying yes to the world is separating myself to God but saying yes to the furnace is affirming the promise that nothing in this world can separate me from God. Jesus will never abandon me regardless of the situation and it is always better to face the furnace knowing Jesus will not abandon me than to try to escape the fire by giving into the world and abandoning Jesus.
O God, I want to thank you for your presence in my life that refuses to abandon me and will walk with me even when the world sends me to the fiery furnace because of my devotion to you. Give me the strength to know today that you will be with me in the fires of life. Help me not to give into the temptation to pledge my allegiance to the world but give me the strength to stand for you and to know that you are with me even if I feel completely alone. Guide me along this path and continue to do your work of grace in my life. Open up doors of possibility for my life and the new church that your will may continue to be completed in this place. Give me opportunities to stand up for you and may it be a time for me to put my faith into action and experience your presence in the fires of the world. Go before, behind me, and with me as I seek to serve you. I cannot do this without you and it is only through your saving presence in my life that I stand for you. Everything about me is infected with sin and wants to keep me from standing up, but I know your grace is more powerful than my sin; may you empower me to stand and know that you are with me and as long as you are with me nothing can be against me. Amen!!!
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