Showing posts with label Daniel. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Daniel. Show all posts
Sunday, May 04, 2008
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
I'm Yours
When I woke up this morning, I was going to blog about something different. I had the title, and the subject picked out, but for some reason, I felt prompted to watch this youtube video that my best friend on the planet made last summer. You see, I'm going to be speaking on Daniel and the Lion's Den this Sunday during our last h2o of the year, and as I was thinking about Daniel, I started thinking about my buddy Willie, and the incredible song he wrote for my mom. I posted this song once before, right after I heard it the first time, but I hope you will indulge me in this repetition of something that I believe is a true testimony to a beautiful life of faith in King Jesus.
You may already know this, but my mom went to be with Jesus on June 6, 2007 at 1.10PM. She fought cancer and a number of other ailments tenaciously, and through all of the pain, she never stopped loving and blessing others around her. If you want to read more about her last few days in the hospital, I recommend reading my archives from may and june of last year in particular. I actually took some time and read them again this morning.
This song really portrays vividly the last few days we were able to spend with my mom on this side of the veil. It also describes in detail the simple life of faith in Jesus that we are called to live. This morning, I've found myself walking around the house driving around town, and generally doing my daily routine with this chorus echoing in my mind. "I'm Yours!"
I miss my mom, and it is good to re-visit the past, and remember all of the times--both difficult and joyful. This song carries me back into the hospital and the times we spent sitting with her, laughing with her, sharing stories, and loving and being loved.
As you read this blog, and listen to this song, I ask you to reflect on where you are with Jesus. My mom was radically changed by her faith in Jesus, and it made even metastatic breast cancer seem trivial in comparison to the greatness of His love toward her and the overwhelming abundance of love she had to give even as she spent her last moments with us.
May you know Him, and may His love flow through you so that you can join the chorus of the saints who have sung with Daniel, Stephen, Willie, and my mom, "I'm Yours, I'm Yours, forever and always I will be Yours!"
Sunday, April 27, 2008
The Non-conformist--Faith Under Fire
This week at h2o, Ben Allen, a local YoungLife leader, continued walking us through our current series The Non-Conformist. Specifically, he told the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and how this story bears lessons for each of us. Not familiar with these guys, check ‘em out in Daniel chapter 3.
Daniel’s three friends refused to worship an idol (a ninety foot tall statue of the king of Babylon). As a result of their refusal, the king of Babylon told them that they were going to be placed in a fiery furnace. The king was going to burn them alive for their rebellion.
Many of us believe that we would do the same and die for our faith, but the irony of it all is that as much as we think we would be willing to die for our faith many of us lead lives filled with compromise.
Not only did Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego refuse, but they said that their God could deliver them—but even if He didn’t deliver, they would rather die than worship something other than their God.
They went through the fire, and they came out alive. Even the soldiers preparing the fire were consumed by it, but these three men were not burned. Amazingly, there was what appeared to be a fourth person in the fire, and the fourth had an appearance like a son of the gods.
When we step out in faith, God doesn’t leave us hanging. He may not deliver us like He did these three, but He will walk through it all with us.
When we make a stand for God in the midst of persecution—God gets glofied.
Further, when we are willing to resist, we are able to be even greater witnesses to other people. King Nebuchadnezzar said that there is no other god who is able to rescue in this way. By resisting the temptation to go with the flow of this world, they were able to win the heart of the most powerful leader in the world.
Often we are tempted to give in to the sway of this world. We gossip, we become gluttonous and indulgent, we lust, and we give in to all kinds of “every day” temptations. Rather than waiting for someone to throw us into a furnace, perhaps we should learn to resist in our every day existence.
How do we overcome?
According to Ben, and more importantly, the Bible, we need to fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith.
Take some time and look to the One who leads and guides us.
Daniel’s three friends refused to worship an idol (a ninety foot tall statue of the king of Babylon). As a result of their refusal, the king of Babylon told them that they were going to be placed in a fiery furnace. The king was going to burn them alive for their rebellion.
Many of us believe that we would do the same and die for our faith, but the irony of it all is that as much as we think we would be willing to die for our faith many of us lead lives filled with compromise.
Not only did Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego refuse, but they said that their God could deliver them—but even if He didn’t deliver, they would rather die than worship something other than their God.
They went through the fire, and they came out alive. Even the soldiers preparing the fire were consumed by it, but these three men were not burned. Amazingly, there was what appeared to be a fourth person in the fire, and the fourth had an appearance like a son of the gods.
When we step out in faith, God doesn’t leave us hanging. He may not deliver us like He did these three, but He will walk through it all with us.
When we make a stand for God in the midst of persecution—God gets glofied.
Further, when we are willing to resist, we are able to be even greater witnesses to other people. King Nebuchadnezzar said that there is no other god who is able to rescue in this way. By resisting the temptation to go with the flow of this world, they were able to win the heart of the most powerful leader in the world.
Often we are tempted to give in to the sway of this world. We gossip, we become gluttonous and indulgent, we lust, and we give in to all kinds of “every day” temptations. Rather than waiting for someone to throw us into a furnace, perhaps we should learn to resist in our every day existence.
How do we overcome?
According to Ben, and more importantly, the Bible, we need to fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith.
Take some time and look to the One who leads and guides us.
Sunday, April 20, 2008
The Nonconformist-Uncompromised
I took this photo during a recent faith venture to Washington, DC with a group of friends from h2o. I thought it was a great representation of a life that didn't conform to the norm.
This week at h2o, we started a new series called The Non-conformist and the name of this week's talk was Uncompromised. The series is looking at the lives of Daniel and his friends, and how they refused to conform to the ideals of the society within which they were placed. Daniel and his friends lived in a very difficult time, and they were eyewitnesses of one of the greatest tragedies in the history of their people. The defeat of Judah by the Babylonians, and the subsequent deporting that took place. Daniel and his friends were children who were brought into the most powerful Kingdom of their day, and they were given many "opportunities" to assimilate and find their identity in the new Kingdom. All the while, they resisted; they didn't yield their identity or try to "blend" in with everyone else.
There are ways in which they experienced the same culture as their babylonian peers, but they experienced it differently. They used every opportunity they had to glorify God. When it came to education, they pursued education in Babylon with diligence. But when it came to compromising their faith in YHWH, they were unwaivering in their commitment.
They wouldn't eat the King's food or drink his wine. I wonder if anybody would have faulted them for it if they would have. You see, I think that's the way compromise sneaks into our lives. We justify every little thing, and nobody really makes an effort to call us out. It's almost like some sins are somewhat respectable in the eyes of most people. And maybe that's just our problem.
This all the forces at work in this world are bent on making us just like everybody else. But God is interested in conforming us to the image of His son. For Daniel and his cohorts it wasn't necessarily the foods themselves, but maybe it was what those foods represented. Those foods and wine represented Babylon and all it had to offer.
Sometimes I think our lens gets hazy and we become somewhat blinded or forgetful when it comes to understanding our place in God's story.
So let me ask you a question. Have you bought into another story? Are there areas of your life that have forgotten God's great story of love, mercy, reconciliation, and restoration? Now is as good a time as any to take stock and let go.
As Paul Reminds us in his letter to the church in Rome, "Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind."
Let's renew, and let Him transform us--so that we, like Daniel, might transform the place where we live for the glory of the Messiah.
This week at h2o, we started a new series called The Non-conformist and the name of this week's talk was Uncompromised. The series is looking at the lives of Daniel and his friends, and how they refused to conform to the ideals of the society within which they were placed. Daniel and his friends lived in a very difficult time, and they were eyewitnesses of one of the greatest tragedies in the history of their people. The defeat of Judah by the Babylonians, and the subsequent deporting that took place. Daniel and his friends were children who were brought into the most powerful Kingdom of their day, and they were given many "opportunities" to assimilate and find their identity in the new Kingdom. All the while, they resisted; they didn't yield their identity or try to "blend" in with everyone else.
There are ways in which they experienced the same culture as their babylonian peers, but they experienced it differently. They used every opportunity they had to glorify God. When it came to education, they pursued education in Babylon with diligence. But when it came to compromising their faith in YHWH, they were unwaivering in their commitment.
They wouldn't eat the King's food or drink his wine. I wonder if anybody would have faulted them for it if they would have. You see, I think that's the way compromise sneaks into our lives. We justify every little thing, and nobody really makes an effort to call us out. It's almost like some sins are somewhat respectable in the eyes of most people. And maybe that's just our problem.
This all the forces at work in this world are bent on making us just like everybody else. But God is interested in conforming us to the image of His son. For Daniel and his cohorts it wasn't necessarily the foods themselves, but maybe it was what those foods represented. Those foods and wine represented Babylon and all it had to offer.
Sometimes I think our lens gets hazy and we become somewhat blinded or forgetful when it comes to understanding our place in God's story.
So let me ask you a question. Have you bought into another story? Are there areas of your life that have forgotten God's great story of love, mercy, reconciliation, and restoration? Now is as good a time as any to take stock and let go.
As Paul Reminds us in his letter to the church in Rome, "Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind."
Let's renew, and let Him transform us--so that we, like Daniel, might transform the place where we live for the glory of the Messiah.
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How in the world did Daniel end up in a lions den? If you read the book of Daniel, it seems like he constantly finds himself in the kings favor. Two weeks ago we talked about how he refused to eat the King's diet and compromise in that way, and how he and his friends were set apart from their peers by their excellence. Last week, we talked about how his friends ended up in a fiery furnace for refusing to bow before an idol of the King, and we also heard about how God delivered them.
But this week, this week Daniel ends up in a lion's den. It doesn't seem fair. Daniel is an old man by this time, and the king seems to really like him. But there were others who resented Daniel. They resented Daniel, not because he was a bad person, but because he wasn't. They resented him because they couldn't find fault with him. The only way they could find fault was in the way he followed God.
They tried to get him in trouble for following God. Seems kind of silly doesn't it? Wouldn't it be amazing if we led that kind of life though? What if people who could find no fault with Christians except that we followed our God zealously? Personally I think that would be amazing!
As we end this series called the non-conformist, I want to encourage you to be a non-conformist when it comes to this world and it's way of doing things. Let's strive to set ourselves apart--not by our weird Christian insider language, and the fact that we tote Bibles around, but because we are passionately pursuing God.
I'll point out one other thing. Daniel's obedience to God landed him in the den of lions. Sometimes we get this weird idea that we won't undergo persecution or hardship when we are following Christ. God didn't deliver Daniel from the lions den--but he did deliver Daniel in the lions den. Sometimes we have to go through some major difficulties in this world.
I think about my mom in this instance. God didn't save her from cancer, but instead he delivered her right in the middle of cancer. He walked right with her through every difficult step. And because of that truth--my mom was able to bless many with her story. She's with Jesus now--He came and met her in the middle of the cancer, and He brought her home.
When you see trials coming your way, it's the natural tendency of all of us to avoid them if at all possible--I'm sure Daniel didn't want to be in the lions den. At the same time, there are just some things we cannot do--we can not compromise our faith in our King to secure a better spot in this world.
Let's honor God with our lives, and trust him to walk with us in those challenging times. He has the power to deliver us, and in the end no matter what the outcome in this world, our truelife will be better for it when we resist the urge to compromise.