What Would You Do?

Daniel 3:4-6 - Then a herald cried aloud: “To you it is commanded, O peoples, nations, and languages, that at the time you hear the sound of the horn, flute, harp, lyre, and psaltery, in symphony with all kinds of music, you shall fall down and worship the gold image that King Nebuchadnezzar has set up; and whoever does not fall down and worship shall  be cast immediately into the midst of a burning fiery furnace.”

This is  in the time of Daniel. The Book of Daniel is prophetic. It shows us what happened in the past will happen in the future for some. It is a warning...and a blessing for those who heed the warning.

Look at the world around us. There are idols everywhere. Sports, entertainment, games, occupations, automobiles, power, politicians, food, alcohol, drugs. Anything that consumes our minds. Anything we spend too much time involved in. Anything that takes our minds off the better things, like God.

Moderation. Balance. These are words that should be associated with our lives. Not obsession...or possession.

If you recall, while Moses was up on a mountaintop with God being given the commandments, the people below were sure something had happened to him. Thinking he would not return Aaron directed them to pool their jewelry and precious gold to build a golden calf image so they could worship. They would bow before it. To this day I can't understand how worshiping the image of an animal would be like worshiping God. It doesn't compute. It is a great lie and these Israelites fell for it.

But isn't that what we do when instead of taking those few minutes of spare time and conversing with God? When the noise of life distracts us.

What has this to do with Nebuchadnezzar's proclamation above? The rest of the story is revealed shortly after. Daniel's three friends, Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-Nego, Jews who worshiped God, we're noticed not bowing when all others had. Their allegiance was to One they claimed greater than a manmade god. It was brought to the king's attention and the consequences of their actions adhered to.

The king called them before him and gave them another opportunity to bow before his god. He made sure they realized what the consequences would be asking them, with a sneer no doubt, which of his gods would be able to rescue them from the fiery furnace. They stood their ground and said that their God, if He chose, would deliver them. If not they still would not bow to his.

This clearly angered the king and as he had proclaimed, these three young men were thrown into the center of burning of fiery furnace, one that was made hotter than normal. Three other men were ordered to take them. As they threw the three young men in, the fire consumed their guards, yet Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-Nego were not. However, now they bowed down.

Nebuchadnezzar was amazed when he saw four men in the fire, none of whom were consumed. He exclaimed: “Look!” ...  “I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire; and they are not hurt, and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God.” (Daniel 3:25)  Like the Son of God. Isn't this the Old Testament? Didn't the Son of God appear in the New Testament? Oh, that's right, this is prophetic! This Son of God was His holy angel.

There was a catch in my spirit when I wrote the 4th person seen was an angel. If this is a prophetic book, this was not an angel but a picture of Jesus, of He Who is with us in our greatest times of need if we bow before Him. Later in our Bible study on Daniel-admittedly I did not do my homework, only read Daniel 3 then wrote the blog-the fourth person as Jesus was mentioned and I recalled the catch in my spirit, which I failed to listen to. There you have it!

These three men came out of the fire without singed clothing or hair, not even the stench of smoke. They had been saved and delivered. That's what my God does.

We are all called to bow to one God alone. What does bowing and giving our lives to Jesus do? It saves us. It saves us from an eternal death...in hell. What are we told about those who will not bow? They are thrown into the pit of hell where the smoke of their torment ascends forever and ever; and they have no rest day or night, who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name.” (Revelation 14:11). The fire never ceases. The beast is one satan who deceives us daily into believing our idols are good.

Needless to say, Nebuchadnezzar became a believer after that. Nebuchadnezzar spoke, saying, “Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, who sent His Angel and delivered His servants who trusted in Him, and they have frustrated the king’s word, and yielded their bodies, that they should not serve nor worship any god except their own God! ...there is no other God who can deliver like this (Daniel 3:28-29). Blessed be our God for what He has done for us.

We can be comfortable in our conveniences and distractions. Life is Good, as a motto states. What will it take for others to recognize this God I speak of? What disaster of life... illness, addiction, idol, loss, hurt or abandonment...will cause one to think twice about what consumes us? What will it take to cause one to no longer bow before an idol of their own making and bow before the King of kings, Lord of lords, whose promises are sure and whose forgiveness is amazing. Our God is greater and more costly than the "gold" of our idols.

The law of the Lord is perfect...the testimony of the Lord is sure...the statutes of the Lord are right...the commandment of the Lord is pure...the fear of the Lord is clean...the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb...and  in keeping them there is great reward. (Psalms 19:7-11)

Every Knee Will Bow

Romans 14:8-13 - if we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. Therefore, whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s. For to this end Christ died and rose and lived again, that He might be Lord of both the dead and the living. But why do you judge your brother? Or why do you show contempt for your brother? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. For it is written: “As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to Me, and every tongue shall confess to God.” So then each of us shall give account of himself to God. Therefore let us not judge one another anymore, but rather resolve this, not to put a stumbling block or a cause to fall in our brother’s way. 

Oh boy, have these words been coming at me a lot lately. They've been in the back of my mind for some time. I'm thinking it started with all the Obama/Romney ads. I don't watch a lot of them. Too depressing, too angry. I think I have a pretty good handle on right and wrong and although neither man is perfect, one man is definitely the better choice.

Whether we live or die, if we are in relationship with the Lord, we are His. A win-win situation. What precious words to those who understand.

Anyway...I was poking around on Facebook the other day and was curious about a certain site. I knew it was going to be one that I would not like because of the political views, but I had to see what "the other side" was thinking.

There was a photo of a Christian state representative. He was being raked over the proverbial coals for his Christian beliefs about evolution, Big Bang theory, etc. As I read one vitriolic comment after another about religion and what insanity it is to believe in God and for him to debunk the "facts" about science, the verse about every knee bowing came to mind.

Some day we will all know the truth. We don't know exactly how it will happen, but it will. Everyone will know...everyone. It saddens my heart to read or hear how God is mocked and scorned. But then, I was sort of there once. I believed in God and had nothing against Him; just didn't think I needed Him in my life.

My thoughts, truthfully and apologetically, at first were defensive. Like, who are you to question God?  Then next thought is, Lord, forgive them.... We all are ignorant and foolish until He shows us the truth. Only He can open our eyes, hearts and minds.

I thought of the amount of pride that will be brought down that day when every knee bows and tongue confesses to God. I picture a great darkness...that will turn into the greatest light when truth is revealed. For many, however, it will be too late. For many the bowing will come after they have denigrated God with the hardest of unwavering hearts. We all will stand before Him for judgment. I do not want a heart of stone.

It's a narrow road. It's getting narrower. I can see how this world is believing a lie. It hurts. It's frustrating that it's hard to find people outside of the Church with whom a solid, inspiring conversation about our Lord can be had. Really good, meaningful discussions involve the mention of the name of Jesus.

I read the scripture at the bottom after I wrote my blog. It seemed a good ending. There IS foolishness in the world today. I came from this very foolishness so I know it exists. It comes from the very same pride as mentioned before. Only God can change it. But we have opportunity after opportunity to let go of our foolishness. It's all about our choices. The message of the Gospel does seem foolish to some.

Lord, I ask for You to intervene in this world...even closer to home in our country, city, community, churches, homes. Open the eyes of understanding that many would recognize who You are, rejoice, receive and be grateful for the grace of God in their lives and their new-found wisdom and understanding of You. That when the day comes their knees will be bowed joyfully, not forcefully. Praise You, O Lord.

1Corinthians 1:18, 21 - For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. 

Worshippers

Come, let us worship and bow down, let us kneel before the LORD our Maker. O magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt His name together. (Psalm 95:6, Psalm 34:3)

Pastor David Wilkerson of Times Square Church in New York City wrote this: worshippers are not made during revivals, in the good, sunny times, or periods of victory and health. Worshippers of God are made during dark stormy nights. And how we respond to our storms determines just what kind of worshippers we are.

How fitting that I read this after my blogs on giving and taking (December 30), new life (December 31) and words (yesterday). Words and thoughts that are kept positive are uplifting. When we are able to give when we sometimes would rather take, we benefit from it. New life in Christ gives us a new hope and new joy because we give of ourselves and not just take from Him. He brings comfort to our weary souls and when we can praise God in our difficulties we are able to share that comfort with others.

Just because we're in relationship with God and have this new life and work toward a better thought life, and ultimately better words, doesn't mean we'll be without trouble in our lives. Even our Pastor, Rory Grooters, brought this up on Sunday. I'm sure in any true Bible believing church it is preached. We need to be reminded that the ultimate end is the most important and all we go through to meet that end is nothing compared to the goodness of our spiritual eternal life.

That's where worshipping comes in. We praise God in good times and bad. We thank Him that even if we don't see what good a certain bad situation we're in is, we know God does and He's in control. As Pastor Rory also mentioned, we don't blame God for any of our circumstances. So keeping a worshipful attitude will get us through the circumstance. It may not ever go away, but maintaining a worshipful attitude toward God relieves some of the tension, pain, hurt, difficulty. On the other hand, praising God in the midst of trouble could very well get us through much quicker.

God loves it when we can overcome our troubles through worship. Praise God!  We also have a lifetime of things to worship God for. We don't need to be in church to do this. If we have received Christ, He dwells within us. When you view God's creation and have this overwhelming feeling of awe, that's worship. Thankfulness is worship. Singing of Him is worship. Delighting in Him is worship. Reading and listening to His voice in the Word is worship. Obeying His commands is worship. Loving is worship. We can do it every moment of our lives.

The world today, in general, does not worship God. They are consumed with their own lives. He is not part of the picture. They are missing out on God's blessings. He does not live within them.

It's time even for the Church to begin to set aside it's own agenda and truly seek God in worship. Stop with the seeker friendly messages to maintain and/or grow congregations. Begin to worship Him in spirit and in truth. 

We know that some day every knee will bow and every tongue will confess Him. Why not now? Why wait? It will happen anyway, whether it's done today or on the day He returns. Worship is defined as bowing down...the highest form of worship. Humbling ourselves before God. Isaiah 45:23-24 - I have sworn by Myself; the word has gone out of My mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, that to Me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall take an oath. Shall is the key word. We can do it today and be blessed or wait. It's a choice we each have to make.

Seek God now and the truth of who He is will be revealed. Understanding will come. We will be able to worship Him in the way He desires us to worship Him. Why struggle against it? It is my desire this year to pay more attention to worship. To be thankful in more situations than in the past. The day is over, a new has begun. The year is over and a new has begun. His mercies are new every morning. I thank Him for that. I will worship Him for each new day and the peeling away of my outer layers that He will be seen more in my life.

...in the day of trouble He will keep me safe in His dwelling; He will hide me in the shelter of His tabernacle and set me high upon a rock.  Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort. Who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God. (Psalm 27:5, 2Corinthians 1:3-4)