Daniel 3: 15b-18 “But if you do not worship, you shall immediately be thrown into a furnace of blazing fire, and who is the god that will deliver you out of my hands?” Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to present a defense to you in this matter. If our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the furnace of blazing fire and out of your hand, O king, let him deliver us. But if not, be it known to you, O king that we will not serve your gods and we will not worship the golden status that you have set up.”
So from this scripture this week I want us to meditate on when our FAITH IS UNDER FIRE. Do we have faith in God and think that He is an awesome God when times are good and we are getting what we want? Or do we separate ourselves from God in time of trouble? In times of trouble, we have to put our faith into action by trusting and leaning on Our Heavenly Father. Romans 10:8-9 says “The word is near you, on your lips and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); because if you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. Faith is an action word; we have to put into motion our belief and the scripture that you just read is the Prayer of Confession so we have to believe in God with all of our heart and soul; and say with our mouth that we know that Jesus lives because He lives in us. You may have faith but feel that your faith is shaky in time of trouble. Luke 17:5-6 tells us how to increase our faith – it says The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!” The Lord replied, “If you had faith the size of a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you. So in your time of trouble if you just believe that the Lord Jesus Christ is with you with whatever you are going through and if you continue to learn and depend on Jesus in the midst of everything, He will bring you through it. In these days and times of recession, no jobs, unable to pay your bills on time, sickness, over looked for a promotion, stand, stand on the promises of Jesus when our FAITH is UNDER FIRE.
The focus scripture this morning tells us that men of old stood and depended on God during their trials and tribulations. King Nebuchadnezzar was in a furious rage because Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego would not serve his gods and worship his golden statue. King Nebuchadnezzar threw these men into a furnace and ordered the furnace to be heated up seven times more than was customary. And when King Nebuchadnezzar looked into the furnace, not only there was the three men he threw into the furnace but a fourth man walking in the middle of the fire, not hurt and the fourth man had the appearance of a god. So when our faith is tested, we must remember that God will be there with us in the middle of whatever our fiery furnaces/problems may be. When our faith comes under fire, we need to speak faithfully that we have the faith that we say that we have and confess with our mouth that we believe. Joshua 1:9 says "Be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go." So we can tell our mountain (no job, trouble in our marriage, trouble with our children, trouble on our job, unable to pay our bills, sickness, etc) to move out of our way. Speak that no matter what is happening right now in my life that God is there leading me all the way. Continue to talk and believe that God will deliver us from our trials and tribulations. So when our faith is tested - that is when we should look back to things God has done – things that only God could have done in our lives. Mark 9:24 tells us sometimes we are like the man who said to Jesus, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief.” We know that unbelief/not believing in God is wrong when we think of the gracious and powerful character of God – we know that God is ready to meet us where we are and lead us to greater faith. A prayer to God is faith in God. The power in faith rests with God and is not under the believer’s control. When our faith is tested, we are forced to feed and put our faith to work as we might not otherwise do. As we “dig in” and “hold on” to Christ, our faith grows. Jesus takes us into the fiery furnace of life to grow our faith. Our trials have come so that our faith will be of greater worth than any material thing. How many times life causes us to focus on what we don’t have and feel that there is no way out but faith reminds us that God is able, so keep praying, keep trusting, keep leaning on promises of God - FAITH UNDER FIRE. The old hymn sings have faith in God when your pathway is lonely, He sees and knows all the way you have trod, Never alone are the lease of His children; Have faith in God, have faith in God. Have faith in God when your prayers are unanswered, your earnest plea He will never forget; wait on the Lord, trust His Word and be patient; Have faith in God, He’ll answer yet. Have faith in God in your pain and your sorrow, His heart is touched with your grief and despair, Cast all your care and your burdens upon Him, and leave them there. Have faith in God, He’s on the throne; have faith in God, He watches over his own; He cannot fail, He must prevail; Have faith in God, have faith in God WHEN YOUR FAITH IS UNDER FIRE, HAVE FAITH IN GOD!!!
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