Sunday Devotional...Lessons From Daniel

Today was my first Sunday being back in Bloomington, which allowed me to attend Sherwood Oaks Christian Church. The pastor there is Tom Ellsworth; he does a great job at delivering messages from the Bible that are easily understood by all who listen. He also does a great job of using Biblical stories and translating them to the lives we live today.

Today he preached from the book of Daniel. He explained that if we’re looking for a Biblical role model Daniel would be a smart choice. The remainder of the preaching went on from there.

As people, we tend to limit our faith to what happens on Sunday mornings and forget about it once we leave. We live our lives separated from church. The way we often see things is, we have our family life, friendships, and then there’s our spiritual lives. We need to realize that our spiritual lives should never leave us and be a part of everything that we do. We must not limit our faith, for a limited faith is a hollow faith.

The story of Daniel, Shadrak, Meshak and Abendigo was told using five important points or sections; the first being, A Diet That Worked. In short, a king ordered the four men to eat certain foods prepared by his kingdom but the four refused, for the food was not need because it was unholy. Daniel calmly and diplomatically made a deal with the king that would allow the four of them to eat a separate diet of vegetables and water. After ten days they were in must better shape than anyone else. The food was holy and a blessing from God. The message is this; when you do things God’s way He blesses in ways money cannot buy. He blesses you in ways you can’t imagine.

A Dream to Remember is the next part. The king had a dream and asked his servants to interpret the dream. However, the king refused to tell them what the dream was. This was not logical as there’s really no way someone can interpret a dream without knowing what the dream was. Despite this, Daniel prayed about it and God gave him the meaning of the dream. Daniel told the king what it meant, though he did not boast about what he had done. Instead, he gave credit and praise to God for giving him the vision of what the dream meant. Take this; in everything that happens in your life give credit, praise and glory to God.

The third is Faith In Fire. The king ordered everyone to bow down to false gods when certain music played but the Shadrak, Meshak and Abendigo refused. They responded, “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,” from Daniel 3:16-18.

They were thrown into the fire, only they did not burn. When the king looked into the furnace, he saw four men instead of four. It was God, Himself. Lesson: God never said he’d keep you out of the fire, He did say He’d walk through the fire with you to make you better in the end.

The fourth is Read the Writing on the Wall. Daniel told a new king the story from God about the last kings dream. A hand from God literally wrote this on a wall. The king was, however, stubborn and refused to take heed in order to prevent anything bad from happening. Lesson: Learn lessons from the past.

Lastly, Character Challenged by Envy. Have you ever noticed that those who go through life successful and faithfully are often envied (Tim Tebow immediately comes to mind)? This happened to Daniel and he was thrown into the lions den, only he lived and was unscathed. Lesson: Don’t let envious things of his world draw you in.

Sunday Devotional...Love

Yesterday, Whitney and I attended the wedding and reception of my good friend and former teammate, Josiah Sears and Lyndee Arnold. It was a beautiful ceremony and the reception was both elegant and fun. During the wedding the pastor recited a popular passage from 1 Corinthians 13, simply entitled "Love". I've always, well, loved this passage because it applies to anyone and any situation. And, because I failed to attend church this morning, I feel this passage is a perfect reading to share with you. It reads:

4Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

8Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. 9For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears. 11When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. 12Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

13And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

Sunday Devotional...You Are Favored

It’s the final Sunday of 2008 and so many things have been racing through my brain. As I sat in New Covenant Worship Center listening to everything Pastor Luther Whitfield preached I felt as if he was speaking directly to me, when in fact, it was God speaking to me through Luther.

What I’ve decided to do is bring you a devotional, an encouraging message each and every Sunday. We all need this at some point during our week. I hope it does you some good, for there’s nothing more important than one’s faith.

As 2009 rolls in we need to remember who we are and who we belong to in these rough times. Yes, we all know the economy is down; many are without jobs, some without a place to stay. But through it all we must remember that we are truly blessed in the Lord. We must not dwell on the things we don’t have, but, instead rejoice and thank Him for all that we do have.

We must strive for nothing less than greatness. We must continue to believe in our goals, for not only will God provide for His people, but He looks upon us in high favor, and we must always remember that. Too many times we get caught up in our own issues and begin to worry about the problems of the world allowing them to bring us down. Too often we forget that God has a plan.

Do not let your issues cloud what God has in store for you. The attitude of many is that they refuse God’s favor because of the condition they’re in. We wonder, “Who’s going to pay my bills? Will I have a job next week?” Not only are the motor companies looking to be bailed out but so are we! We must wake up and realize that worrying is a waste of time. It will only make our circumstances worse.

For us to improve we need to ask ourselves, “How big is my God?” We can’t forget that the Lord is bigger than ALL of our problems. He is able to do abundantly above all you can ask or think of. How we do as people in 2009 will be by God’s power. Not our own. In the New Year God will bless us all. We must receive His blessings and allow them to manifest in us.

So, in the next year strive for your goals like never before. Don’t allow time, unbelief or worry to creep in and take your faith. Have a vision. Have hope. Have dreams. Hang around others who believe in you and have similar goals. Follow those who are where you want to be and lead those who want to be where you are.

These challenges are not just for you, but for me as well. Both good times and bad times will be had in the New Year. But through it all we need to strive for greatness. So, let’s love each other, use the talents He’s given us and be blessed in the Lord in 2009. If we do that, we can’t be stopped.