Reason #921
A few years ago I emptied the pictures out of all of frames in my house and replaced them with bible verses. It was an easy and comforting décor fix. Truth be told, I've left the majority of them that way. I've gone back and put pictures I some of the frames, but many of them still hold bible verses that are near and dear to my heart. As I cleaned the house this afternoon, I was reminded of my decision to do that a few years ago. I remember thinking to myself that empty picture frames looked a million times better with God's words in them.
We talked about Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego this morning. I wrote about them last night and how God rescued them from the furnace. I talked about how they probably for a million different ways to be saved from the flames as soon as they found out what was coming their way. But I don't think they actually expected God to show up in the middle of the furnace and meet them their. They probably didn't even think to ask that. I bet their hopes were that something divine would happen before having to be thrown into that furnace. As God would have it, the divine things would begin to happen the moment they were tossed into the flames.
The Lord showed up to meet them there. The king noticed the four men were walking around, and I wonder why. Why didn't they get out ASAP? Why would they want to stay in that environment? The Savior had shown up. They were soaking up their time with Him. They weren't anxious to get out. Clearly, they wanted to be right there. They wanted to fellowship with Him even if their circumstances weren't comfortable, and notice that He gave them the ability to endure it. The heat, the flames, the fear of the unknown. They were able to hang in there because He was right in there with them. His strength was being made perfect through them, and I just have to believe this is one of those life changing moments for Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Not because they were spared from the fire, but rather because they found their Savior in the midst of the fire.
The fire isn't a bad place to be when Jesus joins you there. I look back to my "furnace experience" and I realize that it was one of the richest times of my life. It was one of the most abundant, fruitful seasons I have ever experienced, and sometimes I find myself reminiscing about those days. I always talk about them because I am still so amazed by what God did for me. I think back to how the Lord rescued me. How He would show up in such tangible, incredible, unexpected ways just to be with me. To encourage me, comfort me, calm my fears, and help me endure. To remind me that I wasn't going through it alone but that He was there to see me through it one way or another. And I realize that the reason Jesus showed up time and time again was because I was desperate for Him. I was absolutely depending on Him to save me. There was no one who could change my circumstances but the Lord. No one who could turn my life around but God.
God will show up when we need Him. It may not be where we expect to find Him, but all that matters is that He is there. I know Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego desperately need the Lord to rescue them. No one could save them but God. And when they took that leap into the furnace because of their faithfulness to serving the Lord, they, too, found that He was faithful. God won't let you down.
#921 - Because He joins us in the fire, we can endure the flames.
“Look!” Nebuchadnezzar shouted. “I see four men, unbound, walking around in the fire unharmed! And the fourth looks like a god! Then Nebuchadnezzar came as close as he could to the door of the flaming furnace and shouted: “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, servants of the Most High God, come out! Come here!” - Daniel 3:25-26
We talked about Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego this morning. I wrote about them last night and how God rescued them from the furnace. I talked about how they probably for a million different ways to be saved from the flames as soon as they found out what was coming their way. But I don't think they actually expected God to show up in the middle of the furnace and meet them their. They probably didn't even think to ask that. I bet their hopes were that something divine would happen before having to be thrown into that furnace. As God would have it, the divine things would begin to happen the moment they were tossed into the flames.
The Lord showed up to meet them there. The king noticed the four men were walking around, and I wonder why. Why didn't they get out ASAP? Why would they want to stay in that environment? The Savior had shown up. They were soaking up their time with Him. They weren't anxious to get out. Clearly, they wanted to be right there. They wanted to fellowship with Him even if their circumstances weren't comfortable, and notice that He gave them the ability to endure it. The heat, the flames, the fear of the unknown. They were able to hang in there because He was right in there with them. His strength was being made perfect through them, and I just have to believe this is one of those life changing moments for Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Not because they were spared from the fire, but rather because they found their Savior in the midst of the fire.
The fire isn't a bad place to be when Jesus joins you there. I look back to my "furnace experience" and I realize that it was one of the richest times of my life. It was one of the most abundant, fruitful seasons I have ever experienced, and sometimes I find myself reminiscing about those days. I always talk about them because I am still so amazed by what God did for me. I think back to how the Lord rescued me. How He would show up in such tangible, incredible, unexpected ways just to be with me. To encourage me, comfort me, calm my fears, and help me endure. To remind me that I wasn't going through it alone but that He was there to see me through it one way or another. And I realize that the reason Jesus showed up time and time again was because I was desperate for Him. I was absolutely depending on Him to save me. There was no one who could change my circumstances but the Lord. No one who could turn my life around but God.
God will show up when we need Him. It may not be where we expect to find Him, but all that matters is that He is there. I know Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego desperately need the Lord to rescue them. No one could save them but God. And when they took that leap into the furnace because of their faithfulness to serving the Lord, they, too, found that He was faithful. God won't let you down.
#921 - Because He joins us in the fire, we can endure the flames.
“Look!” Nebuchadnezzar shouted. “I see four men, unbound, walking around in the fire unharmed! And the fourth looks like a god! Then Nebuchadnezzar came as close as he could to the door of the flaming furnace and shouted: “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, servants of the Most High God, come out! Come here!” - Daniel 3:25-26