In today’s reading we find that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego were indeed saved, and much more than just saved:

“Then Nebuchadnezzar went near the mouth of the burning fiery furnace and spoke, saying, ‘Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, servants of the Most High God, come out, and come here.’ Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego came from the midst of the fire. And the satraps, administrators, governors, and the king’s counselors gathered together, and they saw these men on whose bodies the fire had no power; the hair of their head was not singed nor were their garments affected, and the smell of fire was not on them.” (a portion of the Old Testament reading for today, Daniel 3:26-27)

How many times have you been in a room where only one person was smoking a cigarette, and yet when you emerged you found your hair and your clothing smelled like smoke?  These three men were thrown into this fiercely hot furnace with all their clothes on (“bound in their coats, their trousers, their turbans, and their other garments”, v.21, probably to ensure they would catch fire immediately) and yet they emerged untouched, without even the SMELL of smoke anywhere!
This is an amazing thing: God rescued them from the fire, not by transporting them out of it but by joining them in it!

“Look!” he [Nebuchadnezzar] answered, “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.”

The point of this historical event is not so much that they were saved (which is glorious!), but much more so that Jesus was with them in the trial.  Faithful men and women throughout the ages have gone through trials, and many have not been saved from death (including ten of the original 11 apostles).  But Jesus Christ was with every single one of them whether He appeared visibly or not.

That, my friends, is what gives the courage to walk through every trial … even physical danger and opposition: the knowledge that our Saviour will never let us go through it alone.  “For He Himself has said, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you.'” (Hebrews 13:5b).  We can therefore say with confidence, “our God whom we serve is able to deliver us and He will deliver us; but even if He does not, we will not forsake Him” … and then step into the fire with our Lord.

Are you called to a position of involvement or leadership in some ministry of the Church?  If so, then know this: satan opposes every little thing that God does, and he will not fail to oppose you.  You will be tested as never before, and it won’t stop.

[King] Nebuchadnezzar spoke, saying to them, “Is it true, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, that you do not serve my gods or worship the gold image which I have set up? Now if you are ready at the time you hear the sound of the horn, flute, harp, lyre, and psaltery, in symphony with all kinds of music, and you fall down and worship the image which I have made, good! But if you do not worship, you shall be cast immediately into the midst of a burning fiery furnace. And who is the god who will deliver you from my hands?”
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego answered and said to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. If that is the case, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us from your hand, O king. But if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we do not serve your gods, nor will we worship the gold image which you have set up.”
(a portion of the Old Testament reading for today, Daniel 3:14-18)

Though satan sometimes rests from his assault, he never gives up.
When he has you beaten down and discouraged … will you give up?

“My brethren, let not many of you become teachers, knowing that we shall receive a stricter judgment.” (James 3:1)

Do you aspire to be a leader or teacher in the church? Count the cost. God will hold you accountable for those you teach, and especially for what you teach them. You will also encounter trials and challenges like never before. Your hopes and expectations will frequently come crashing to the ground. You will want to give up.

This is not a negative confession. It is fact. Jesus told His disciples at the Last Supper, “Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you. If they kept My word, they will keep yours also. But all these things they will do to you for My name’s sake, because they do not know Him who sent Me.” (John 15:20-21)

And it all seems so unfair. Jeremiah spoke to the Lord about this (from today’s Old Testament reading, Jeremiah 12:1-16).

Jeremiah:  “Righteous are You, O Lord, when I plead with You; yet let me talk with You about Your judgments.  Why does the way of the wicked prosper?  Why are those happy who deal so treacherously?” (v. 1)

The Lord:  “If you have run with the footmen, and they have wearied you, then how can you contend with horses?  And if in the land of peace, in which you trusted, they wearied you, then how will you do in the floodplain of the Jordan?” (v. 5)

The Lord’s response doesn’t seem filled with sympathy, does it? He says, in essence, “you haven’t seen anything yet. If these small challenges wear you out, what will happen to you when your path becomes really difficult and treacherous?” In fact God goes on to “complain” that His heritage – His people to whom He has given so much – have forsaken Him. The parallels to Jesus’ experience are unmistakable.

Yet He promises to restore and bless all those who are faithful. He will not cease working in them and through them … and He will not cease in you – if you do not give up seeking His face and His will, and then doing it!

Psalm 119:105 (NKJV)
Your word is a lantern to my feet and a light upon my path.

Job 12:5 (NKJV)
A lamp is despised in the thought of one who is at ease; it is made ready for those whose feet slip.

Do you see the connection between these two verses?  The first was written by one who know and loves God, and who trusts in Him for wisdom and guidance.  The second was written by Job, also a man who loves God and trusts Him for guidance, but who is being given wrong counsel by those he calls friends.  The second verse does not deny the first, but rather enlightens it (bringing further “light” to a Scripture about the light provided by Scripture).

Job knows the Word of God is a lantern of great value for illuminating the way ahead of us in our life’s journey.  His point is not about the light, but the keeper of the light.  When a person is in a secure and familiar place, the lamp or lantern is just in the way, something to be stored for later, “despised”.  The only reason it’s kept around in a state of readiness is for use when venturing into unknown territory or situations.

Job is telling his friends that he agrees with them regarding what Scripture says, but that they have no clue about how to apply it – to shine it on his path – because they are not on his path.  They have come to him in a desire to be of help, but they are each personally sitting in a place of ease: among them all, only he is in a place where his feet are slipping.  His faith is strong, but he knows that his position is precarious – even his wife is telling him to curse God and die!

The application is this: sometimes we think we’re at ease, but the enemy has us in a place where our feet are about to slip.  Because we don’t realize it, we don’t employ the light and satan takes us down into the ditch.  Job now knows that at any moment, in the blink of an eye, we can fall from a place of ease into a hard, rocky, and dangerous place where one more slip could spell our spiritual doom.

The lesson is this:  don’t just keep your lantern ready, the wick trimmed and with plenty of oil.  Use the lantern now – even if you think your life is at ease.  Make an intentional choice to employ the lantern every moment of every day.  Walk in the light as Jesus is in the light, and your way will be secure no matter how rocky and dangerous the path might be.

1 John 1:6-7 (NKJV)
If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.  But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin..

Are you feeling overwhelmed?  You are not alone!

Romans 8:18, 22-25 (NKJV)
18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.
22 For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now.  23 Not only that, but we also who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body.  24 For we were saved in this hope, but hope that is seen is not hope; for why does one still hope for what he sees?  25 But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with perseverance.

It is not wrong to admit how we feel; God does not call us to be in denial.  He does, however, call us to stand with Him against the feelings of the flesh which arise as a response to satan’s working in the world and in our lives.  He calls us to declare His Truth in the face of the enemy’s lies.

Satan would have us believe that he is winning, and much of what we see around us would support that.  The TRUTH is that he has already lost; his doom was assured the moment Jesus spoke from the cross, “It is finished.”  Nontheless he still wars against us, and he enlists men who will follow him in that battle.  Who can be against us?  Practically anyone: men, governments, nations, empires, demons, and satan himself.  The real question asked in Romans 8:31 is, who OF ANY CONSEQUENCE can be against us?  Who can defeat us?  Who can change the outcome of Christ’s victory over sin in the life of any believer?

The answer is: no one; nothing; not even satan himself.

Romans 8:31-39 (NKJV)
31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?  32 He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?  33 Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies.  34 Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us.  35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?  36 As it is written:
“For Your sake we are killed all day long;
We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.”
37 Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.  38 For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come,  39 nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Do I know exactly what God desires in every specific detail of this life, or even of this day? I do not, but when I pray I do not pray alone. The Holy Spirit – who DOES know exactly what God desires – prays with me, prays for me, and intercedes for me: He fills in the gap between my limited life/understanding and the omniscience of our all-loving Father.

He does the same for you, as well. That’s why all things work together for good!

Romans 8:26-28 (NKJV)
26 Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. 27 Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God. 28 And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.

About this election….

This applies not only to America but to every nation on earth where the people are involved in selecting their own leaders:

You cannot expect a people to choose Christian, moral leaders when the people themselves are not a Christian, moral people.  Add to that the principle which God Himself has spoken: if a people who have known Him and seen His blessings then turn away from Him, He will – for a time – abandon them to their own devices until they get their fill and turn in repentance.

The problem is not the elected leaders; the problem is the heart of those doing the electing.  Rather than lobbying your friends and neighbours to join your particular political persuasion, pray that individual hearts would be broken and filled with repentance.  Then when you rise from prayer, walk out your door and be the hands and feet of Jesus to all those you come in contact with.  Only through changed hearts will God change a nation.

We Americans – and others – who are aged have a unique experience and responsibility, for we have lived through times of God’s great blessing which younger ones have never known, and which the father of lies tells them through the culture were actually horrible times.  But we have seen the truth with our own eyes, and we are called to make that truth known.

“I will declare that the Lord is good, and His mercy endures forever.”  Go forth, and carry the Light of Christ into the darkness.

God has given you gifts and a calling: will you use them for His glory?

There is no need for any words of mine to be said:

Exodus 31:1-11 (Old Testament reading from the lectionary for today)

Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: “See, I have called by name Bezalel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah. And I have filled him with the Spirit of God, in wisdom, in understanding, in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship, to design artistic works, to work in gold, in silver, in bronze, in cutting jewels for setting, in carving wood, and to work in all manner of workmanship.

“And I, indeed I, have appointed with him Aholiab the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan; and I have put wisdom in the hearts of all the gifted artisans, that they may make all that I have commanded you: the tabernacle of meeting, the ark of the Testimony and the mercy seat that is on it, and all the furniture of the tabernacle—the table and its utensils, the pure gold lampstand with all its utensils, the altar of incense, the altar of burnt offering with all its utensils, and the laver and its base—the garments of ministry, the holy garments for Aaron the priest and the garments of his sons, to minister as priests, and the anointing oil and sweet incense for the holy place. According to all that I have commanded you they shall do.”

Matthew 5:13-16 (New Testament reading from the lectionary for today)

“You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men.

“You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden.  Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house.  Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.”

Immediately after his baptism – in fact, right after God the Father spoke the words, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” – “Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, afterward He was hungry.” (John 4:1-2)  Jesus spent forty days in the desert, fasting and disciplining Himself.  At the end of the forty days the devil came to Him to tempt Him.

The Church celebrates Lent so that we may voluntarily unite ourselves to Jesus in the same discipline: forty days of fasting (Sundays are not included as they are feast days celebrating the Resurrection, not fast days) and warring against the temptations of the world, the flesh, and the devil. We do not commit to a complete fast (no food), as  we are not Jesus and Lent is not a contest to see who can give up the most.  The key is to be “led by the Spirit” as Jesus was; to fast those things that the Holy Spirit brings to our minds as the things we run to or depend upon instead of Him.

In the Old Testament ashes were used to express grief and sorrow for sins. Job, when confronted by God after declaring his innocence, responds: ” I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees You.  Therefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes.” (Job 42:5–6)  The Church uses ashes made by burning completely the palm leaves blessed and waved on Palm Sunday the previous year.  This reminds us that the same people who cried, “Hosanna!  Blessed is He who comes in the Name of the Lord!” shortly thereafter cried, “Crucify Him!  Crucify Him!” just as loudly.  We are no less vulnerable to sin than they.

Dear Father, guide us through this holy Lent that we may be conformed to the image of Your Son, Jesus Christ. Help us to put on the full armour of God, and lead us in the power of Your Holy Spirit to put to death the lies of satan, the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches which so often keep us from being the people You have called us to be.  We ask this through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen!

Remember, o man [or woman], that you are dust, and to dust you shall return. Repent, and believe the Gospel!

(A portion of today’s Old Testament reading, Genesis 22:1-18, from the NKJV):

Now it came to pass after these things that God tested Abraham, and said to him, “Abraham!”

And he said, “Here I am.”

Then He said, “Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.”

So Abraham rose early in the morning and saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son; and he split the wood for the burnt offering, and arose and went to the place of which God had told him. Then on the third day Abraham lifted his eyes and saw the place afar off.  And Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey; the lad and I will go yonder and worship, and we will come back to you.”

We all know the story of Abraham and how he was willing to sacrifice his son Isaac when God asked him. Isaac was the son of promise, the one through whom God specifically vowed to make Abraham’s descendants like the stars of the sky and the sand on the seashore.  Abraham believed, he held nothing back from the Lord, and the New Testament tells us he was a type – a foreshadowing of what God the Father Himself did in giving His Son to be sacrificed for the world.

Today in this reading I noticed another parallel I hadn’t seen before. Abraham took his son and two servants and headed off to the destination God had appointed.  “Then on the third day Abraham lifted his eyes and saw the place afar off.”  Abraham journeyed during those days … days of uncertainty, of doubt (or at least strong temptation to doubt), of dread, of sadness; heading toward an outcome he could not see … and arrived on the third day.

Jesus was crucified on a Friday … and on the third day He rose from the dead. For the disciples and the women who were with them, those days were filled with uncertainty, of clear and definite doubt, of dread, of sadness, and of fear.  They were heading toward an outcome they couldn’t see, and though Jesus had promised them He would arise again they just didn’t understand … so they didn’t grasp the certain promise in the way that Abraham had.  They had no journey, they merely sat in a room and waited … for what?

The point is that we don’t always know the outcome of the trials we are facing. Even if we know God’s promises by heart, we do not know exactly how He will bring them to pass.  We have Abraham’s example of strong faith, and the disciples’ example of weak faith, but in both instances God was faithful to do what He had promised, and everyone involved was overjoyed to see the result.

We can build our lives on this fact. God’s sufficiency is not dependent upon the strength of our faith.  God’s sufficiency is Truth, and we can depend upon it and take hold of it.  Whether our grip is strong or weak, He is faithful and He will come through.

Thanks be to God!