Rack, Shack and Benny

We all know the story of King Nebuchadnezzar, who commanded all the people to bow down to this great statue of gold. How the King signaled to the people when to bow down by having musicians play music. We know the punishment for not worshiping this idol was to be burned until death in a furnace of fire. As the scripture reads three men Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego refused to worship the King’s new idol. Instead they stayed loyal to the one true God. To just read the words of Daniel chapter 3, resisting bowing down in worship to a golden idol doesn’t seem like it would be that difficult to do. Just stay upright and keep walking. But in verse 10 (NASB95Update) it reads that everyone was commanded to worship this idol as the music was played. Not just two or three people here and there, everyone was told to worship. Think how fiercely Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego would’ve stood out as everyone is bowing down they are still standing. It’s not easy to refrain from fitting molds, to withstand doing what everyone else does. To have confidence that what you are doing is right and that God is with you. After all not just any man put up this huge statue. It was the King! The ruler of the people and the land, you don’t just say no to a King. When the King finds out about the three men’s disobedience to his new law he is furious. He confronts them and gives them a chance to cure themselves of their stubbornness. But, with all confidence in God they tell the King they will never serve his gods and with that, they are thrown into an overly heated blaze of fire. As King Nebuchadnezzar is looking into the fire he sees not only the three men he had thrown in but also a fourth man as well. This fourth man appears to the King as the Son of God. Those in the furnace are not all lying at the bottom screaming in pain from the fire. In fact they are not being burned at all, not even their garments, they are standing and moving about. The same fire that slew the guards, who took Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego to the furnace, has not even touched a single hair on these men’s heads. God had delivered them from even the hottest fires of a King. This passage’s application might be as easily over looked as the depth of confidence these three men showed withstanding a King and his rule. Since today statues of gold are not put up in the United States that we are forced as a nation to worship. But the horn, the flute, the harp, lyre, and psaltery are still being played today in symphony with all kinds of music. Our idols may not be 90x9 images of solid gold but they are there nonetheless. Something as simple as going to a movie on a Wednesday night and skipping church, has made two and a half hours of entertainment the idol, more important even than an eternal life with God. Spending too much money at the store and not having anything to give on Sunday mornings, has made getting that extra pair of shoes more important than giving back to God. And, those red high heels are forged of gold, and though physically they may only be inches high, they stand ninety feet in the air, and nine feet from left to right. Our Nebuchadnezzar is the world; his fire is anything that pulls our hearts and minds away from God. If we get too involved in our activities and with what we do, if we get too close to that fire, we will be burned the second that door of the furnace is opened. However, with confidence in Jesus' saving power, we can withstand the fire, we can say no to the King. With confidence in Jesus we can knock down our idols of gold and when they crash down then, we can see the true God we are to worship. That is the God who is in Heaven.

Keep your focus on Jesus Christ

And Peter answered Him and said, “Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.” So He said, “Come.” And when Peter had come down out of the boat, he walked on the water to go to Jesus. But when he saw that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink he cried out, saying, “Lord, save me!” And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and caught him, and said to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” With his focus on Jesus, the Apostle Peter was able to step out of a comfort zone and into a realm of constant uncertainty. Keeping his eyes on Jesus, staying focused on righteousness, kept his sight off of the waves that were looming in all directions. While Peter’s focus was Jesus Christ, he remained safe from peril and he over came the waves of fear and doubt. But, Peter broke that focus if only for a moment. Peter’s eyes went from the Lord Jesus to the water crashing so fiercely about him. With that simple glance away from Jesus, Satan was given all the time he needed and filled Peter’s mind with doubt in himself and in Jesus' saving power. In today’s time, the constant decrease of moral value gives Satan more chances to cause us to glance away from Christ. TV and movies are constantly pushing the envelope farther to have something new for us to focus on. Clothing commercials increase the amount of clothing they decrease from their models in hopes that our eyes will be drawn through lust and envy to the clothing being sold. Bright lights in bar windows and loud music from clubs draw us in from miles away. To take this at face value, it may seem like the waves of distraction are everywhere you look. It may seem like we have no hope but to sink. But, Jesus is there with his hand out ready to save us. Jesus is waiting for us to cry out to him and ask him to save us. The glory of God will always out shine the darkness of this world. The salvation offered through Christ will always bring hope to the lowest of hearts. Focus on God, keep your eyes on him, and over come the fear and doubt that Satan distracts us with every day.

The Lord My Rock

Mountains are a magnificent conglomeration of earth and stone. If one were to stand at the foot of a great mountain and look up towards its peak they might realize that they are not as big as they may sometimes feel. To climb to the top and stand on the highest point as the ground falls away their feet in every direction, they may feel fear and love for the God who can create such a glorious beauty.

Since I Grew up in a small town in Kansas, all I had ever known of mountains was what I had seen in pictures and movies. I never thought that I would ever set foot on the side of a mountain but that was before I moved to Colorado for college. Just a few days before school started, three of my new classmates and I got in a car and went to Mt. Evans (highest paved road in the entire world). We drove most of the way to the top and when the road came to an end, we hiked the rest of the way. At the top the view was brilliant and we walked along the edge of the mountain for quite a ways. We did not realize how far we had gone until we looked back to see that the return trip was not going to be fun. Three of us were grumbling to each other and the other guy in our group was checking over the ledge to see what it would take to climb down the side of the mountain. In his defense it really did look like it would be the easier route than the long walk back. So we decided to try the climb down. We had the plan of when we were at the base we would go to the road and hitchhike back to the top for the car.

So began the climb down. The first thirty feet was a cinch, it was a big dirt slide and there were handholds every inch of the way. It was after these 30 feet that our problems began when the dirt came to an end, leaving us with only cold rocks and steep drops. We wanted to turn around but it was impossible for us to climb back up the dirt we had just slid down on. None of us were dressed for cold weather, and sharp rocks or worse smooth rocks without any handholds made the descent very difficult. After a few very honest prayers for guidance from God, we continued on. Many times on the way down the only hold to be found was a small sliver of rock sticking out of the side of the mountain. This little stone was all that held us fast to the side of life and kept us from falling down the face of a mountain to our doom. But still we crept down slowly and with all caution.

We got to another point where we could not go down any farther. We had come to a ten foot drop straight down the side of the mountain and the landing was no more than a foot wide. To fall from this small ledge meant serious injury and ultimately even death. We were stuck. After a couple of the longest minutes of my life and seeing no other way but down, I sat on the ledge preparing to make the leap of faith. The muscles in my arms tightened as I was preparing to lower myself as far down as possible before dropping, when one of the guys told me to wait. He had climbed back up only about six feet and he had found what looked to be a straight walk the rest of the way down. I didn’t believe him at first. How could we have all missed something like that the first time? But, at this point any alternative was a good one, so we tried it. At the top of those six feet, my heart rejoiced. It was a slope of green grass angled just right to walk fully upright, the rest of the way down. When I thought that I was only seconds away from making a jump that more than likely would have been the last thing I ever did my stomach churned.

On the way down, one of the guys said to me “that sure gives new meaning to God is my rock”. I thought about that the entire ride home. How true that was, God is my rock. When the only thing you have to hold on to is a tiny rock smaller than your hand, you cling to that small stone with all hope rested in it staying in place. That is exactly how we should be with God, holding to him with every muscle in our body. This world is a mountain with steep cliffs and deadly rocks and if we slip we will die. But God is that stone that holds fast to the side of the mountain. He will always be there if we simply reach out to hold to him. “God is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer” Psalm 18:2.