Fireproof - If You Can't Take The Heat

Harry Truman - If you can’t take the heat...

The Kitchen is where it’s Cookin!

What I know about Heat and pressure - Hot Wings! Iron into Steel Charcoal to Diamonds

Jeremiah 12 - "Why do wicked prosper? Rub it in my face?" So you can run w/ the horses

If you Mickey Mouse around with God - you will get burned - Matt. 3:10-12 1 Cor. 3:13-15

Setting

Jews in Babylon Captivity -

King Nebuchadnezza selected the cream of the crop to groom as leaders (Maxwell classes)

Daniel - Belteshazzar; Hananiah - Shadrach; Mishael - Meshach; Azariah - Abednego

Diet test - true to their faith, no compromise

Daniel’s gift - interpret dreams and vision

King Nebuchadnezzars dream - now see if his investment pays off

Daniel prays, gets insight and gives the credit to God (see Dan. 2:27-28)

Dream of a Statue - Gold, Silver, Bronze and Iron mixed with clay

Immediately in Chapter 3 - Neb. Makes a gold statue - 90 ft high X 9 feet wide Too big to miss

Vs. 4-6 Issues an ultimatum

Vs. 8-12 tattletales

Vs. 13-15 Called on the carpet - King rages in anger - who can save you now

Vs. 16-18 Gutsy move, IF - but no matter what (Not Why did God let it come to this?)

What does this mean to me?

If God cures my wife of cancer, my husbands heart disease, saves my child, gets me a good job, mends my marriage, etc.. But if not... Are you fully devoted? Are you free.

Are you there yet?

God does His finest work - in the Furnace

Under Pressure - He Refines our Character

Refines our motives, character Nickel in the pants pocket at the dry cleaners

When He turns up the heat - it burns up the trash in our lives

Refiners fire not comfortable but a good place to be

Flash paper make a list of things that you spend time doing, hold up to a candle

As sure as ever God puts his children in the furnace He will be in the furnace with them.

It is not until we have passed through the furnace that we are made to know how much dross there is in our composition. The fire will burn up the trash in your life

What was burned up in Dan. 3? 2 things (make the church figure it out)

The soldiers and the ropes that tied them up

In the Furnace - we do our finest work

Trusting God and not succumbing to fears

Fear not - why - fear sinks us faster than sin or temptation

Telling Kenny the snake is safe won’t bite - it bit me - would Kenny believe

Orbergs’ 2 yr old daughter fear of water - stay back or you’ll drown. She fell in "I drowned"

Fear is faith in reverse - faiths biggest obstacle

Fear paralyzes you keeps you from trusting and obeying God

Group A make as many pots as possible in 24 hours, B group make as many quality pots as possible. Group A made more pots & more quality pots not fearing failure made the learning easier and faster

Leader/follower - boat drive - water-skier go into tricky waters - (this is gonna hurt) you have a choice - entrepreneur let go of the tow rope or ski better

Giving into fear is a joy killer, what if.... Conquering fear is a joy thriller - I lived!!!

You will never do what God intends for you to do what you were created to do unless you conquer you fears

Focusing on what matters (But if not...)

We engage a lot of time and energy in Impression Management - fearful of what others think,

not Daniel’s friends

Am I chasing the right dream?

"Bill Bright founded Campus Crusade for Christ. Through Crusade staff around the world, the Four Spiritual Laws tract, and the Jesus film (seen by over one billion people), over one hundred fifty million people have come to Christ and will spend eternity in heaven.

Someone asked Bill ’Why did God use and bless your life so much?’ He said, ’When I was a young man I made a contract with God. I literally wrote it out and signed my name at the bottom. It said ’From this day forward, I am a slave of Jesus Christ.’’