Men Wake Up, We Are In A Fight

Men, Wake Up To The Fight

6/19/2016 Daniel 3:1-15 Romans 12:1-2

Happy Father’s Day to all of you men out there who have served well as fathers, grandfathers, uncles, cousins, sons, brothers, coaches, teachers, big brothers, mentors, and role models. I want you to know, somebody is looking at your life today, and

God wants them to see a piece of Him when they look at you, because you have been created in the image of God. You are special and unique. There is not another man on the planet that can do everything you do.

If you don’t remember anything else I say, remember that God has a calling on your life, and you need to discover it, before you get around to meeting God face to face.

Men whether you know it or not, you’re in a fight and the other side is determined to take you out. What happens if you’re in a football game, and you’re the fullback to go crashing over the goal line.

It’s 4th down and inches to go for a touchdown with three seconds left in the game and you’re down by 4. The quarterback says hike it on hut hut 2 but you were convinced it was hut 3. Everybody takes off but you. The quarterback is left holding the ball. You lose the game.

What happens if you’re in a basketball game. You have the ball, the other team is up by two with 2 seconds left, you have the way for an open 3, but you’re not paying attention to the shot clock which is now at 0 and you release the ball with nothing but nets. What could have been a victory ends up a defeat.

What happens if you are in the boxing ring, and you walk into the ring and forget the bell has sounded, you think it’s time to be introduced so you walk over with your arms up in the air. You get knocked out. You need to know what is going on around you.

We are in a society in desperate need of men who know what is going on around them. The stakes are much higher than the national championship, much bigger than the super-bowl, much more important than the Olympics, and even more critical than the NBA finals.

God is looking for men, who know what time it is and what’s going on. You don’t hear much about the tribe of Issachar in the bible, but the one thing you find out about their men is stated in 1 Chronicles 12:32, “the men of Issachar understood the times and knew what Israel should do.”

Men, there is a battle going on for our minds in our society. It is working through a spirit of deception and pressure to conform us to what it wants us to become. The problem is, many of us are not even aware that we are in the midst of a spiritual battle. We think our ideas are our own, our tastes are our own choosing, and the way we carry ourselves is under our own control.

But God says, no that’s not true, you are being forced and molded into someone’s pattern for your life. That is why we find in Romans 12: (NIV) 2 Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is--his good, pleasing and perfect will. “We don’t understand God’s will, because somebody else has conformed our minds to their choice of pattern

In our Old Testament reading, the people of God had disobeyed God so many times, that God finally said, “look, you want nothing to do with me, I’ll let you have your way and face the consequences.” Men God wants to bless each of our lives, but God will not force us to do what we do not want to do.

Well the nation of Babylon was very powerful and bent on conquering the nations around it. God’s people were in Israel, and when the Babylonian army came against them, without God’s protection, they did not have a prayer. It would be like Jamaica taking on the United States in a military battle with no outside help.

Well the Babylonians removed the people of Israel from their land and resettled them elsewhere. But the smartest and brightest of the people were put in service for the king of Babylon. Now these smart people, knew that they lost their freedom because of their disobedience to God. So many of them, rededicated their lives to God.

They committed themselves to serve and bow down to the one true God. But here they are living in Babylon. The king of Babylon was Nebuchannezar. He had the biggest ego of anyone you could imagine and then some. He was a ruthless leader.