“Dare To Be A Daniel”
Daniel 6:3-4 NLT
All through life we hear stories & meet people who have had a life that started or ran into some impossible odds.
If you are like me, I love hearing about those stories where all the odds were against them, but they rose to an amazing victory.
READ Story!
As with Ray Charles or Daniel, each & every one of us has to face some things in our life that will demand us to make some decisions.
I want to talk a few minutes about making decisions that can leave a legacy like many others have before us.
Hebrews says that many were recorded just for our examples of how God can bring anyone to His greatness for their life.
I. You CAN trust God…
The bible tells us that Daniel was a captive in Babylon. (Daniel 1:3) That is probably not what he considered as God’s awesome plan for his life.
Daniel 1:8-9 NLT But Daniel was determined not to defile himself by eating the food and wine given to them by the king. He asked the chief of staff for permission not to eat these unacceptable foods. Now God had given the chief of staff both respect and affection for Daniel.
Daniel had learned in his life that he could trust God.
Every person, before they can even be saved must come to a place they believe they can trust God.
Romans 10:9-10 NLT If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by confessing with your mouth that you are saved.
You must learn that God wants nothing but good things for your life. But sometimes we have set up some things that HE has to walk us thru which will require TRUST.
The Mountain Climber
-- Author Unknown
They tell the story of a mountain climber who, desperate to conquer the Aconcagua, initiated his climb after years of preparation. But he wanted the glory to himself; therefore, he went up alone. He started climbing and it was becoming later, and later. He did not prepare for camping, but decided to keep on going.
Soon it got dark. Night fell with heaviness at a very high altitude. Visibility was zero. Everything was black. There was no moon, and the stars were covered by clouds.
As he was climbing a ridge at about 100 meters from the top, he slipped and fell. Falling rapidly he could only see blotches of darkness that passed. He felt a terrible sensation of being sucked in by gravity. He kept falling... and in those anguishing moment’s good and bad memories passed through his mind. He thought certainly he would die.
But then he felt a jolt that almost tore him in half. Yes! Like any good mountain climber he had staked himself with a long rope tied to his waist.
In those moments of stillness, suspended in the air he had no other choice but to shout: "HELP ME GOD. HELP ME!"
All of a sudden he heard a deep voice from heaven... "What do you want me to do?"
"SAVE ME." "Do you REALLY think that I can save you?"
"OF COURSE, MY GOD." "Then cut the rope that is holding you up."
There was another moment of silence and stillness. The man just held tighter to the rope.
The rescue team says that the next day they found a frozen mountain climber hanging strongly to a rope...
TWO FEET OFF THE GROUND.
------------
How about you? How trusting are you in that rope? Why don't you let it go? I tell you, God has great and marvelous things planned for you.
CUT THE ROPE AND SIMPLY TRUST IN HIM.
Psalm 84:11-12 NLT For the LORD God is our sun and our shield. He gives us grace and glory.
The LORD will withhold no good thing from those who do what is right.
O LORD of Heaven’s Armies, what joy for those who trust in you.
II. You Can Believe in You Again…
Daniel probably had some days that things did not look so good. All he had for himself was his trust that God would not fail him.
Then in Daniel 2:48; 49 NLT Then the king appointed Daniel to a high position and gave him many valuable gifts. He made Daniel ruler over the whole province of Babylon, as well as chief over all his wise men.
Things began to turn around for Daniel. His confidence rose to a level that he even asked that his friends be promoted as well. At Daniel’s request, the king appointed Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego to be in charge of all the affairs of the province of Babylon, while Daniel remained in the king’s court.
After you begin to trust God, you must move into the place where you begin seeing yourself as HE does; not as your failures try to place you.
If you are truly trusting God, then you must believe what His Word says about you.
Ephesians 2:8-10 NLT God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.
I think it is difficult many times for us to understand that when we put our trust in God to forgive us our sins, that everything changes that very moment!
2 Corinthians 5:16-18 NCV From this time on we do not think of anyone as the world does. In the past we thought of Christ as the world thinks, but we no longer think of him in that way. If anyone belongs to Christ, there is a new creation. The old things have gone; everything is made new! All this is from God. Through Christ, God made peace between us and himself, and God gave us the work of telling everyone about the peace we can have with him.
If you can grasp this; ALL THINGS MADE NEW! Brand new start. Fresh page to start the next chapter in your life! WOW!
This positions us for my final point.
III. You CAN See the Impossible become Possible…
What is the one thing that comes to your mind right now that you would view as impossible in your life??? Come on, get real!!!
Is it a relationship? Is it your financial situation? What about a physical situation with you or a very close family member?
The list could go on…
After all the success that Daniel found coming to his life, he still found himself face to face with an impossible situation...
Daniel 6:16-17 NLT So at last the king gave orders for Daniel to be arrested and thrown into the den of lions. The king said to him, “May your God, whom you serve so faithfully, rescue you.”
A stone was brought and placed over the mouth of the den. The king sealed the stone with his own royal seal and the seals of his nobles, so that no one could rescue Daniel.
How many of you would have already lost faith & thru in the towel as you are done & over?
Daniel refused once again to doubt his God!
Daniel 6:19-23 NLT Very early the next morning, the king got up and hurried out to the lions’ den. 20 When he got there, he called out in anguish, “Daniel, servant of the living God! Was your God, whom you serve so faithfully, able to rescue you from the lions?”
21 Daniel answered, “Long live the king! 22 My God sent his angel to shut the lions’ mouths so that they would not hurt me, for I have been found innocent in his sight. And I have not wronged you, Your Majesty.”
23 The king was overjoyed and ordered that Daniel be lifted from the den. Not a scratch was found on him, for he had trusted in his God.
Why was the King overjoyed? Because Daniel had trusted in His God & HE did deliver Daniel.
Jeremiah 32:26-27 NLT Then this message came to Jeremiah from the LORD: “I am the LORD, the God of all the peoples of the world. Is anything too hard for me?
You must answer the Lord right now in your heart!
Are you trying to justify right now that your impossibility is too much for God to do for you?
Jesus said it like this;
Luke 18:27 NCV Jesus answered, "The things impossible for people are possible for God."
GNT Jesus answered, What is humanly impossible is possible for God.
So what about you today? Do you “Dare to be a Daniel?”
• One thing that stands between most people & their miracle is unbelief.
Only one thing cures that; radical faith for the impossible!
• Why don’t you make a decision TODAY to trust God for yourself & begin to believe in who HE has made you?
• That will put you in the position to see the impossible become possible!
