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.’’
