Challenged Champion For Christ Bible Blog 4

                                                       Chameleon Christianity

Shadrach, Meshach And Abednego replied, “O Nebuchadnezzar we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace the God we serve is able to save us from it and he will rescue us from your hand. But even if he does not we want you to know O king that we will not worship this golden image which you have set up. Daniel 3 17-18

Peer pressure is something we all face everyday of our lives in one way or another. This is true both for Christian and non Christian . Peer pressure is when a person or persons feels pressure to become like everyone else. Many things can cause this. It can range from fear of rejection, wanting to be accepted by others, to feeling like a person will lose a certain job or friend if they don’t act or live a certain way. This is epically true when it comes to Christianity. I meet so many people who claim to be followers of Christ and yet they live there lives like everyone else in the world because of the fear that peer pressure places on their lives. This is what my youth professor calls chameleon Christianity. Blending in to be like everyone else in the world in order to be loved and accepted by the world. This kind of living goes against everything that the gospel teaches. Jesus tells us in his word that we are to be in the world but not “of the world”.  James in his epistle makes it clear in chapter 4 that anyone who is a friend of this world makes himself an enemy of God.

What is it that causes a person to develop a continued habit of chameleon like Christianity? I believe the main reasons is fear. Many times I meet Christians, predominantly Christian teenagers who are afraid of what will happen if they step out and dare to take a stand for   God and  Jesus Christ. Many times Christians are afraid of the fiery furnace experience they will suffer at the hands of the world when they decided to make a difference for Christ.

Just this past week I happen to run across one of my favorite Bible stories that tells what happen to three Godly men who took a stand for God and who walked through a furnace. Not just a worldly one, but an honest to goodness flame breathing real one!  The event takes place in Daniel chapter 3.  Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon had built a large Golden statue based on a vision he had received from the Lord which was later interpreted by the prophet Daniel in Chapter 2.  In the dream the king of Babylon stood before a great statue which had a head of gold, a chest and arms of silver, its legs and feet were made of bronze and it toes were made out of clay. The king was told that this statue that was made up of many parts and represented four different kingdoms that were to come in the future. Nebuchadnezzar was told that his kingdom was the head of gold. However sometime later the king decided that instead of just being the head of the statue he wanted to be the whole statue. So he made a statue out of pure gold and issued a command that everyone who saw the statue was to fall down and worship the statue that was made in his image. This command was not just for the Israelites who had been taken into bondage but this was a command that was to be obeyed by all nations. Those who refused to obey the command would be thrown alive into a fiery furnace.  That’s exactly what happens to Daniels three friends. Scripture tells us that when the people heard the trumpet sound they were to fall down and worship the golden image. However Daniel’s three friends Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego refused to fall down and worship the image. Furious, the king declared that these men were to be thrown into a fire that was seven times hotter then usual. In fact this furnace was so hot that when the attendants opened the door to throw these three men in the attendants were burned alive. We can only image the fear these three men felt as they stood before the fire.  Yet something amazing happened in this story. The Bible tells us that on that day instead of seeing three men enter the furnace the king of Babylon saw four men in the furnace and the fourth one was like a son of man. I believe that this son of man was none other then the Lord Jesus Christ himself. Christ was walking with these three men and was ready to deliver them from the fire brought on them by the world.  In the  same way he walks with us when we face fiery furnaces brought on us by the world as well.

Today we as Christians will face many fiery furnace experiences- there is no doubt about it. Jesus clearly states in John chapter 16:33 that in this world we will have trouble. However he also tells us to be of good cheer.  Why?   Because he has overcome the world. He did this by his death on the cross. Because of what Jesus Christ did for us on the cross we can rest assured that not matter what we face in this world, he will be with us the same way he was with those three Godly men in the furnace that day in Babylon.  We will come through untouched by what the world throws at us.

A Challenge from the Challenged Champion.

Are you going through a fiery furnace experience right now brought on to you by the pressure to be like everyone else.  We all have those kind of experiences at different times in our lives.  Maybe it’s a simple thing like taking a break that’s five minutes too long, or talking and backstabbing people in leadership.  Maybe it’s just hanging with the wrong people who are always negative about everything.  Maybe it’s bigger than that.  Being in any environment that encourages you to behave in a way that is not Christ like would qualify as a “the fiery furnace of peer pressure”.

These three Godly men faced this same challenged and they refused become like everyone else. They took a stand for God and got thrown into a furnace. In today’s terms they “just said no!”   God was with them to helped them get through it.

Maybe that’s you- maybe you have taken a stand for Christ and are now in a fiery furnace. Or maybe you need to take a stand and step into the fiery  furnace.  If you are there ask God to give the strength to get through it. Trust me, he will be with you to help you get through the ordeal the same way he was with these three men. You must only ask for his help. Remember First Peter states,  “cast all your cares upon him for he cares for you”.

                      Challenged Champion For Christ Bible Blog 3

                   A Good And Perfect Gift From A Heavenly Father.

Every Good and perfect gift is from above. And comes down from the father of lights who does not change like the shifting shadows. James 1:17

Think about the most wonderful perfect gift you have ever received in your life from the father who raised you. Growing up I can recall many great gifts my father gave to me. Sometimes he gave me a gift because it was my birthday, Christmas, or because he just simply loved me. However when I think about the best gifts my father have given to me over the years they were not gifts bought with money they were gifts given out of his love for me. Gifts like his time, meaningful conversations, a love for family and friends, a strong faith in the Lord and a passion to serve the Lord through ministry by the playing of music and preaching God’s word.

Over the past several weeks I have been going through a study of the book of James, the half brother of Jesus Christ. In chapter one James spends a great deal of time talking about how every good and perfect gift comes from God the father, or as James put it from the “father of lights”.  Now let me just say that whether or not you have been a child of God for many years or if you have just come to faith in Jesus Christ recently - it does not matter. If you are a child of God you have been given at least one special and perfect gift.  God has given you this gift for two main reasons. First, just as our earthly fathers choose to give us gifts out of love so our heavenly father chooses to give us spiritual gifts out of love. These kinds of spiritual gifts would include thing like the gift of service, the gift of encouraging, the gift of giving hope to others the gift of teaching and the gift of prophecy proclaiming Gods truth to others.  No matter what spiritual gift God has given to you whether it be one or many, God has given you these spiritual gifts because first and foremost because he loves you. The second reason God gives his Children gifts is because they are always good and perfect in fulfilling the purpose that God has for the lives of those who belong to him. As Beth Moore so rightly put it’, Gods gifts are always perfect because they are always perfecting. God’s gifts always make the lives of those he gives them to.

However when it comes to God giving gifts to his children we must always remember not to rush God with the delivery date. I can remember so many times when I was growing up I wanted to rip open a gift my parents had for me before the delivery date. This desire mostly arose during the holidays. When I would ask my parents why I could not have the gift when I wanted it they would always tell me it wasn’t time yet.  My parents always knew when the time was right for me to receive a gift they had for me. That way when I received it,  the gift would be much more precious to me. I think sometimes we take this attitude with God when we discover that he has many wonderful surprises in store for us. Instead of waiting for God’s timing to give them to us we often want to find out what they are so we can rip them open before the proper delivery date.  Many times when we attempt to do this we take away the joy God receives from watching us receive the gifts he has for us and our lives.

There are two things I believe we can do to avoid making this kind of spiritual mistake. First we must be patient. The Bible tells us in Ecclesiastes chapter 3:10 that God makes all things beautiful in his time. We must be patient.  God will allow us to receive the gifts he has for us in his own time. That way when we do receive the gifts God has for us we will be in the right place and the right time to use them for the glory of his kingdom. Secondly,  we must never fail to remember the gifts he has given to us already. Whenever we become impatient in waiting for God to open doors or bless us with spiritual or physical gifts, we should always remember the fact that he already given us the greatest gift imaginable which is the giving of his son Jesus Christ. John 3:16 says “For God so love the world that he gave his only son that who so ever believes in his will not perish but have eternal life. Wow I don’t know about you but I would say that’s a great gift from our heavenly father -wouldn’t you. God gave the gift of his son so that those who believe in him would receive an even greater gift -the gift of eternal life. May we never take the good and perfect gifts from our heavenly father for granted again. All the gifts God gives to his children are gifts of his love for us. And they all begin with his greatest gift to us - the gift of eternal life through the death of his son on a cross. I know I won’t take the gifts God has given to me for granted and my prayer is that you won’t either.

A Challenge from the Challenged champion.

What are some of the good and perfect gifts God the father has given to you throughout your life for the glory of his kingdom? Are they one or are they many? My challenge to you this week is to take the time to remember and thank God for all the wonderful gifts he places into your life. Not just the physical gifts, but  the spiritual ones as well. Take some time this week to realize these gifts came not only from a father of power, but more importantly from a father of love.