Live Free with Josh Howerton - God Delivers Through the Fire | Ep. 439 | Thursday, October 10, 2024

Episode Date: October 10, 2024

The fires of life serve as tests to refine and purify your faith, ultimately leading you closer to God's unfailing love. Even in challenging times, trust in God's power and ability to overcome all obstacles. Embrace the fires to strengthen your character and faith, knowing that you are never alone with Jesus by your side. For more information, visit lakepointe.church/dailydrive

Thanks for tuning in to today's Daily Drive with Lake Point Church, a daily dose of God's Word for your morning drive. When the word, not the world, becomes the majority of your week, your life will start to change. For that reason, our prayer is that God will speak to you through today's devotional. For more digital content to feed your faith, visit lakepoint.comit. And now let's dive in to today's devotional. Hey, what is up, everybody? This is the Daily Drive. My name is Bro, and we have been unpacking this incredible story. It's found in Daniel chapter 3 of the Old Testament section of the Bible. And just a real quick rewind, King Nebuchadnezzar, the Babylonian Empire, the big bad bullies on the block at that time, sets up this golden statue. And he commands everybody to bow before it and worship. And the three principal characters in this story, three guys named Shadrach, Meshach, and Abindigo, they won't do it. and some jealous guys, they tattel on them, and it makes King Nebuchadnezzar furious.

Let me go back and reread what we read yesterday to give us kind of an on-ramp into the day. Nebuchadnezzar said to them, Is it true? Shadrach Mishak and Mendego that you refuse to serve my gods? Or to worship the gold statue I've set up? I will give you one more chance, because he's thinking these are really good guys,

or three of the most valuable members of my administration. Maybe they didn't quite understand. I need to give him another shot. If you will bow down and worship the statue I've made when you hear the sound of the musical instruments, all will be well. However, if you refuse, you will be thrown immediately into the blazing furnace, and let me ask you, what God will be able to rescue you from my power then? Verse 16. They replied, O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you.

If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God whom we serve is able to save us. He will rescue us from your power, Your Majesty, but even if he doesn't, your Majesty, your Majesty, Your Majesty can be sure that we will never serve your gods, or worship the gold statue you have set up. The God whom we serve is able to save us. He will rescue us from your power. And did you catch that next phrase? But even if he doesn't.

But even if he doesn't. Man, that is packed with such faith. They're saying we know he sees the big picture, and we trust not only his power, but we trust his heart. We believe that he can do. this. But if he chooses for some reason not to, then

we're going to trust his unfailing love. I love the story that Stu Weber tells of the family vacation at a lake home. And a four-year-old fell off the dock and he couldn't swim very well and the dad had his back turned. And he heard a splash. And dad

turned around and saw his son was gone. So he ran on the dock and he dove in. And he finds this little kid holding his breath underwater with his arms and legs wrapped around the dock post. He grabs his kid, breaks through the surface, and he says, What were you doing down there? And the little boy goes, just waiting for you, dad, just waiting for you. And that was these three guys' attitude. Our father, our God will show up.

We don't know how. We don't know when. But he always does. And we're going to trust that. Well, verse 19, Nebuchadnezzar was so furious with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abedigo that his face became distorted with rage. He commanded. that the furnace be heated seven times hotter than usual, probably the match is anger, then he ordered some of the strongest men of his army to bind Shadrach Mishak and Bednego and throw them into the blazing furnace. So they tied them up, and threw them into the furnace fully clothed. And because the king and his anger had demanded such a hot fire in the furnace, the flames leapt out and killed the soldiers as they threw the three men in. So Shadrach, Mishak, and

Bendigo, securely tied, fell down into the roaring flames. My wife went through Bethmore's study of Daniel a few years ago, and she reminded me how talking about this particular story, Beth says, sometimes God delivers us from the fire, sometimes God delivers us through the fire, and sometimes he delivers us by the fire, straight into his arms. Now that first scenario from the fire, that sounds the best, doesn't it? The first The thing we do when things start the heat up is pray that the fire would not touch us, that it would just go around us or pass over us. And you know what, it's right to pray those kind of prayers.

There's not a lack of courage to pray for healing or protection or miracles. Sometimes he delivers us from the fire. And sometimes he delivers us through the fire. That's what he's done and is doing for so many of us. We have a friend in Stage 4 cancer. Her attitude is amazing. It's what brought her into a relationship with Jesus Christ. She talks about the new perspective on life that she has, all the internal growth that

he's done in her. She said, I know he will walk with me through this. And I've already filled in the blank. If blank, then God, he is with me. The Bible teaches that the tough stuff we go through refines our faith and makes it come out shining like gold that gets forged by the fire. And I've learned personally that that kind of fire, it can just burn the fake out of you. make your faith and character genuine.

Sometimes he delivers us from the fire. Sometimes he delivers us through the fire. And sometimes he delivers us by the fire, straight into his arms. He did that for a friend. She was in a horrific wreck that sent three people to the ICU and six to heaven. They say she died on impact. In a recovery program, she was experiencing brand new life. She was loving God like never before.

She was doing great. She was recently baptized. she was so alive, but she'd had a tough life. She'd wrestled with years with drug addictions and alcohol. She lost a daughter. And that night, she was driving, heard a boom, and the next thing she knew was, wow, this place is awesome. There's Jesus.

There's my daughter. And when that happens, our faith is made complete when we stand before our rescuer. Sometimes he delivers us from the fire, sometimes through the fire, and sometimes by the fire, straight into his arms. And I think that Shadrach, Meshach, and the Bendigo were thinking that this was either going to be the first scenario or the last one. I think they probably thought that either God would soon intervene and they would not be thrown into the fire, or they were going home to see their maker.

I don't think that it ever crossed their minds that they could actually make it through the fire. But check it out, verse 24. But suddenly, as he was watching, Nebuchadnezzar jumped up in amazement and exclaimed to his advisors, "'Didn't we tie up three men and throw them into the furnace?' "'Yes,' they said, "'we did indeed, Your Majesty. "'Well, look,' he shouted. "'I see four men, unbound, walking around in the fire.

"'They aren't even hurt by the flames. "'And the fourth looks like a divine being.' "'Now biblical scholars have different opinions about who that "'fourth man in the fire was. "'Could have been an angel. "'God could have done that. I think that's cool. But I believe that the way that this verse is translated in many texts the Son of Deity or the Son of God suggests that this was the very presence of Jesus himself.

He was right there in the fire with them. And you know what Jesus is called Emmanuel, which means God with us. And He is. And I know that some of you are going through some painful stuff, some hard stuff, real stuff. You're experiencing some pretty intense heat in your life. But he's with you in the first. fire. You are not alone. Listen to your father, say this to you. In Isaiah 43, when you go through deep waters, I'll be with you. When you go through rivers of difficulty, you will not drown. When you

walk through the fire of oppression, you will not be burned up. The flames will not consume you, for I am the Lord, your God. And it said, when, not if. Because we're all going to walk through some fires. We're all going to be faced with some scary things in life. But if blank happens, then God. He's always with us. Nothing can separate us from his unfailing love. He has prepared a better place, and Rack Shack and Benny had supreme confidence in all of that. And I pray that you have confidence

in that, too. If you know Jesus, then you know that nothing, nothing can separate you from his love, and that heaven is our real home. We're going to wrap this up tomorrow, but let me just leave you with these verses from 1 Peter 1, 1,000, beginning in verse 4. I love this. God has reserved for his children, the priceless gift of eternal life. It is kept in heaven for you, pure and undefiled, beyond the reach of change and decay. And God in His mighty power will make sure that you get there safely to receive it because you're

trusting him. It'll be yours in that coming last day for all to see, so be truly glad. There is wonderful joy ahead, even though the going is rough for a while. down here. These trials are only to test your faith to see whether or not it's strong and pure. It is being tested as fire test gold and purifies it. And your faith is far more precious to God than mere gold. So if your faith remains strong after being tried in the test tube of fiery trials, it'll bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day of his return. I'll see you back here tomorrow. Have a great day. Thanks for tuning in today.

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