LEARNING DAILY

Daniel 3:16-18, Shadrack, Meshack, and Abed-Nego answered, and said to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. If that is the case, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us from your hand, O king. But if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we do not serve your gods, nor will worship the gold image which you have set up.”

It is Memorial Day; the day set aside for us to remember those who “gave everything” so that we might be able to enjoy the freedoms we enjoy today. Many do not work today, get together with family for bar-b-que and to do whatever people do on this day. It is important to stop and remember those relatives, friends, classmates and acquaintances who served and who gave their lives for us to do whatever we do today. For those of us who enjoy this day, we must remember!

Pastor Ed Newton, Lead Pastor at Community Bible Church, used the three Hebrews who refused to bow down to the image of Nebuchadnezzar to speak about remembering those who have fallen so we might have freedom. He said, “Courage infers courage. Bravery infers bravery.” Later he showed us how Shadrack, Meshack, and Abed-Nego stepped forward “together” against Nebuchadnezzar telling him that they would not bow down to this image of him.

Pastor Newton asked where these three had gotten their conviction and their faith. Where do the men and women of our armed forces (at least in the past) gotten their conviction and faith to serve the people of this country? Pastor answered the question that the three Hebrews got their faith from their parents, their upbringing before they were taken to Babylon. Think of their story and remember they were taken to Babylon as “teenagers” and they never allowed what they had been taught to be changed. Now, their faith had become their own and now “they would rather die for their convictions than to live in the king’s comfort and his convictions” (Newton).

 Pastor mentioned “God was raising up an army that would not bow nor buckle to the world’s agenda and what it wants people to become. I may address this thought more fully in the coming pages of the blog, but for now, let each of us walk with God in such a way that our faith would be unshaken. Each Believer must be developing their own faith that when faced with their own fiery furnace, faced with whether you will bow or burn that you, too, will stand on the convictions you have. You develop those convictions by reading/studying/meditating on the Word of God and by spending time with Him in prayer and fellowship. This is solidified by spending time with brothers and sisters in the Lord. My faith is strengthened by being around other Believers, watching their faith and their commitment to God grow.

It is important “to do life with brothers/sisters in the Lord because when the fiery furnaces come, we know we are not in the ‘foxhole’ alone. Those trials come and the ‘fourth man’ shows up to be with us, to purify us, and helps us get to the place He wants us to get to” (Newton)! It has been so much fun to see those in my family grow in their faith. It has been fun catching glimpses of former students grow in their faith as well. Was part of the family of God, we must never lose sight of the importance of being united together in the body of Christ. We must never forget the influence of those in our past who have helped us get to where we are in this walk of faith – into eternity with our heavenly Father in His kingdom! We must never forget!