Even If He Doesn't

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Sermon by Josh Schader from Daniel 3.

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Want to go ahead and just introduce myself for those of you who who don't know me My name is is
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Josh shader had the privilege of being friends with Josh and and with Jake and with the
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Rices ever since I was 12 Moved out to Prairie Grove in seventh grade and me and Jake Rice started a feud early on It started with me wearing a
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Packers jacket and Jake wearing a 49ers jacket And and so thus started our feud and now fast -forward 30 years almost
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For some reason we we still have have a friendship and and because of that acquaintance I got to know
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Josh got to know Lanny got to go know Kathy Got to know their sisters basically lived over at their house all through high school and all through college
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We we still hang out and connect even now so I counted an honor and I counted a privilege
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One just to have been invited by Josh, you know as him being the pastor here at Covenant, you know
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I I don't take it lightly that when another pastor invites Someone who doesn't attend the church here to to be able to come and bring forth the word
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I counted a huge honor a huge blessing and a huge responsibility So thank you all so much for for inviting me inviting my family
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This is my family up here. It's my wife Amy my oldest daughter and Elise. She is driving
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So so there's that stress that comes with that. She's doing great doing great actually started her first job this summer
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So we're excited for her and we have Avalyn. So she's our middle child. She's gonna be 13 14
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That's right. Goodness. You're gonna be 14 this year. And then we have Adelaide over here. She's 9. She's gonna be 10
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Coming up in February. So we're excited to be here. Thank you all so much Great time of worship this morning and Want to just kind of give some some introduction to what we're gonna be talking about this morning we're gonna be looking at the book of Daniel chapter 3 and I know this could be a
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Book and even just a chapter that that we touched on for for weeks, right?
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And so I'm trying to just cram pack in here one thing that God has really shared with me from this passage of Scripture It's one that even growing up in church, whether that be in a
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Sunday school or being taught as a kid it's one of those first stories that you learn about with Shadrach Meshach and Abednego being thrown into a fiery furnace, but I think
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There's there's a good message that comes from this that has really just stuck out to me as of late That I believe is something that we all really need to hear especially in this day and time one of the things
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I really love to do is is watch movies and I really like watching those movies where The odds are stacked against the hero right wherever there's this hero or this group of heroes
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It could be a war type movie. It could be something like gladiator It could be something like master and commander where there's like this hero this group of good people who are fighting a fight
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And then all of a sudden this great opposition comes against them and then all hope seems lost
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But then at the very last minute something happens and then all of a sudden they're over they're able to overcome that oppression
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They're able to overcome that threat One of my favorite movie series that I think really depicts this is is the movie series of Rocky and you have
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Rocky Balboa especially in that first that first movie where he's going up against Apollo Creed and there's this one line from the movie that that always
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Really sticks out to me and and I told myself I wasn't going to give my Rocky Impersonation, but I have to write this may be the last time
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I'm asked to come and speak here So I got to go ahead and get all my quirks out. All right, so so Rocky He's actually talking to his wife
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Adrienne and and this is what he says. So here we go Goodness we're gonna do this
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It really don't matter if I lose this fight It really don't matter if the guy opens my head because all
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I want to do is go the distance If that bell rings and I'm still standing I'm gonna know for the first time in my life that I wasn't just another bum from the neighborhood
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That's good, right? That's pretty good. Yeah And so one of the the lines from that movie where it talks about he's he's willing to go the distance and his main goal
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Is not necessarily winning that particular fight. The main thing that he is saying is I'm going to remain
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Standing no matter what even if my eye gets gashed open I'm gonna remain standing and then
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I and I believe as I'm looking at Daniel chapter 3 and looking at these three Hebrew men
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That this was kind of that same Mentality that they went through when faced from an opposition from the king to be able to bow down to a golden image
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Their main focus was you know what? I'm going to remain standing despite what happens despite what
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I'm told to do Despite what threat is thrown at me? I'm going to remain standing and we're gonna talk about that in Hebrews 12 chapter 1
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It's not our main passage of Scripture, but I think it sets the stage for us today It says let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us
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Fixing our eyes on Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith
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So we are all as Christians called to run this race with perseverance. We go through life.
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We face Consequences we face opposition we face threats we face, you know all types of adversity in our life
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But what is it that helps us to be able to persevere and what was it in Daniel chapter 3 that we're gonna look here that allowed
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Shadrach and Meshach and Abednego to persevere through that opposition and I believe it is confidence that only comes from the
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Lord and So what we're gonna be looking at in this passage of Scripture are some things that really just stick out
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When it comes to having confidence not in ourselves not in our abilities, but in confidence of the
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Lord We're gonna be looking at that and finding out what is that confidence? How does it come from the
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Lord? How do we gain that confidence whenever we're running this good race and fighting this good fight in our life?
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You see I know that we all face an enemy that knows that if he can cause us to lose confidence Then we will be ones that will easily give up before that opening bell rings.
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We will be a people that cower We will be a people that just just fall away and the people that will just step aside and let whatever
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Happen in our world happen in our world But one of the key questions we have to ask ourselves is where does that confidence come from and unfortunately in the world?
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We live in today a lot of people place confidence in money paste their confidence and possessions
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Some will place their confidence in others and other people some are concerned with their reputation
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And and even with their own strength and their own abilities But as many of us in this room probably know all those things will fail us at some point in life in Daniel chapter 3 we see three
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Hebrew men standing up against a powerful King and their fight seemed
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Unwinnable and based off their response They I believe knew that too
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But they were unwilling to waver in their faith in God and they were confident that they were serving the one true
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God and they Were not going to cower because of that Even if he didn't deliver them from the furnace, they were going to remain confident in him in our lives
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We're all gonna experience those pressures of life We'll all go through trials that will will test our faith that will be mounting pressure
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For us to throw in the towel for us to give up for us to tuck tail and run for us to conform
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But we must remain confident in our fight, even if things don't turn out like we hoped Even if God doesn't deliver us from this affliction
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We have to be willing to remain hopeful in him staying confident when all hope seems lost is tough to do
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But today we're going to look at five different aspects in Daniel chapter 3 that I believe will help us develop
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That same level of confidence that we witness from Shadrach Meshach and Abednego and our prayer today is going to be that the
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Holy Spirit will empower us and will help us give us that level of confidence that we need to stand in our fight
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No matter what it is that we experience We're gonna hold on to that truth that we find in 2nd
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Timothy chapter 1 verse 7 where we are promised that God has not given us a spirit of fear
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But one that is of power and is of a sound mind For us to have power in a sound mind when facing anything in this life is what we want
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We want to be strong in our faith and our confidence in the Lord We want to have a heart that is confident in him.
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So let's go ahead and just jump into Daniel chapter 3 We're gonna read verses 1 through 18 at first.
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We're gonna we're gonna go through the whole chapter I know this is gonna be a lot of reading but we're gonna go through the whole chapter and so starting with Daniel chapter 3 if you'll follow with me verses 1 through 18 and It says
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King Nebuchadnezzar Made a gold statue 90 feet tall and 9 feet wide and set it up on the plain of Dura the province of Babylon Then he sent messages to the high officers the officials the governor's advisors treasurers judges
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Magistrates and all the provincial officials to come to the dedication of the statue he had set up So all these officials came and stood before the king
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Before the statue King Nebuchadnezzar had set up then a herald shouted out people of all races and nations and languages
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Listen to the king's command When you hear the sound of the horn the flute the zither the leer
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Harps pipes and other musical instruments bow to the ground to worship
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King Nebuchadnezzar's golden statue This is where the threat comes into play verse 6 anyone who refuses
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To obey will immediately be thrown into a blazing furnace So at the sound of the musical instruments all the people whatever their race or nation or language bowed
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To the ground and worshipped the gold statue that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up But some of the astrologers went to the king and informed on the
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Jews They said to King Nebuchadnezzar long live the king you issued a decree requiring all the people to bow down and Worship the golden statue when they hear the sound of the horn the flute
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Zither leer harps pipes and other musical instruments that decree also states that those who refuse to obey must be thrown into a blazing furnace
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But there are some Jews Shadrach Meshach and Abednego whom you have put in charge of the province of Babylon They pay no attention to you your majesty
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They refuse to serve your gods and do not worship the golden statue you have set up Then Nebuchadnezzar flew into a rage in order that Shadrach Meshach and Abednego be brought before him
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When they were brought in Nebuchadnezzar said to them Is it true Shadrach Meshach and Abednego that you refuse to serve my gods or to worship the gold statue?
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I have set up I Will give you one more chance to bow down and worship the statue
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I have made when you hear the sound of the musical instruments but if you refuse you will be thrown immediately into the blazing furnace and then what
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God will be able to rescue you from my power Get the response from Shadrach Meshach and Abednego.
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They replied Oh Nebuchadnezzar hear the confidence We do not need to defend
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Ourselves before you if we are thrown into the blazing furnace the
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God whom we serve is Able to save us. He will rescue us from your power your majesty
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But even if he doesn't we want to make it clear to you your majesty that we will never
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Serve your gods or worship the gold statue you have set up What type of confidence we see from these three men that when faced with death
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Even if God weren't to deliver them, they were willing to go into the furnace and be burned up That's how confident they were in the
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God that they served That's how much they knew that they were not willing to conform to what the king was asking them to do and I Myself I want that level of confidence
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I look at my life and I think of my past and I even think up to this point When faced with not the opposition of death, but even with something simple as as being viewed differently by someone
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I look at the my past and I look at those decisions I've made and and honestly,
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I'm there's a regret there There's an embarrassment there because I'm standing here being honest and transparent with you
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That there have been times when I should have taken a firmer stance for the Lord But I failed to do so my confidence wavered my faith
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I allowed it to waver and my faith that I placed in God Wasn't strong enough for me to be able to take that stance that I needed to take
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So I want that level of confidence that only can come from the Lord It can't come from anything
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I do But there is things that I must do in order for God to be able to work through me I must put forth some of that work and some of that effort
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So the first thing that I find from this passage of Scripture when it comes to godly confidence and having that confidence
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No matter what happens, even if that confidence must be rooted in conviction. That's where it must start
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It must be rooted in Conviction, you know all of us we feel that pressure in life and sometimes if we're not rooted in what we firmly believe in We oftentimes will falter just like others do and just like the rest of the people in the crowd did they will fall and they will
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Bow down, but why didn't Shadrach Meshach and Abednego hesitate? It was because their minds before the decision even came their way their minds were already made up They had already decided who their
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God was They had known who their God was and they already decided that no matter what happens. I'm not going to falter
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I'm not going to waver in that You know, sometimes I have a hard time making decisions
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Are any of you like that you have a hard time making a decision? I'm one that I have to get all of the information
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I have to get all of the facts before I even make a formal decision and Sometimes my wife it'll it'll kind of drive her crazy a little bit because sometimes
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I'll stretch it out a little bit You know instead of like this should be a decision that we should be able to make right now
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Sometimes I have to do a little bit more research. I have to put a budget together I have to figure out like well, okay, what is this going to cost me, you know?
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Okay, this is gonna be so much time that I have to put into it. We're already comfortable now Why why take all that work and all that effort energy and put into something like this so it delays the decision -making process
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But we see here that before Shadrach and Meshach and Abednego were even faced with the decision
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They had already decided they had already made up their mind Their convictions were already settled.
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They didn't have to go off into the corner and say, you know what? Okay, let's weigh out the cost here if we bow down it's gonna spare our life
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But what's that gonna do with our relationship with God if we if we don't say anything? We just kind of get back here in the corner and kind of hide ourselves, you know, no, no
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No, they had already made up their mind and no matter what happens. They were gonna take a stand for their
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God Their convictions were settled before the crisis even came They didn't wait until the crisis came before they started to search for the truth
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There was there was no debate to be had they would not bow down to other idols
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No matter what because that's what God's law said to do and they were gonna remain obedient to their
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God They knew who they were and there was nothing that could jeopardize that without that conviction
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We see their confidence would have easily wavered and they would have bowed down just like everyone else did
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We can know who we are and we can develop our own convictions by being rooted in God's truth
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You see Alexander Alexander Hamilton once said that if you don't believe in something you'll fall for anything so if our faith in our in our belief is so shallow that whenever storms of life or whenever opposition comes against us, it's just like the
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Gentleman who built his house upon the sand when the when there is no strong foundation and those storms come our way
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We're easily going to be cast away. We're easily going to falter We're easily going to crumble and fall to any opposition that comes our way
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But if we look at the psalmist whenever he says when we're talking about our confidence
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It can be rooted just like a tree planted by the waters And we know that if our faith is firmly rooted
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We too shall not be moved that faith and confidence only comes from putting it in the
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Lord This comes by being prepared when we're talking about fighting this good fight
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We find in 2nd Timothy chapter 4 verse 1 through 7 We see in verse 2 where it says preach the
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Word of God and be prepared Whether the time is favorable or not patiently correct rebuke and encourage your people with good teaching for a time is coming when people will no longer listen to sound and wholesome teaching
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They will follow their own desires and will look for teachers who will tell them whatever their itching ears want to hear
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They will reject the truth and chase after myths, but you should keep a clear mind in every situation
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Do not be afraid of suffering for the Lord Work at telling others the good news and fully carry out the ministry that God has given you
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And this is Paul saying as for me my life has already been poured out as an offering to God The time of my death is near.
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I have fought the good fight. I have finished the race and I have remained Faithful, so it begins with preparation it may and where's that preparation start?
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It starts with being firmly rooted in God's truth firmly rooted in God's Word if we as a believer as a body of believers are not
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Sinking our teeth into God's Word and we're not working to apply that to our life
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Whenever we hear somebody else say something or whenever we hear something on the news or whenever we see something on Facebook It's going to easily cause us to waver and go that direction
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Because we ourselves have not taken the time to root ourselves in God's Word Having those godly convictions admits that our minds and our hearts and our desires.
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They all become his Everything that we have and everything that we own it all Belongs to him and this is us not conforming to the world, but it's conforming our life to his way
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True confidence cannot exist unless we are truly rooted in God's Word There's where we begin the second thing we find when it comes to a level of confidence when has that confidence from the
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Lord and we look at the Example set forward by Shadrach Meshach and Abednego as we find that confidence comes from knowing who
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God is Not just hearing about God, but we've actually experienced God.
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We've seen God at work You see Shadrach Meshach and Abednego were not confident just because they were brave They were confident because they knew that God was able
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They knew that he was sovereign They knew that he was powerful. They knew that he was capable of doing because he had already proven it before You see
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I I think of my daughter Avalyn and and so I remember whenever she was younger and she's still that today
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But when she was younger many of you who have younger kids, you know, how fearless kids can be so much so they'll like walk to the edge of anything whether it's the end of a couch or the end of the bed or the end of the counter or even setting her up on top of the refrigerator and She'll just have this level of confidence knowing that I'm going to jump off this thing
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And when I jump off this thing, I'm so confident because I'm not gonna fall I'm not gonna hurt myself because my dad is going to be there to catch me
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Because that was something that we had done ever since that she was little to build that level of confidence in her we would just have fun and she would go to the edge of something and she'd hold her arms out and Expect me to be there whenever she would just fall or just jump.
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I was there to catch her It's that level of confidence that why I want to have with my father with my heavenly father knowing that no matter what
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I face In this life, he is always going to be there anything that I've ever faced
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He's already gone before and prepared a way for my life that no matter what opposition
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I face in this life No matter what affliction I face. He is there with me
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The more we know God the more our confidence grows and this only comes through spending time with him and and Making sure that everything that we have in our life that he gets the credit for all of it
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Everything that we have an experience. It's all because of his goodness all because it is grace all because of his love
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Knowing God ultimately builds our confidence because our trust is not ultimately placed in us
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It's placed in God and I struggle with that folks I'm one who likes to fix problems who likes to be in control of all things and told to be in a situation to where I have to completely let go
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I sometimes struggle with that But I want that level of confidence in my life to where I'm just buckling in I'm saying
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God here we go Here we go, whatever happens God whatever I have to go through whatever I need to do in your name
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God I'm gonna do it because I know that you're there and it's that same level of confidence that we see
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David whenever he faced Goliath how he boldly charged into battle.
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It wasn't because he was brave No, it's because he knew who was fighting his battles for him.
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So how do we do this? We can't wait to get to know God only when things aren't going the way you want them to Our life has to be one of prayer and of worship.
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We have to daily seek his guidance in all things. We have to be Faithful and obedient even in the good times and the bad times
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This is what Shadrach Meshach and Abednego did they spent time with God and in prayer?
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We have to know that he is loved that he is justice that he is mercy That he is faithful and that he is unchanging.
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We have to know the God that we serve We read that he is Jehovah Jireh that he is our provider
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That he is Jehovah Rapha that he is our healer that he is Jehovah Nisi our banner
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Jehovah Rah our shepherd that he is Jehovah Shalom He is our peace that he is
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El Shaddai God Almighty We have to spend time with the Lord building that relationship with him through prayer
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We have to experience the confidence that can only come by knowing who God is
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The third thing that we find through this passage of Scripture in Daniel chapter 3 verse 17 through 18
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We find that we have to have and want a level of confidence in God that trust him even if That level of confidence and trust that says
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God I'm going to trust you even if Daniel chapter 3 17 through 18 said if we are thrown into the blazing furnace
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The God whom we serve is able to save us. He will rescue us from your power
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Your majesty, but even if he doesn't we want to make it clear to you Your majesty that we will never serve your gods or worship the gold statue you have set up You see their obedience to God wasn't conditional.
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They were not bargaining with God They didn't serve God just because of what he could do.
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They served him because of who he is You see the deepest level of trust that we can have in the
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Lord is when our faith in him doesn't demand certain outcomes Real confidence says
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I trust you even when I don't understand Even if I don't get what
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I think I want real confidence helps us answer the question around Who do we trust?
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Even if the situation results in loss or death Even if you lose everything even if there's oppression
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Even if it results in losing a job even as we see in the rest of this scripture if the fire is heated up seven times hotter
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Regardless of that. I'm confident that I'm gonna remain obedient to the Lord and Oftentimes this involves us letting go and for me
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That's the hardest thing to do sometimes is letting go and saying God it's all yours
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How do I actually cast all my cares on him? Because that's what we're supposed to do, right and then he'll give us rest
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But how do I how do I actually give all of that to God? I start by focusing on God's faithfulness.
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I Looking past times of my life where where God is Faithful and has been faithful I look at all the times and give him all the credit and all the glory and all the honor for the things that he
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Has brought me through the times when I did take a stand for him and how he came through in those situations
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I have to realize that even though in this world. I need money. I have to take care of my family
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I need to remain strong. I'm a man I've got to do that Even despite all of that in the risk of losing all that I have to be willing and saying
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God is my Faithfulness and is my hope found in this or is it found in you and I have to make that conscious choice of saying
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God I want you I choose you for my life to lead my life to direct my life
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God you've called me and I'm choosing to reject all of this and follow after you follow after your ways taking up my cross and Following in your footsteps it focuses on his unchanging character
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We see that God is the same yesterday as he is today and as he will forever be
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God is an unchanging God God loves his people He chooses to follow after his people to chase after his people and to give his people the things that they need
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To be able to fight this good fight. So even if things don't work out the way I want them to Will I still choose to be obedient to him?
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Even if the fire burns and even if I were to burn up will
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I still Choose to be faithful to him That was the decision that Shadrach Meshach and Abednego had already made up Because their confidence had already been placed in him.
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So I want that level of confidence I want to take to heart the charge that I find in James 4 where he instructs us to ask of the
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Lord with the proper Motives not with selfish selfish motives. It's God. It's not what's in it for me
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God, it's what's in it for you. How do you want to advance your kingdom? How do you want to reveal yourself to the people?
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I'm surrounding myself with the people that I'm facing oppression from how do you want to use my life in this moment in this matter?
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For your glory to be seen for your will to be done But I don't want to seek after what's best in it for my life.
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I want to seek after what's best for him in All things I want to seek his will even if that affects our
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Temporal even if that means I have to do without in this world or do with less or face oppression or face fear
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I want to know that God my confidence is in you and in you alone the fourth thing we find when it comes to Daniel chapter 3 is that we find confidence is
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Strengthened in the fire and now a little bit more about me I'm a I'm a pastor at a at an assembly of God Church and when we're preaching
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Daniel chapter 3 This is this is one area where we really go hard in the paint talking about how
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God will be there with you in The midst of the storm in the midst of the fire But when we're looking at Daniel chapter 3 starting with verses 19, we're gonna read on all the way through the end of the chapter verse 30
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But I think there's some really cool things that we can kind of caps capture from the end of this passage It says in verse 19
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It says Nebuchadnezzar was so furious with Shadrach Meshach and Abednego that his face became distorted with rage
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He commanded that the furnace be heated seven times hotter than usual Then he ordered some of the strongest men of his army to bind
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Shadrach Meshach and Abednego and throw them into the blazing furnace So they tied them up and threw them into the furnace fully dressed in their pants turbans robes and other garments and Because the king in his anger had demanded such a hot fire in the furnace
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The flames killed the soldiers as they threw the three men in So Shadrach Meshach and Abednego securely tied fell into the roaring flames
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But suddenly Nebuchadnezzar jumped up in amazement and exclaimed to his advisors
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Didn't we tie up three men and throw them into the furnace? Yes, your majesty.
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We certainly did they replied look Nebuchadnezzar shouted. I see four men Unbound walking around in the fire unharmed and the fourth looks like a god
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Then Nebuchadnezzar came as close as he could to the door of the flaming furnace and shouted
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Shadrach Meshach and Abednego servants of the Most High God come out here come here
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So Shadrach Meshach and Abednego stepped out of the fire Then the high officers officials governors and advisors
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Crowded around them and saw that the fire had not touched them Not a hair on their heads was singed and their clothing was not scorched.
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They didn't even smell of smoke Then Nebuchadnezzar said praise to the
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God of Shadrach Meshach and Abednego He sent his angel to rescue his servants who trusted in him
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They defied the king's and command they defied the king's command and were willing to die rather than serve or worship any
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God except their own God Therefore I make this decree if any people whatever their race or nation or language
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Speak a word against the God of Shadrach Meshach and Abednego They will be torn limb from limb and their houses will be burned into heaps of rubble
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There is no other God who can rescue like this Then the king promoted
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Shadrach Meshach and Abednego to even higher positions in the province of Babylon So as we're reading as we finished out this chapter
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We see that God Didn't just save them from the fire He actually showed up in the fire
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That God was there with them in the midst of what they were going through in the midst of that threat.
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God was present It makes me think of that type of confidence that that comes from from having just that consistency
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It makes me think of my daughter Annalise now Annalise loves to sing competes in All types of choir competitions as part of a an all -state choir loves loves to sing for the
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Lord But I remember early on whenever she would first start to sing and especially going up in front of someone who was going to be
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Evaluating her you could see that her level of confidence wasn't quite there her nerves would get the best of her so much so that there would be times where She would be shaking and times where tears would start to flow because she was so nervous
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And it even came to the point to where it was almost Debilitating but now fast forward five years six years
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She's still doing the same process But now when she goes in front of someone who's evaluating her the level of confidence that she has
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Knowing that she's taken the time. She's prepared her heart. She's prepared her voice She's ready for whatever critique may come her way doesn't necessarily the mean the nerves aren't there
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But she has a level of confidence that she didn't have When she first started, you know, whenever we faced opposition or face oppression or face any type of trial in our life we know that there's going to be times where It's a little fearful and there's times where that fear can begin to sink in and cause debilitation
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But when Shadrach Meshach and Abednego facing that fear knowing that the furnace had been heated up seven times hotter
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Knowing that whatever they had faced and whatever they had gone through they knew where their confidence lied
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They knew that they weren't going to have to face this alone They knew that God was able and that God was willing and that if he was if it was part of his will and part
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Of his plan they were going to come out of that furnace, but they were willing to be thrown into it
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Even if they didn't come out their confidence did not waver
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Their faith did not waver and instead of looking at the fire and saying God I can't do this
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This is too much pressure God. I'm willing to go through that if you so will it God I'm willing to go through that fire in your name because I know
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God you will be there with us and even if not Even if I get burned up on the other side of glory
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God, I know we're going to be there with you So they didn't fear those trials those trials caused them to be actually become stronger in the
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Lord Instead of looking at that fire. They looked at God and saying God I know that you can give me strength
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God that you are there with me that God you are there to fight With me to fight for me. You see the fire didn't burn them up In fact, it actually freed them if there was one part of the scripture that you didn't catch
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There was actually one thing that did burn up in the fire and it was the ropes that had the mound
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You see whenever you go through that fire only the ropes that were tied that in their hands that were burned the enemy knows
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God's Power and what the enemy wants to do more than anything when we're facing opposition is he wants to keep us bound
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He wants to keep us silent He knows that if he can get our eyes focused on the opposition and cause us to be silenced
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We know that that's something that he's achieving and working to do in our life But we must choose that in Opposition.
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What is the thing that we must do when facing opposition is we must remain having a heart of worship?
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Making sure that our heart is one to where we're focusing on God that we're worshiping him that we're speaking truth that we're speaking his name
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That even though that the tactic of the storm of the fire of the opposition is to get us to be silenced
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We are to be a people that are confident enough in the Lord saying that God I trust you
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God I know who you are God. I know that you're a God of freedom God I know that you're a
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God of strength and I choose to stand and believe in that no matter what I face
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God I choose to worship you because I know that you are greater than anything in this world because you created the world
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God you are sovereign. You are in control of all things And so why would I allow my confidence to waver?
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My faith to waver and the one who is in control of the very thing that I'm going through God you are in control of all things and I trust you
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I'm not going to allow any enemy any opposition that I face to keep me bound
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I refuse to let my praise and to let my worship be silenced
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God I refuse to let anything in this world to silence me from standing up on the truth
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God. I choose you I Refuse to blame my failures on God because so many people do that when they lose things in life
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They will blame God for their failures They will start believing that God has abandoned them whenever they've taken a stance for the
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Lord But yet when they're faced with opposition and their life begins to waver Their faith begins to waver they begin to question
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God. Where are you at? I'm here this morning to tell you that no matter what you face in this world if you keep your faith in God and you stay
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Confident in his truth and in his word and you continue to worship him and praise him with every facet of your life
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That God will be there to fight for you If we are fighting his name we seek after his will and we want him to guide our every steps
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We're not gonna let anybody deceive us or cause us to believe. Otherwise, I'm not gonna let the fire
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That maybe comes in my life to keep me bound I'm gonna allow the the ropes that are binding me to be burned up and to keep an attitude of praise and an attitude of faith towards him just like Job did when he was facing all types of Opposition in his life that you have to remember
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God allowed to happen But he refused to curse God even when his wife even when his family told him to do otherwise
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He knew that God would come through the same thing in our life Whenever we're taking a stance from the Lord, we have to believe and know that God will come through God will be there
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He's working on his timing He has a great plan that he wants to reveal and he wants to use us his people to reveal that plan to the world
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In Psalm 23 verse 4. It says that even though I walk through the darkest valley I will not be afraid for you are close beside me your rod and your staff protect and comfort me
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That's the type of God we serve in Hebrews 13 5 we see that I will never fail you.
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I will never abandon you We serve a God who is there who's going to take care of us even in those moments where we face oppression
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And in Isaiah 43 2 it says when you go through the deep waters I will be with you when you go through rivers of difficulty.
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You will not drown When you walk through the fire of oppression, you will not be burned up.
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The flames will not consume you That's the God we serve. Our confidence is strengthened in the fire because we know he is right there with us
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And then the last thing that we can find from Shadrach Meshach and Abednego the level of confidence that they had in the
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Lord They realized that it wasn't for their glory even though at the end of the passage of Scripture they did receive a promotion and God does like to work that way in his people to where he does grant and want good things for us
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But what we see here is that the confidence ultimately Glorified God above all else.
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That's the type of confidence that they had verse 28 it said then King Nebuchadnezzar said
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Praise to the God of Shadrach Meshach and Abednego. He sent his angel to rescue his servants who trusted in him
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They defied the king's command and were willing to die rather than serve or worship any
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God except their own God You see Shadrach Meshach and Abednego's courageous refusal to bow down to Nebuchadnezzar's idol
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Led not only to their rescue but get this it led to a public declaration of God's greatness for many from all other people, but a pagan king a pagan king who had just built a statue of himself
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Admitted that there was no one like the God of Shadrach Meshach and Abednego and made a decree about it
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Their trust in God even under threat of death was a powerful testimony That redirected praise from a man -made idol to the one true
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God when we choose obedience over comfort and faith over fear we give the watching world a glimpse of God's worthiness in Matthew 15 6 we get the charge that's given to us.
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It says let your light shine Before others that they may see your good deeds and glorify your father in heaven
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That's why we do what we do and it's easy for Believers to praise God when life is good when things are going good for us
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It's easy for us to give God the credit and say God is good. We serve a good God. Look at my life
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I got money in the bank account. I got a job. I got a good healthy family. Everything's going great. God's good
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But when we continue to worship God in the face of trials and an uncertainty or Suffering we see that our faith becomes deeply authentic and visible to others
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When someone can look at your life and see the oppression you're facing or the things that you're going through in the name of the
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Lord and say why are you still remaining faithful to him? Look at all that he's caused you to lose
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They try to get your eyes on the fact that God has abandoned you and that God doesn't care about you and got that God doesn't love you, but I choose to remain faithful and obedient to him
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Even if I lose everything that right there in itself is a testimony of saying God You are more powerful than anything
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I have or than anything I will ever face in this world and when someone can see that type of testimony that we're living
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That's where God shines and that's where God likes to reveal himself it's in those moments of weakness that he uses weak people and and people in those points of oppression to say look and see how
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God is working it wasn't because of anything Brady did it wasn't anything because I did it's because of what
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God did in this Situation and God we're pointing people to you in our life.
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It's that kind of worship that becomes that powerful testimony It's those moments and our confidence in God not the outcomes that causes others to wonder about the
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God we serve We have to ask ourselves that question does our faith point others to his greatness
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Just like Shadrach Meshach and Abednego did Our culture tends to defy success by comfort and ease or or personal fulfillment
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But biblically the goal of faith is not self Preservation but the exaltation of God's name in Romans 11 36 says for from him and through him and to him are all things to him be glory forever a man and Everything including our lives our trials our victories all of that exists to glorify
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God This includes any suffering we may face this includes our obedience and even deliverance
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God's glory is not an accidental byproduct of our lives. It's the divine purpose behind our life in John 12 we see
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Christ himself speaking this saying now my soul is troubled and what shall I say father?
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Save me from this hour No, it was for this very reason that I came to this hour father
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Glorify your name even Christ all the way to the cross knew his purpose The fight and the oppression that he faced the the death that he experienced on the cross
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He himself knew that it was for the glory of God He did not seek an escape plan, but he embraced it for the sake of God's glory
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We want our hearts as we chase after the heart of God We ourselves want to be able to echo that prayer that says not my will
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God, but your will Use my life for your glory if I have to experience oppression in this life
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Then God I'll experience it in your name God, whatever I go through God I want you to receive the glory and the honor for all of it
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That's the type of confidence we see Shadrach Meshach and Abednego happening that no matter what happened all the things that Babylon had done up to Israel up into that point
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We see even several things happening in Daniel's life in the book of Daniel But we see that level of confidence didn't come just because they were brave It's because they knew who they had they had placed their confidence in You see
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God doesn't just want to rescue us from the fire He wants to reveal himself through the fire and when our confidence in play is placed in him above all else our life becomes a spotlight pointing others to his goodness his power and his glory and Just like Shadrach Meshach and Abednego We want to let our faith speak louder than our circumstances and we want to let our confidence in Christ declare his greatness to the world
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So as I kind of close things out This morning as as we summarize everything up and as we we go into a time of prayer
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You know, we can have confidence when fighting the good fight even when it seems like it's not enough
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Even when we're facing opposition and no matter what happens in our life We can still remain confident knowing that we serve a
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God who is God We learned to stand on God's truth and we're going to be rooted in that Unwavering that there's nothing that's going to come against us because we know where we have placed our truth and that's in him
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We know who God is and we have a heart that is chasing after him We trust him no matter what even if Even if we still trust him we walk with him even in the hard times not just when things are good
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We we walk with him even in the hard times We have faith that he is there and at the end of all of this
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We know that it's him that will receive the glory That's the type of confidence that Shadrach Meshach and Abednego had in in the
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Lord And that's the type of confidence we should seek after so with that confidence It comes from him
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It comes from him knowing that there's no pressure trial unanswered prayer
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Oppression or battle that we will ever face that will ever claim victory in our life God gives us a level of faith that allows us to trust him
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Even if he doesn't remove the fire we can remain confident that he will be with us in the flames
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So let's go ahead and bow our head and let's pray father God we trust you in all things
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God the reason that we are even able to stand here today and breathe It's because of your goodness
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God I pray for for every individual here this morning God that as we look to you as the author and the finisher of our faith
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God. We want to have confidence in you God God we don't want to be a people that that waivers
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God when things come our way when opposition comes our way Lord We we don't want to be those that will cower and conform to the world
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God like Shadrach Meshach and Abednego God. We want to be able to take a stand for you No matter what it is that we face
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God I pray that that none of us have to face the type of opposition that that we read about here in Daniel 3 but God I know that many of us in this room have have faced a similar type of Opposition God whether it be in our jobs and in our family in our personal life
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And God more than anything. We want you to use us to use our lives God to be a living testimony of your goodness of your grace
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God if any of us be here today Lord and there be things that that have kept us from Being confident in you
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Lord, whether it's we're not firmly rooted in your word God that that we haven't taken the time and new and having the discipline
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Lord to dig into your word and find the truth Lord that can come from from reading your scripture then
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God I pray that you would just help us to be able to develop that discipline to have that Consistency in our life and Lord that you would just begin to speak to us through your word
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God help us to remember the times Lord that you have been faithful God help us through those storms of life and through the opposition
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God to look at those moments and say God you are God and God I trust you God I thank you
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Lord for all that you've given us for everything that you've brought us through up to this point So God from here going forward.
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Let us all make a conscious effort in a conscious decision that says God I want to be more confident in you
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God. I want to be rooted in your word God I don't want to be a person that waivers God.
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I want to know who you truly are God I want everything that happens in my life to point others to you
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God God I'm willing God to go through anything that I need to go through in this life God anything that you would have me walk through God I will walk through it
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God just so long as I know God that you are there and God knowing that you will see the receive the glory for it when
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I walk through it. So God I trust you in all things We praise you God. We lift up your name