“If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king. But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up” (Daniel 3:17,18).
TEXT — Daniel 3:12-30
Message
We live in a world where it is increasingly difficult to walk with God without being challenged. Our faith is frequently being called to question. We often choose to compromise or courageously resist all pressures, primarily when our choice could determine whether we flourish in the worldly system or flounder in the daily quest for material wellbeing. Someone captures this forthright mindset as follows: “Courage is the standing army of the soul, which keeps it from conquest, pillage and slavery.”
In the text, King Nebuchadnezzar had erected a golden image and ordered all his subjects to bow before it at the sound of the music of Babylon. Because they did not want to break God’s command, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego refused to bow to the image. They were summoned and threatened to throw them into the furnace of fire, but they stood their ground and were tied up and thrown into the furnace.
But, instead of seeing three men, the king saw four men walking unhurt in the fire. The fourth man was the Son of God. He was overwhelmed and summoned the three men to leave the fire. They were completely unhurt. He began to praise God and decreed that anyone that spoke against the Lord “shall be cut in pieces and their houses shall be made a dunghill.” He also announced new promotions for the three Jewish men.
When confronted with the pressure to bow to the God of this world, there are many excuses that we can give for yielding. But none of those excuses are acceptable to God. Whatever the consequences, we must be ready to stand for Him. Even if most of the population is on one side, we must dare to be different and stand with God. Therein lies blessings in time and eternity.
Listed among “500 most powerful people on the planet” by the Foreign Policy magazine in 2013, Pastor (Dr.) William F. Kumuyi is the founder and General Superintendent of the Deeper Christian Life Ministry (DCLM) headquartered in Lagos, Nigeria. DCLM started in 1973 as a 15-member Bible study group right in Kumuyi’s apartment at University of Lagos where he was a lecturer. His revolutionary Bible teaching on personal holiness and commitment to evangelism soon gained so much traction and resulted in a widespread revival.
please i will like to receive daily manna
Thanks