BOM-BITES Episode #669 – Daniel 3 (part two) – powered by Happy Scribe
Hey, guys, what’s up?
Derek here from BOMsocks, back with another day of BOMbites where we feast upon the words of Christ one bite at a time.
So like I said yesterday, this is a part two of one of my favorite stories with Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. In fact, I even created a pair of socks that has Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. These are called the fiery furnaces. As you look at this sock, it’s cool looking sock, and you go all the way down to it above that point where you can kind of see it right above the shoe that you’re wearing. It has three very important words to me, and those words are but if not. Now, to give you that context again, we’re back to the story of Shadrach, Meshak and abandoned. There’s this 90 foot statue of King Nebuchadnezzar golden. And anyway, he said, look, you’ve got to be able to worship this. And they’re just like, we’re not going to do that. And he says, you know that the consequence is you’re going to get thrown into the fiery furnace if you don’t do that. And they’re like, yep. We know that.
You go down to verse 17 where it says, if it be so, our God, whom we serve, is able to deliver us. We talked about that yesterday’s episode. God is able to do it. He’s the same yesterday, today, and forever. So he’s able to deliver us. We’ve seen him do it before, and we know he can do it again. He’s able to save us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine handoking. But if not, be it known unto thee, king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up. I really believe those three words are the difference between the transactional faith that we start off with, but the transformational faith that we need to get to in our lives in order to really have faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. I believe those words there, but if not, those have probably saved me in so many different ways. Once I understood that principle, I prayed differently because of those three words. I act in faith differently because of those three words. I know that God is able and he can do things, but if not, then I’m still going to stay faithful.
Let me throw some questions here that I think might gel with you here. What other similar scriptural examples can you think of that are like this? For every Shadrach, misha and a Bengal that is saved, you have got a Benadai who was not. You have got Joseph and Iris Smith who were not. You’ve got the people who lived in Amanija at the time when Elm and Amulek were there, the martyrs who were killed during that time. You’ve got the daughters of Omida over in Abraham, chapter one. So again, you see instances where God is able, but he does not for one reason or another. What were these three young men unsure about and what were they sure about? You think about what they’re sure about. They are sure that God is able to deliver. However, we don’t always know when or how that is going to happen. So that’s why it’s called faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. You know that he is able, but then how he does it, when he does it, that is where trusting in Him and having faith in Him and knowing that he knows better than we do, that’s where our faith needs to be rooted in.
Based on what Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego said and did, what would you say were the most important and powerful elements of their testimonies? These three men were covenantkeeping men and they knew that he was able. Again, when was the time that you found yourself in a but if not situation? That would be an interesting thing to talk about if we were in more of a classroom type of a setting. It’s like where you knew that God was able to do something, but for some reason he didn’t, and yet you still stayed with your faith. Again, that’s where I believe that transactional and transformational, it’s oftentimes where we don’t see God blessing us in the way we hope he would. That’s why a lot of people leave the church, because it’s just not working. But that bridge that but if not, is the great bridge to that transformational faith. There was a wonderful talk back in 2004 by elder Dennis E. Simmons. It’s kind of an obscure little talk. It’s only about ten minutes or so. We’re not going to watch the whole thing, but I want to share with you just some elements of this talk.
I would recommend watching the whole talk. It is fantastic. It’s back in April of 2004, general Conference. I want to share with you just a few elements of this and you’re going to see why this principle is such an important principle to you and I.
Centuries ago, Daniel and his young associates were suddenly thrust from security into the world, a world foreign and intimidating. When Shadrach, Michael and Abedin Goo refused to bow down and worship a golden image set up by the King, a furious nebuchadnezzar told them that if they would not worship as commanded, they would immediately be cast into a burning fiery furnace. And who is that God that shall deliver you out of my hands? The three young men quickly and confidently responded, if it be soul, if you cast us into the furnace, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thy hand. That sounds like my 8th grade kind of faith. But then they demonstrated that they fully understood what faith is. They continued, but if not, we will not serve thy gods nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up. That is a statement of true faith. They knew that. They said could trust God even if things didn’t turn out the way they hoped. They knew that faith is more than mental ascent, more than an acknowledgment, that God lives.
Faith is total trust in Him. Faith is believing that although we do not understand all things he does. Faith is knowing that although our power is limited, his is not. Faith in Jesus Christ consists of complete reliance on him. Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego knew they could always rely on Him because they knew his plan and they knew that he does not change. They knew, as we know, that mortality is not an accident of nature. It is a brief segment of the great plan of our loving Father in heaven to make it possible for us, his sons and daughters, to achieve the same blessings he enjoys. If we are willing, we must have the same faith as Shadrach, Mishak and Abednego. Our Father will deliver us from ridicule and persecution, but if not, our God will deliver us from sickness and disease, but if not, from loneliness, depression or fear. But if not, our God will deliver us from threats, accusations and insecurity. But if not, he will deliver us from death, reinpowerment of loved ones. But if not, we will trust in the Lord. Our God will see that we receive justice and fairness, but if not, he will make sure that we are loved and recognized.
But if not, we will to receive a perfect companion and righteous and obedient children. But if not, we will have faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, knowing that if we do all we can do, we will in his time and in his way, be delivered and receive all that he has.
Again. I love that message so much because it shows us the importance of that phrase, but if not, especially in my prayers. There was a time I remember where I was praying for something very, very desperately, and desperate is probably the right word for it, and it just didn’t happen. I did everything I was supposed to do on my end, and it just didn’t happen. And so that, for me then caused me to think, okay, I know that God is able. I know that. So what do I need to do? What do I need to look at with myself? And what mindset do I need to change? And this talk from Elder Simmons really saved me. This story is such an important thing because of those three words. But if not, my prayers are different because of that great little quote from Elder Kevin W. Pearson prayer is not a negotiation process. It is an alignment process. We don’t move God to our point of view. Prayer is less about changing our circumstances and more about changing us. I love that President Nelson has talked about this idea, the happiness in this life is not about our circumstance, it is about our focus.
It is about seeking his will and asking for his help to do what we need to do. When we align our will with Heavenly Father’s will, answers and spiritual power will flow more freely. Following this pattern allows us to pray with faith. So it’s almost like you have, this is what I would like to have, this is what I know God wants me to have. And you throw that little but if not into there, then I really think we get to a point where these are prayers that God is able to answer for us. The circumstances may not change, but our faith increases. And I am grateful for this principle and I think it’s such a key element to my faith and I think it can be a key element to all of our faith to help us get to that transformational aspect of our faith. I really know that’s true and I’m grateful for it. Thanks for watching, thanks for subscribing and thanks for sharing these messages. We love that you do that. Check out our amazingly comfortable gospel theme socks@bombshell.com and we will see you tomorrow. God speed. Bye.
Guest Author
dyejo
