Tuesday, September 11, 2007

The Hope Journal reading was in Daniel 3-4 today so guess what I read this morning! That’s right, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego :)

Daniel 3:16-18 “Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to the king, "O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from it, and he will rescue us from your hand, O king. But even if he does not, we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up."

I thought it was interesting that the king chose the “furnace” to kill them, to throw them into the fire (and had it heated 7 times hotter than normal) instead of what he decreed afterwards for those people who said anything against their God which was to cut them into pieces… I am sure God would have done something very cool like, bring all the pieces together but the fire thing was very cool in that the king saw 4 men instead of 3 and the impact was pretty big with that visual.

Here is an excerpt from today’s Daily Bread:

As I think of my dad’s patience in bringing a painting to life, my heart is directed to our heavenly Father. He looks on us and sees the voids and imperfections in our lives, yet lovingly and patiently does His work in us to make us His masterpiece—a masterpiece that “conform[s] to the image of His Son” (Rom. 8:29).

What a joy it is to have such a God, who makes us new (2 Cor. 5:17) and never tires of investing His energy and effort into our lives! —Bill Crowder

Thank you, Jesus, for your patience and loving tenderness as you work with us and make us more like you. All this stuff that we are going through is for YOUR Glory and for our good. Help me to trust you more and more and see your purposes in my life. Help me to surrender myself to you more and more. In Jesus name, amen.