Courage is a Habit, Part 2

Today on GE careers you want to know that you maintain your confession of faith in a hostile environment to predict all of that I can predict it based on what you're doing now because what you do, then, is determined by what you're doing now. Courage is not conjured up in the moment courage comes from consistency. The Bible teaching ministry of pastor, author and theologian JD Greer I Molly bit of edge. Okay, so let's start with the obvious question based on our teaching yesterday here on the program. What exactly was it that gave Daniel so much courage in the lion's den and is there a way to have that same courage in our own lives today. Pastor JD finishes up his message titled courage is the habit by sharing with us the source of Daniel's confidence, or rather it, Daniel's competent, so grab your Bible enter into Daniel chapter 6, your state phrase phrase and of course the wise men see this run became scarcely able to contain your excitement verse well okay we hate. I mean we hate to tell you this but after you signed in your revocable edict will also Daniel praying we all just happened to be on the balcony right across missiles all looking to our binoculars at the same time as his regularly scheduled prayer time and we all thought sadly keying you know you know the law of the Medes and the Persians going to be James so we prepare the line drug his ways are there is, of course, sees right through their ruse immediately is pretty upset about it because you like Daniel so much but is also bound by this ridiculous custom feels like he has no choice but the third Daniel in the lines then verse 16, 17, gave the order.

By the way, I know a lot of y'all think I hate on cats too much. But can we just take a moment and reflect that a pagan king who could have concocted any kind of torture decided that the most cruel and unusual punishment that he could think of is trapping you in a cage with cats print the Scripture speak for themselves.

Okay and all God's people said a few of God's people said amen.

Okay, the king said to Daniel, the king said to Daniel. May your God when you continually serve rescue you.

Stone was brought and placed over the mouth of the Dan King sealed it with his own signet ring and with the signet rings of his noble so that nothing in regard to Daniel could be changed in the king went back to his palace and spent the night fasting. No diversions were brought to him. He turn off his Netflix account put away his Xbox and he can sleep the first light of dawn. The king got up and hurried to the line stand.

When you reach the Danny cried out in anguish to Daniel. Daniel Daniel, servant of the living God is your God, whom you continually serve been able to rescue you from the lions been Daniel spoke with the king.

Only the king live forever. My God has sent his angel and shut the lion's mouth so they have not harmed me, for I was found innocent before him, Daniel's down there peacefully taking a nap with others. Lions like he snuggled up in a cadre of kittens you it strikes me when I read this story that literally everybody else in the story was up the whole night, except for Daniel, the jealous wise man Rob all night partying, celebrating the king was up all night worrying Daniel's friends were up all night praying the angel was up all night protecting Daniel so we only wanted a good night sleep when the king ordered the stone rolled away from it in the next morning.

There's Daniel snuggled up, snuggled up peacefully with a book reading between the lines. Verse 23 the king was overjoyed and gave orders to take Daniel out of the dam again was brought up in the den. He was found to be unharmed because she get this journal on this car because he trusted in his God. Why does the text say that God save Daniel like this because he was special, or because he was elected her for Dana predestined now. The text says it happened. One reason not one reason was because Daniel trusted in his God original point that out is because that means you can look for the same kind of providential production in your life if you trust in God and prayed him like Daniel did mean the bad things will never happen to you. It just means that God will ultimately deliver you through them all, just like he did for Daniel. Verse 24 then the king gave the command. Those men who had maliciously accused Daniel abroad and thrown in the lines. Then they their children and their wives and not reach the bottom of the dam before the lions overpowered them and crushed all their bones. What is the text mentioned that the lines ate them before their bodies even reached the bottom that was just in case you thought that maybe the lions had not eaten Daniel because they were full. Clearly try to show you that were starving, malicious, acknowledge if we will that last part, especially with the wives and children being included in this punishment that's really really hard to read. It feels unfair and cruel and it was the Bible is certainly not condoning this. In fact, in the book of Ezekiel again is another contemporary of Daniels in the book of Ezekiel, God explicitly condemns this kind of cruelty where the children are punished for the sins of their parents, but this was common in ancient times teens would not just kill their enemies, but they would kill everybody and their enemies family, less the kids grow up to try to avenge their parents.

These were vicious times and women and children were often the victims of this viciousness and brutality. But the Bible is certainly not condoning it. Read this as descriptive, not prescriptive. Verse 25 and King Darius wrote to those of every people, nation in language, but the key phrase you should underline on the whole earth. May your prosperity abound. I issue a decree that in all my royal dominion, people must tremble in fear before the God of Daniel. For he is the living God, and he endures forever.

His kingdom will never be destroyed. His dominion has no in rescues and delivers perform signs and wonders in the heavens and on the earth, for he is saying Daniel for the power of the lions. This chapter started with a prohibition on prayer ends with a pagan king preaching a sermon about God's providential production and it's actually a pretty good little mini sermon. Darius declares walk you through it real quick. Declares that God is global is not just the God of Israel, the God of Babylon is the God of all peoples, nations and languages in all the earth.

Contrary to what Babylonians believe in.

Contrary to what people believe the day is not a tribal deity where you got your God, and I got my is not a God, about whom you say well I got my God, you got yours. You know your truth now have my truth there is one God and one truth for all people in all times and all places. By the way, one of the dumbest phrases in our culture is this is my truth there is no such thing as your truth. Truth is not private. There's the truth we conform our lives to it.

Not not component us services for small global in the spirit all the postmodern weird stuff. Secondly, Darius. This God is personal. He is the living God.

He's not like those Babylonian gods that need to speak nor relate to humans. God, she got a carry about from place to place and we food in front of because they can't feed themselves.

The true God. He said, is a living, active speaking God. Verse 26. He is eternal. He endures forever. He says he is God, not the king who lives forever. He's sovereign. His kingdom will never be destroyed. He's faithful.

He delivers and rescues his people. These eminent King Darius as he works signs and wonders in heaven and on earth.

Eminent is a word that means that he is close by and engage not far away and uninterested. This is not a God who is sitting above the heavens uninvolved. This is a God actively at work in the world today actively pursuing you actively working in your life right now. If you're looking for. Finally, Darius says he's the Savior he rescued he saved Daniel. This is a God who didn't leave his people in a dark pit the parish. This is a God ready to help all those who call on him, who is with you in the pit and will bring you out of the pit. That's a pretty good little sermon. If you asked me Daniel is the book in the Bible where we see amazing sermons preached by formally taking things how they learn these things all learn them, reading blogs, they learn them is Daniel and his friends live with consistency and courage in front of them is the whole point of the book of Daniel. This is what God promises will happen around us. If we live like they did if we shine in Raleigh-Durham like they shown in Babylon listen Babylon is not a place for spiritual weaklings, it will chew you up and spit you out in Daniel's case literally, but for those who live with wisdom for those who live with consistency and courage. They will never RT bursting 12 three they will shine like the brightness of the heavens above, they will shine like the stars forever and ever. So, Daniel, verse 28. Should Daniel prosper during the reign of Darius and the reign of Cyrus the Persian, who reigned after him.

Two things from the story, but I want to leave you with okay first. First I want to leave you with is the courage in the lions den comes from consistency in the prayer closet so I guess it Daniel did not somehow courage. The moment he was thrown in the lives it. Daniel's courage was the result of years and fears of small faithful mostly unknown acts of obedience.

It was the fruit of patterns he had laid down for a lifetime. I am not a prophet but if you will let me make a prophecy that I would say you could take to the bank. If you wait until the hour of trial to decide what you're going to do in the moment of trial, you will fail you want to know. Do you want to know that you can have the courage to stand when everybody around you was doing the wrong thing or that you're going to have the courage to maintain your integrity when the temptation to cheat is overwhelming or that you could have the courage to live out your convictions when everybody around you, tells you that you're crazy you want to know that you're going up but you can maintain your confession of faith in a hostile environment to predict all of that I can predict it based on what you're doing now because what you do then is determined by what you're doing now. Courage is not conjured up in the heat of the moment courage comes from consistency in the prayer closet high school and college students me talk to you specifically for a moment.

Do you want to know you want to know that you can have the ability to maintain your confession of faith when everybody else in your class and your professor mocks you.

You want to know that you can have the courage to remain sexually pure in a culture that treats that not just as I but is as is strange beyond comprehension. That's going to be determined not by what you think.

You'll decide in the moment. As can be determined by the first thing you choose to do when you get out of bed tomorrow morning.

Your courage in those moments of trial are determined by whether you are now developing small consistent habits of obedience like a daily time of prayer.

Daniel had pre-decided to follow Jesus and I was demonstrated by the fact that he regularly met with God to pour out his problems in my dad used to say to me said, son, if you wait until the moment temptation to decide whether or not you to remain sexually pure you will always make the wrong decision. Decide now decide now begin to walk with God now and when the hour of temptation comes when you find that God will give you the resources to overcome that blank in the Google search of your heart will not auto fill of courage unless you have trained it to small consistent acts of obedience, courage is not conjured up in the heat of the moment courage comes from consistency in the prayer closet, your second family US okay seeing Jesus as the greater Daniel is the strength of courage, seeing Jesus as the greater Daniel strength, the courage, let me explain one of the mistakes most common mistakes that people make with the story is they turn it into a hero tale were really the story aspiring to be Daniel Dare to be a Daniel without life.

Often vertebrates might have shown you are certainly much about Daniel's life that used Canon should emulate. That is not the main point of the story, or any Old Testament story, for that matter, as I have told you before the Old Testament was not primarily written to give us he rose to emulate.

The Old Testament was written to point you to a Savior to a door if you try to copy the example of a Daniel, you will likely end up discouraged by your failure. That's how it is for me at least, because no matter how much I coach myself, or how many pep talks. I give myself in the mirror I cannot sustain lasting courage. How might succeed for a moment, but it's usually only fall back on my face again more discouraged and hopeless feeling than ever. But when you see that Daniel story. Like all stories in the Old Testament is not to there to point you to Jesus listed in the story takes on a new meaning. You see, there are a lot of parallels between what Daniel went through and what Jesus would go through. Consider this. Both Daniel and Jesus are pictures of innocence. Daniel is one of three men in the Old Testament, about whom there is not a mention of even a single fall.

The prophet Ezekiel says that Daniel was one of the three most righteous people ever walk the face of the earth. Jesus of course live totally without sin. No impure thought or motive ever even entered into his head. Both Daniel and Jesus had jealous political leaders drum up false charges against them to get them killed. Both Daniel and Jesus had the primary judge in their case for it in for Daniel. That would've been Darius and for Jesus. I would've been pilot both of them had the primary judge declared an innocent and try to spare them.

Both Daniel and Jesus were thrown into a pit, whose entrance was covered by a large stone and then sealed with a government seal and left for dead. Both Daniel and Jesus had loving friends run to their tomb early in the morning. Daniel and Jesus walked out of that tomb alive. The next morning. Both Daniel and Jesus after their ordeal were raised up his second in command over the kingdom.

Daniel under Darius Jesus, under God the father in heaven.

There is one big difference between Daniel and Jesus, however, and that is that Daniel eventually died. But Jesus defeated death, we do a disservice to the story. When we reduce it to just do a little kid story from little kids for about being brave. We get this fun little image of Daniel down there with all the big kittens. But make no mistake, you'll this was no kids adventure tale liens are vicious creatures and those who live in their proximity know that you cannot take them for granted for even a single second. I was reading on that the account of a park ranger in the Kruger National Park in South Africa was one of the few people in the world alive today to have been attacked by a lion and survive.

He did know what he said he didn't know it but one afternoon as he was riding his horse to the part was installed by a pair of liens suddenly said one lunged at me from the tall grass, barely missing the and knocking the horse out from underneath me. That first line went to work on on my horse when I heard it deafening horrifying war, he said, from right behind me as the second line pounced on me.

He said I remember some of my training. I went totally limp, trying to make alive think that I was dead to try and buy me some time to figure out what to do like what you said the line did not grab me by the neck, which is common which would kill me instantly. He said he grabbed me by the shoulder. My shoulder, which the line and crushed between his jaws, causing the most excruciating pain, making this whole go limp and play dead strategy really difficult execute the centerline dragged him for about 60 yards toward his layer 7 is quote he said my face was shoved into his mane. The smell was awful and the line per the whole way there he assumed he said it was in pleasant anticipation of his meal.

Cats are evil. I'm telling you. Okay, the man said the whole time he was trying to figure out what to do next when he remembered we remember that he had strapped his hunting knife under his right hip that morning but he was set I was as positive, but it got knocked off when I been knocked off my horse again. We just redo his words.

It took me some time to work my left hand around my back is aligned dragged me over the ground. But eventually I reached the sheep and to my indescribable joy. The knife is still there. I secured it in my left hand, wondering where best to stab a lion. I remembered hearing many years before that if you hit Academy knows he will sneeze this particular theory is of course incorrect, but at the time I thought it might be true, though I dismiss the notion, deciding that even if it were the languages sneeze and pick me up again so I decided to aim my knife right for his heart. I move smoothly and silently as a serpent because any fumbling in this maneuver would arouse the lion with instantly fatal results to myself knowing where his heart was located. I struck him twice in quick succession.

The line instantly drop me an Angel and let out a furious roar and I struck him again. This time upwards into his throat, which severed his jugular and killed it. Now why do I share all that disturbing detail want you to feel just a smidgen of the horror of a lion attack Daniel in the line. Steve is no gentle kid story and OSHA feel that horror because this whole story is supposed to be a picture for you of the cross and if you don't get out of the realm of Tim story and getting into the realm of horror story where it belongs and never see that she Psalm 22 says that on the cross, the Messiah, Jesus was thrown to the lions of judgment which startled him and taunted him and tore him apart.

Jesus was far more innocent than Dino ever was.

Yet before Jesus's body never even reached the bottom of the pit made it six hours on the cross those lines had torn into pieces unlikely Daniel no angel came to stand by him no angel came to shut the lion's mouth. To quote Sally Lloyd Jones from her book Jesus was left in the blackness and utterly alone and abandoned by God, suffering the fate that we, the guilty ones deserve God did not shut the mouths of Jesus is lion like he did. Daniels let them tear him apart. His body was left into the icy grip of death for three days before the angel finally came to roll away the stone, but he was bearing our sin, he went into that pit for me and that's were Jesus and Daniel are different. You see, when Daniel came forth from the lion's den came out all alone and nobody else was saved by God's deliverance of him. But when Jesus came forth from the two. He came out as the head of a mighty company of people who have been redeemed from the pit, through his death. Because of the work of Christ on behalf of his people. The divine judge says not guilty.

You may all go free to hear something. If I know that if I know that I know I know that Jesus is taken into himself any judgment for my sin that there is no condemnation anymore. For those of us who are in Christ Jesus. That means that whatever I'm going through now I can know that God is with me. I can know he's standing beside me. Anything that would turn God against me. Jesus has removed the cross of God is for me who can be against me. The Lord is my strength and my shield if he is my light and my salvation.

Do I have to be afraid I don't gotta be afraid of those who kill the body, because I have a God who can preserve the soul that God is with me in cancer with me when death takes a family member is with me and the pain of betrayal or the sting of injustice is with me in every struggle, frustration and failure that I go through, promising never to leave me or forsake me, promising to overcome through me constantly whispering in my ear. Greater is he that is in you than anybody or anything in the world. Yet, I saw Walt in the valley of the shadow of death to be afraid of evil because you're with me your rod and your staff they comfort me, knowing, knowing, knowing that the Jesus to whom Daniels life points is with me gives me the courage to face danger like Daniel bed and to be consistent like Daniel was, and the ability to get up and keep going when I have not been consistent together. Thank God for examples like Daniel worship Jesus took your punishment and the lines in and out promises to preserve you in the den of any lines you face today with him within you have the courage you can have the courage to face anything much about your heads. If you would buy your heads is asked to simple questions right now where's the auto response auto fill of your heart.

Responding to some difficult situation. Some threat, some struggle with the wrong response pride print strike panic right now where you need to run to Jesus registrar there where you're sitting this one.

Open your hands say Lord here is serious. This one run to you in prayer while you're doing that cannot just challenge you some of you start a daily prayer time could you decide that right now say Lord to do that, start every day. First thing I do when I get up and start big five minutes to be inspired print flowers every morning spot, Minnesota five minutes. Like Daniel did made with three times a day to do it right in the morning right after lunch right we go to bed doing 21 days in 21 days will be harder to stop and was start say five now must commit to it daily, regards were to hear from you conjured up in the moment courage is developed through a lifetime of small consistent decisions are listening to Senate life with pastor Jamie Greer in a message titled, courage is a habit.

If you join us late or if you've missed any of the previous messages in a series you can listen by visiting@jamiegreer.com. The book of Daniel can be summed up in one sentence. If you want to make a difference. You have to be to frame you have to be distinct from Babylon in some very crucial ways when our lives are shaped by the Bible.

We are going to be stranger and more offensive to those around like Daniel Whetten, Babylon, but we can't make a difference in Babylon, and less were different from Babylon. So walk through this book of the Bible and that both on the program and with our new resource available.

This mind it's a nine part Bible study with several devotionals from Pastor JD included for some additional perspective as well ask for your copy of the Daniel Bible study. When you donate today. The suggested level. $35 or more. Give us a call 866335 T-20 866335 T-20 might be more convenient to get online here.com when you are in the website to sign up for our email to get ministry and faith. Information about the resources and ascertain the latest blog post streets your inbox here.com mounting intervention on so join us this week. Have a great weekend worshiping with your local church family Monday right here on your ministry