GOD'S ABLE: "IF HE DID IT BEFORE" - DANIEL 3:17-18

This is Namma for Christ with the fortieth inspirational message dated Wednesday, September 25th, 2013.  The title of this message is, "GOD'S ABLE: "IF HE DID IT BEFORE" - DANIEL 3:17-18".  The title of this message is taken from the below scriptures when the three Hebrew boys (who were friends of Daniel, who also were captives in Babylon) courageously answer king Nebuchadnezzar. The young men: Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego- declare that their "GOD IS ABLE" TO DELIVER THEM OUT OF THE FIERY FURNACE  (that Nebuchadnezzar ordered them to be cast into).

Daniel 3:17-18

King James Version (KJV)

¹⁷ 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.
¹⁸ 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.


I would encourage all believers to take the time to read this entire bible story found in the first three chapters of Daniel. The message for today is focusing on how GOD IS ABLE!  

NO MATTER WHAT YOU ARE GOING THROUGH....GOD IS ABLE TO HELP YOU! HE IS ABLE TO DELIVER YOU! GOD IS ABLE TO PROVIDE FOR YOU! GOD IS "ABLE" TO DO WHATEVER YOU NEED HIM TO DO FOR YOU! YOU MUST BELIEVE IN HIM AND TRUST GOD TO DO WHAT IS BEST FOR YOU!

 The beginning of chapter three of Daniel describes how Nebuchadnezzar had made a golden statue ninety feet tall. An announcement was made to everyone to worship the statue "or" be thrown in the furnace.  Everyone worshiped the idol, except Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. 

THEY STOOD UP FOR WHAT THEY BELIEVED IN! THEY REFUSED TO BOW DOWN TO A FALSE GOD! THEY STOOD ON THEIR FAITH AND BELIEF IN GOD THAT "HE WAS ABLE" TO "DELIVER" THEM FROM THEIR TROUBLE...FROM DANGER....FROM WHAT WAS "THREATENING" TO THEM!

LOOK AT WHAT THEY SAID IN OUR SCRIPTURE FROM DANIEL 3:17-18  :

¹⁷ 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.
¹⁸ 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.

THEY HAD FAITH THAT GOD, WHOM THEY SERVED, IS ABLE TO DELIVER THEM FROM THE FIERY FURNACE "AND" FROM OUT OF THE KING'S HAND! ALSO, THEY TRUSTED THAT IF GOD "DID NOT" - THEY "STILL" WOULD "NOT" BOW DOWN TO WORSHIP THE IDOL - NOR SERVE OTHER GODS!

What happens next is found in the following scripture from Daniel 3: 19-25  :

Daniel 3:19-25

King James Version (KJV)

¹⁹ Then was Nebuchadnezzar full of fury, and the form of his visage was changed against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego: therefore he spake, and commanded that they should heat the furnace one seven times more than it was wont to be heated.
²⁰ And he commanded the most mighty men that were in his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and to cast them into the burning fiery furnace.
²¹ Then these men were bound in their coats, their hosen, and their hats, and their other garments, and were cast into the midst of the burning fiery furnace.
²² Therefore because the king's commandment was urgent, and the furnace exceeding hot, the flames of the fire slew those men that took up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.
²³ And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, fell down bound into the midst of the burning fiery furnace.
²⁴ Then Nebuchadnezzar the king was astonished, and rose up in haste, and spake, and said unto his counselors, Did not we cast three men bound into the midst of the fire? They answered and said unto the king, True, O king.
²⁵ He answered and said, Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God.

GOD NEVER LEFT  Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego! HE WAS WITH THEM! THE SAME GOD THAT "DELIVERED" THEM "IS" THE SAME GOD - WHO IS WITH US!

 IF WE ARE THE LORD'S -  HE WILL BE WITH US AND HELP US...NO MATTER WHAT WE ARE GOING THROUGH!

King Nebuchadnezzar, who threw them in the fire, later praised their God for "delivering" them (see below) from Daniel 3: 28  :

Nebuchadnezzar spake, and said, "Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who hath sent his angel, and delivered his servants that trusted in him, and have changed the king's
 word, and yielded their bodies, that they might not serve nor worship any god, except their own God."

The below scriptures tell how GOD DELIVERED AND PROMOTED Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. They walked out of the furnace and were not burned, neither did they smell of fire!

King James Version (KJV)

²⁶ Then Nebuchadnezzar came near to the mouth of the burning fiery furnace, and spake, and said, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, ye servants of the most high God, come forth, and come hither. Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, came forth of the midst of the fire.
²⁷ And the princes, governors, and captains, and the king's counselors, being gathered together, saw these men, upon whose bodies the fire had no power, nor was an hair of their head singed, neither were their coats changed, nor the smell of fire had passed on them.
²⁸ Then Nebuchadnezzar spake, and said, Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who hath sent his angel, and delivered his servants that trusted in him, and have changed the king's word, and yielded their bodies, that they might not serve nor worship any god, except their own God.
²⁹ Therefore I make a decree, That every people, nation, and language, which speak any thing amiss against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, shall be cut in pieces, and their houses shall be made a dunghill: because there is no other God that can deliver after this sort.
³⁰ Then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, in the province of Babylon.

NEVER FORGET - GOD IS WITH YOU...HE IS ABLE TO DO ALL THINGS, BUT FAIL!

Please enjoy the below video and song by Tye Tribbett -  "If He Did It Before...Same God" from his new 2013 album entitled, "Greater Than". Please enjoy and....''

(I do not own the rights to this song.)

BE BLESSED!

Every Praise - My Deliverer - 1st Sam. 17:45-47

This is Namma for Christ with the thirty-ninth inspirational message dated Monday, September 9th, 2013.  The title of this message is, Every Praise - My Deliverer - 1st Sam. 17:45-47. The title of this message is taken from the below scriptures in which David (while still a youth) declares that the Lord will "deliver" the Philistine giant, Goliath, "into mine hand" (into David's hand) and GOD will get the glory:

1 Samuel 17:45-47

King James Version (KJV)

⁴⁵ Then said David to the Philistine, Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield: but I come to thee in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied.
⁴⁶ This day will the Lord deliver thee into mine hand; and I will smite thee, and take thine head from thee; and I will give the carcases of the host of the Philistines this day unto the fowls of the air, and to the wild beasts of the earth; that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel.
⁴⁷ And all this assembly shall know that the Lord saveth not with sword and spear: for the battle is the Lord's, and He will give you into our hands.

I would encourage all believers to take the time to read the entire chapter of 1st Samuel 17, it's a great bible story - of how God used David to defeat Goliath. This is a story I first learned as a child in my Sunday School class. No matter what your age, this story is so uplifting, encouraging  and  inspirational...it tells of how God can use you in a powerful way...no matter what your age, status or condition is.

Look at the below bible verse (found in 1st Samuel 17:33) in which King Saul tried to discourage or put down what David could do - based on his (Saul's) misjudgment of "only looking at David" and not looking at what "GOD CAN DO - BY USING DAVID!

³³ And Saul said to David, Thou art not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him: for thou art but a youth, and he a man of war from his youth.

READ BELOW TO SEE  DAVID'S RESPONSE (found in 1st Samuel 17: 34-37  KJV):

1 Samuel 17:34-37

King James Version (KJV)

³⁴ And David said unto Saul, Thy servant kept his father's sheep, and there came a lion, and a bear, and took a lamb out of the flock:
³⁵ And I went out after him, and smote him, and delivered it out of his mouth: and when he arose against me, I caught him by his beard, and smote him, and slew him.
³⁶ Thy servant slew both the lion and the bear: and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be as one of them, seeing he hath defied the armies of the living God.

³⁷ David said moreover, The Lord that delivered me out of the paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the bear, He will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine. And Saul said unto David, Go, and the Lord be with thee.

DAVID REMEMBERED HOW GOD HAD "DELIVERED" HIM BEFORE!

DAVID HAD FAITH IN GOD TO DELIVER HIM - AGAIN!

DAVID DEPENDED ON "GOD'S STRENGTH AND POWER" TO DEFEAT "WHATEVER" CAME UP AGAINST HIM! DAVID BELIEVED GOD WOULD GIVE HIM THE VICTORY!

DAVID KNEW THAT HE MUST GIVE "ALL THE GLORY FOR THE VICTORY TO GOD"!

THE LORD WAS WITH DAVID!

THE LORD WILL BE WITH US - NO MATTER "WHATEVER" COMES UP AGAINST US! 

WE SHOULD DO LIKE DAVID DID:  WE MUST REMEMBER HOW GOD HAS BEEN WITH US BEFORE!

 WE MUST TRUST IN GOD AND LEAN ON OUR LORD FOR "HIS" STRENGTH AND POWER!

WE MUST GIVE THE LORD THE PRAISE AND GLORY FOR WHAT HE DOES IN OUR LIVES!

BELOW IS THE SCRIPTURE TEXT (1st SAMUEL 17: 45-51  - NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION) THAT SHOWS WHAT HAPPENED AFTER DAVID DEPENDED ON GOD FOR VICTORY:

1 Samuel 17:45-51

New International Version (NIV)

⁴⁵ David said to the Philistine, “You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. ⁴⁶ This day the Lord will deliver you into my hands, and I’ll strike you down and cut off your head. This very day I will give the carcasses of the Philistine army to the birds and the wild animals, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel. ⁴⁷ All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the Lord saves; for the battle is the Lord’s, and He will give all of you into our hands.”
⁴⁸ As the Philistine moved closer to attack him, David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet him. ⁴⁹ Reaching into his bag and taking out a stone, he slung it and struck the Philistine on the forehead. The stone sank into his forehead, and he fell facedown on the ground.
⁵⁰ So David triumphed over the Philistine with a sling and a stone; without a sword in his hand he struck down the Philistine and killed him.

⁵¹ David ran and stood over him. He took hold of the Philistine’s sword and drew it from the sheath. After he killed him, he cut off his head with the sword.

WE MUST HAVE FAITH IN GOD AND DEPEND ON OUR LORD TO USE US FOR HIS GLORY! WE MUST YIELD OURSELVES TO THE LORD FOR "HIS WILL" - TO BE DONE!


JESUS SAID IN HEBREWS 13:5b  - "I WILL NEVER LEAVE THEE, NOR FORSAKE THEE".

GENESIS 18: 14a  (below) REMINDS US: 

Genesis 18:14

King James Version (KJV)

¹⁴ Is anything too hard for the Lord?

DON'T FORGET (ROMANS 8: 31 below) TELLS US - IF GOD BE FOR US, WHO CAN BE AGAINST US! 

ALSO,  ROMANS 8:32 REMINDS US OF THE GREAT LOVE THAT GOD HAS FOR US THAT HE GAVE US HIS SON, JESUS: 

³¹ What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?
³² He that spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?

THE LORD IS WITH YOU!

DEPEND ON GOD, NO MATTER WHAT YOU ARE FACING!

ALWAYS REMEMBER - GOD IS OUR DELIVERER! 

BE BLESSED!


PLEASE ENJOY THE INCLUDED "ANOINTED" SONG AND VIDEO ENTITLED, "EVERY PRAISE", BY HEZEKIAH WALKER. THERE ARE LYRICS IN THIS SONG THAT SAY: "GOD, MY SAVIOR!...GOD, MY HEALER!...GOD, MY DELIVERER! YES, HE IS!...YES, HE IS!"

(I do not own the rights to this song.)

PLEASE SING ALONG, BE ENCOURAGED AND BE BLESSED!