WEBVTT 00:00:03.040 --> 00:00:13.919 Ministering to the heart of Western Arkansas's River Valley for over 165 years, welcome to Chapter and First, the Bible Teaching Ministry of Fort Smith's First Baptist Church. 00:00:14.160 --> 00:00:19.359 You'll find sermons and teachings from Pastor Greg, our ministry staff, and guest speakers. 00:00:19.600 --> 00:00:21.199 Thank you for listening. 00:00:21.519 --> 00:00:25.280 That's exactly how I told Jacob I wanted them to do it. 00:00:26.640 --> 00:00:28.559 Jacob, it's good to have you home, brother. 00:00:28.640 --> 00:00:29.600 We're glad to have you back. 00:00:29.679 --> 00:00:32.560 And choir and orchestra and everyone, thank you for that. 00:00:32.640 --> 00:00:34.399 And it's just incredible. 00:00:34.799 --> 00:00:44.880 We have been talking all morning, singing all morning, focusing on the fact that Jesus is alive and well, that our sins were paid for on the cross. 00:00:45.119 --> 00:00:47.439 He rose again, conquering death and sin. 00:00:47.520 --> 00:00:48.479 He is alive. 00:00:48.640 --> 00:00:51.200 We know we'll be in heaven for eternity. 00:00:51.439 --> 00:00:53.439 The battle has already been won. 00:00:53.600 --> 00:00:55.119 We know where we will be. 00:00:55.359 --> 00:00:57.520 We have been singing all of that. 00:00:58.079 --> 00:01:02.799 And that is what it means to be a believer, to have those things true. 00:01:03.119 --> 00:01:10.000 And we are singing about them because we are modeling that gratefulness and thanksgiving. 00:01:10.239 --> 00:01:15.840 We should always be thanking the Lord that those are the truths of our life. 00:01:16.079 --> 00:01:18.480 That those are the truths on which we stand. 00:01:19.280 --> 00:01:23.120 I want you to turn with your Bibles to Daniel chapter 6. 00:01:23.439 --> 00:01:30.159 And we are talking all month about the promise and power of having a thankful heart. 00:01:30.400 --> 00:01:38.560 And when we take time, as we talked about last week, to be thankful, it changes our sense of God's presence. 00:01:38.640 --> 00:01:46.640 And today we're going to see how it changes our perspective of the things that we're going through in life moments. 00:01:46.879 --> 00:01:56.640 You see, if you approach a moment and you have been thankful all along, that sin and death have already been conquered. 00:01:56.959 --> 00:02:00.239 That we're going to spend an eternity in heaven with Jesus. 00:02:00.480 --> 00:02:05.519 That every promise ever written to us in Scripture was sealed in the blood of Jesus. 00:02:05.680 --> 00:02:09.680 That this battle that we're going into has already been won. 00:02:09.919 --> 00:02:20.000 When you are constantly in a time of thanking the Lord for that, of praising Him for that, of attaching yourself to that truth so you own it in your life. 00:02:20.319 --> 00:02:35.360 When you've come to that battle, your perspective in that moment is completely different because you are attached to the reality of what it means to be a believer. 00:02:35.599 --> 00:02:37.759 Now we find that here in this story. 00:02:37.919 --> 00:02:39.599 This is an incredible story. 00:02:39.759 --> 00:02:41.840 This is one of those stories that I love. 00:02:42.000 --> 00:02:44.319 It is one of my favorite in all of Scripture. 00:02:44.479 --> 00:02:52.080 And it is one of those that sometimes we relegate to vacation Bible school or third grade Sunday school. 00:02:52.319 --> 00:03:00.800 If you go in our children's area and most churches, and if you find pictures on the wall or whatever, you're going to see pictures of Daniel in the lion's den. 00:03:00.879 --> 00:03:03.680 And we've got this sort of kiddie picture of that. 00:03:03.840 --> 00:03:10.800 And we've got these sort of colorful looking, they look like watercolored things, and here's Daniel, and he's all looks handsome and everything. 00:03:10.879 --> 00:03:21.919 And here's like us this uh uh this this dirt floor and this kind of wall around it, this stone, and we see these nice lions that are kind of standing there and whatever. 00:03:22.080 --> 00:03:25.280 Listen, y'all, this is not a kid's story right here. 00:03:26.000 --> 00:03:30.800 This is people being fed to lions and mauled to death, right? 00:03:30.960 --> 00:03:33.039 When's the last time you went to the zoo? 00:03:33.199 --> 00:03:35.280 Just think for a minute, lions. 00:03:35.520 --> 00:03:42.960 Last night Janet and I watched uh the movie version of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe again last night. 00:03:43.120 --> 00:03:47.919 And I'm telling you, a lion is a fearsome creature. 00:03:48.560 --> 00:03:54.639 I mean, when the lion roars, it is shocking. 00:03:55.680 --> 00:04:04.960 The power of a lion as a hunter, as just a beast of prey is incredible. 00:04:05.280 --> 00:04:08.159 I mean, this is a rich, deep adult story. 00:04:08.240 --> 00:04:11.280 So we're going to take some time to read it again and read the whole thing. 00:04:11.360 --> 00:04:12.639 So we'll read the whole chapter. 00:04:12.719 --> 00:04:21.839 It'll take us just a minute, but sometimes we have just got to take time and read what God says and reattach ourselves to the nature of this story. 00:04:22.079 --> 00:04:42.000 First of all, this is an adult story that relates to our lives because this is a grown man in a place of high political power who is being attacked and is in the middle of conspiratorial intrigue in the capital of the nation. 00:04:42.319 --> 00:04:48.959 And it is a man, Daniel is a man that people are conspiring to get rid of. 00:04:49.680 --> 00:05:01.360 They are going to feed him and his family to these ferocious creatures, and they're going to eat his wife and his grandchildren and his children. 00:05:01.600 --> 00:05:07.120 I mean, this is a death or life moment in this man's life. 00:05:07.279 --> 00:05:09.600 And so listen to what the Bible says, beginning in verse 1. 00:05:09.759 --> 00:05:13.680 Darius, who is the king now that controls the world. 00:05:13.839 --> 00:05:16.639 This is the world empire, the Medo-Persian Empire. 00:05:16.800 --> 00:05:27.519 Now, just to give you a little history, when the children of Israel had walked away from God and they had walked away from him long enough, he had warned them, You will be conquered, and I will judge your sin. 00:05:28.399 --> 00:05:36.480 And they did not repent, and so God judged their sin, and they were conquered by the Babylonian Empire. 00:05:36.720 --> 00:05:39.680 And they were taken out as exiles. 00:05:39.839 --> 00:05:44.959 Now you remember this summer we studied about Jeremiah, and there were false prophets. 00:05:45.120 --> 00:05:48.079 Jeremiah 29, 11 was one of those favorite verses. 00:05:48.160 --> 00:05:56.959 And if you go back and read through that again, they ended up in Babylon, and there were prophets that are saying, Ah, we're going to get home and all that. 00:05:57.040 --> 00:06:05.920 And God spoke to Jeremiah, and he said, You speak to the people and you tell them I meant what I said, and you're going to be in exile for all of this time because of your sin. 00:06:06.000 --> 00:06:10.720 But I do have hope for you, and I am going to restore you after that time. 00:06:11.040 --> 00:06:18.639 Daniel, when you meet Daniel in Daniel chapter 1, the first half of this book is sort of a biography of Daniel. 00:06:18.800 --> 00:06:37.839 He is a young person, and he's got other young people, and they have been taken in captivity, and he is living in captivity to the Babylonian government, and they are going to take some of these young Jewish men uh boys and they're going to grow them up into this society. 00:06:38.160 --> 00:06:44.000 And what they're going to do is try to bring them in and make them a part of the Babylonian Empire. 00:06:44.079 --> 00:06:53.680 And if you can take these conquered nations and you can fold them into your belief systems and culture and all of that, then you don't have to deal with rebellions and all that stuff. 00:06:53.759 --> 00:06:54.560 And that's what's happening. 00:06:54.639 --> 00:07:00.800 And we are introduced to Daniel when he says, No, I want to be faithful to our God and who he is. 00:07:00.879 --> 00:07:17.839 And he and some friends challenge the system in an appropriate way, and they f and they prove that if they are allowed to live out their faith, even in that culture, that they will be an asset, and God's blessings on them will impact the people around them. 00:07:18.000 --> 00:07:28.639 And so for the first five chapters of Daniel, you see these incredible stories of Daniel and his friends Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego as they live out their faith in this pagan culture. 00:07:28.879 --> 00:07:41.279 Then Daniel is called before the king of Babylon, and there is a dream that God is predicting to them there is a point where Babylon will be conquered by the Medo-Persian Empire. 00:07:41.600 --> 00:07:56.959 And now we begin here in chapter one, and Darius is the king of this Medo-Persian Empire, and just as God has predicted, he has changed the regimes ruling the world at that time. 00:07:57.040 --> 00:08:20.319 And so now Daniel has gone from an executive in one pagan empire, and now we find he is an executive in a second pagan empire that defeated the first one, and that in of itself is a miracle that he, as a man of integrity and a man of God, has been able to navigate this change in governments and all of that. 00:08:20.480 --> 00:08:23.120 I mean, this is a fascinating, rich deal. 00:08:23.199 --> 00:08:24.959 We don't have time to get into all that. 00:08:25.360 --> 00:08:26.800 This is where we find ourselves. 00:08:26.959 --> 00:08:32.399 So verse 1, Darius, king, decided to appoint 120 satraps over the kingdom. 00:08:32.559 --> 00:08:40.240 In other words, he's dividing it out so he can like control it better, stationed throughout the realm, and over them three administrators, including Daniel. 00:08:40.399 --> 00:08:44.320 So he's got three vice presidents over these regional governors. 00:08:44.480 --> 00:08:49.519 These satraps will be accountable to the three so that the king would not be defrauded. 00:08:49.679 --> 00:08:57.039 Daniel distinguished himself above the other administrators and satraps because he had an extraordinary spirit. 00:08:57.360 --> 00:09:01.360 So the king planned to set him over the entire realm. 00:09:01.600 --> 00:09:08.159 The administrators and the satraps, therefore, kept trying to find a charge against Daniel regarding the kingdom. 00:09:08.320 --> 00:09:11.919 I mean, they're trying to destroy his career, his life, and all of that. 00:09:12.000 --> 00:09:15.519 They're jealous, they're angry, there's political stuff here, there's evil. 00:09:15.679 --> 00:09:17.600 I mean, you've got to get this setting of this. 00:09:17.840 --> 00:09:25.759 They could find no charge or corruption, for he was trustworthy, and no negligence or corruption was found in him. 00:09:25.919 --> 00:09:34.960 Then these men said, We will never find any charge against this Daniel unless we find something against him concerning the law of his God. 00:09:35.919 --> 00:09:38.399 Just a thought in your workplace. 00:09:38.799 --> 00:09:42.879 Man, wouldn't it be incredible if that was your testimony? 00:09:43.759 --> 00:09:48.240 The only thing we're going to find wrong with them is that they walk with Jesus. 00:09:49.120 --> 00:09:50.720 It's an incredible testimony. 00:09:50.960 --> 00:09:55.360 So the administrators and satraps went together to the king and said to him, May King Darius live forever. 00:09:55.519 --> 00:10:12.480 All the administrators of the kingdom, the prefects, satraps, advisors, and governors, have agreed that the king should establish an ordinance and enforce an edict that for thirty days anyone who petitions any God or man except you, the king, will be thrown into the lion's den. 00:10:12.559 --> 00:10:19.200 So they are playing on the ego of the king to try to get him to pass this law. 00:10:19.600 --> 00:10:28.559 Therefore, your majesty established the edict and signed the document, so that as a law of the Medes and Persians, it is irrevocable and cannot be changed. 00:10:28.720 --> 00:10:30.320 So King Darius signed the document. 00:10:30.399 --> 00:10:33.279 Now that will show up again, the law of the Medes and Persians. 00:10:33.519 --> 00:10:42.639 What they had in their government structure was such a belief in government and structure and all of that that when they signed something in the law, they wouldn't change it. 00:10:42.799 --> 00:10:44.480 They believed in the rule of law. 00:10:44.559 --> 00:10:47.120 It was part of their culture and it's part of the kingdom. 00:10:47.279 --> 00:10:50.559 And so you got this phrase now, the law of the Medes and Persians. 00:10:50.720 --> 00:10:52.960 That means it's it like it is irrevocable. 00:10:53.120 --> 00:10:55.360 Even the king wouldn't go back and change it. 00:10:55.600 --> 00:11:00.159 When Daniel learned that the document had been signed, he went into his house. 00:11:00.399 --> 00:11:03.679 The windows in its upper room opened towards Jerusalem. 00:11:03.840 --> 00:11:10.559 Now, what cultural people tell us a lot of times is you would have this house, and on the top would be just this place. 00:11:10.799 --> 00:11:12.080 It was just like a small room. 00:11:12.240 --> 00:11:14.000 It'd have windows and maybe louvers. 00:11:14.159 --> 00:11:16.159 It would allow the breeze to come in and all of that. 00:11:16.240 --> 00:11:18.080 Because they didn't have air conditioning and all of that. 00:11:18.159 --> 00:11:20.320 And so that was a common place where you would go. 00:11:20.480 --> 00:11:22.320 So this is a sort of a common thing. 00:11:22.399 --> 00:11:25.279 This is not Daniel showing off or anything like that. 00:11:25.440 --> 00:11:28.879 It's just kind of a common cultural thing about how life worked then. 00:11:29.120 --> 00:11:45.679 The windows in its upper room opened towards Jerusalem, and three times a day he got down on his knees, prayed, watch it, and gave thanks to his God just as he had done before. 00:11:46.960 --> 00:11:55.440 So Daniel's character and life was to live a life of prayer and giving thanks to God. 00:11:55.840 --> 00:11:58.399 This was not something he did in response to this moment. 00:11:58.559 --> 00:12:06.080 He had been doing it all along, and now he finds himself in a life moment, and he does not change his pattern or behavior. 00:12:07.200 --> 00:12:11.679 Then these men went as a group and found Daniel petitioning and imploring his God. 00:12:11.759 --> 00:12:13.919 So they approached the king and asked about his edict. 00:12:14.000 --> 00:12:21.120 Then you sign an edict that for thirty days any man who petitions any God or man except you, the king, will be thrown into the lion's den. 00:12:21.360 --> 00:12:28.320 The king answered, As a law of the Medes and Persians, the order stands and is irrevocable. 00:12:28.559 --> 00:12:37.440 Then they replied to the king, Daniel, one of the Judean exiles, has ignored you, the king, and the edict that you signed, for he prays three times a day. 00:12:37.600 --> 00:12:46.799 As soon as the king heard this, he was very displeased, and he set his mind on rescuing Daniel, and made every effort until sundown to deliver him. 00:12:46.879 --> 00:12:54.320 In other words, he's trying to do anything he can do to find a loophole to protect Daniel because of his respect for Daniel, as we saw earlier. 00:12:54.559 --> 00:13:03.919 Then these men went to the king and said to him, You as a king know it is a law of the Medes and Persians that no edict or ordinance the king establishes can be changed. 00:13:04.159 --> 00:13:09.039 So the king gave the order, and they brought Daniel and threw him into the lion's den. 00:13:09.840 --> 00:13:16.000 The king said to Daniel, May your God, whom you serve, continually rescue you. 00:13:16.240 --> 00:13:20.799 So even though Darius didn't serve the Lord, he knew of Daniel's faith. 00:13:21.519 --> 00:13:29.039 And he knew why Daniel was continuing to pray, because of the character and nature of his faith. 00:13:29.279 --> 00:13:31.440 And so he says, May your God protect you. 00:13:31.600 --> 00:13:34.000 A stone was brought and placed over the mouth of the den. 00:13:34.080 --> 00:13:41.200 The king sealed it with his own signet ring, and with the signet rings of his nobles, so that nothing in regard to Daniel could be changed. 00:13:41.440 --> 00:13:45.039 Then the king went to his palace and spent the night fasting. 00:13:45.200 --> 00:13:48.320 No diversions were brought to him, and he could not sleep. 00:13:48.559 --> 00:13:52.720 At the first light of dawn, the king got up and hurried to the lion's den. 00:13:52.879 --> 00:14:04.879 When he reached the den, he cried out in anguish to Daniel, Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you serve continually, been able to rescue you from the lions? 00:14:05.519 --> 00:14:06.799 This is awesome. 00:14:07.120 --> 00:14:11.759 Then Daniel spoke with the king from the lion's den. 00:14:11.919 --> 00:14:12.720 Is that awesome? 00:14:12.879 --> 00:14:14.639 I want to see the movie on this, y'all. 00:14:14.799 --> 00:14:15.840 This is incredible. 00:14:16.159 --> 00:14:20.000 My God sent his angel and shut the lion's mouths. 00:14:20.159 --> 00:14:23.759 They haven't hurt me, for I was found innocent before God. 00:14:24.000 --> 00:14:27.440 Also, I have not committed a crime against you, my king. 00:14:27.600 --> 00:14:31.440 The king was overjoyed and gave orders to take Daniel out of the den. 00:14:31.600 --> 00:14:37.200 So Daniel was taken out of the den uninjured, for he trusted in his God. 00:14:37.919 --> 00:14:44.799 The king then gave the command, and those men who had maliciously accused Daniel were brought and thrown into the lion's den. 00:14:44.879 --> 00:14:54.080 They, their children, and their wives, they had not reached the bottom of the den before the lions overpowered them and crushed all their bones. 00:14:54.320 --> 00:14:55.440 Can you get that picture? 00:14:55.600 --> 00:15:03.840 I mean, they are leaping into the air to grab them out of the air and take them to the ground and kill them. 00:15:04.480 --> 00:15:12.159 Then King Darius wrote to those of every people, nation, and language who live in all the earth. 00:15:12.480 --> 00:15:14.799 May your prosperity abound. 00:15:15.039 --> 00:15:24.240 I issue a decree that in all my royal dominion, people must tremble in fear before the God of Daniel. 00:15:24.480 --> 00:15:25.919 Is that awesome? 00:15:26.240 --> 00:15:40.720 We went from people having a prejudice against God and a political matchinations to destroy the man of God, to God has used this moment to have a pagan king declare to the world that they must worship the God of Israel. 00:15:40.879 --> 00:15:41.759 Is that awesome? 00:15:42.080 --> 00:15:51.200 Man, when you think about our nation and can revival happen our nation, I refer you to the chapter of Daniel chapter 6. 00:15:51.840 --> 00:16:01.840 Man, if God's people stand for who we're supposed to be and we pray to the Lord, I believe that the Lord can do the same thing in our nation like he did in Daniel's. 00:16:03.519 --> 00:16:06.879 So here's what I want to talk to you about: how this changes our perspective. 00:16:07.200 --> 00:16:09.919 Daniel finds himself in the midst of this intrigue. 00:16:10.000 --> 00:16:18.080 He's already lived through all of this, become successful in these governments of people who've conquered the people of God. 00:16:18.399 --> 00:16:20.399 He has navigated the change. 00:16:20.559 --> 00:16:22.480 Now he finds him in the midst of this. 00:16:22.639 --> 00:16:23.919 What is his response? 00:16:24.080 --> 00:16:27.679 How does he have the faith to live through this moment? 00:16:27.840 --> 00:16:28.960 Well, here's the first thing. 00:16:29.200 --> 00:16:30.320 Truth number one. 00:16:32.559 --> 00:16:38.720 Thanks is an essential and consistent part of our walk with Jesus. 00:16:39.440 --> 00:16:43.039 To be a Christian is to be thankful. 00:16:43.360 --> 00:16:46.559 To be a Christian is to have a spirit of thanksgiving. 00:16:46.799 --> 00:16:53.919 To be a Christian is to be consistently in our prayer time being thankful for the Lord. 00:16:54.320 --> 00:16:56.879 Pastor Rodgrew used to say this all the time. 00:16:57.840 --> 00:17:00.639 God doesn't make up stuff when he puts it in his word. 00:17:00.960 --> 00:17:03.919 If he took the time to say it, it's got to be in there for a reason. 00:17:04.079 --> 00:17:07.119 I want to refer you back to this picture of Daniel. 00:17:07.359 --> 00:17:08.480 Verse 10. 00:17:08.960 --> 00:17:22.000 He went into his house, the windows in its upper room opened toward Jerusalem, and three times a day he got down on his knees, prayed, and gave thanks to his God. 00:17:23.359 --> 00:17:38.799 God takes the time to show us that a man like Daniel and the level of integrity and faith that he has is rooted in his thanksgiving and how that creates a faith and a connection to the Lord. 00:17:39.680 --> 00:17:52.559 God takes time to point out, not just that he's prayed, he doesn't just give us this generic description, but in this moment, God takes the time to specifically identify that Daniel is a man who is giving thanks to the Lord. 00:17:52.880 --> 00:17:53.279 Why? 00:17:53.519 --> 00:17:55.519 Because that's what a Christian looks like. 00:17:56.640 --> 00:18:09.680 We are to have times in our lives where we are specifically and consistently and with purpose and thought taking time to say, Lord, I thank you for this. 00:18:10.880 --> 00:18:13.279 And it is to be there in every moment. 00:18:13.440 --> 00:18:18.000 It says, gave thanks to his God just as he had done before. 00:18:18.400 --> 00:18:20.480 In other words, this is his lifestyle. 00:18:20.559 --> 00:18:22.000 This is who Daniel is. 00:18:22.240 --> 00:18:33.839 This is how he functioned in his life as a part of his devotion to God, is a committed process of being thankful always. 00:18:34.160 --> 00:18:36.319 Now, let me give you just a couple of verses. 00:18:36.559 --> 00:18:37.920 Write these references down. 00:18:38.079 --> 00:18:42.960 I've given them to you on the screen, but I'm giving you the phrase that I want you to highlight. 00:18:43.119 --> 00:18:46.720 In Colossians chapter 2, here's what the Bible tells us. 00:18:47.440 --> 00:18:50.559 He is talking about who we are as Christians. 00:18:50.720 --> 00:18:53.839 This is a fundamental description of what we look like as Christians. 00:18:54.079 --> 00:18:55.839 Verse 6 of chapter 2. 00:18:56.000 --> 00:19:01.519 Therefore, as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, walk in him. 00:19:01.920 --> 00:19:17.519 So now he's talking about I've been saved, this is my walk, walk in him, rooted and built up in him, and established in the faith, just as you were taught, overflowing with gratitude. 00:19:18.079 --> 00:19:22.480 Another version says, abounding in thanksgiving. 00:19:22.720 --> 00:19:33.519 To be saved, to be rooted in a relationship with Jesus, to be walking with him, is to always be in a constant state of gratefulness and thanksgiving. 00:19:34.160 --> 00:19:37.279 Whatever's happening, whatever's happening around us. 00:19:37.599 --> 00:19:39.119 I want to give you another scripture. 00:19:39.279 --> 00:19:41.279 I have this reference on there as well. 00:19:41.519 --> 00:19:42.799 Ephesians chapter 5. 00:19:42.880 --> 00:19:44.000 This is a famous chapter. 00:19:44.079 --> 00:19:45.359 There's a lot going on in here. 00:19:45.519 --> 00:19:47.039 Marriage, all of that kind of stuff. 00:19:47.119 --> 00:19:52.160 But what's in here is, again, our fundamental picture of who we are as believers. 00:19:52.319 --> 00:20:02.799 In Ephesians chapter 5, verse 1, it says this therefore we are to imitate God as children would imitate a Father. 00:20:03.039 --> 00:20:11.440 And then because we are saved, we are to walk in the love of Jesus, loving people as Jesus loved us and gave himself for us. 00:20:11.680 --> 00:20:23.200 Then in verse 18, he takes the next step of what our Christian life looks like, and he says, Do not be drunk with wine and is excess, but be filled with the Holy Spirit. 00:20:23.359 --> 00:20:26.559 And he commands us to be constantly filled with the Holy Spirit. 00:20:26.640 --> 00:20:36.240 In fact, when you break down the verb tense in that original language, it actually says, be being filled constantly, always by the Holy Spirit. 00:20:36.480 --> 00:20:38.000 We're surrendered to the Holy Spirit. 00:20:38.079 --> 00:20:38.880 He is the actor. 00:20:39.039 --> 00:20:39.759 He fills us up. 00:20:39.839 --> 00:20:43.039 We are constantly in a state of being filled by the Holy Spirit. 00:20:43.119 --> 00:20:46.480 And then he gives us what those fruits of the Spirit look like. 00:20:46.559 --> 00:20:54.480 And here's what he says: speaking to one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing and making music from your heart to the Lord. 00:20:54.720 --> 00:20:57.440 There are some folks that need to hear that part, right? 00:20:57.839 --> 00:21:03.119 Pastor Ray Scrub used to say all the time, you've heard people they light up a room when they walk in. 00:21:03.279 --> 00:21:06.000 Some people light up a room when they walk out. 00:21:08.720 --> 00:21:14.880 You get these negative, gripey, always don't like it, always frustrated with everything, chewing on everything all the time. 00:21:15.119 --> 00:21:17.519 That is not what a believer looks like. 00:21:18.000 --> 00:21:25.440 Why would we be negative, angry, frustrated, snapping at people, critical all the time, when we are saved? 00:21:25.839 --> 00:21:42.000 And we walk with the King of kings and the Lord of Lords, and we are submitted to the Holy Spirit, and He is guiding us and teaching us, and I know I am saved, and I am forgiven, and I have treasures in heaven, and I am going to spend an eternity with Jesus, and my sins have been forgiven, and he loves me and he walks with me. 00:21:42.160 --> 00:21:46.960 Why would I not be positive and singing praises and thankful? 00:21:47.039 --> 00:21:56.240 And there's what he says giving thanks always for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. 00:21:56.480 --> 00:21:59.759 To be filled with the Holy Spirit is to be constantly. 00:22:00.640 --> 00:22:04.000 Overflowing with thanksgiving to the one who saved us. 00:22:05.680 --> 00:22:08.160 And I think the converse of that is true. 00:22:08.720 --> 00:22:21.200 If you're negative, angry, frustrated, mad at stuff all the time, don't like everything, all that kind of stuff, it probably means you need to get on your knees and find out what is your relationship with the Holy Spirit? 00:22:22.000 --> 00:22:24.480 What is going on in your life? 00:22:25.200 --> 00:22:25.839 Right? 00:22:26.960 --> 00:22:43.359 You look at Daniel and He faces with faith and grace and power the threat of being thrown into the lion's den and eaten and mauled to death because of his faith. 00:22:43.599 --> 00:22:45.279 And yet, what does he do? 00:22:46.000 --> 00:22:53.599 As he has always done, he gets on his knees before the Lord and he says, thank you. 00:22:54.160 --> 00:22:54.960 Thank you. 00:22:55.920 --> 00:23:12.319 A normative, essential, necessary, natural, and consistent part of our lives as believers should be a specific and intentional time of giving thanks to the Lord. 00:23:13.119 --> 00:23:15.599 Not just praising, we're good at that. 00:23:15.839 --> 00:23:16.720 Lord, you're awesome. 00:23:16.880 --> 00:23:18.559 Lord, we love you, all that kind of stuff. 00:23:18.640 --> 00:23:23.680 But I'm talking about we go beyond that to, Lord, thank you for this. 00:23:24.480 --> 00:23:25.920 Thank you for this. 00:23:26.559 --> 00:23:27.920 Thank you for this. 00:23:28.400 --> 00:23:29.759 Thank you for this. 00:23:30.240 --> 00:23:33.839 In facing the lion's den, Lord, thank you for this. 00:23:34.400 --> 00:23:39.920 With those people trying to stab me in the back that I work with all the time, Lord, thank you for this. 00:23:40.559 --> 00:23:43.279 It's a normal part of our life, which leads us to truth too. 00:23:43.440 --> 00:23:44.319 Pastor, how do you do that? 00:23:44.400 --> 00:23:45.359 I mean, what does that look like? 00:23:45.440 --> 00:23:46.319 I mean, this is hard. 00:23:46.480 --> 00:23:49.119 I don't know that I've got what Daniel's got. 00:23:49.279 --> 00:23:52.480 I mean, he is lauded in Scripture for his faith. 00:23:52.559 --> 00:23:53.359 How do I do that? 00:23:53.519 --> 00:23:56.960 Well, here you need to understand what thanks does for us. 00:23:57.279 --> 00:24:02.799 Thanksgiving, giving thanks, it directly and deeply connects us to Jesus. 00:24:03.279 --> 00:24:06.079 It's how we understand who he is and what he's doing. 00:24:06.240 --> 00:24:12.400 And it builds our faith in him as we are consistently thanking him. 00:24:12.880 --> 00:24:16.880 That connection that develops helps us understand who he is. 00:24:17.039 --> 00:24:18.000 Let me explain it this way. 00:24:18.160 --> 00:24:19.680 Look at this next screen. 00:24:19.920 --> 00:24:29.119 When you are giving thanks for something specifically, it connects you as a receiver to the source of what you're receiving. 00:24:29.680 --> 00:24:38.319 When I give thanks to Jesus and I'm thanking him for salvation, I'm thanking you for giving me, and I'm thanking you that even though I keep messing that up, you still keep forgiving me. 00:24:38.480 --> 00:24:40.079 You keep working in my life. 00:24:40.240 --> 00:24:47.680 When I'm being specifically thankful to him for that, it connects me directly to him and who he is and what he's doing. 00:24:48.559 --> 00:25:03.519 That thanks, when I am connecting and I am thanking him specifically, and I'm making a list and I'm working through that, and I'm intentionally taking the time to be thankful, it builds my belief system in him and my trust in him. 00:25:04.079 --> 00:25:09.680 When I am thankful to him, it reminds me that God is good always. 00:25:10.960 --> 00:25:18.640 Ephesians 5 says, when I'm surrendered to the Holy Spirit, I'm giving thanks always in everything. 00:25:19.519 --> 00:25:20.799 Get that what it says? 00:25:21.039 --> 00:25:22.319 How it directs us? 00:25:22.559 --> 00:25:32.079 It gives me this understanding when I'm being thankful to him, and this is who God is, it reminds me that God is good all the time, all the time God is good. 00:25:32.880 --> 00:25:50.880 And now that I know that God is good, and I'm thanking him for what he's doing, and I'm thanking him for what he's done in my life, and I think things like, Lord, I thank you for how you've protected me there, and I thank you for how you've protected me there, and now I can believe that you're going to protect me here because I know that God is trustworthy always. 00:25:51.279 --> 00:26:01.839 When I'm giving thanks for him and what he's done in my life and how he's done that, it reminds me of this walk and history and heritage of God's trustworthiness. 00:26:02.160 --> 00:26:04.720 God is good and he's trustworthy. 00:26:05.119 --> 00:26:15.440 And when I'm giving thanks to him personally and specifically, and I'm focusing on what he's done for me, it reminds me that he is always present in my life. 00:26:15.680 --> 00:26:20.000 You see, it is that thanks that connects us to him. 00:26:21.200 --> 00:26:25.039 I think it's more powerful than the asking. 00:26:25.759 --> 00:26:30.000 Now, Scripture says we are to bring our request to the Lord. 00:26:30.319 --> 00:26:33.920 So never be afraid to ask God for what you need. 00:26:34.559 --> 00:26:36.640 But there's something that goes on in our hearts. 00:26:36.799 --> 00:26:45.039 When we come in and we're pleading with God to do this, and we're pleading with God to do this, and we're pleading with God to do this, and God do this, and God do this, and God do this. 00:26:45.200 --> 00:26:57.359 And we've not prefaced that with thanksgiving that builds our trust in Him, even that constant asking can even create a sense of doubt. 00:26:58.079 --> 00:27:01.839 I mean, how many times you heard people in church like, God, if it's your will, do this. 00:27:02.079 --> 00:27:03.519 God, if it's your will, do this. 00:27:03.680 --> 00:27:09.920 I think a lot of times that's code for, I don't really believe you're gonna do this or not, but I'm supposed to pray about it. 00:27:12.559 --> 00:27:26.480 When if we have said, Lord, thank you for how you were faithful, and God, I know you do this, and God, I know you do this, and God, you've done this in my life, and God, you've saved me, and God, even if this goes south and I get eaten by the lions, after the second chomp, I'm gonna be with you in heaven. 00:27:26.799 --> 00:27:28.480 God, thank you for that. 00:27:29.200 --> 00:27:33.279 But if you don't mind, I'd like to avoid the chomp part. 00:27:35.519 --> 00:27:42.160 Elijah, like riding home to heaven in a flaming chariot, that was way cooler than being chomped by the lion's God. 00:27:42.240 --> 00:27:43.759 Let's try that plan, right? 00:27:45.279 --> 00:27:55.440 It changes even how we ask when we are grateful because we are reminded that he is the source and that it is real. 00:27:56.079 --> 00:28:05.759 And that's why I think when Daniel goes into the lion's den, he is prepared for that and he doesn't push back on the king, and he doesn't fight the process, and he doesn't run and hide. 00:28:06.000 --> 00:28:08.640 He has a testimony that's in play here. 00:28:09.200 --> 00:28:15.839 He knows that they have cooked up this scheme because they know he's going to pray. 00:28:16.079 --> 00:28:26.640 And he's got a question now: am I going to back away from that, or am I going to step into that and press into the fact that I believe God answers prayer? 00:28:27.279 --> 00:28:38.480 In order to press into that, you have to already have a confidence that God is a prayer answerer, and he's already answered prayers in your life, and you're already grateful for that. 00:28:39.279 --> 00:28:45.039 You see, Daniel is facing this lion's den, but if you go to Daniel chapter 1, he's already worked through that. 00:28:45.200 --> 00:28:57.279 You know, they're going to make us violate our dietary laws and violate our other laws and do all that, and he's already pushed back on and seen God show faithful when he is obedient, God elevates him. 00:28:57.680 --> 00:29:05.039 He's got his friends Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego find themselves in a similar kind of circumstance, and they're thrown into the fiery furnace. 00:29:05.119 --> 00:29:05.920 And what happens? 00:29:06.160 --> 00:29:14.240 Jesus shows up in a human form and stands in the fire with them and saves them from that fire. 00:29:14.720 --> 00:29:32.559 Daniel is already standing before Darius as king when he has interpreted the dream of Nebuchadnezzar that one day Darius would be the king, and after Darius becomes the king, God is going to use him to start returning the children of Israel back to Israel. 00:29:32.799 --> 00:29:34.799 Daniel already knows all of that. 00:29:35.039 --> 00:29:37.759 He's already seen God answer all those prayers. 00:29:37.920 --> 00:29:44.559 He's standing before Darius because God has already made that change in the regime government that he's promised he would make. 00:29:44.720 --> 00:29:49.599 And Daniel's now waiting for them to start sending people back to Israel. 00:29:49.839 --> 00:29:52.799 I mean, he's got all these answered prayers. 00:29:54.000 --> 00:29:59.920 Because he is grateful for what God has done, he's probably like, hey, throw me in the lines, Daniel. 00:30:00.000 --> 00:30:01.279 Let's check this out. 00:30:02.160 --> 00:30:10.319 If Jesus stood in the fire with Rack, Shack, and Benny over there, what do you think he's going to do with these lions? 00:30:10.799 --> 00:30:12.799 You see, his perspective has changed. 00:30:12.960 --> 00:30:13.920 So how do we do that? 00:30:14.000 --> 00:30:18.400 Well, I encouraged you last week to start a Thanksgiving journal, and here's mine. 00:30:18.640 --> 00:30:19.680 I've started mine. 00:30:19.839 --> 00:30:20.640 How do you do that? 00:30:20.799 --> 00:30:22.319 It looks very simple. 00:30:22.720 --> 00:30:28.160 You have to sit down and take time to be thankful and specific. 00:30:28.319 --> 00:30:33.839 So last week I gave you three ways to start listing what you can be thankful for. 00:30:33.920 --> 00:30:36.400 And this is literally what my journal looks like. 00:30:36.559 --> 00:30:38.400 You can't read it, but there's one of my pages. 00:30:38.480 --> 00:30:40.559 I've started writing in it, started doing all that. 00:30:40.720 --> 00:30:46.240 And here's what you do: three ways I think that you can be specific and intentional. 00:30:46.559 --> 00:30:48.960 Foundational truths about the Lord. 00:30:49.279 --> 00:30:52.480 You just start being thankful, specific ways. 00:30:52.640 --> 00:30:54.000 Here's what I know. 00:30:54.720 --> 00:30:56.160 1 John 1 9. 00:30:56.240 --> 00:31:05.200 I keep messing this up, but Jesus says if we are faithful, if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 00:31:06.160 --> 00:31:12.559 Philippians chapter 1, verse 6 says, He who began a good work in you will be faithful to complete it until the day returns. 00:31:12.880 --> 00:31:14.240 Man, I am thankful for that. 00:31:14.319 --> 00:31:15.920 I am struggling through this situation. 00:31:16.000 --> 00:31:19.440 I keep messing this up, but God is not done with me. 00:31:19.759 --> 00:31:21.519 God never stops forgiving me. 00:31:21.759 --> 00:31:24.480 He never stops working in my life. 00:31:25.119 --> 00:31:29.440 The fact that I'm saved, I know I am saved, and I am saved forever. 00:31:29.680 --> 00:31:31.440 A foundational truth about the Lord. 00:31:31.599 --> 00:31:35.039 Jesus said, no one can pluck you out of my Father's hand. 00:31:37.200 --> 00:31:51.119 In Romans chapter 8, the Bible says this: neither death nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things that are present, nor things that might come, even lions' dens, even people at work trying to stab you in the back and end your job. 00:31:51.440 --> 00:32:01.759 Any of that, things that might come, nor any other created thing can ever separate me from the love of God which is found in Christ Jesus. 00:32:02.000 --> 00:32:04.079 I need to stop and be thankful for that. 00:32:04.160 --> 00:32:14.079 And I need to stop and tell the Lord, thank you, that what I am facing is not as big as you, and it cannot separate me from your love. 00:32:14.640 --> 00:32:19.039 And when I'm thankful to that, it connects me to the source. 00:32:19.279 --> 00:32:21.200 It reminds me that God is good. 00:32:21.440 --> 00:32:27.200 It reminds me that God is trustworthy, and it reminds me that He is with me. 00:32:27.759 --> 00:32:31.440 Now, the other type, applicable truths in the moment. 00:32:31.759 --> 00:32:33.839 Again, I just ran through that list for Daniel. 00:32:34.000 --> 00:32:45.920 If Daniel writing this journal, here's what he'd write: Lord, you were faithful in the beginning of my life when they wanted us to eat that stuff and violate our integrity and our laws of who we are and live the way they live instead of the way you called us to live. 00:32:46.079 --> 00:32:52.720 And God, you gave us a plan, you gave us wisdom, you put that leader in place who allowed us to experiment with that. 00:32:52.799 --> 00:32:55.359 You blessed us, you showed yourself grateful. 00:32:55.519 --> 00:32:56.559 Lord, thank you. 00:32:56.720 --> 00:33:00.480 I know you were trustworthy because I've seen you do that in my life. 00:33:00.799 --> 00:33:15.440 He can write down, Lord, I know that in this moment you are doing something for the people of God because I remember when we interpreted that dream, and you said that that regime will change and the Medes and Persians will come in power, and now we've seen it happen. 00:33:15.519 --> 00:33:22.799 And Lord, here is an opportunity to speak to Darius, and he can be the king who can start to return the children back to Israel. 00:33:22.960 --> 00:33:24.960 And God, I know I've seen you do that. 00:33:25.119 --> 00:33:27.200 I saw you with Rak Shak and Benny. 00:33:27.279 --> 00:33:30.319 I saw Jesus in the fire, I saw you protect them. 00:33:30.480 --> 00:33:33.119 Lions, they are not as bad as that fire. 00:33:33.920 --> 00:33:35.599 Lord, I've seen you do that. 00:33:35.759 --> 00:33:39.759 And you start to be thankful for those applicable truths in your life. 00:33:40.000 --> 00:33:46.559 And then the third thing I think you need to do in your Thanksgiving journal is when you're talking to Jesus, he's going to talk to you. 00:33:46.960 --> 00:33:53.279 And when you are being thankful and worshiping him, he has got you in the spot where now he can guide you. 00:33:54.000 --> 00:33:55.920 He can prepare you. 00:33:56.640 --> 00:34:01.200 Listen, it was not an accident that Daniel did not fight this moment. 00:34:01.359 --> 00:34:04.880 It is not an accident that Daniel did not run and hide. 00:34:05.039 --> 00:34:12.320 It is not an accident that Daniel knew to go and to continue to pray and implore and cry out to the Lord. 00:34:12.639 --> 00:34:19.920 It is not an accident, Daniel's faith, when he was put in there and the lions were released. 00:34:20.159 --> 00:34:21.599 It was not an accident. 00:34:21.920 --> 00:34:23.199 God was preparing him. 00:34:23.360 --> 00:34:25.280 God was speaking to him. 00:34:25.599 --> 00:34:28.000 God was using him in that moment. 00:34:28.079 --> 00:34:34.800 And Daniel was ready, and his faith was prepared to stand strong and to be there and be God's tool. 00:34:35.039 --> 00:34:43.920 And when that was done, literally a pagan king tells the world at that time that they have to respect and honor the God of Israel. 00:34:44.159 --> 00:34:45.920 Because Daniel was ready. 00:34:46.159 --> 00:34:48.960 And if you're speaking to Jesus, he's going to speak to you. 00:34:49.119 --> 00:34:52.960 And if you're grateful and you're thanking him, you've done this, you've done this, you've done this. 00:34:53.039 --> 00:34:56.320 And he said, I'm glad you remember that because here's what we're going to do now. 00:34:56.719 --> 00:35:00.719 And you need to be ready for God to speak to you. 00:35:01.039 --> 00:35:03.199 Finally, truth number three. 00:35:06.559 --> 00:35:16.800 Our focus on Jesus through giving thanks, just like this model of Daniel, it determines our perspective as life comes at us. 00:35:17.440 --> 00:35:23.519 Daniel could handle this moment because he was prepared. 00:35:24.079 --> 00:35:28.239 And he was prepared because he was giving thanks. 00:35:29.199 --> 00:35:31.199 Can't make it any clearer than that. 00:35:31.760 --> 00:35:38.239 So the question for us now is: are we going to be prepared for the moment that's coming? 00:35:38.800 --> 00:35:42.639 Whatever it is in your life, it could be a good one. 00:35:42.880 --> 00:35:44.639 It could be a scary one. 00:35:45.199 --> 00:35:52.559 It could just be a fork in the road and a decision that you have to make. 00:35:53.440 --> 00:35:56.639 But are you going to be prepared for the moment? 00:35:57.519 --> 00:36:04.639 You can make decisions, you can walk through life, you can show up at church and sing and whatever. 00:36:05.280 --> 00:36:07.199 Or you can be like Daniel. 00:36:08.559 --> 00:36:12.800 Giving thanks to God always and everything. 00:36:13.119 --> 00:36:19.199 So that it connects your heart to the person and work of Jesus in your life. 00:36:19.360 --> 00:36:27.760 And when that happens, it will change your perspective and you will be ready when life comes at you. 00:36:29.360 --> 00:36:41.679 It all begins with first understanding that the relationship with Jesus is established through the decision to trust him as your Lord and Savior. 00:36:42.559 --> 00:36:55.280 The trust for Jesus to carry you through the lion's den begins when you have given him the trust to save you and to protect your eternity. 00:36:56.800 --> 00:37:02.880 When it begins with the decision to trust him and he will forgive you and guide you. 00:37:03.360 --> 00:37:15.760 It begins with the decision to trust him as your Lord and Savior because you will no longer be alone and Jesus will be in that relationship with you, and he has promised to walk with you and guide you and be there. 00:37:16.320 --> 00:37:26.079 You don't really have anything to give thanks for yet until you've thanked him for saving you. 00:37:27.440 --> 00:37:30.320