Summit Life with J.D. Greear

As we continue our walk through the book of Daniel, Pastor J.D. tackles two of the most obscure prophecies in the entire book. Although the imagery can be confusing—lions and beasts and fiery thrones—the message is as timely as ever. What God says to Daniel he says to believers in every generation: If you are going to faithfully shine in the present, you need to have a crystal clear vision of the future. There’s two ways to look at the future–a stress-producing way and a peace-producing one.

What was it that gave Daniel so much courage in the lion’s den? Is there a way to have that same courage in our own lives? Pastor J.D. tells us what the source of Daniel’s confidence was—or rather, in whom Daniel’s confidence was placed in.

The most famous story in the book–Daniel in the lions’ den. Daniel provides an incredible example of courage in the midst of adversity. But as much as we make of Daniel’s night with the lions, his courage was actually forged long before that fateful night. Courage is not summoned in a moment; courage is developed through a lifetime.

Have you heard the phrase “The writing is on the wall?” It usually means that something bad is about to happen; that your fate has been sealed. That phrase actually comes from Daniel, Chapter 5. Belshazzar is hosting a party when suddenly a mysterious floating hand appears and begins to carve a message into the plaster on the wall. Talk about terrifying! It begins etching 3 mysterious words into the wall, and then just disappears? The 3 words were “numbered,” “weighed,” and “divided.” And they brought in Daniel to help interpret what these words could mean.

Today on Summit Life, we come to another story of God taking down a prideful, rebellious, selfish king. You’re like, wait, didn’t we JUST hear this story on the program? Hang on, today we come to Belshazzar, the grandson of King Nebuchadnezzar. We’re going to see that this problem is much bigger than just one king.

Last week on the program we talked about the roots of pride. The first root is the failure to recognize everything—everything, every breath you take—is a gift of God; and the second root is, the foolish assumption that it will last forever. In this message, we’ll take a look at what God has to say about pride’s fruits and pride’s cure. It’s something we all need from time to time, so let’s dig in.

It’s a tricky thing, pride. Just when we think we’ve overcome it, we’re super proud of ourselves for accomplishing it! In fact, scripture is pretty clear about it when it says, “Pride comes before a fall…” Just when we think we’ve nailed it, it creeps in and can destroy us. Just ask the character in our teaching. He learned some pretty serious lessons about the sin of pride and its consequences. Where are the roots of pride in your life?

GOD IS BIGGER. It’s one of the most basic principles of our faith that we’re going to dive much deeper into. We’re going to talk about bold faith—faith both for when God delivers us, and faith for when he chooses not to. Will we be bold enough to ask ourselves the question, “Is God enough?” Will you follow him even when the answer is “no”? That type of courage takes a deep level of trust in God. Grab your Bible, and let’s walk through the “Courage in Babylon.” It’s a message we all need to be reminded of today.

Through the famous story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, we will see an example of courage that could only come from faith in God. These three young men knew that God was bigger than anything life can throw at us. And more importantly, that God was better than anything death could take away. So what does courage look like in your life right now?

We learn that what was true for Daniel is still true now: “There is a God in heaven.” Where human strategies fail, God begins to work. Don’t you want to be part of what God is up to in your community, in your family, in your world?