Our Heavenly Prize

I am okay! The LORD is clearing out the deepest wounds. Let Him do it! Accept what comes up and pray to God for healing. Be kind to yourself in the process. God is taking good care of you!

I trust you, Jesus!

Daniel 3:8-30 The Fiery Furnace (what is written is what the Holy Spirit highlighted in my heart; I encourage you to open your Bible and read the entire passage. I pray you are strengthened and encouraged!)

“Oh king live forever [king Nebuchadnezzar] you O’ king have made a decree that every man who hears the sound of the horn…shall fall down and worship the golden image and whoever does not fall down and worship shall be cast into a burning fiery furnace…Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, the men, O king, pay no attention to you, they do not serve your gods or worship the golden image you have set up…if you do not worship you shall immediately be cast into a burning fiery furnace. And who is the god who will deliver you out of my hands…we have no need to answer you in this matter. If this be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king…but if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.”

The golden image is a distraction from God, put in place by the enemy, giving glory to the enemy which takes our eyes off of God, not trusting that God has the final say. God is victory in this world, in heaven, in all things. To take our eyes off the “golden image: keeps them focused on God’s victory…Jesus and the cross, Redemption! The men pay no attention to the king! We are to pay no attention to the enemy! God will always be God and His Truth will always be Truth!

This is the issue—we are tempted, drawn to self and complaints— choose Kingdom thoughts, the Trinity, the Victory—these glorious thoughts of God fade out due to distraction. Always be praising and thanking God. Do not pay attention to the “golden image.” it may appear pretty and mesmerizing, you may think you are rendered powerless, but do not pay attention, give your attention to God, what He has done, who He is, and praise!

The enemy is ruler of this world. He prowls around looking for those whom he can devour, children of God, he cannot. He play in the mind and he surely does. He stuffs people down into pits of despair in ignorance and deceit, anxiety, and fear. Paralyzes them so they are distracted, kept busy in evil tangles, taken in thought from the Almighty One but those who meditate on God’s word will be strengthened and will not be touched, will not be burned!

As the “the golden image” is refused, the enemy turns up the heat…binds people in all sorts of distress: physical, mental, emotional, spiritual—brings fear and panic…disassembles trust and belief in God. He aims to take from God, His glory and honor that only God is worthy of.

“Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego fell bound into the burning fiery furnace.”

Unbelievers are thrown into the pit of hell, bound in unbelief, bound by their sin nature, bound in the refusal to bow down to God and worship, bound by pride, arrogance, rebellion, dysfunction, denial, bound by Satan’s lies.

We are all headed to the fiery furnace from birth—our destination in life is the pit of hell. We are all bound in our sin, bound to the sins of this world, handed down from generation to generation—tempted and tried, enticed to sin, turned from God, and fallen.

“King Nebuchadnezzar was astonished and rose up in haste”

‘Rose up in haste’…it is by the Lord’s power in His children, His light and love, that others experience Him. He is revealed in this world by His children. It is through us that others experience Him, they see Him because of His work in and through us. As they see God, they too have the choice to ‘rise up’ and worship Him. Look around, God is everywhere….creation, the Bible (the inspired Word of God) the Ten Commandments, Christians who are ambassadors for God…God is everywhere. A general revelation to all. By faith, choose to see Him. Do not turn your head and rationalize Him away. He is here, His is present, and He is who He says He is. I can testify to this!! I am caused to lean on God, He is everywhere!!

“…did we not cast three men bound into the fire…they answered, ‘true O king’…but I see four men unbound, walking in the midst of the fire and they are not hurt and the appearance of the fourth is like a son of the gods.”

Saved by the blood of Jesus—God’s grace and our faith! We are unbound from the enemy’s grip, saved, free from the bondage of sin and death, by God’s mercy, grace, and love. His faithfulness to His promise! We walk this world surrounded by fire here and after: trials and hardships, death and loss, pandemics and terror, unfair leaders, greed, and selfishness and so much more. This is the fire of Satan!

But we, believers in the Lord, Jesus Christ, are not burned. His Presence is with us, in us, and we overcome by His power that lives within us, believers, worshippers, faithful, obedient, seekers,…lovers of God…we shall not be burned!

“Nebuchadnezzar came near the fiery furnace and declared…servants of the Most High God, come out and come here.”

Because Nebuchadnezzar came near to the fire…he made the choice to come near and look and because of his decision, he saw the Presence of God, Hallelujah! There before him were the walking testimony of the three. He declared that God is Most High! He believed!

“[All those] gathered together saw that the fire had not had the power over the bodies of those men.”

“Those” being satraps, prefects, governors, and the King’s counselors. The enemy does not have power over our bodies. It is God who has the power! Whether we live or die, God will always have the power!

No matter who we are, how much worldly influence we have, our accomplishments and leadership…God’s power will be seen by all, from the elite to the lowly. Every single one will stand face to face with Almighty God, He will be seen as Most High and all will bow down and worship Him.

“Therefore God has highly exalted him [Jesus] and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee would bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2:9-10, ESV).

*****

I wrote this just as I was told to do. Close your eyes to the grammar and may God open your eyes to Truth, to the things that He has for you as you read this revelation.

God goes way beyond emotions, wounds, and dysfunction. He is bigger than feelings. He has accomplished…His promise fulfilled. Jesus Christ, the Lord and Savior of the world. God saw the problem in humanity, our sin and He sent the remedy. Those who believe and receive Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior, confess their sins, believe He is raised from the dead by the power of Almighty God…will be saved. We are blood-bought children of God. No amount of change, human nor worldly, will alter this promise. Our destination is not a fiery furnace but everlasting life with our Heavenly Father! As we wait for our call to come home, our eternal home, we are given the privilege to sit at the feet of Jesus, learn and grow, and serve. God is holding our hands, He sustains our spiritual life as well as all areas of our entire being. He is alive and well in our hearts and He is at work completing the work He has begun in us. (Please see the page “I AM” for a Salvation Prayer.)

Psalm 73:23-26 (ESV)

“Nevertheless, I am continually with you;
you hold my right hand.
You guide me with your counsel,
and afterward you will receive me to glory.
Whom have I in heaven but you?
And there is nothing on earth that I desire
beside you.
My flesh and my heart may fail, but God
is the strength of my heart and my portion
forever.
For behold, those who are far from you
shall perish;
you put an end to everyone who is
unfaithful to you.
But for me it is good to be near God;
I have made the Lord God my refuge,
that I may tell of all your
works.”

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Please keep in mind that I share with you what I feel led to share! I am simply a follower of Jesus Christ, not a preacher or a highly educated theologian. I am just a girl, created by God’s hand, who loves Jesus and the Bible, and it gives me great joy to write about my personal time with my Savior. He fills my heart, gives me peace and the intimacy that I so crave and need, and I am in great faith that as you read, Jesus will draw you near and speak words of love and truth into your heart! May He set your heart on fire for Him and the Bible and may you walk each day, every second of the day, thanking and praising Him. God’s grace be with you!