OPEN HEAVENS DAILY DEVOTIONAL
DATE: SATURDAY 23rd JUNE 2018
THEME: DEFIANCE IS ALLOWED
HYMN 16: Stand Up, Stand Up for Jesus
1 Stand up, stand up for Jesus,
ye soldiers of the cross!
Lift high his royal banner,
it must not suffer loss.
From victory unto victory
his army he shall lead,
till every foe is vanquished,
and Christ is Lord indeed.
2 Stand up, stand up for Jesus,
the solemn watchword hear;
if while ye sleep he suffers,
away with shame and fear.
Where’er ye meet with evil,
within you or without,
charge for the God of battles,
and put the foe to rout.
3 Stand up, stand up for Jesus,
stand in his strength alone;
the arm of flesh will fail you,
ye dare not trust your own.
Put on the gospel armour,
each piece put on with prayer;
when duty calls or danger
be never wanting there.
4 Stand up, stand up for Jesus,
the strife will not be long;
this day the noise of battle,
the next the victor’s song.
To him that overcometh
a crown of life shall be;
he with the King of glory
shall reign eternally.
Memorise
But Peter and John answered and said unto them, whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more than unto God, judge ye. Acts 4:19
Bible Reading: Daniel 3:13-26
13 Furious with rage, Nebuchadnezzar summoned Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. So these men were brought before the king,
14 and Nebuchadnezzar said to them, “Is it true, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, that you do not serve my gods or worship the image of gold I have set up?
15 Now when you hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipe and all kinds of music, if you are ready to fall down and worship the image I made, very good. But if you do not worship it, you will be thrown immediately into a blazing furnace. Then what god will be able to rescue you from my hand?”
16 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego replied to him, “King Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter.
17 If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and he will deliver us from Your Majesty’s hand.
18 But even if he does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.”
19 Then Nebuchadnezzar was furious with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and his attitude toward them changed. He ordered the furnace heated seven times hotter than usual
20 and commanded some of the strongest soldiers in his army to tie up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego and throw them into the blazing furnace.
21 So these men, wearing their robes, trousers, turbans and other clothes, were bound and thrown into the blazing furnace.
22 The king’s command was so urgent and the furnace so hot that the flames of the fire killed the soldiers who took up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego,
23 and these three men, firmly tied, fell into the blazing furnace.
24 Then King Nebuchadnezzar leaped to his feet in amazement and asked his advisers, “Weren’t there three men that we tied up and threw into the fire?” They replied, “Certainly, Your Majesty.”
25 He said, “Look! I see four men walking around in the fire, unbound and unharmed, and the fourth looks like a son of the gods.”
26 Nebuchadnezzar then approached the opening of the blazing furnace and shouted, “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, servants of the Most High God, come out! Come here!” So Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego came out of the fire,
Message
The narrative in today’s Bible reading highlights one of those instances where we can go against secular and religious authority. This story tells of how Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego refused to obey the law of the land. There is a time for everything under heaven.
There is a time when in order to obey the law of God, you have to disobey the law of the land. These three young men were accused and found guilty of religious anarchism. In simple terms, they were tagged criminals because they were found guilty of breaking the Law, and the penalty for this was death by burning.
Nevertheless, these young men defied the threat of torturous death in a fiery furnace. Their attitude made it seem as if they had listened to the teaching of Jesus Christ in Mark 9:45-46, where He said:
“And if thy foot offend thee, cut it off. It is better for thee to enter halt into life than having two feet to be cast into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched, where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.”
As seen in Acts 4:19, a similar act of defiance was exhibited by the early disciples. Peter stood up to the religious leaders of that time, giving them a rhetorical question to ponder on. He asked for their advice on whom to obey: earthly leaders or God. Beloved, you need to be defiant whenever you are asked to go against the law of God. The time to stand up for your faith and values is when you are asked to go against it
If at the expense of standing up for God, you melt in the face of threats to your life. Comfort or career, you cannot call yourself a Christian. Are you in a situation where you are compromising on the truth? Are you falsifying records in your office or business to make money? Are you collecting bribe before you do your work? Are you covering up for corrupt colleagues or friends? If you find yourself in such circumstances, you need to search deep within your heart and choose whom you will serve today.
Serving God means that every moment of your day, every action that you take and every utterance that you make are viewed as service to Him. Always be conscious of the fact that your actions at your place of work or business count as service to God. Your attitude towards everyone around you is also service to God. I pray that the Holy Spirit will convict your heart and enable you to stand up for Jesus every day
Action Point: Read Joshua 1:8 meditatively and pray for God’s wisdom to apply His law to your day-to-day activities.
BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: 1 Chronicles 1-3, Acts 15:36-41, 16:1-15
AUTHOR: PASTOR E. A. ADEBOYE