Lunch for the Lions? or Let God take the bite out of your lions.

SFBC 7-27-97

Text: Dan 6:7 All the presidents of the kingdom, the governors, and the princes, the counsellors, and the captains, have consulted together to establish a royal statute, and to make a firm decree, that whosoever shall ask a petition of any God or man for thirty days, save of thee, O king, he shall be cast into the den of lions.

Dan 6:8 Now, O king, establish the decree, and sign the writing, that it be not changed, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which altereth not.

Dan 6:9 Wherefore king Darius signed the writing and the decree.

Dan 6:10 Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went into his house; and his windows being open in his chamber toward Jerusalem, he kneeled upon his knees three times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before his God, as he did aforetime.

Dan 6:11 Then these men assembled, and found Daniel praying and making supplication before his God.

Dan 6:12 Then they came near, and spake before the king concerning the king's decree; Hast thou not signed a decree, that every man that shall ask a petition of any God or man within thirty days, save of thee, O king, shall be cast into the den of lions? The king answered and said, The thing is true, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which altereth not.

Dan 6:13 Then answered they and said before the king, That Daniel, which is of the children of the captivity of Judah, regardeth not thee, O king, nor the decree that thou hast signed, but maketh his petition three times a day.

Dan 6:14 Then the king, when he heard these words, was sore displeased with himself, and set his heart on Daniel to deliver him: and he laboured till the going down of the sun to deliver him.

Dan 6:15 Then these men assembled unto the king, and said unto the king, Know, O king, that the law of the Medes and Persians is, That no decree nor statute which the king establisheth may be changed.

Dan 6:16 Then the king commanded, and they brought Daniel, and cast him into the den of lions. Now the king spake and said unto Daniel, Thy God whom thou servest continually, he will deliver thee.

Have you stopped to count the blessings in your life lately? Many of us have a tendency to focus on what's wrong, which gives us a distorted picture of life -- as Barry Siegel shows. Consider what some scientists predict. If everyone keeps stacking National Geographics in garages and attics instead of throwing them away, the magazines' weight will sink the continent 100 feet sometime soon and we will all be inundated by the oceans. If the number of microscope specimen slides submitted to one St. Louis hospital lab continues to increase at its current rate, that metropolis will be buried under three feet of glass by the year 2224. If beachgoers keep returning home with as much sand clinging to them as they do now, 80% of the country's coastline will disappear in 10 years....

[They have also] reported the striking discovery that pickles cause cancer, communism, airline tragedies, auto accidents and crime waves. About 99.9% of cancer victims had eaten pickles sometime in their lives.... So have 100% of all soldiers, 96.8% of communist sympathizers and 99.7% of those involved in car and air accidents. Moreover, those born in 1839 who ate pickles have suffered a 100% mortality rate. And rats force-fed 20 pounds of pickles a day for a month ended up with bulging abdomens and loss of appetite. It is pickle Mania.. What fear grips your christian life?

I recall a story about a man who had to cross a wide river on the ice. He was afraid it might be too thin, so he began to crawl on his hand and knees in great terror. He thought he might fall through at any moment. Just as he neared the opposite shore, all exhausted, another man glided past him nonchalantly sitting on a sled loaded with pig iron. How like some Christians! Headed for Heaven, they tremble at every step lest the divine promises break under their feet. They need only to look at the context of Isaiah 12:2 to realize that God is their salvation and the Lord is their strength and song.

By resting completely upon Him and taking His promises at face value, we can drive out the paralyzing fear that hinders our effectiveness in serving Christ. The biblical antidote always works: "I will trust, and not be afraid."

What Fears hold you back from serving the Lord as He would want you to?

For some the Lord wants us to be saved, for some the Lord wants us to be bapized, for some the Lord wants us to invite our family to church, for some the Lord wants us to step forward to serve in the church, for some the Lord wants us to enter into a prayer ministry, for some the Lord is leading us to go into the ministry, to join the church, to attend the Wed. night service, to sing in the choir, or to attend VBS. The Lord desires us to move out and up in our lives to become the people that He wants us to be.

1. Fear of what others will think, do, or say?

Gal 1:10 For do I now persuade men, or God? or do I seek to please men? for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ. Fear of losing our public image before the people that we see every day. They may call you names ...or not look on you favorably.Results in failure to witness, to grow , to become the child God wants us to become. Fear God not Men...

2. Fear of Failure. Failure to be successful in the eyes of our peers..(Pride)

What will happen if we are eaten alive by the lions? What if we don't know what to say or do? We may look like a fool. How can anyone ever begin without beginning? What if the Lions eat us and destroy us? Failure isn't final in the Lord. How can you go wrong in God's will?

3. Fear of Change... How can I make it? Will I be able to make it? Afraid we won't be able to make it into the new change. Fear of voluntarily changing our lives. We would rather remain as we are. Remain in the same seats. remain in the same life instead of allowing God to change us to grow us. Change from the comfortable seat to the lions den, so don't rock the boat.

How can we overcome the Fears that devour us daily?

1. Stand Firm in what the Lord wants us to do...Continue to serve the Lord or change our lives to become who the Lord wants us to be. Pray, serve, live, be who the Lord wants us to be....

2. Trust in the Lord's promises.. Mat 28:20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.Phil 4:13 I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.

3. Continue to go forward in the Lord's Will for your life..Dan 6:16 Then the king commanded, and they brought Daniel, and cast him into the den of lions. Now the king spake and said unto Daniel, Thy God whom thou servest continually, he will deliver thee.Step forward today to follow the Lord's Will for your life. If you will go where the Lord wants you to go, go today.