Latest / The Woman at the Well Ministries Podcast / 558 | A Peace that Passes Understanding – Part 3 - Daniel's Unshakable Faith in the Lion's Den

Transcript

558 | A Peace that Passes Understanding – Part 3 - Daniel's Unshakable Faith in the Lion's Den · The Woman at the Well Ministries Podcast

• 0:05
  She's a happy girl. Hello, friends, and welcome back to another podcast of Woman.
• 0:10
  At the Well Ministries, where we believe that all of us have to come to Jesus
• 0:15
  like the woman at the well in John chapter 4.
• 0:18
  Our highest priority is making God real in your life.
• 0:22
  Whether you are listening in our app, in your favorite podcasting app,
• 0:25
  or on our website at watwm.org, we invite you to sit down with us as we look
• 0:31
  to the scriptures to learn more about God and to strengthen your daily walk with Jesus Christ.
• 1:03
  Welcome back to our series on a peace that passes all understanding.
• 1:07
  In this series on peace, we are taking an in-depth look at the unwavering,
• 1:11
  unstoppable faith in God, on a faith that lives with no worries or doubts,
• 1:16
  that possesses a faith that motivates and moves us, and a following faith that draws us closer to Him.
• 1:22
  Come join us in this broadcast of Woman at the Well Ministries as Kim continues
• 1:27
  this study on the peace of God.
• 1:29
  Hello, and thank you for joining us on this broadcast of Woman at the Well Ministries.
• 1:34
  And we are, once again, starting from our anchor verse, which is in Philippians
• 1:39
  chapter 4, verses 6 through 7.
• 1:41
  And today what we're going to do is we're going to take a look at peace in action.
• 1:46
  We're going to take a look at the life of Daniel, and we're going to read a
• 1:51
  passage of Scripture, a rather lengthy passage of Scripture.
• 1:54
  So we're going to be out of Daniel chapter 6, beginning in verse 1,
• 1:57
  and we're going to read and see in the Word of God how Daniel exhibits the peace of God.
• 2:06
  And as we've been talking, we realize that the peace of God is directly related to our faith in God.
• 2:14
  And so I want you to really continue in this lesson as we have in the past lessons
• 2:20
  to really examine your faith in God, because it's your faith in God that's going to result in peace.
• 2:28
  And if you have just a little bit of faith in God, you're going to have just a little bit of faith.
• 2:33
  If you have no faith in God, you're going to have no peace.
• 2:37
  If you have a whole lot of faith in God, you're going to have a whole lot of peace.
• 2:42
  Philippians 4, 6, and 7 says this, Be careful for nothing, but in everything
• 2:47
  by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God.
• 2:53
  And the peace of God, which passes all understanding, shall keep your hearts
• 2:57
  and minds through Christ Jesus.
• 3:01
  Before we go to the book of Daniel and see this peace that passes all understanding in action,
• 3:09
  I want to read in your hearing out of Mark chapter 11, beginning in verse 22
• 3:16
  and concluding through verse 24.
• 3:20
  And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith.
• 3:26
  In God. So it's real important as we begin this lesson on peace that is focusing
• 3:33
  on watching a life of a believer exhibit a peace that passes understanding,
• 3:39
  that you absolutely realize where this faith must be placed.
• 3:46
  It cannot be placed in yourselves, as we saw in the last lesson,
• 3:50
  as we spoke about David and his battle against Goliath.
• 3:54
  And as he said, the battle's not mine, it belongs to the Lord.
• 3:58
  It can't be placed in your abilities because they will surely fail because we're mere humans.
• 4:06
  It must be placed in God.
• 4:11
  And just to make sure that there is no misunderstanding about that,
• 4:16
  in Mark chapter 11 and verse 22, Jesus says, have faith in God.
• 4:25
  Verse 23. For verily I say unto you, that whosoever shall say unto this mountain,
• 4:31
  Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea, and shall not doubt in his heart,
• 4:38
  but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass,
• 4:42
  he shall have whatsoever he saith.
• 4:46
  Therefore I say unto you, what things soever ye desire, when ye pray,
• 4:50
  believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.
• 4:55
  Faith! faith requires a belief in god
• 5:00
  faith in god preceded by
• 5:03
  a belief in god will keep us
• 5:06
  in the center of god's will because we'll
• 5:09
  believe that his words are true we'll believe
• 5:12
  that he said that we should follow after righteousness we'll believe that he
• 5:16
  said be ye holy for i am holy we'll believe that he said be a peculiar person
• 5:22
  we'll believe when he said that we are the light of the world and we will begin
• 5:26
  to live our life the way he asks us to live placing our faith in God.
• 5:32
  It's so easy to talk about it, but it's excruciatingly difficult for some of us to live it.
• 5:38
  And the reason it is, is because we have a talking faith.
• 5:42
  We need to have a walking faith. One that walks in the light of his spirit.
• 5:49
  One that walks in the center of his will. One that walks in his ways.
• 5:56
  Remembering that he said, I am the way, the truth, and the life.
• 5:59
  And no man cometh unto the Father but by me.
• 6:01
  We need to have a faith that is
• 6:04
  a living proof of the transformation that took
• 6:07
  place in our lives when God came in
• 6:10
  through the son of Jesus Christ through the Holy Spirit that
• 6:13
  indwells inside of us when Jesus washed away
• 6:16
  our sins turned our blackness into beautiful purity
• 6:20
  white we need to live a life that shows all those around us that the love of
• 6:28
  god has transformed us and that our heart belongs to jesus christ because we
• 6:35
  were bought with a price and we're no longer ourselves,
• 6:38
  this is what we see in the life of daniel so many times in the scriptures we
• 6:43
  see him praying he had a system where he prayed three times a day an appointment with god But...
• 6:52
  As you recall, the Bible says that we are to pray without ceasing.
• 6:56
  But oh, how important it would be if each of us would place in our lives times
• 7:02
  throughout the day that belonged exactly to Jesus, that we just made an appointment and we would pray.
• 7:09
  Yesterday, I read a quote by Martin Luther, and he said when he had a busy day,
• 7:13
  he prayed three hours instead of two.
• 7:15
  Most of us, if we prayed 20 minutes, we would just be wore out and just about
• 7:19
  die. because we don't spend that kind of time with God.
• 7:23
  15, 20 minutes, including study and prayer, is a fantastic Bible study for most of us.
• 7:31
  And it's an opportunity to spend time with God.
• 7:34
  Jesus says, have faith in God. Where are you placing your faith?
• 7:41
  We've talked about that a lot lately. Where are you placing your faith?
• 7:46
  If you would please turn to Daniel chapter 6.
• 7:49
  We're going to begin in verse 1. We're going to read mostly through verse 23.
• 7:55
  It pleased Darius to set over the kingdom 120 princes, which should be over
• 8:00
  the whole kingdom, and over these three presidents of whom Daniel was first,
• 8:03
  that the princes might give accounts unto them, and the king should have no damage.
• 8:08
  Then this Daniel was preferred above the presidents and princes,
• 8:12
  because an excellent spirit was in him, and the king thought to set him over the whole realm.
• 8:18
  Then the presidents and princes sought to find occasion against Daniel concerning
• 8:22
  the kingdom, but they could find none occasion nor fault.
• 8:25
  For as much as he was faithful, neither was there any error or fault found in him.
• 8:30
  I want you to see right there that the Lord had blessed Daniel.
• 8:34
  But I want you to see that no matter what happened, they couldn't find a fault in Daniel.
• 8:39
  He was walking his faith.
• 8:42
  Then said these men, when shall not we find any occasion against this Daniel,
• 8:46
  except we find it against him concerning the law of his God?
• 8:49
  Wouldn't it be amazing if the world could say that about us,
• 8:53
  that the only fault they could see would be the fact that we were so faithful to our God?
• 8:59
  Unfortunately for most of us, our walk is so iffy sometimes
• 9:02
  that the world can't hardly spot us from them
• 9:05
  and if that truly is the case it's
• 9:09
  in time for you to really take a close look and make sure that you really are
• 9:12
  placing your faith in god and that you've received him as savior and you're
• 9:16
  not just playing the game for he said this i've written these things to you
• 9:21
  little children that you might know you can know that you are a child of the
• 9:25
  most high god and you can know that you're not.
• 9:29
  And you must place your faith in him and believe in him. And Daniel has done
• 9:34
  this and his walk is a living proof of it.
• 9:38
  Then these presidents and princes assembled together to the king and said thus
• 9:43
  unto him, King Darius, live forever.
• 9:46
  So you're going to see the difference here because Daniel has placed his faith in God.
• 9:50
  King Darius has placed it in himself and pride is going to take him down.
• 9:54
  The scriptures tell us that pride goeth before a fall.
• 9:58
  All the presidents of the kingdom the governors and
• 10:01
  the princes the counselors and the captains have consulted together
• 10:04
  to establish a royal statute and to
• 10:07
  make a firm decree that whosoever shall ask a
• 10:10
  petition of any god or man for 30 days save of
• 10:13
  the old king he shall be cast into the den of
• 10:16
  lions now these guys had plotted against daniel
• 10:19
  because they knew daniel's ways they had seen daniel
• 10:22
  pray three times a day they knew his faith and
• 10:25
  they knew that they could trap him and that
• 10:28
  he would still pray to his god even though it was going to
• 10:31
  cost him his life by being thrown into the lion's den they
• 10:34
  also knew about king darius's life they
• 10:38
  knew that king darius was so full of himself and so
• 10:41
  stuck on himself and so much believing in who
• 10:44
  he was and so filled with self-pride that they
• 10:46
  could trap him because they knew he loved daniel
• 10:50
  he had raised him above all the other people in the land and
• 10:53
  people were coming to daniel to give account this is what they were mad about
• 10:57
  and they knew because of the walk that daniel had that daniel would stay true
• 11:03
  to god and they knew because of the walk of king darius that he would fall to
• 11:07
  pride and they were going to trap daniel through king darius's pride.
• 11:14
  What's your pride costing you? What is your pride costing those around you?
• 11:22
  The Lord said that pride goes before a fall. And he said that you'll have no
• 11:26
  other gods before me. And he included you in that.
• 11:29
  He meant you couldn't love yourself more than you love him.
• 11:32
  And don't place your faith in yourself because you can't do it on your own.
• 11:38
  Because we are nothing without Christ.
• 11:40
  But we can do all things through Christ, which strengtheneth us.
• 11:44
  Now old king established the decree and signed the writing that it not be changed.
• 11:50
  In verse 9, it says, King Darius signed the writing and the decree.
• 11:54
  Now look at what he says in verse 10. Now when Daniel knew that the writing
• 11:58
  was signed, he went into his house, and his windows being opened in his chamber toward Jerusalem,
• 12:05
  he kneeled upon his knees three times a day and prayed, and gave thanks before
• 12:10
  his God as he did aforetime.
• 12:12
  Daniel knew the consequences, but he walked his faith.
• 12:17
  You're going to see that walking his faith produced amazing,
• 12:20
  unbelievable peace that passed all understanding.
• 12:23
  Daniel walked his faith just as he did before because circumstances did not
• 12:30
  dictate Daniel's walk with God.
• 12:33
  For some of you, circumstances is the only thing that dictates your life with God.
• 12:39
  When things are bad, you're mad at God.
• 12:41
  And you don't want anything to do with him. And when you've asked him and you've
• 12:44
  prayed and he didn't do exactly what you said, you're mad at him.
• 12:48
  And you just sort of remove him from your life. When things are really good,
• 12:53
  you love God and you're walking with God.
• 12:57
  But you see, you really aren't loving God. You're loving your circumstances.
• 13:02
  Some of you, the only time you ever pray is when you need something from him
• 13:05
  and you think he's just the errand boy and you can just give him a shopping list of things to do.
• 13:12
  The only time you go to church is when things are horrible and you want to go
• 13:17
  and try to get help from God.
• 13:20
  Church is a wonderful place to obtain help. Church is a wonderful place to get
• 13:24
  the encouragement and the love of godly people.
• 13:27
  But church needs to be attended on a regular basis. The Bible says not to forsake
• 13:32
  the assembling of yourself in godly places.
• 13:35
  The Bible said that we are to exhort one another, and it's difficult to do it
• 13:39
  if we don't have a place where we're all together. Thank you.
• 13:42
  Church is a regular part of a walk in faith.
• 13:46
  Church is a regular part of godly living.
• 13:51
  It isn't dictated by circumstances.
• 13:54
  It's no more important to be on church on Christmas and Easter than it is any other Sunday.
• 13:59
  And it's no less important to be in church on Super Bowl Sunday than it is any other Sunday.
• 14:05
  Circumstances are not to dictate our walk with God.
• 14:09
  Then these men assembled and found Daniel praying and making supplication before
• 14:13
  his God. How many of you have ever been found praying?
• 14:17
  Parents, listen to me. When's the last time your child stumbled upon you praying?
• 14:23
  Some of my fondest memories are walking in on my parents praying.
• 14:28
  When's the last time they saw? Because you see, I learned that battles are won on your knees.
• 14:34
  I learned that burdens are lifted at Calvary. I learned that faith comes from
• 14:39
  hearing and a relationship with Jesus God by watching them pray.
• 14:43
  I found that faith means being on your knees. I found that God was personable.
• 14:49
  I found that I could have a personal relationship with him.
• 14:52
  I saw that it was fun to be with Jesus. I learned these things by stumbling
• 14:57
  in on somebody praying and reading their Bible.
• 15:01
  You see, if walking faith is what you have, you can't separate it from the other things you do.
• 15:09
  It'll just exuberate out of you. You'll just live a life that shows Jesus to everybody.
• 15:15
  The big things, the little things, he's just going to come falling out of you
• 15:19
  because that's all you have in you.
• 15:21
  You've pushed the world away. you've opened up your
• 15:24
  heart and like the woman at the well you come to him with
• 15:27
  empty vessels and he's filled you daniel has
• 15:30
  a life of walking faith and it
• 15:33
  results in a peace that passeth all
• 15:37
  understanding so then they came near and
• 15:40
  spake before the king concerning the king's decree and they
• 15:44
  remind him hast thou not signed a decree that every man that shall ask a petition
• 15:49
  of any god or man within 30 days save thee o king shall be cast into the den
• 15:53
  of lions and the king answered and said this thing is true in verse 13 they
• 16:00
  say then answered they and said before the king,
• 16:03
  that daniel boy doesn't that say it all that daniel which is of the children
• 16:10
  of the captivity of judah regardeth not thee o king nor the decree that thou
• 16:15
  hast signed but maketh this petition three times a day.
• 16:19
  Verse 14, then the king, when he heard these words...
• 16:23
  Were a sore displeased with himself, and set his heart on Daniel to deliver
• 16:29
  him, and he labored to the going down of the sun to deliver him.
• 16:32
  See, the king realized he had made a mistake.
• 16:36
  He was so caught up on that big statue, so caught up on his self-pride,
• 16:40
  so caught up on himself, that he had forgot about the one he loved, which was Daniel.
• 16:46
  And he made this decree caught up in his pride, and he never once thought about
• 16:50
  the consequences to the one he loved, which was Daniel.
• 16:53
  But now it's too late. He'd given away to pride. He'd made his decisions based on himself.
• 16:59
  And now the punishment was going to have to be handed out. And it was Daniel
• 17:04
  who was going to be hurting.
• 17:06
  And the king is all upset.
• 17:09
  In verse 15, the men, they assemble, and they say that no decree nor statue
• 17:15
  which the king established may be changed.
• 17:18
  And then the king commanded, and they brought Daniel and cast him into the den of lions.
• 17:23
  This is the result of Daniel's walk. He's got some persecution.
• 17:28
  But because of his walk, the walk is the result of amazing faith and an amazing witness.
• 17:35
  The king says, Now the king spake and said unto Daniel, Thy king whom thou servest
• 17:40
  continually, he will deliver thee.
• 17:42
  The king is worried. He knows he's messed up. But he also knows the walk of Daniel.
• 17:49
  He also knows what Daniel has
• 17:51
  done. He has seen the results of walking in faith that Daniel has done.
• 17:58
  He sees what a personal relationship with God will result in in your life.
• 18:04
  And so he looks at Daniel and he says, the God whom thou service continually, he will deliver thee.
• 18:11
  It hasn't even happened yet. But the walk of Daniel is so strong that the king knows the end.
• 18:17
  And he is a little worried about it because he knows he's got him in this mess.
• 18:21
  But he also knows the life of Daniel.
• 18:25
  And the life of Daniel has had a profound effect on what various fields,
• 18:30
  the abilities of God are.
• 18:32
  And you know what? Your life has had a profound effect on what the people around
• 18:36
  you think the abilities of God are too.
• 18:40
  But yours may have had a negative effect because maybe they haven't seen a single change in you.
• 18:45
  And you're like, if that person's going to heaven, surely I am,
• 18:48
  I'm better than they are because they don't understand that it's not of works
• 18:51
  of righteousness, which we have done, but it's by the transforming power of
• 18:55
  Jesus Christ and his finished work on Calvary that we get to go to heaven.
• 18:59
  But you're a light and you're either pointing people to God or you're pointing them away.
• 19:05
  Surely, Daniel, the light was extremely bright and the stone was broad and laid
• 19:11
  upon the mouth of the den and the king sealed it with his own signet that it couldn't be changed.
• 19:17
  Then the king went to his palace and he passed the night fasting and he was extremely upset.
• 19:22
  Then the king arose very early in the morning and went in haste into the den of lions.
• 19:28
  It was an important thing. He loved Andrew. He knew he'd messed him up.
• 19:32
  But he knew his God was able. But he didn't have a personal relationship with
• 19:36
  God. So he didn't really have the ability to place his faith in him.
• 19:39
  He just had seen what God could do, but he didn't know if he would do it.
• 19:43
  And those of us who have personal relationships with Jesus Christ,
• 19:46
  we find ourselves in that same place sometimes. We know God can heal,
• 19:50
  but we're not sure that he will.
• 19:52
  Basically, we're not sure he's going to do it our way.
• 19:55
  Daniel shows no sign of anxiety in these scriptures.
• 19:59
  He prayed even though he knew what was going to happen. His walk never changed,
• 20:03
  even though he had circumstances that were incredibly difficult.
• 20:07
  What's happening to you is your changes in your circumstances come about.
• 20:13
  What's happening to you as things come in your life that are more stressful?
• 20:19
  Are you turning towards God and walking the same way that you did aforetime
• 20:23
  as Daniel? Or are you turning away?
• 20:27
  And when he came to the den, he cried with a lamentable voice unto Daniel.
• 20:31
  And the king spake and said to Daniel, O Daniel, servant of the living God,
• 20:36
  is thy God whom thou servest continually, able to deliver thee from the lions.
• 20:42
  He's speaking from a man who knows of God but doesn't know him.
• 20:46
  He knows of God because of Daniel's life. He knows that Daniel has served him
• 20:50
  continually, and he knows he's a living God.
• 20:53
  Verse 20 says, My God has sent his angel and has shut the lion's mouths,
• 21:02
  that they have not hurt me, for as much as before him an innocency was found in me,
• 21:07
  and I also, before thee, O king, have done no hurt.
• 21:11
  Then was the king exceedingly glad for him and commanded that they should take Daniel up out of the den.
• 21:16
  So Daniel was taken up out of the den and no manner of hurt was found upon him
• 21:21
  because he believed in his God.
• 21:25
  Daniel went through a very difficult circumstance, but he walked in his faith
• 21:31
  and no hurt was found upon him because God protected him.
• 21:36
  What does this say to us? This says to us that we need to walk in faith and
• 21:41
  we'll have perfect peace.
• 21:42
  Because you see, he came in and he yelled, Daniel wasn't standing there screaming to get out.
• 21:48
  Daniel had perfect peace. Daniel was living what we're talking about and the
• 21:53
  peace that passes all understanding.
• 21:55
  Be careful for nothing. But in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving,
• 22:00
  let your requests be made known unto God and the peace of God,
• 22:04
  which passes all understanding shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
• 22:10
  Daniel was walking his faith and it resulted in perfect peace.
• 22:15
  God was in control. We know that all things work together for the good to them
• 22:20
  that love the Lord, to them that are called according to his purpose.
• 22:23
  That's Romans 8, 28. And you might be in the center of the lion's den.
• 22:28
  But it doesn't matter because if you're in the will of God, you where God wants
• 22:32
  you, and he'll shut them out.
• 22:35
  Don't let your circumstances dictate your faith.
• 22:39
  It is incredibly important that you walk up as a four-time just as Daniel did.
• 22:46
  Daniel had a living faith, and he walked it, and it produced a peace that passes all understanding.
• 22:54
  As Jesus said, have faith in God, believe in God.
• 23:10
  Thank you for joining us in today's podcast. You can visit the show notes for
• 23:15
  quotes from today's podcast and scripture references.
• 23:18
  We pray today has been a blessing and we encourage you to reach out to us through
• 23:22
  our app, our website, or our Facebook page.
• 23:25
  You can find our app by searching for Woman at the Well Ministries in your app
• 23:29
  store or through our website at watwm.org.
• 23:33
  We're on Facebook at facebook.com slash watwm. If you visit our website,
• 23:39
  you'll be able to subscribe to Bible Bits, a daily devotion written by Kim and
• 23:43
  delivered Monday through Friday by text message.
• 23:46
  Woman at the Well Ministries is a non-profit organization dedicated to serving our Heavenly Father.
• 23:52
  And it is through your loving and generous support that our ministry continues to bless others.
• 23:57
  To learn how to partner with Woman at the Well Ministries, please visit our website.
• 24:01
  Thank you to the Gospel Group Fudge Creek for letting us use their hit song, Happy Girl.
• 24:06
  We greatly appreciate your prayers. We are praying daily for our listeners.
• 24:11
  Remember that God loves you. You.