Latest / Beliefs, Ballots, And BullDawgs / Monday July 13, 2026
Transcript
- Greg: Hey, what's up everybody? It is Monday, July the 13th, and welcome back to Beliefs, Ballots, and Bulldogs. I'm your host, Greg Miller, and I'm glad you're here today. We'll start today off with a with a question. It's kind of kind of been what we've been rolling with here. And the question today is what have you stopped thinking God for? And that's ⁓ something we should give some thought to. And and I'm not talking about the the big things, not the big miracles, not the extraordinary moments. I'm just talking about the the ordinary everyday blessings that maybe you've started taking for granted and and just treating like they're guaranteed. The breath in your lungs, the the roof over your head, that lovely spouse sitting across the room, the the children you get to raise, the the job that puts food on your table, the the ability to stay healthy and enjoy life, the the freedom to worship, just the opportunity to wake up in the morning and you know ask yourself when when's the last time that you were really thankful and grateful and expressed that to God for for those things, those simple things. I think one of the one of the greatest dangers as a Christian isn't failure. Sometimes the greatest danger for us as Christians can be success. And today we're going to spend a little time, ⁓ we're going to read a long passage about King Nebuchadnezzar, but we're going to spend some time in Daniel chapter four, ⁓ verses twenty eight through thirty-seven. ⁓ it's it's a remarkable story. And I think it's something that that we could all relate to these days. The book of Daniel says All this happened to King Nebuchadnezzar. Twelve months later, as the king was walking on the roof of the royal palace of Babylon, he said, Is it not the great Babylon I have built as the royal residence by my mighty power and for the glory of my majesty? The words were still on his lips when a voice came from heaven, This is what's decreed for you, King Nebuchadnezzar, your royal authority has been taken from you. You will be driven away from people and will live with the wild animals. You will eat grass like cattle. Seven times you will pass by for you until you acknowledge that the most high is sovereign over kingdoms of men and gives them to anyone he wishes. Immediately what had been said about Nebuchadnezzar was fulfilled. He was driven away from people and ate grass like cattle. His body was drenched with the dew of the heaven until his hair grew like the feathers of an eagle, and his nails like the claws of a bird. At the end of that time, I had Nebuchadnezzar raised my eyes towards heaven, and my sanity was restored. Then I praised the most high, I honored and glorified him who lives forever. His dominion is an eternal dominion, his kingdom endures from generation to generation. All the people of the earth are regarded as nothing. He does as he pleases with the powers of heaven and the peoples of the earth. No one can hold back his hand or say to him, What have you done? At the same time my sanity was restored, my honor and splendor were returned to me for the glory of my kingdom. My advisors and nobles sought me out, and I was restored to my throne and machine even greater than before. Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and exalt and glorify the king of heaven, because everything he does is right and all of his ways are just, and those who walk in pride with which he is able to humble. I think this is a it's a remarkable ⁓ scripture here. This is this is about one of the most powerful men on earth at that time. And obviously if it can happen to King Nebuchadnezzar, it can it can certainly happen to us. You know, we get into you get into the story and and and King Nebuchadnezzar had everything at this time. He had power, he had influence, he had ⁓ unimaginable wealth, military strength. And and back then he it was literally it was an it was an empire unlike anything the world had ever seen at the time. And as he walked through the city of Babylon, he he looked at everything around him and said, Is this not the great Babylon which I have built by my mighty power for the glory of my majesty? Listen to that language. I, my, my, everything pointing back to himself. ⁓ and let's be fair. I mean, it's it's not like he didn't put in the work. ⁓ I'm I'm sure Nebuchadnezzar had worked hard for all of this. I'm sure he had made some difficult decisions. ⁓ he led an empire. He he His accomplishments were very real. The problem here wasn't that Ebonazar had had succeeded. The problem was that he forgot the source of his success. He started believing that the blessings around him had originated with him instead of recognizing that he was blessed through the glory of God. It's ⁓ you know, as Christians, we're we're taught and we're trained and and we know to watch for for obvious sins and You know, we guard against dishonesty, we guard against lust, we guard against greed. But pride's different. Pride is pride sometimes can be quiet. Pride, pride doesn't always announce itself. You know, sometimes pride is just a simple hey, I I got myself here. I don't need anybody. I I've earned everything I have. I built this. And maybe you've never said those words out loud, but but have you ever thought though? Have you ever believed those words? Because, you know, here's the truth ultimately. Who who gave you your mind? Who gave you your work ethic? Who gave you the incredible ability to to learn and process things? Who gave you another sunrise this morning? Who kept your heart beating and your breath going while you were sleeping? Who opened doors for you that no amount of talent ever could have? Yeah, you worked hard, no doubt about it, but but God has given you the opportunity to work. I think we need to make sure we we never confuse our effort With the source of our ability, because those are two completely different things. We live in a culture that that emphasizes and just seems to love the phrase self made, self made man, self made millionaire, self made entrepreneur, a self made success story. The Bible doesn't use that language, and and it's obvious why. Scripture teaches stewardship, not self creation. Every gift, every talent, every opportunity. Opportunity, every relationship, every blessing we have ultimately traces back to God. And that doesn't minimize the hard work we put in, it just gives the work the right perspective. Hard work matters, and discipline matters, and excellence matters, but gratitude should always be partnered right there with them when good things are happening. If you think about the culture we live in, we're we're we're constantly. you know, encouraged to and and some of the most successful people on i in our society are the ones who celebrate themselves. They it's build your own brand, promote yourself, create your image, take credit, demand recognition. And you know, there's there's nothing wrong with being thankful ⁓ you know, for for what you've accomplished, but the the Christian never can forget that every accomplishment ultimately rests on gifts that we never created or we never generated. We didn't invent our intelligence, we didn't choose where we were born, we didn't create our own heartbeat. And I think the more we understand that, then the more we it ultimately becomes easier to give God the credit the credit and the glory for everything, and the harder it becomes for us to to live with any sort of pride or arrogance. You know, here the the beautiful part of of Daniel's story is You know, yes, God humbled Nebuchadnezzar. He he lost everything. He lost his kingdom, his dignity, his status, he lost his own mind, he lost his sanity. But not because God hated him, but because God loved him enough to confront the one thing that was destroying him from within. And then something incredible happens, like it usually does. The Bible says that King Nebuchadnezzar lifted his eyes towards heaven, and that's where the restoration begins. The moment he stopped looking at himself and started looking to God, that's when things happen. Sometimes God allows our pride to be shaken because he knows that humility is the first and easiest doorway back to him. In this case, Nebuchadnezzar, the discipline wasn't punishment just for the sake of punishment. It was an open invitation to restoration for Nebuchadnezzar. If you if we think about this as from a parenting aspect, you know. We want to teach our children to dream big, teach them to compete, to study, to work hard, and absolutely teach your children to pursue excellence. But above all of those things that we're trying to get them to achieve, teach them gratitude. Teach them to say, hey, thank you, Lord, for those blessings. A child who learns gratitude is far less likely to be consumed by pride down the road. And the same is true for us. Gratitude simply protects our hearts, whereas pride can harden. Let me let me ask you three questions as we as we're getting ready to kind of wrap up for today. And first one of those is what blessing has have you started calling normal that once felt like kind of a minor miracle? What is something that maybe you worked really hard for, you prayed really hard for, and now you're sitting right in the middle of that blessing and and you hardly even notice it and you take it for granted? Second question is, where have you quietly started taking credit for things God has provided for you? You know, it it has become a cliche thing, but you know, I I tell everybody that listens, I I take zero credit for any of the blessings in my life. I know that I've done nothing to deserve this life. I have been blessed far beyond what I could ever possibly deserve. And I give God all the glory of the credit, or at least I try to. But what are some things that maybe quietly you've started really allowing yourself to think, no, I deserve this, I worked for this, I earned this. And then finally, if if If everything you forgot to thank God for yesterday disappeared tomorrow, what would your life look like? If you simply just stopped forgetting, if if you stopped thanking God and then those things that you didn't thank him for disappeared, what would you be left with? I mean, those are it can be some uncomfortable questions, but but they're good questions because they can they can ultimately help lead us back to humility. As we wrap up, you know, d Daniel the The story of King Nebuchadnezzar in in chapter four of Daniel is it's not just the story of an ancient king. It's it's a warning for all of us. It's a warning for every successful parent, every successful business owner, coach, employee, pastor. It all of us. This it's a any one of us who may ever taste any element of success. Success is not the enemy. Pride is the enemy. God has absolutely no problem blessing his people. He just doesn't want to make the blessing become more important than the blesser. So before we ask God for something else, let's just make sure that we continue to thank him for what he's already done. Thank him for some of the ordinary blessings that you've probably stopped noticing. Thank him for the doors he's opened. Thank him for the, you know, the things that seem random at the time with crossing paths with the right person at the right time. Thank him for just everything. Thank him for the people he's placed in your life. And thank him for another day to serve him. that that's that's it. The you know the the quickest way to lose perspective is to forget your source, to forget who has given all of this to you. So don't don't be like Nebuchadnezzar. Don't wait until life humbles you before you remember who's been carrying you this way all along. Lift your eyes towards heaven. Give God the credit and the glory he deserves and and you'll dec you'll discover what Nebuchadnezzar finally learned that everything we have, everything we are and every good thing that has yet to come It all begins with him. As always, guys, get in your Bible, say your prayers, love one another, and tell the truth. God bless.