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Friday Devo

Scripture Reading:

Daniel 3:13-18
13 Then Nebuchadnezzar flew into a rage and ordered that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego be brought before him. When they were brought in, 14 Nebuchadnezzar said to them, “Is it true, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, that you refuse to serve my gods or to worship the gold statue I have set up? 15 I will give you one more chance to bow down and worship the statue I have made when you hear the sound of the musical instruments. But if you refuse, you will be thrown immediately into the blazing furnace. And then what god will be able to rescue you from my power?”
16 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego replied, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you. 17 If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God whom we serve is able to save us. He will rescue us from your power, Your Majesty. 18 But even if he doesn’t, we want to make it clear to you, Your Majesty, that we will never serve your gods or worship the gold statue you have set up.”

Commentary from the ESV Study Bible: 

3:18 But if not. There was no doubt in the three men’s minds as to God’s power to save them (see 2:20–23). Yet the way in which God would work out his plan for them in this situation was less clear. God’s power is sometimes extended in dramatic ways to deliver his people, as when he parted the Red Sea for Israel on the way out of Egypt (Exodus 14); at other times, that same power is withheld, and his people are allowed to suffer. Either way, they would not bow down to Nebuchadnezzar’s image.
3:18 The willingness to die for the faith anticipates Christ’s willingness to die (John 10:17–18) and the willingness of Christians to be martyrs (Acts 7:55–60; Rev. 6:9; 12:11).

Study Questions:

  • The big idea from Sunday was, "You can, you're good, but even if you don't, you're faithful." This is the way we should live our lives. The truth is, he CAN + he's GOOD doesn't always equal he WILL. Sometimes God is most glorified when, in our deepest pain, we still find a way to say that he is enough, and we let his grace sustain us through it. Jesus himself asked to not have to go through the torture of the cross. But it was God's will he submitted to in the end. Should we pray like crazy for God to answer? Yes. But do we still trust him no matter what the answer is? Absolutely. Is there an area of your life that you have stopped praying for or a situation you've given up on? Is God leading you back to prayer?

  • The story of the Church is the opposite of what we have been trained to believe in our country. It is usually the MOST faithful that have suffered the most. These faithful servants are able to realize that the story of their life isn't about THEM, it's about HIM. Spend some time talking about an area of your life that you are struggling with. Talk about it and pray through it. Pray that God would help us develop and "even if" kind of faith, that we can trust a faithful God even if he doesn't answer our prayers the way we think he should. That we would pray, full of faith, for our miracle, but trust God no matter the outcome. "God, I know you CAN answer, I know you're GOOD, but even if you choose not to, I know you're still FAITHFUL." Just like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, we should trust God no matter the outcome. How do you develop an "even if" kind of faith? Is there an area of your life where you need to dial up your trust in God a little more?


Pray: 

  • That you would be faithful to pray, believing God will answer.
  • That your trust in God would grow, no matter what his answer is. 

This Week's City 7:

Try to commit to memory! 

7. How can I trust that the Bible is still God’s Word today? I trust the Bible is still God’s Word today because Jesus rose from the dead proving He was God and said His words would never pass away. Through the Holy Spirit, God inspired the writing of the Scripture, determined the canon of Scripture and protected the copying of Scripture so that we might know Him and worship Him to this day.
(Matthew 24:35; 2 Timothy 3:16; 2 Peter 1:16-21; Revelation 22:18-19)

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