The Crossing
As we kick off a new year, we tend to be more open to healthy habits. These eight practices could potentially reroute the trajectory of your year. Think of this as your spiritual health club membership.
You may have been participating in this sermon series, seeking to live with wisdom, rest, the true happiness that can only come from God, and still not feel free.
Daniel 1:1-15 NIV
Imagine every part of your life being uprooted. You lose your home, national identity, freedom, identity, and diet.
These were good, God-fearing young men. They were doing everything right on the inside, meanwhile, everything was falling apart on the outside.
Daniel 1:16-20 NIV
King Nebuchadnezzar sets up a statue with the expectation that all of his leaders would worship it or be thrown into the fiery furnace. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego do not bow. King Nebuchadnezzar ends with this.
Daniel 3:15-29 NIV
A future leader, King Darius, trusts Daniel and prepares to place him over the whole kingdom. Other officials become infuriated and try to bring charges against him, but he was so above reproach, they were unable to do so.
Daniel 6:5 NIV
They intended to catch Daniel by convincing the King to issue a decree forcing everyone to pray to the King and no one else.
Daniel 6:10-11 NIV
Daniel 6:17-23 NIV
The King’s response is worth noting.
Daniel 6:26-28 NIV
Daniel and his friends experienced extreme highs and lows regardless of how committed they were to God. It did not protect them from difficulty or having to make tough decisions to honor their faith. What they experienced was God’s presence.
God did not pull them out from their circumstances but instead used them to bear witness to Himself.
What do you do in the lower story? You keep your eyes focused on the upper story.
Daniel 7:13-14 NIV
God gives Daniel a vision of when the lower story ceases to exist and all that is left is the upper story.
The title for Jesus used most in the Old and New Testament is Son of Man. It reminds us that he understands, that he is with us, and that we can look to his life and example that though he suffered, he now lives and reigns.
Keep your eyes on the upper story while you point people to Jesus in the lower story.