God stands with us

https://odb.org/MY/2023/05/26/jesus-is-the-answer

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego’s response to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon in Daniel 3 is the standard that we all aspire to as believers when confronted with situations in life that test our faith. If we read Daniel 3, we will see that the 3 friends of Daniel believed and trusted that God will rescue them from the furnace of fire. But their faith was so exemplary that they said that even if their God did not rescue them, they would still not bow down and worship the golden image made by Nebuchadnezzar. Their stand was not dependent on God delivering them. Their stand was that no matter what, they would not worship other gods except Yahweh.

So we give tithes and offerings to the church. We still give even if we do not see any tangible direct return from God. Are we giving because of the 10-fold blessings as some prosperity Gospel preachers had preached and advocated before? Surely, if we were to give RM1,000 to God, we don’t expect God to give us back RM10,000? We give because we love God, and we know that we need to support His work. We give because all we have was from Him anyway, out of His grace and mercy upon our lives. The RM1,000 is only a fraction of what we have, which was ours because of His goodness upon our lives.

Having established the above principle that we will give to God and worship Him alone regardless of His deliverance of us in the unique situations of life that we face, the fact is God will stand with those who stand with Him. There was a 4th person in the furnace that was lighted 7 times hotter. Many believed that He was Christ Himself comforting and protecting Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego so that they could quench the fury of the flames (Hebrews 11:34).

Daniel 3, as well as Daniel’s own escapade in the lions’ den in Daniel 6 with King Darius of Persia, are all examples of faith displayed and how God stood with Daniel and his 3 friends. And if we faithfully give to God our tithes and offerings, surely He will open the floodgates of heaven to bless us in return (Malachi 3:10), especially if we give not out of abundance but of whatever little we have.

We can not deny that the end times are just around the corner. Increasingly, we will see more signs and witness more of the events foretold in the book of Revelation. The day will come, perhaps even in our generation, that we may need to choose taking the mark of the beast and worship him in order to buy and sell. Daniel 3 and 6 will be our examples to follow. We will stand with Jesus and Yahweh even unto death, but I believe that God will stand with us even as we stand for Him. But even if He doesn’t deliver us, we will nevertheless not bow down to the beast!