Unshakable - A Faith That Doesn’t Move

This podcast is presented to you by Pastor Jason and Liz Burns in Access Church in Lakeland and Bartow, Florida.

For more information, visit actus.tv.

Alright, if you have your Bibles, I want you to open up to Romans chapter 12.

Romans 12 · chapter mention

And if you don't have your Bibles, we'll put them up on the screen.

But I encourage you, like get your phones out, uh, just just get to the Bible app and take some notes.

Um, we're gonna wrap up the series uh that we've been in, and I hope you've enjoyed it.

This series called Unshakable.

It's kind of been a uh an impromptu study through the book of Daniel.

Um I encourage everybody, if you have not listened to the whole series, go check it out.

It's it's been so good to hear uh uh just just an old testament story be so relevant to what we're facing right now in our culture, in our communities, what we're going through, what we see on the news.

Um and you know, sometimes we think we're the only ones dealing with stuff, man.

They were dealing with these same types of stuff thousands of years ago.

And so Daniel has such an amazing story, and we've been in it, and we're gonna continue it one step further this week, but I'm gonna open it up with kind of like our series uh verse.

It comes out of Romans, Romans chapter 12 and verse 2, and it says this do not be conformed to the patterns of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.

Romans 12 · chapter mention

I love this because this is our job, right?

It is our job to guard what we take in.

Pastor Jason said it a lot in our series, and I'm gonna echo it again.

Culture is going to always do what culture does.

It's always gonna change, it's always gonna try to do what's what's easiest, what's best for itself, what's best to make the most money, the most uh to get the most people to follow.

That's what culture does.

And and and we as believers, we don't shift with culture.

All right?

I feel like that's pretty uh explanatory.

I think it's pretty self-explanatory.

That's what we've been talking about.

But this verse, Romans chapter 12, gives us the idea of how to stop that.

Romans 12 · chapter mention

It's it's it's there's things that are gonna come, there's things that are happening all around us, but it's our job to say there are patterns in this world that are trying to change us, and I'm not gonna conform to it because I'm gonna renew my mind daily.

And like that's something that we have to do.

Every day, wake up and say, God, I know we're gonna face some things.

I know we're gonna get into this.

Like, life is not all about sunshine, rainbows, and good weather.

You're gonna face some trials.

It's it's I'm sorry.

Like, I don't ever want to like entice somebody to be a Christian and tell them that once you become a Christian, everything gets better.

Come on, any Christians out there realize that life doesn't get easier when you say yes to Jesus sometimes.

Okay, okay.

There's one of me.

I'm here to tell you life doesn't get easier when you say yes to Jesus, right?

And it's because why?

Because we're going against culture.

We're going against the things that the world is like, yeah, that's what we should do.

No, the Bible says we should do this.

And this, it's not easy and it's not always fun, but it's it's necessary.

It's something that we need to do.

It's something that we as especially as parents, can I talk to parents for just a second?

Like us as parents, that's your number one job is to give your kids Jesus in such a way that they can stand up to culture.

Because here, this is the you want to hear the thing that scares me the most is that I can't be around my kids 24-7.

I'm gonna try.

Like I'm gonna be that weird dad that's like, hey, am I allowed to go over to my friend's house?

And I'm gonna be on the corner on the block with binoculars.

Oh, and just wait till my daughter starts dating.

I've got, you know, I've got a hunting rifle.

I could, I think I could be about a mile away from that.

I'd be up at a tree stand in some dude's yard.

And he's gonna look at me and be like, my daughter's first date, and he's gonna be like, I got you, bro.

And uh I'm gonna create a little hotline for just the men in here, right?

And we're all gonna call each other.

We're gonna band together when that first date happens.

Amen?

Come on, all the men.

Amen.

All right, there we go.

Um so many thoughts I can't say um because I don't want to get in trouble.

But uh, but it's our job as parents to protect them.

We can't be around them 24-7.

And that stinks.

That's that's that's actually scares me sometimes to think that they're gonna have to face some things without me.

But but my job is to teach them the word of God, to teach them how to renew their mind, to teach them how to face culture and not bend and bow to it, but to stand because God is telling them to stand.

And that's what we've been in in this series, is is getting to a place to be unshakable, to have a generation that's unshakable, to have a church that's unshakable, to have a city that's unshakable, to have a marriage that's unshakable.

Because the world is gonna try to shake it.

But it's our job to renew our minds and to stand strong in the midst of all of this.

You ever had this moment, and I had this moment recently with my kids, where I'm I I, you know, I hate how social media will like show you things of the past, be like, this is what you were doing last year, this is what you were doing 10 years ago, and then this is how fat you were five days ago.

No, I'm just kidding.

Uh it's motivation when you look back at that and be like, man, that's a lot.

Um but I was looking back and I and I realized like how fast my kids are growing up.

Like I remember the time where I was rocking them to sleep and and and I was helping them get dressed, and I was putting them in the car, and you know, we were doing things for them, and now they're they're getting into that age where they're they're doing things for themselves.

And I'm I'm standing back and I'm thinking, where did this happen?

Like when?

Like it just snap of the fingers, and now they're old, and like a couple more years, my son's gonna be driving.

Then really pray for me.

Um, and and it's it's all these things that you look at and you're like, where did the time change?

Where did where did it go?

Well, that's kind of what happens if we don't realize in our life of culture, the things around us.

You could get so caught up with doing the day-to-day, the wake up and go get your coffee and go to work and then come home, get stuck in the traffic, go cook dinner, go to bed and repeat, that you could get to a time in your place where you look back and you go, oh my gosh, how did this change so fast?

Like, how did this happen?

Like, how how did we get here?

How did we go from where we were to where we're at now?

And and here's the thing culture is gonna change, right?

If you're taking notes, write this down.

Culture changes, but God in his word does not change.

And I know that seems so like, oh yeah, that's such a churchy thing to say.

But listen, in a moment of crisis when everything is changing in front of you, you need something that doesn't change.

You need something to stand.

You, you, you've got to have something in your life that is a constant, uh, something that doesn't move, something that you can count on.

It says, the the church might be there one day and gone next.

The doors might be open one day and not open the next.

Like there's a lot of things that change, but I need something in my life that doesn't change.

And I'm telling you right now, if it's anything in your life but God, you are ready to live a crazy life of up and downs.

You've got to get to a place in your life where you have this, and I know we can say it in the church, and we can all say amen.

And you could write it on those cute little notes that you'll store in your car for one week and then you'll clean it out.

I've seen them at the racetrack in the trash can.

It hurts my feelings.

Okay?

I've seen them, and I I take them all out.

And I've I've got a handwriting guy that's uh looking up, and I'm gonna find out who's the one throwing them away, and I'm gonna come after you.

No, I'm just kidding.

But but it's like we've got to have a moment in our lives where we can stand on something and and not just let this be something we talk about and something we're like, oh, amen, and uh, well, post it on social media, that's great.

But no, the word of God has to be our platform, it has to be our constant, it has to be something we stand on.

And I'm gonna give you the reason why.

Here's the reason why Hebrews chapter 3 or 13, verse 8, put up on the screen, it says this Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

Hebrews 3 · chapter mention

There's some good news.

I mean, I think we could call it quiz right now and go home.

Like it, this is the reason why this is this book is so uh relevant.

This is the reason why this book is so good.

This is the reason why you need one of these in your life, because the same passages of scripture where Jesus showed up in so many people's lives and helped them through it is the same God we serve today.

We've got to get out of this idea of reading this like it's a history book.

When we read this and go, man, that guy back in the day, he was really cool.

No, he's the same yesterday, today, and forever.

The same stories that you hear about where Jesus showed up and saved the day, the same stories that you read, the Holy Spirit filled the room and people went out and did miraculous things.

These are the same things that we can apply to our lives right here and right now.

It doesn't have to be a fairy tale.

It doesn't have to be a history lesson.

We're like, man, that's cool.

I love to think about that or see a movie about that.

No, we could live it right here and right now if we just applied this book to our lives.

Jesus, he's the same yesterday, today, and good news is he's the same forever.

And so, what does that mean tomorrow?

He's the same God.

The same promises are true, the same words are true.

This isn't just a Sunday message.

This is a Tuesday afternoon in traffic, ready to quit your job message.

That Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

I'm gonna ask you a question, and I want you to wrestle with this this week.

The question isn't whether culture is going to change, because it will.

The question is, when everything around me changes, will what I believe change with it?

I want you to ask yourself that.

I want you to take a self-assessment and say, when everything else in this world changes, because it will, will what I believe, will what I have dedicated my life to change with it?

When I look back on this series, on Daniel, there's one underlying theme amidst all these characters that we talked about.

We talked about Daniel and you know the kids, Daniel and the lions didn't love that story.

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, the furry finest, love that furnace, love that story.

There's one central theme is the reason why none of them backed down, none of them submitted to the what culture and what the king was telling them to do.

And it wasn't because these were like the strongest, bravest men in the Bible.

It wasn't because these these men were like fearless.

And I think sometimes we read these stories and we we make these like movie stars in our life.

We're like, man, Peter, what a guy.

Man, like Shadrach, Michael, and Bindigo, what a what an amazing.

These were just ordinary men and women in the Bible that had their faith and trust in God over their situation that was right in front of them.

Like this is the same.

This is this doesn't qualify, like, like this doesn't just make like I know some of us are sitting here, like, I'm just, I just, I work at at Mosaic in Bartow.

Like, I'm just an ordinary guy.

Yeah, that's who God loves to use to change a city.

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego and Daniel, they were just ordinary guys, simple guys, that just had this strong belief that there was something bigger than what was right in front of them.

So, how do they have this faith in something that seemed so big and so chaos?

Romans chapter 10, verse 17, we'll put up on the screen.

Romans 10:17

It says this So faith, right, the thing that we want, the thing that keeps us from bowing down, comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.

I think sometimes as Christians, we we think it's gotta be something else, though.

It can't be that easy.

Like I think, I think one of you were praying that faith comes by asking all of you to come up to the front, and then we'll play some really good music, we'll turn the pads on real loud, and then we'll come up and lay hands on you.

And if we're if you know if we're really getting spicy, we'll break out the anointing oil and we'll start slapping it on your foreheads.

Like, yeah, and then that will cause the faith level to grow up in my life.

Like once that happens, faith will come.

No, what the Bible says is your faith comes by hearing and hearing the word of God.

That Bible verse, the word word uh in the Bible scripture says it's a rhema word.

It's the Greek word for rhema.

You know what that means?

It means a word that comes up out of you in the midst of chaos and struggle.

It means that there'll be seasons, and there's seasons in my life, especially being a parent, you'll have these seasons where the fever won't go away, or the sickness doesn't go away, or the things happen, or you go to a theme park and they walk away from you and they're no longer next to you, and you have those moments where you say, Oh my gosh, where are they?

And there's something that comes up inside of you, a verse, a word from God that gives you peace that surpasses all understanding.

That's rhema word.

I remember times in the hospital when Paisley was literally on her deathbed, and I'm freaking out.

This is me.

I I can't do anything but sit here and just pray.

And in Psalms 91, a verse that's been in my life since the beginning of time and spoken over me, has spoken over me and spoken over me.

I can't tell you how many times that rhema word came up out of me and into my soul to calm me down in those crises.

So you want to know how you don't bend to culture?

You find the word of God and get it rooted in your life.

Listen, I will stand next to you every day.

You you can call me.

A lot of you have my phone number.

Like I don't play around, I don't I hide my number, a Google forwarding number.

If you've come to this church, you filled out a connection card, I have texted you and said, I'm so glad you're here.

So a lot of you have my number.

Don't call me all at once, please don't.

Um don't call me and send me text about the gators.

I I'll block you, okay?

Um I've already done it.

Um but but I'll stand with you in your darkest times.

I will lock arms with you and I will fight every battle with you.

But can I just be honest with you?

I'm not always gonna answer the phone.

I'm not always gonna come and be at the bedside of your dying family member.

I'm not always gonna be there when when you and your wife are having the fight.

I'm not always gonna be there to send you the encouraging text, but you know who will be there is our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

And there's a moment where you are faced with these battles and you have to have that rhema word come up out of you.

Not from me.

I can't be your rhema word.

I can encourage you to go read the word, but I can't, my voice can't help you through your marriage.

My voice can't help you through your chaos and your crisis.

But you know what can?

The word of God.

And how does the Bible say you build that faith?

By hearing and hearing and hearing, and when you think you've heard it all, guess what?

Hear some more.

And that faith will come up inside of you.

And that's the faith that doesn't bend to culture, that's the faith that doesn't shift in the hard times, in the good times.

That's the faith that stands.

Faith comes by hearing and hearing the word of God.

So my question is, is what are you hearing?

What are you hearing?

What are you allowing to get into your ears?

I want to give you a couple things.

If you're taking notes, take notes with me.

Write this down.

First one is this.

I'm gonna give you a couple statements about faith, and the first one is this faith gives me something to stand on.

Faith gives me something to stand on.

Hebrews chapter 11 and verse 1 says this.

Hebrews 11 · chapter mention

Now, faith is the confidence, the confidence in what we hope for and the assurance for what we do not see.

See, faith isn't pretending that everything's gonna be okay.

Like I I'm not asking you to come in on a Sunday and put the big smile on and act like nothing else in this world is going wrong because you're at church.

Everything's gotta be perfect at church.

No, you're allowed to cry here.

That's why we got Kleenexes under each seat, or a lot of seats.

I know some of you are looking down right now, like there's none under mine.

Um but but we're we we don't want you to come here and and feel like you gotta have it all together.

I don't want you to come here and feel like you gotta pretend and put a smile on and act like everything's good, and when inside you know you're going home to face literal hell in your household.

Like that's not faith.

Faith isn't pretending that everything is alright, faith is not even ignoring reality.

Faith isn't acting like there's not a world out there that is not good.

That's not faith.

Faith is believing that God is greater than the reality of what I see.

That's faith.

Faith is knowing that the world has good moments and bad moments, but God is greater.

Faith is knowing that things are gonna get hard at the end, you know, read the end of the Bible.

Things get worse before they get better.

But faith is knowing that God is greater than all of those things.

And that's the faith we stand on.

This last week, um I had a cool moment, and I love these moments because I'm trying to have more of them with my kids.

Like with three kids, and there's only two of us, you know, someone I feel like always feels like they might be getting left out.

But now Brody's going to youth, so I dropped him off at youth.

I'm like, they're your problem now.

Um, come on, don't act like you don't do that every time you drop your kids off at youth.

Like, see ya.

Seth's problem.

Um because I see how some of those kids act on Wednesday nights, and you do think they're our problem.

Um, I'm just kidding.

We love your kids.

Um, but I dropped, I dropped off Brody, and uh, and then M was like, I'm gonna take pay, and I was like, perfect, me and Levi are gonna go.

And uh, we were able to to do something really cool.

Our family got a little old boat from from the Harrisons.

We uh we bought it.

If you need a boat place, literally right back there, if you got a boat, I highly recommend it.

Um amazing people, but we were able to get a little boat for our family to create those memories because those are the memories they're gonna remember for the rest of their life, and they're definitely gonna remember this.

Um and so this last week we dropped them off, and then me and me and Levi went to the grassy lake, which is right over here in uh Eagle Lake, and um we went fishing, just me and him.

And uh he he had so much fun, and it sun's going down, the mosquitoes are coming out, and we're like, hey, let's let's just go a little couple more, let's throw some top water, see if we catch any more, and then we'll call it, we'll leave.

And uh Levi's up at the boat, and he's is he's at the back of the boat.

And I tell him, buddy, there's like there's an area you can stand on, but then there's an area, you're just you're tempting fate, bud.

And uh guess where he was standing on that area, and so he's like right there on the edge of the boat, and he's fishing, and he's got his mom's pole too.

Like, and and I'm like, bud, don't lose that because she'll kill you.

Um, and uh she's he's fishing on the back of the boat, and I'm on the front of the boat with the trolling motor, and I see something, and I hit the hit the foot pedal, and it hard shrieked left, and all I hear is splash, and I turn around, and Levi's not on the boat anymore, and I'm like, oh my gosh, okay?

All right, there's two people in the world that have I I know have walked on water.

Now there's a third, right?

It's Jesus, Peter, and Levi.

Because you should have seen how fast he got out of this boat or out of this water.

His eyes were as big, and he was like, Dad, I need you.

And I'm like, I want you to remember this moment when you make me upset that you need me.

Say it louder.

Um, no, I jumped up and I grabbed him and I pulled him back into this boat.

But I realized is I just pulled him into the boat.

He had let go of the rod, which makes sense.

I probably would have done the same thing.

But I my only response to him was but we gotta find this, or you're calling mom.

I'm not calling, I'm like, you're calling mom.

And so he's like, I don't want to call mom.

And so what did he do?

He goes, let's pray.

And I'm like, Dad a boy.

I'm like, I've done something right in this world.

Uh let's pray.

And so he prays.

He said, Dear Lord, please let us find this.

And I said, Amen.

And uh so we spent like we spent like 15, 20 minutes.

I mean, we were getting annihilated by mosquitoes, and I looked at him, I said, bud, sometimes prayer works, but just this moment it didn't.

And and so we book it and we go home, and I'm like, all right, tell her what you did.

And uh, and she's so good, she's like, he'll buy us another one.

Um like thanks, Levi.

Um, but I say, I said, so I was like, I the whole night I was wrestling because I'm like, man, it'd have been such a cool moment for my son if he found that rod.

Right?

He said this prayer, he's at the front of the boat, like, dear Jesus, please help us find this rod.

And if he was able to find this rod, it'd be so cool.

And so they went to school and I'm like, I I've gotta go back.

I've gotta go back and look for this.

I've got to go back and see if I can find this rod.

Because if I find this rod, he's gonna realize that Jesus even hears even the smallest prayers, like an$80 rod, but it's big to him.

And it's like, I want him to have that moment.

I had those moments in my life where I said a simple prayer and God showed up, and that based my faith level for the rest of my life.

And so I'm like, I want this for my son.

So I went back and I spent an hour going back and forth, and I even was praying, God, help me find this.

I know it's this might be so silly to you, but I'm like, please help me find this little rod.

And out of nowhere, out of core of my eye, I just see this little white, looked like a little stick, just right there popping out of the mall.

And I went over and I grabbed it, and it was the rod.

You know what?

I was so excited.

I got so excited, I'm like, yes, because here, hear me out.

This might be bad.

I didn't say this in first service, but I was honestly thinking about going to buy a new rod, the same one, and be like, buddy, look, we found it, right?

But it was so much cooler that I found it in the actual water.

God came through, right?

He showed up.

And you won't be laughing, like, oh, that's funny, because it's just a fishing rod.

But my son, in the midst of a problem that he just experienced, cried out to God and said, God, please help us find this.

Faith is the assurance in things hoped for.

What did he do?

He took a moment in his life to say, God, I need you right now, because I know my mom's gonna be very upset.

I need to find this rod.

In a moment, he was able to compound his prayer in God and say, God, I need you to show up in this moment.

Then it might be so small as a fishing rod, but guess what?

15, 20 years of compound interest on those prayers, guess what will happen the next time he's facing something bigger?

The same God that showed up in the midst of a broken and lost fishing rod is the same God that can show up there.

That's faith.

That's assurance and things hoped for.

That's what we have to believe in.

That's what this this this book is all about is understanding that I have something that I can stand on, and it's the word of God.

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abinago experience the same thing.

Not a missing fishing rod, but life or death decision.

Why don't you close your eyes for just a second?

Just I want you to picture this.

No moving around.

We're not coming to go through your purses and bags.

Like just close your eyes.

I want you to think about the three guys standing in the midst of thousands of people, and you've got the ruler of a great mighty nation who could snap his fingers, could point, could say one word, and your life would be gone forever.

He's got the furnace burning.

You can hear the fire crackling, getting hot.

And

He says, on the count of three, every one of you will bow and worship me.

And you have three guys in the midst of that moment.

Three guys in the midst of all of that, knowing and understanding that at any given point they could be cast out and thrown into this very same fire.

And the horn blows, the trumpets go, everybody around them bows.

And in this moment, they have to make the choice.

Do I bend and bow with everyone around me?

Or do I stand for what I believe in?

You can open up your eyes.

That might sound like a history story.

That might sound like a children's story.

But it's real.

They didn't have time to question.

Hey man, what are we doing?

Are we actually gonna do this?

Are we actually going through with this?

I mean, I could I can see, I go down the list.

I I'm I'm gonna be a real Christian with you right now.

I'll go down the list, I'd be like, is there a way I can bow physically, but maybe not spiritually?

Like, can I bow so I don't die, but then really trust that I know God?

But I promise you, there's decisions you're gonna have to make in the same way.

Am I to fudge on some numbers on this report so I don't have to pay as much taxes?

Am I gonna have to, you know, maybe, maybe just like turn my location off on my phone so that my wife or my family don't know what I'm doing?

Am I gonna have to hide my browser content so people don't see what I'm searching?

Am I gonna have to do all this?

Or am I gonna stand true on what I know is true and believe the only thing that doesn't move in my life is the word of God.

And I know for a fact that He ain't gonna change, so I can't change.

I can't bend and shift when it's easy.

It'd be so much easier.

This story would have been so much easier for Shadrach, Meshach, and Abinigo if they would have just taken a quick Tebow kneel.

Just like, oh yeah, okay, we're done, right?

But inside of their soul, they're like, I can't.

This might cost me everything.

And I know you're facing the same thing.

You might not be getting ready to be thrown in a furnace, but you have real life decisions that you have to stand on and say, I know within me, everything in me, I cannot bow to this.

But this might end everything that I've always wanted.

So here's the thing you don't have moments to sit there and and start to run down the list of, oh man, okay, well, if I do do that, I have a backup plan, and that person said that they're they're hiring potentially, so if I lose this job, I can get that job.

No, you have to make a decision right there and just say it's God or nothing.

I gotta trust God that even though this means that everything in front of me could be gone.

Shattering Meshach in a bed ago was their life.

And they chose to stand when everybody else bowed.

See, faith doesn't determine truth by taking a poll.

We don't determine truth by saying, okay, hey guys, everybody believe we should do this tomorrow.

Okay, everybody?

Okay, majority rules.

This is now, this is now truth.

No, truth is constant.

Truth doesn't change.

The truth in the Bible, it might hurt your feelings, but it doesn't make it any more less of the truth.

And so we as believers have to realize that I can't determine my whole life and future because what majority says.

I gotta take a poll real quick to see what I actually truly believe in.

No, I have to know, I have to have that rhymable word inside of me that in the midst of those struggles, I can stand on what is true.

If you take a note, write this down.

The crowd does not determine my conviction.

Just because everybody else around you, just because your family, just because your friends do it this certain way, does not change the conviction that God put in your heart.

If God has prompted your heart to do it, if God has prompted your heart to take a stand, even though that everything around you could cost every it could cost you everything, you gotta stand.

I love what Daniel in Daniel chapter 3.

Daniel 3 · chapter mention

This is probably one of my favorite moments in this story.

And I think this would be such a cool moment to live out, is when they finally didn't kneel.

And the king is looking at him like, what are you doing?

And I love what he says in verse 16 of Daniel chapter 13.

He says, This, O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter.

If this be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from this burning burning furnace, and he will deliver us out of the hand of you, O King.

But if not, be it known to you, O King, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden images that you have set up.

I love that.

To have such a conviction, such a boldness in faith that says, I believe that I'm not gonna have to die in that furnace.

But even if I do, it's not gonna change anything.

Can you imagine what your life would look like?

Can you imagine if we could just teach our kids a fraction of that boldness?

That they could stand up in the midst of having to face uh real life challenges at school and at and in the future and at colleges and saying, you know what, I don't really care.

Cancel me or not, promote me or not, make me famous or not.

I'm standing on what is the only thing that's truth in my whole life.

The only thing that's never left me, the only thing that's never deceived me or changed is this word of God.

And I'm gonna stand whether it leads to my cancellation or not.

I don't care.

I don't care because even if it doesn't happen the way I want it, God's still good.

And God still reigns, and God's still in control.

And I'm just bold enough to believe that even if it doesn't happen the way I want it, that something better is gonna happen out of it.

That's the God we serve.

See, faith isn't only built on what God does, faith is built on who God is.

And that's what we have to do.

We have to get away with God.

This is why it's so important to have these quiet times with God.

Listen, if the only time you're getting in this word is here on Sundays, I love it.

And I'm not telling you to stop doing that.

I I love that you're coming to church.

But you cannot have that boldness in your faith of only getting fed at church once a week.

Like you have to get alone with God on your own and get this book.

Because God says, listen, that's how faith is built, is hearing and hearing the word of God.

Not my words, but God's word.

And then you get to a place where you do this.

You wake up and you said, if God heals, he's God.

If I'm still in a moment of waiting, he's God.

If this door opens, he's God.

If a door closes, he's God.

If my prayer gets answered the exact way I wanted, he's God.

If it looks completely different than what I expected, guess what?

He's God.

And when you can get that mindset in your life, it doesn't matter what you face in front of you.

But guess what?

He's God.

And he is still good.

And it does not matter what you have to face.

If you continue taking notes, write this next one down.

Faith decides before the pressure comes.

Faith decides before the pressure comes.

Aren't you glad?

Like, if I don't know if you've flown a lot, but I I don't fly a lot, but aren't you really glad that they decide to go through all the procedures of what happens in a crisis before the crisis?

Like just think about that with me.

Like the pilot gets over the thing and he's like, hey, we're going down, we're gonna land in water.

And the only time you ever heard that there's a life vest under your seat is in that moment.

I'd be like, I don't know how to inflate this thing.

Where do I leave?

Do I do I poke a hole in this window?

It does is it where's the door?

Like, thank God that they take the moments to sit there before the plane even takes off and goes, This is a seatbelt.

These are doors.

And some of us are just like, oh, I've heard this before.

But thank God that in the midst of calmness and and and no pressure, they give you the instructions on how to handle pressure.

It's the same way in life.

I think this is crazy, and I see it all the time, is that people come to church and they get really fed in crisis, and then the crisis stops, and then you don't see them anymore.

And then crisis hits again, and they come back and they're like, man, I need some more preparation.

I'm just like, guys, you know, the plane doesn't always have to crash for you to find out how to have a battle plan to figure out how to get through it.

And if you just kind of have a plan before the pressure gets there, if you just kind of like get to a place in life that before you have to stand in the midst of all these people doing something different, if you just kind of had a decision made up for your own life before it got hot and before it got crazy, then maybe life would look a little different.

Maybe you wouldn't be so panicked and always overloaded and afraid.

See, Daniel chapter 1, he says this in verse 8, he says that Daniel resolved that he wasn't gonna desire defile himself.

Daniel 1 · chapter mention

He actually says in another translation, it says, Daniel proposed in his heart.

What does that mean?

He already had his mind made up what he was gonna do before the laws changed.

He already had his mind made up that nothing in my routine of life, nothing that I'm gonna face or go through is gonna change even when the world changes.

And so we as believers have to do the exact same thing.

I wrote this down, decisions made before the fire will keep you standing in the fire.

It's why I encourage married couples in premarital counseling.

I encourage them, I was like, guys, listen, this moment right here, the honeymoon stage, the best stage ever, this is where you guys figure out a lot of stuff.

You figure out that divorce is not an option.

You gotta figure out how you're gonna have these moments where if you're gonna go to bed angry, how you're gonna handle it the next morning.

You're gonna figure out how you're gonna argue or how you're gonna have these moments.

Have all these things planned before you guys have your first argument.

Before the stuff hits the fan.

You you've got to have these moments of getting alone and having a plan before things happen.

Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, they all had this plan.

Take a notice with me, so write this down.

Faith does not mean you avoid the fire.

I think this is one of the biggest things that I think new believers cling to God because they believe.

I just say yes to Jesus my whole life.

I hear it all the time.

I just get saved, I just go to next steps.

If I give to the here for good offering, my finances will all just magically get better, and I'll never have to pay bills anymore.

Um life is just getting so much easier when I say yes to Jesus.

And uh it's true, but it's true for different reasons.

Saying yes to Jesus doesn't take you away from difficult moments.

Can I get a good amen by uh some seasoned saints in here?

Right?

Like it doesn't just it doesn't just make like just like getting married doesn't make uh you know dealing with your spouse any easier, right?

That's why I tell people all the time, like, hey, the issues you're dealing with now, they're only gonna get amplified because you guys sleep in the same bed now.

And and the couch ain't that much more comfortable, right?

It's like you have to realize that there are gonna be some difficult times.

And so faith isn't this moment of saying, I'm gonna have faith, and now I get to just avoid ever having any fiery moments in my life.

That's not it at all.

Faith is understanding that I am gonna face some trials and I am gonna face some things, but there's somebody that's gonna be there with me.

See, God can handle your most darkest moments.

I think some of the deepest moments I've had in my faith, in my walk with Christ, has been this me alone in a target parking lot, blaming God for everything.

I highly recommend it.

Go to the Lakeland one though, because it's farther away.

You just get you just get in the parking lot, and I I was sitting there and just some stuff in my life that hadn't come through, and I'm just like blaming God.

And here's the thing some of you might gasp me like, you did that?

Yeah, he can handle that.

And he wants to hear it.

He already knows it.

He's supposed to hear it, and there's there's nothing wrong with having these moments of going, God, I've prayed over and over again for my marriage and it ain't getting better.

God, I've prayed for my prodigal son to come home.

God, and he's not coming home.

God, I've prayed for the sickness to go away and it won't go away, God.

Why?

God's like, I can handle this.

I could take the darkest moments of your life and I can handle this, and you can express it, and you can tell me all the things that you've wanted God to do, and he hasn't come through yet, and you can blame him, and you can be mad at him, and you can have all the things that you want to say to him, and he can handle it all.

And he could still be God, and he could still be good.

And you will learn more through that season than any other time in your life.

Because here's the thing I realized Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, they get they get bound up, the fire gets turned on, they didn't bow, they stood strong for what they believed in.

Now they have to reap the very thing that they stood against the fire.

The guys take them and they throw them in.

The Bible says that the people that threw them in burned up.

Things to follow orders, right?

Make sure you're following the right orders.

And it says that the only thing on Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego that burned up was the thing that bound them.

And I love this.

There's a moment where King Nebuchadnezzar is looking in and he goes, Hey, um, I know we threw three in, but I see four now.

Like, what's going on?

And they're kind of moving around, and they don't they don't seem to be very bothered by the fire.

They don't seem to be very bothered about maybe like losing their life.

They they they seem to be like, okay.

The very consequence for their rebellion against culture in reality, the the consequence was right there.

And some of you will have to face the consequences of never seeing something that you beg God for ever come through in your life.

And that's hard.

It's really hard, especially when you see it happening for other people.

You're like, God, you've come through with them and you come through with them.

Why not me, God?

And here's Shadrach Meshach and Abinnego, they're bound up and now they're free.

Would you hear me when I say this?

What was supposed to destroy them actually destroyed what was binding them.

Don't underestimate what God can do in the middle of something you wish he would have kept you from.

Because there are things that you learn about God in the fire that you would never learn outside of Him.

There is a season in your life that you are begging God to take away, and God's like, this is the only way I can show my glory through your life.

I know you don't like it, and I know you don't want to do it, but I promise you, God will be glorified through it.

And the very thing that you're begging God to take away, God's like, I promise you, if you just hold on, if you just stand strong, I promise you, there will be people thousands of years later hearing about the goodness of God through your story.

Do you think Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the midst of that flame thought that 2,026 years later, or however long it was, there's gonna be a group of people in the city of Bartow?

They don't even know that existed, right?

Talking about them and saying, you know what?

I need that.

I need that faith.

Let me ask you that same question.

What are you facing right now?

That if you just stand just a little bit stronger, if you just stand just a little bit stronger and just hold on a little bit more, what in your life could show God's glory for someone else who's getting ready to face the same thing?

I know it's hard.

I know it's stress.

I know you want to give up, and I know you want to just pass along.

It was way easier to go and bend and bow with culture because when I bend and bowed with culture, I never had to face the furnace, I never had to face the lion's den.

And I just went along with the plan.

But this is hard, God.

God goes, I know.

But I'm teaching you something through this that can help somebody be set free from something they don't ever want to have to go through.

And I know you can do it because I'm here with you.

And if I'm here with you, you're gonna be okay.

Might not look the way you want.

My prayers sometimes are God.

What about we just don't go through the fire?

How about that?

Is that an option?

And God goes, No, we're going.

Okay.

Last one, I'm closing.

Faith doesn't bend because culture shifts.

Faith doesn't bend because culture shifts.

Like I said, culture's gonna shift.

The world's gonna change, there's gonna be some things that are happening.

Listen, if you go read the book, like the same book that I told you to read, go back to the very end, right?

You go to the very end, you realize we win, right?

That's a good story.

Um, but it actually gets worse before it gets better.

And so don't stand here today and pray against the very thing that's gonna happen, regardless.

Pray that God will use you and give you the faith to stand when all this stuff happens.

And to stand strong when when the world wants you to bow, to stand strong when they don't want you to do some of the things, and you have the faith to say, God, I'm I'm gonna I'm gonna stand even when it's easier to bend.

And this is what I'm closing with.

I don't want you to walk away from this message.

And start to look at the very thing, culture and society and all the things changing, and get afraid of it.

This isn't a message to scare you into reading your Bible or scare you into church or scare you into getting your life right because, like, that's between you and God.

I'm not even asking you to join the Facebook warriors and talk about the disgust you have with the way the world is going.

We don't need any more of that.

Please stop.

And if that is you, do us all a favor.

Delete your social media, okay?

No one ever got saved because you were bashing everything that's going wrong around you, okay?

Just headline.

Take that to the bank.

Um, I'm not doing all this to try to scare you into living a better life.

What I'm what I'm doing is I'm wanting you to realize that that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, they were facing something like an empire.

Something that was so big and so scary.

And yet God was in the midst of all of that.

God never left him, God never turned his back on him.

And so, this is what I'm gonna tell you.

This is what I want you to realize that Babylon changed everything in their life.

Babylon changed their address, it changed their name, it changed who they were.

The empire changed so much, but it didn't change who God was.

Daniel, in this story, is to show us that we might not be able to remove Babylon out of our lives, but we can realize that God is bigger than Babylon.

And we might not be able to change everything in our lives.

I promise you, there's gonna be things that you can't change, but this I want you to have heart and know that God is bigger than those things, that God is stronger than those things, that God will never leave you and God will never forsake you.

So here's my challenge for you today.

If God is truly the same yesterday, today, and forever, and if truly faith, the thing we just talked about, the thing that's gonna help me not bend to what's going on around me, if faith comes by hearing and hearing the word of God, then I'm gonna challenge you to grow your faith.

By taking this book and going home and digging into it, by waking up in the morning and not scrolling TikTok and scrolling your emails and seeing all the text messages and all the things you have to do today, to wake up and say, God, I've got a busy day today, but today I need a Ramal word.

I need a word that's gonna get me through today.

I need a word that's gonna help me face the struggles that I'm gonna face.

God, I need I need you to show up right here and right now, and you have a moment between you and God.

Because that's the only way you're gonna grow your faith.

That's the only way you're gonna get to a place where you're gonna stand when it's so easy to bow.

So, my challenge for you is to do it.

I mean, there's really no other way to say it but to put the onus back in your life.

Dads, specifically, you want your family to be led in the right direction, you want a family that begins to stand, a family that begins to pray, a family that doesn't bow to culture.

You, you, you, you, I can't be that for your family.

You have to be that for your family.

You have to get up and show your kids that reading the word is important.

You pray in front of your kids, you stand in the midst of adversity, you be the leader of your family.

And then watch your kids grow up and serve the Lord all the days of their life.

Joshua says it in the Bible.

He says, For I have and for I have decided, for me and my house, we're gonna serve the Lord.

Parents, make the decision.

Are you gonna let Fortnite and Roblox raise your kids, or are you gonna let the Word of God raise your kids?

You're gonna put a stance and say, you know what?

I'm gonna teach my kids to be able to hear from God.

I'm gonna let my kids be able to take a stand in the midst of adversity.

And because guess what?

There's gonna be times when you're not there, but this God that we serve, he'll be there.

And that's the one we rely on.

If we bow our heads and close our eyes.

So God, we ask you today, Lord, to do what only you can do, God.

God, we just talked about faith.

We just talked about being able to stand in the midst of adversity, God.

We know, Lord, you know every one of our lives.

You know all the things we faced, all the things we're facing, all the battles that we have yet to face, God.

You know our whole life.

And so, God, today we just ask you to do what only you can do, God.

We're gonna do our part.

The Bible says we're gonna we're gonna get in our word.

We're gonna hear from you, Lord.

We're gonna hold on to your words in our life, Lord.

We're gonna pray that our faith grows stronger daily by we growing daily with you.

So, God, we ask you to help us and guide us and direct us, to let that rainbow word come up into our hearts in the midst of struggles, in the midst of adversity.

So, God, we ask you to not let us bow to the things that are easy, but to stand for what is truth, to stand for what is holy and just.

We thank you for that.

We thank you for what you're doing in our lives, Lord.

With every head bowed, every eye closed.

If you're in here today and you don't have a relationship with God.

Or better yet, maybe you've taken a stance in one season of your life, you were sold out for God and you followed his way, but then maybe there was a season that you bowed because it was easier.

You gave up on this thing called Christianity because it got too difficult.

God's calling you home, He's calling you back.

That's what's so good about His grace.

He stands there with arms wide open and says, You ready?

Let's go, let's do this again.

Let's learn from the bowing and let's stand now for what is truth.

Let's stand for what is holy.

So if you're in here today with every head bowed and every eye closed, if you're in here today, you don't have a relationship, or maybe you want to restart your relationship with Jesus, I'm gonna ask you to do this.

I'm gonna have three seconds of complete boldness and raise your hand right where you're at.

Amen.

Amen.

You can put it back down.

At Access, we don't say anything alone, we don't do anything alone.

So we're all gonna say this together.

Let's say this out say, Dear Jesus, come on, say it like you made it.

Dear Jesus, I accept you into my heart.

I believe you died for me.

I'm ready to live for you.

Thank you for dying on that cross, for forgiveness of my sins.

Thank you for being my Lord and my Savior in Jesus' mighty name.

Come on, everybody said.

Amen, amen, amen.