🌿BREATHE TRUTH🌿
“Anyone who prays to any god or human being for the next thirty days, except to you, Your Majesty, shall be thrown into the lion’s den.” —Daniel 1:7
🌿LIVE THE REAL TRUTH🌿
Sometimes in our journey of faith, the mess in our lives can overwhelm the sacredness of God. Choose to pilgrimage the sacred, not the mess. Climb over the mess and claim the sacred.
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Sacred shapes our identity.
There are priorities in our lives that we lay aside as sacred. Purposes which we don’t compromise, cut corners, or cross the line. The sacred sets us apart and imparts us identity. It shapes our world, work, worship, and witness. It secures who we are and what we believe. It sharpens our vision, values, and views.
For Daniel, what is sacred to him is his faith. It runs truer, rises higher, and reaches closer. His faith defines every aspect and aroma of his life and leaning. Yet what Daniel reveres sacred, his enemies revile against him. The epic surprise they don’t know: Don’t mess with the sacred.
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Press above the mess.
Daniel’s character and caliber wins him favor with every kingdom that conquers his people. After King Darius arrives, Daniel is appointed one of the top three leaders over the Persian and Medes empire. An unparalleled position of power unprecedented for a captive.
Then the Mess happens.
Daniel’s rivals plot to remove him on the grounds of his faith. They plan to glorify Darius and get rid of Daniel. Their ultimatum ushers in an ugly quagmire. Walk with God and walk into the trap. Daniel’s response: Press above the mess.
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Pass the mess test.
“But when Daniel learned that the law had been signed, he went home and knelt down as usual in his upstairs room. He prayed three times, just as he had always.”—Daniel 6:10.
Intimacy with the sacred empowers us to withstand the intimidation of the mess.
In the maelstrom of the mess, Daniel continues to commit to seek the sacred. No hiding behind. No turning away. No backing down. Faith to the fullest in the worst mess is not lukewarm:
It faces fear with fierce.
It fights to the final.
It doesn’t give up or give in.
It’s intentional and it’s all in.
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The mess consequence: Be faithful to God and fall hard. Live my faith and lose it all. It would be safer to revoke my relationship with God. But do I want a safe faith or a sacred faith?
Daniel values the sacred faith. He accepts the loss from the mess so he can live out life in the sacred. He defies the edict, denies his enemies, and digs deeper in his devotion. This is truth in the trenches.
Stay faithful to God in the mess, and make a fervent stand for the sacred. In the mess, a test. In the mess, pass the mess test.
•How much is the sacred worth to you?
•What will you do to protect the sacred places in your life?
•Does the sacred have the final word?
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Sacred secrets.
When we hold onto our life, a door opens for the mess to set up house. But when we give our life to God, He tackles and transforms the mess for us (and evicts the tenants.) Through the mess process, God toughens us in truth via trials. We leave and launch from the mess stronger than we start. In the uncertainty and unclear, trust God to handle the mess and hold onto the sacred. Sacred secrets to soak in:
•Surrender the mess in your life, and God will save the sacred.
•Settle for the mess, and you will lose the sacred.
•Seek the sacred so you can live out the Real Truth in the mess.
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Let your heart profess
Your utmost best in the toughest test
Give God your finest
And see Him work out the rest
Trust Jesus in the process
Press pass the mess.
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©️2020 Jordan Su