Thursday, October 4, 2007

Godly Generation 8 - They will maintain Integrity & will bring Glory to their God in foreign Land

Most of the people for whom I am writing this message live in a foreign country. Hence I am excited to write this message more than any other because we can relate with this message very easily. Even if you are living in your own country then still you are foreigners in this world. It says in Philippians 3:20 that Our Citizenship is in heaven and we are waiting a savior- Jesus Christ. We all have to go from here.

I want to share few things from the life of Daniel and his friends. Since most of you know the story I don’t want to write too much details but few lessons we learn from them. Daniel and his friends where taken to Babylon as captives. At that time they were very young. They could have easily adopted the culture prevailing in Babylon at that time. Sometimes this is what we see when young people go to a foreign country. But that was not the case with Daniel and his friends. They were given new names there.

They decided that they would not defile themselves with eating anything other than what was permitted according to the law of God. They were offered but they refused to eat. They were bold enough to use the spiritual gifts they had in a foreign land. They were confident about their God. That’s the reason why Daniel was bold enough to say to the king what God reveled to them. Many times God revels things to us but we are not bold enough to say it. The reason is that either we are not sure or are not confident about God.

Another thing we see is that they were asked to bow down before an idol and they didn’t do it. The result was 3 young men were put in burning furnace. But they came out victorious out of it. Daniel was put in lions den but he came out of it unharmed. He didn’t stop his prayer or style of prayer when he could have easily done it and escaped. They maintained their integrity in every situation.

So what was the result of all this. King gave new title to the three men-Servants of Most High God. King said, “They were willing to die rather than serve or worship any other God.” Daniel’s enemies tried their best to find a fault with him. But they couldn’t find anything in regard to his conduct and in the way he was doing his job. They could only catch him in regard to his Integrity in serving God. But there also Daniel came out victorious and afterwards King issued a decree that all people must fear and reverence the God of Daniel.

So what happened with Daniel and his friends? Let me summarize it here.

  • Their Language was changed but their Loyalty didn’t change.
  • Their Names were changed but their Nature didn’t change.
  • Their Food was changed but their Faith didn’t change.
  • Their Culture & Country were changed but their Convictions didn’t change.
  • Their Societies Lifestyle changed but their Godly Lifestyle didn’t change

So what was the benefit of these young men following God? They were blessed and they got promotion in their job. They became big officials in that land. But more than all these what encourages me most is the fact that they maintained their integrity and the King issued a decree that all people must fear and reverence the God of Daniel. What a blessed thing it is to revel God’s glory through your life in a foreign land.

Remember that People who belong to a Godly Generation will maintain Integrity and will bring Glory to their God in foreign Land. They will disobey everyone who asks them to disobey their God. They will stand firm in their decisions and by faith will see things against the law of nature happening. They will not have any spiritual pride or spiritual head weight. They will not compromise but will follow their God in all circumstances. They will use spiritual Gifts and bring glory to their God.

May God Bless You!

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