Morning Devotional

August  6, 2005
"Mighty Is Our God" (Part 2)      
    by Don Emmitte

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Nebuchadnezzar was so furious with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego that his face became distorted with rage. He commanded that the furnace be heated seven times hotter than usual. Then he ordered some of the strongest men of his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego and throw them into the blazing furnace. So they tied them up and threw them into the furnace, fully clothed. And because the king, in his anger, had demanded such a hot fire in the furnace, the flames leaped out and killed the soldiers as they threw the three men in! So Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, securely tied, fell down into the roaring flames. But suddenly, as he was watching, Nebuchadnezzar jumped up in amazement and exclaimed to his advisers, "Didn't we tie up three men and throw them into the furnace?" "Yes," they said, "we did indeed, Your Majesty." "Look!" Nebuchadnezzar shouted. "I see four men, unbound, walking around in the fire. They aren't even hurt by the flames! And the fourth looks like a divine being!" (Daniel 3:19-25 NLT).

What a great story lies within the context of our reading this morning! King Nebuchadnezzar became a victim of his own pride. Chaldean men praised this king and his idols. They revealed the existence of others, who did not follow the decrees and refused to worship their king. These three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, when called in for interrogation, refused to honor any God, but the True God of Israel.

No other decision seemed possible. They were condemned to death.  They were sentenced to be burned to death in a furnace. The furnace was superheated to seven times its normal temperature. It was so hot that those who were to cast these three into the fire were consumed by the flames’ intense heat.

What happened to our three bound men of conscious and conviction? They walked with the one who was “like the Son of God.” Did the flames of the fire consume them? Surely not! Their God was there to cool those nasty fires. King Nebuchadnezzar, blest the Most High God, because of the witness of these three men, who were rescued by the mighty God of Israel. God has a way of doing that! He will cool the fires raging in your life today too!

What in your life, today, burns as intensely as this fire, stoked seven times its usual intensity? God did not extinguish these flames. Instead, He enabled these three men, to walk amid the flames, unharmed. God even joined them, in the fire, for the celebration. Ask Him, right now, to cool the flames in your life, so the consuming fire cannot touch you. God will cool the fires!