November 25, 2007

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 Scripture KJV

Reverend David S. Huffer

Westwood Baptist Church - 2124 Davis Road
 Waynesboro, VA

Daniel
12:9    And he said, Go thy way, Daniel: for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end.
12:13    But go thou thy way till the end be: for thou shalt rest, and stand in thy lot at the end of the days.

 

Lessons In The Lion’s Den: Paradigm Lost or Regained?

Daniel 12:9 & 13

 

The poem “Paradise Lost” by John Milton tells of man’s temptation and sin, leading to the fall of man and expulsion from Paradise.

  • Later he wrote “Paradise Regained” telling of Christ’s resisting temptation to accomplish man’s redemption.

 

If the Lessons from the Lion’s Den will not shift our paradigm we have nothing more than “Paradigm Lost.”

  • And through the Book of Daniel we have tried to accomplish “Paradigm Regained.”

 

PARADIGM = an example that serves as a model or pattern.

  • It is the way we “see” the world in terms of perceiving, understanding, and interpreting.

 

PARADIGM SHIFT = to discover a new model or pattern that helps us to see from a new understanding

  • Thus shifting from the old to the new

 

Steven Covey, in “7 Habits For Highly Effective People” said: “Our paradigms correct or incorrect are the sources of our attitudes and behaviors, and ultimately our relationships with others.”

 

FRIENDS – If the lessons – Scriptures - from Daniel have not caused us to change the way we see and live, then we have not expressed a “Biblical Paradigm Shift.”

  • WE are still living off of our own notions and ideas

 

LESSONS REVIEWED

Scripture repeatedly remind us to remember!

  • Let’s look back on the “Lessons From The Lion’s Den: To Be eaten Or Not To Be Eaten>’

 

1. INTERRRUPTIONS TO OPPORTUNITIES

  • Accept – Don’t Pout
  • God intends for Good
  • Don’t blame others

2. SEWERE RATS AND OTHER WORLDLY HABITS TO CONTEND WITH

  • Change Loyalty
  • Change thinking
  • Change Lifestyle

3. THE GLUE THAT HOLDS LIFE TOGETHER

  • God is with us
  • God is Sovereign
  • God is Wisdom

FRIENDS – Prayer is the glue that holds life together.

  • Daniel prayed asking, in humility, availability, and obedience.
  • Through prayer Daniel became aware of his God

4. UP TO YOUR HEAD IN FLAMES & LIONS

  • Faith Trusts God – even when it is not convenient
  • Faith believes God – even when the unbelievable is happening
  • Faith hopes in god – even when life seems hopeless

5. TREE OF SUCCESS

  • God is the source of all prosperity
  • Understand the dangers
  • Use prosperity wisely

FRIENDS – The Bottom Line: We are Stewards, not Owners!”

6. REPAINT OR REPENT

  • Look to God
  • Sorrow vs., Sorry
  • Confession of Sin
  • Dependence upon God

 

HEARING & DOING

In each of these Lion’s Den Lessons have we experienced a Paradigm Shift” in allowing God’s Word to become our model and not just the traditions of man?

  • Are we perceiving God’s Word with understanding and thus interpreting it into our lives

Luke 11:28 – “But He said: More than that, blessed are those who hear the Word of God and keep it!”

FRIENDS – An open Bible is not a prop. It’s a practical, essential guide for living the Christian life.

  • It is not enough to merely hear the Word of God.
  • To KEEP IT is to Do It!

IF WE DO NOT DO IT

James 1:22-23 says: “But be doers of the Word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer only and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror.”

FRIENDS – Deception rules when we only hear God’s Word, rather than acting upon it.

  • Forgetfulness rules our minds rather than God’s Word.

IF WE DO IT

James 1:25 – “But he who looks into the perfect law of Liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does.”

FRIENDS – Did you hear what God has to say?

  • God blesses obedience!

Deuteronomy 12:28 – Observe and Obey all these words which I command you, that it may go well with you and your children after you forever, when you do what is good and right in the sight of the LORD your God.”

CLOSE

The Paradigm Shift we all need is to begin to do what is right and good in the sight of the Lord!

Jim Elliot, in a paraphrase of 1 John 2:3-6, writes these words:

“it is only when we obey God’s laws that we can be quite sure that we really know Him. The man who claims to know God but does not obey His laws is not only a liar, he lives in self-delusion. In practice, the more a man learns to obey God’s Laws, the more truly and fully He expresses His love for Him. Obedience is the test of whether we really live “in God” or not. The life of a man who professes to be living in God must bear the stamp of Christ.”

FRIENDS – If we fail to do what we have heard – it is “Paradigm Lost” and the Lions are ready to eat us.

  • If we do what we have heard God’s Word say to do it is “Paradigm Regained.”

LESSONS FROM THE LION’S DEN: TO BE OR NOT TO BE EATEN!

PRAYER: Lord, You have shown us in Your Word how to out think the Lions.

  • You have taught us how to out do the lions.
It is not uncommon to find ourselves in the Lion’s Den, so give us Your Paradigm Shift to live through it. In Jesus Name  - AMEN!

 

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