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- Hey, welcome to Crossroads.
My name is Hannah.
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- And I'm Kyle.
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And today we're
talking about Wordle.
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00:00:06
-What? I thought we
were studying Daniel.
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00:00:08
- I just said we should
talk about Wordle.
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00:00:10
And that --
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- Okay, but is -- is
actually what you just said
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is a six letter
word, by the way.
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It's not. You say a Wordle.
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00:00:16
Okay, it's fine. We're
talking about Daniel.
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Now, listen, there's
some crazy wild stuff
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happening in the book of Daniel.
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There's visions, there's
dreams, there's interpretation.
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And all of it just gets a
little bit, like I say, crazy,
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- Which is exactly right.
There's fire, there's lions.
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It's kind of nuts.
- It's nuts.
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- Which is why we thought
there's no one better
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than our very own Chuck Mingo
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to make sense of
all of it. Get it, Chuck.
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- The book of Daniel is
a story of a faithful man
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and the unmatched power of God.
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So Daniel is a book
about, well, Daniel,
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and his whole life, but
it's also about Jesus.
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Even though Daniel's
in the Old Testament,
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it's years before
Jesus would come.
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The whole book points to a man
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that Daniel would
never meet on Earth.
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The fiery furnace shows
us something about Jesus.
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The lion's den shows us
something about Jesus.
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Daniel even later
has some visions
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that talk about Jesus.
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Today, we uncover
how Jesus is presented
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in the Book of Daniel
and how it is relevant to us.
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- Oh, sorry, I'm tired. I
mean, we're all tired, right?
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Worn out, frustrated,
life feels chaotic,
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don't know what's going
to happen next. You too?
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Okay, good because
that's how I feel.
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But if you'll hang with
me in the next 15 minutes,
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I'd like to help you
find a way out of that.
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You know, I feel like
in my life right now,
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everything is in the in between,
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everything is in
the stage of not yet.
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We're not yet out of COVID.
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00:02:14
We're not yet settled
in a new normal,
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whatever that looks like
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at work or home
or in your family.
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We're not yet
resolved, some of us,
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on some family situations.
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You know, for me personally,
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I'm no longer
raising all babies,
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but I am not clear
on what it looks like
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to raise teenagers.
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And let me tell you, if
you're feeling that way,
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if you feel frustrated,
you're not alone.
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And even if you're
in the church,
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it's not any different.
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Don't believe me?
Check this out.
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This was a study
looking at Christians,
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and it says the
Christians right now
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are struggling in their
faith in the in between.
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And I feel that, I feel that
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I wake up more days
now than ever saying,
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"I don't think I have what
it takes to do this today."
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You feeling that?
You've been there?
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Why is that happening to us?
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Well, it's because
of this principle of life.
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You and I, we become
whatever we trust.
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Said another way,
whatever we rely on,
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we become like that thing.
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I mean, think about
your friend group.
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If I were to spend time
with you and your friends,
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you know what I notice?
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I'd noticed you guys have
the same mannerisms.
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I'd noticed that you
use the same phrases.
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I would notice a commonality
around your priorities
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and your preferences,
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even if you didn't
start out that way.
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And you know what?
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That's true no matter
what you rely on.
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If you adhere to a
political philosophy,
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you become like that philosophy.
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If you have a specific
style preference,
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if you have a
specific fan group,
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you will become those things.
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True confession?
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I see and feel this
pull in my own heart.
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And I think it's important
to recognize this
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because all of those
things that we rely on,
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other than Jesus,
are actively failing us.
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You know this.
That's why you're tired.
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That's why you're anxious.
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That's why you feel overwhelmed.
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And we're watching
this change happen.
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Things are unraveling
at a crazy pace right now.
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And everything is
vying for your attention.
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Hey. Me, me, me.
Over here. Me, me, me.
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I've got your answer.
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Everything is vying
for our attention.
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The only thing that's
changed is the pace.
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Now this thing of what we
relying on, what we seek
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can change in a matter
of months or weeks.
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Sometimes it can
happen overnight.
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And we bear the results
of that in our souls.
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We bear the results
of that in our spirit.
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And all of this is
just exacerbated
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by the uncertainty of our times.
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Here's what I want you to know.
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What's happening
for us right now,
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this challenge of
living in the in-between,
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thankfully, we're not alone.
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We've been looking
at the story of Daniel.
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Daniel was a
leader in the Bible.
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He's a man who lived his
entire life in the in between.
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Daniel was a guy who
saw his entire world
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turn upside down
in his lifetime.
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Think about it.
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Daniel lived in a country
where nearly a million
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of its citizens died
in a short span of time
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because they were
invaded by a foreign power.
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A power called the
Nation of Babylon.
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He saw massive political
and social upheaval.
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He saw powers
come and powers go.
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He saw everything that
he thought could be trusted
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actually fall away.
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Foreign powers
changed his country's life
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and culture literally overnight.
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And in the midst of that,
he was made in exile.
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He lost his home.
Does that feel familiar?
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Does that feel familiar to
where we are right now?
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Daniel was living
in the not yet,
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and it was never
settled in his lifetime.
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But Daniel had this gift.
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He had the gift of
prophecy, which meant
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that in the midst
of his situation,
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God gave him words and visions.
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And all of those
words and visions
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were meant to encourage
the people in Daniel's time
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to be faithful to God.
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See, that's what
prophecy is in the Bible.
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Let me just give you a
kind of prophecy 101.
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Prophecy is a message from God
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designed to help us
understand His character
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and His plan for the ultimate
redemption of the world.
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Prophecy in the Bible kind
of works like movie previews.
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I mean, think about it.
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I went to the movies this
week and saw a fun movie,
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and I love the previews
and there's always one,
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right, that grips you.
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I mean, that's what
good movie previews do.
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They captivate us.
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You're like, "Oh, part
two of that's coming out?"
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"Oh, he's playing
that character>"
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"She's going to
be in that movie?"
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It captivates us.
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And then it sustains our
excitement long enough
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until the movie comes out,
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because they drop
that date on you:
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coming summer 2022, right?
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Sometimes it's like
coming fall of 2023,
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and you're like, "Oh, I
can't wait till fall of 2023."
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And that excitement is
sustained by those previews.
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And ultimately, it
propels you to do what?
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To get your butt in the seat
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or get in front of a
screen and see the movie.
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And that's how prophecy
works in the Bible.
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Prophecy in the Bible
is meant to captivate us
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that God is in control.
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God is good. We can trust him.
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God is not removed
from the situations
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that are going on in the world.
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But it's also meant to
sustain us in the in between.
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You know, God makes
promises in scripture.
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What do we do
between the promise
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and where we are right now?
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That's what prophecy helps
us to do, to be encouraged,
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and it propels us to be
faithful and faithless times.
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Dr. Tony Evans is a
pastor, and he said this:
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If you've been reading
along in the Bible Challenge,
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you've seen that Daniel
gets pictures of crazy things.
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And we're going to look
today at one of the ones
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I think is just,
it's way out there.
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Let me just tell you.
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I'm going to read, I'm actually
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going to summarize
this prophecy for you.
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And it's going to feel
super weird and irrelevant.
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You're going to be like,
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"What? You're
talking about what?
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What does that have
to do with my life?"
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It's actually really
long and convoluted,
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so I'm not going to
read it in detail to you,
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but I want you to look it up.
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I want you to read it.
It's found in Daniel 7:1-17.
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You can even pull that up
right now and take a read
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and then come back and join me,
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or you can read it later.
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But it's a description
of these beasts
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that rise and take
power over the Earth.
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These four beasts are described
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as rising out of the ocean.
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I think about, again,
movie previews.
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I think about like
those alien movies
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where something's
rising out of the ocean.
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You're like, "What
is that?" Right?
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Moonfall is like the latest
one that's coming out.
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I saw that preview, it's like,
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"What is that rising
out of the ocean?
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Oh, there's a
being on the moon."
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I mean, it's crazy, right?
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So Daniel has this image.
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And the first beast is a
lion with eagle's wings.
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It's kind of weird,
kind of weird.
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It gets weirder.
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A second beast
rises out of the ocean
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and it's a bear with
dinner in its mouth.
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Literally, it says it has
three ribs in its mouth.
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Like this bear has just
finished having a meal
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and is looking to
devour more flesh.
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Then there's the
third beast that's
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a flying four-headed leopard
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with four wings on his back.
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Yes, the beasts get weirder
and weirder and weirder.
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And then there's this third
beast that we just say --
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the Bible just says
it's terrifying, dreadfu,
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I and exceedingly
strong with iron teeth.
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All of it weird.
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But then there are two other
players in this crazy scene.
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The Bible describes God
as the Ancient of Days.
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The words that are
used, Ancient of Days,
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are capitalized as a
proper name for God.
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It says that God's
clothing is white as snow,
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His hair is like pure wool.
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Thrones of fiery flames
is what He sits on.
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And what we see is
God kill the fourth beast
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and stripped the other
three of their power.
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And then there's
one more character.
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He's described as
one like the Son of Man.
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The translation for that is
one like a on of the gods.
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Friends, this is a
picture of Jesus.
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And what we see is the
Ancient of Days, God,
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giving this Son of Man rule over
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all of the other
kingdoms of the world,
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including all the people,
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every nation and every language.
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Now I know what you're
asking, because I ask it
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when I read this prophecy too:
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"What the Daniel
eat the night before?
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Was he on something? What
in the world does this mean?
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Do these crazy images
have any relevance
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to you and me today?"
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And here's what I want you
to know: they do. They do.
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There is truth in these
weird words and images
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that applies to your in between.
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Because this is a
prophecy of hope
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for all future generations
who find themselves
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in the in between, including us.
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- All right.
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Real quick, Kyle's
going to talk about giving.
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And actually, I'm
going to time him
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because it needs to be
real quick, like I said. Go.
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- When it comes to
giving, a lot of people think
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it's just the church
wanting your money.
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Trust me, we don't
want your money.
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No, it's more of us
wanting to help you know,
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the connection between
your money and your heart.
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Giving is simply
being obedient to God.
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If that's something
you want to try,
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something you're interested in,
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you can find out more
at crossroads.net/give.
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- Good job. You were there.
- Back to the message.
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00:10:58
- So what can we take
from this prophecy?
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Three things: first, we see here
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that there will always
be manmade authorities
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vying for or
demanding your trust.
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These beasts
represent authorities,
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they represent kingdoms,
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they represent power
structures other than God.
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And the Bible has a word
for these power structures
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and it's the word idols. Idols.
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You know, we don't think
about idol worship today.
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Most of us probably don't
have a statue at home
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that we bow down to.
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We don't have something
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that we're sacrificing
dead animals to.
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We don't do that
necessarily in our culture,
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but we still have idols.
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00:11:33
We still have things
that want to get our trust,
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that want us to be
more faithful to them
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than we are to God.
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00:11:40
And here are some things
that idols all have in common.
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Every idol exhorts
their own power.
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00:11:44
Every idol says,
"I'm the ultimate thing
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you should put your trust in."
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00:11:49
And every idol
redefines right and wrong.
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00:11:53
Every idol has a moral code,
-
00:11:55
and it's whatever
they want it to be.
-
00:11:57
Every idol denies
the authority of God
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and says, "I'm the
supreme authority."
-
00:12:02
And every idol demand
your total allegiance.
-
00:12:05
Think about brands
that market to you
-
00:12:06
want this from you,
-
00:12:08
authorities that
want to influence you
-
00:12:10
want this from you.
-
00:12:11
And it doesn't matter what side
-
00:12:12
of the political
perspective you're on.
-
00:12:14
It doesn't matter if you like
Carhart or Supreme Band,
-
00:12:16
it doesn't.
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00:12:18
Doesn't matter, every
movement, every cause,
-
00:12:20
everything wants the
same thing from you.
-
00:12:22
They want your faithfulness.
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00:12:24
And here's the
thing, these idols,
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they promise you the good life.
-
00:12:29
They promise you power.
-
00:12:30
They promise to be the
answer to your prayer.
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00:12:33
And every idol works
the first few times.
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00:12:38
I mean, I'll just
tell you, for me,
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00:12:40
these idols are in my life.
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00:12:42
I mean, I'm doing work
with an organization,
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00:12:44
Courageous Love,
the organization I lead.
-
00:12:46
I believe that the work
we do is God's work.
-
00:12:48
It's about racial solidarity,
healing and justice.
-
00:12:51
I believe it's a God
thing, a Jesus thing.
-
00:12:53
I think we might
all agree on that.
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00:12:55
You know what, though?
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00:12:56
It's real easy for me to
make this work an idol.
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00:12:58
How do I know?
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00:13:00
Man, I get real unsettled
-
00:13:02
when things don't go as planned,
-
00:13:04
especially if the reason
they didn't go as planned
-
00:13:06
is because of something
that I did wrong as a leader.
-
00:13:09
Man, I have been
in a season right now
-
00:13:12
where my leadership
is being exposed.
-
00:13:15
My leadership vulnerabilities,
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00:13:16
my leadership weaknesses,
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00:13:17
the learning curves that I
have, it's being exposed.
-
00:13:20
I'm just going
to tell you, friends,
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00:13:21
it's really uncomfortable.
-
00:13:23
And I have a lot of
mornings where I'm struggling
-
00:13:25
to step up and
do the thing again.
-
00:13:26
You know why?
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00:13:27
Because I've made
my performance an idol.
-
00:13:31
And if I keep going to
that and relying to that,
-
00:13:34
I'm going to become
like the thing I trust.
-
00:13:36
I'm going to always
be on a stage
-
00:13:39
trying to perform
my way to approval
-
00:13:41
or perform my way into peace.
-
00:13:44
See, that's how idols work.
-
00:13:47
Idols work the first time,
-
00:13:48
but they don't keep working.
-
00:13:50
Every idol starts out
promising everything
-
00:13:53
and asking nothing.
-
00:13:54
And over time it begins
to ask more and more
-
00:13:57
and give you less and less.
-
00:13:59
If you're anxious, you're
fearful, if you're angry,
-
00:14:02
you're numb, if you're
depressed, might it be --
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00:14:05
Could be chemical
realities in that,
-
00:14:06
could also be the
reality that you've made
-
00:14:09
something else an idol
in your life other than God.
-
00:14:11
It could be that you're
relying on something
-
00:14:13
that is actively failing you.
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00:14:16
And notice what
Daniel sees in his image,
-
00:14:19
every man made idol
and power structure
-
00:14:22
eventually becomes
a violent beast
-
00:14:25
that will consume you.
-
00:14:28
Right now, there are idols
vying for your faithfulness.
-
00:14:32
And if we're honest,
some of them are winning.
-
00:14:37
Some of them are winning.
-
00:14:38
So here's the second
reality we see from this vision:
-
00:14:41
you and I are always choosing
-
00:14:43
where we're placing our faith.
-
00:14:45
You know, I've heard people say,
"Well, I don't have faith, like,
-
00:14:48
I'm not a person of faith."
-
00:14:49
I think that's a misnomer.
-
00:14:51
We are all people of faith.
-
00:14:53
There is something
you're relying on,
-
00:14:54
there is something
you're trusting in for life,
-
00:14:57
for peace, for safety,
for pleasure, for security,
-
00:15:00
for power, for a
sense of control.
-
00:15:02
We all have something
we place our faith in.
-
00:15:05
And you know how
you know what it is?
-
00:15:08
You know based on where
you turn when trouble comes.
-
00:15:11
I mean, isn't that
the story of the day
-
00:15:13
that we're in, right?
-
00:15:14
There's a lot of trouble,
a lot of uncertainty.
-
00:15:16
There's a lot of difficulty
we're walking through
-
00:15:18
as a society, as a
people in the world.
-
00:15:22
And so I want you
to think about this:
-
00:15:24
What has your gaze
during difficult times?
-
00:15:29
What has your gaze right now
-
00:15:31
as you're going
through the in between?
-
00:15:33
Is it the news pundits?
Do they have your gaze?
-
00:15:37
Is it some source of escape?
-
00:15:38
Some place you're
going to get pleasure
-
00:15:40
because you just want
to numb out from reality?
-
00:15:42
Does that have your gaze?
-
00:15:44
Is it self-protection
or self-promotion?
-
00:15:46
Is it performance
like I struggle with?
-
00:15:48
Is that what has your gaze?
-
00:15:51
Or is it God?
-
00:15:53
2 Corinthians in
the New Testament,
-
00:15:55
Paul's writing,
and he says this:
-
00:16:05
He's saying we
become what we trust in,
-
00:16:08
and if we will behold God,
-
00:16:10
if we will let Jesus be
the source of our gaze,
-
00:16:13
we will become like Him.
-
00:16:16
Jesus was a non-hurried,
chill guy all the time.
-
00:16:22
In the midst of the
hardest moments,
-
00:16:25
Jesus was a man of peace.
-
00:16:27
Jesus was a man full of love
-
00:16:30
who didn't have enemies
that he couldn't engage with,
-
00:16:33
but actually extended
love to people.
-
00:16:36
Man, what would it look like
-
00:16:37
to be a person of
peace that way?
-
00:16:39
What would it look
like to be loving,
-
00:16:41
to be, as some have called it,
-
00:16:43
a non anxious
presence in our world?
-
00:16:47
When you gaze on Jesus,
that's what you become.
-
00:16:49
The question is,
what has your gaze?
-
00:16:52
See if you want to be faithful,
if you want to be faithful,
-
00:16:55
then you've got
to make a choice.
-
00:16:57
Third, insight is this:
Choose to trust in Jesus.
-
00:17:00
If you want to be faithful,
if you want to be fruitful,
-
00:17:02
if you want to stand firm,
choose to trust in Jesus.
-
00:17:07
See, Daniel's vision
included another king
-
00:17:09
in another kingdom.
Did you notice that?
-
00:17:11
Yeah, there was this crazy line?
-
00:17:12
Yeah, there was
this wild, hungry bear.
-
00:17:14
And yes, there was
this four-headed leopard
-
00:17:16
and this thing with iron teeth.
-
00:17:17
But there was also
what Daniel described
-
00:17:19
as one like the Son of Man,
one like a son of the gods.
-
00:17:23
That's an image of
Jesus that he's seeing.
-
00:17:26
And what I love
is Daniel describes
-
00:17:28
this king in this kingdom
this way, he says:
-
00:17:43
See, we all struggle
in the in between.
-
00:17:45
But what I want you to know is
-
00:17:47
Jesus is the King
with a Kingdom.
-
00:17:49
While His Kingdom will
reach its fulfillment someday,
-
00:17:53
don't miss this, His kingdom
is advancing right now.
-
00:17:57
While someday He
will change all that is evil
-
00:17:59
and turn into good.
-
00:18:01
Right now, he's changing
individual hearts day by day.
-
00:18:04
I don't always have
a life verse for a year,
-
00:18:07
but I do this year and it's
Galatians 6:9, which says:
-
00:18:17
You know what this is saying?
-
00:18:19
If we will be faithful,
God will be fruitful.
-
00:18:24
See, I know there's a
real temptation, I feel it,
-
00:18:26
to grow weary, to
grow faint hearted.
-
00:18:29
Again, mire uncertainty,
more difficulty,
-
00:18:33
more challenge, we can
grow weary of the in between,
-
00:18:37
but you and I can
choose differently.
-
00:18:41
We can choose
faithfulness in the in between.
-
00:18:44
We see Daniel choosing this
early in the book of Daniel.
-
00:18:46
Daniel makes a choice.
-
00:18:48
In Daniel 1:8 it says,
-
00:18:52
For Daniel, that was the choice
-
00:18:54
he was making to be faithful.
-
00:18:55
What is the choice you
need to make to be faithful?
-
00:18:57
What does it look
like for you and I
-
00:19:00
to trust Jesus in
our in between?
-
00:19:02
It might look like
stopping every day,
-
00:19:05
maybe multiple times
a day, to gaze on Jesus.
-
00:19:09
See, Jesus doesn't
want your duty.
-
00:19:12
He doesn't just want
your church attendance.
-
00:19:14
He doesn't just want
your dutiful Bible reading.
-
00:19:16
Jesus want your devotion.
-
00:19:17
He wants your gaze.
He wants your heart.
-
00:19:19
Are you slowing down and
allowing Him to have your gaze?
-
00:19:24
You will become like
Him as you behold him.
-
00:19:28
Maybe it looks like
choosing to not let
-
00:19:31
the first in the last
word of your day
-
00:19:33
be these other idols,
these other messages,
-
00:19:36
the news pundits,
whatever it is.
-
00:19:38
But maybe you want
to start in your day,
-
00:19:39
even if for 30 seconds
with God's truth.
-
00:19:43
What would it look
like for the first thing
-
00:19:45
you reach for in the
morning and the last thing
-
00:19:47
that you put down at
night to be God's truth
-
00:19:51
through Bible,
through a devotional?
-
00:19:54
But just not be your phone,
not be your social media?
-
00:19:57
And friends, trusting
in Jesus in this moment
-
00:20:00
looks like sometimes
stepping away from the fray.
-
00:20:05
I want to encourage you
that the practice of Sabbath,
-
00:20:08
slowing down one day in seven,
-
00:20:10
the practice of taking
time away to enjoy beauty,
-
00:20:13
to have fun, to
do things you love
-
00:20:15
could be the most
faithful thing you're doing
-
00:20:18
in your in between.
-
00:20:21
Because we become
like what we trust.
-
00:20:23
But as we trust in Jesus,
we become like Jesus:
-
00:20:28
non anxious presence,
people of peace,
-
00:20:30
people of love,
people of faithfulness.
-
00:20:35
If you are faithful,
God will be fruitful
-
00:20:39
and your life will be free.
-
00:20:43
So I want to pray for you.
-
00:20:44
I want to pray for you.
-
00:20:45
I want to pray a blessing
of faithfulness over you.
-
00:20:47
You know, one of the
ways that you can be faithful
-
00:20:50
is joining us for
the Bible Challenge.
-
00:20:52
We do this Bible
Challenge as a community
-
00:20:54
where every week we're
in the Bible together,
-
00:20:55
we're reading on the Crossroads
App the same scriptures.
-
00:20:58
We're journaling on it.
-
00:20:59
We're being encouraged
by what other people
-
00:21:01
are seeing in the scriptures.
-
00:21:02
It's a way to
practice faithfulness.
-
00:21:04
We would love for
you to be with us
-
00:21:05
on this journey,
on this challenge.
-
00:21:07
And God will meet
you in His Word.
-
00:21:10
Let me pray for you
for your faithfulness
-
00:21:12
in your in between.
-
00:21:13
Jesus, thank you for Daniel.
-
00:21:16
Thank you for his
example, his model
-
00:21:18
of what it looks like
to be faithful to You.
-
00:21:20
Thank you that in Daniel
we see that it is possible
-
00:21:23
for us not to gaze at
the idols and the beasts
-
00:21:27
that demand our
attention and our loyalty,
-
00:21:30
and instead, we can
fix our gaze on You.
-
00:21:34
Because the principle is true
that we become what we behold,
-
00:21:36
I pray that everybody listening,
-
00:21:37
everybody who's engaging
in this prayer right now
-
00:21:40
would behold You and see
how much You love them,
-
00:21:43
they would see Your
presence in their life,
-
00:21:47
they would trust in Your power,
-
00:21:49
they would trust in Your wisdom,
-
00:21:51
and they would know
that they are never alone
-
00:21:53
and that where it feels
like they are stumbling,
-
00:21:55
it is in those
moments of their life
-
00:21:57
that You're carrying
them through.
-
00:22:00
I pray that in Jesus' name,
Amen.
-
00:22:03
- The Bible Challenge
that Chuck mentioned,
-
00:22:05
you can be part of.
-
00:22:06
It's something we're
doing as a community.
-
00:22:08
It's super easy.
You need a couple of things.
-
00:22:09
First, the Crossroads App.
-
00:22:11
When you download
the app, you can read
-
00:22:13
the same section of
scripture that the rest of us
-
00:22:15
are reading, write a
journal about it, reflect on it.
-
00:22:17
- And see what we're writing.
- Share it if you want to.
-
00:22:19
This even helps you
keep track of your streaks.
-
00:22:21
Look, I've got a three
day streak going right now.
-
00:22:23
- Good for you.
I actually fell off yesterday.
-
00:22:25
Hey, and if you're
like me, if you fell off,
-
00:22:27
I want you to know you
could just get back on.
-
00:22:30
There's no like
all in or all out.
-
00:22:32
We want you to be a part
of this Bible Challenge.
-
00:22:34
And if you want to know more,
-
00:22:35
you can go to
Crossroads.net/BibleChallenge
-
00:22:38
because when you go
there, you're going to find
-
00:22:40
that you can get one of
these neat little guidebooks
-
00:22:42
that just give you
a little bit more context
-
00:22:44
to what we're studying,
kind of why we're studying.
-
00:22:46
It really helped me
-
00:22:47
when I was reading
some of that dense stuff.
-
00:22:49
- Same, there's stuff
in there I didn't know.
-
00:22:51
- Stuff Chuck's
talking about, I'm like,
-
00:22:52
"Man, I needed some
of this," so you can do it.
-
00:22:55
- That's it. we'll see you
next week on Crossroads.