Starting Points

New Hope Farrington
Pastor Wayne Cordeiro
09.26.09

He began the message with, "Did you notice how the bible is full of opposites?"

To receive, you must give.
To win, you must surrender.
When you are weak, He is s t r o n g .

He explained how he was was coming down with a sickness, but he wanted to keep on going and try to be strong through it... telling God, don't worry I'm going to get through it, and do everything that still must be done. It was revealed to him why God didn't seem strong in his life. If we want God to be strong in our lives, then we must understand that sometimes we are weak. We don't notice His strength when we think we are strong enough on our own.

He then began to talk about his grand-daughter and how he asked her to put her toys away over and over. She continued to play with her toys as if she hadn't heard him. Finally he told her that if she put away her toys, she would get ice cream! She suddenly jumped up at the sound of ice cream and said that she'd put her toys away. He then said to her, "Aha! I lied! You don't get ice cream because now I know that you can hear me!"

p o i n t : The reason I don't hear, is because I don't want to obey. WHY did God c h o o s e Abraham to be the founding father of our faith? Abraham fashioned his behavior to fit HIS voice. Many times, we fashion His voice to fit our behavior.

GENESIS 22:3
"So Abraham rose early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son; and he split wood for the burnt offering, and arose and went to the place of which God had told him."

p o i n t : Abraham rose e a r l y to obey the voice of God. He did not wait.

LEARNING HOW TO HEAR GOD EARLY DETERMINES

THE ABILITY TO SEE THE DIRECTION OF GOD.

"Faith is living in advance what you'll only understand one day in reverse."

PSALM 119:18
"Open my eyes, that I may behold wonderful things from Thy law."

INCREASES YOUR CAPACITY FOR TRUTH.

PROVERBS 21:28
"A false witness will perish, but the man who listens to the truth will speak forever."

PSALM 15:1-2
"Oh Lord, who may abide in your tent? Who may abide on Your holy hill? He who walks with intergrity, and works righteousness, and speaks truth in his heart."

p o i n t : STOP postponing truth. If you don't recognize it early on, you don't see it. It doesn't matter if you're religious or a Christian... if you don't see truth early on, you don't see it at all.

Pastor Wayne explained how him and his wife always flip the bed mattress every once in awhile to balance the springs. One day the mattress rubbed against the ceiling and all the popcorn coating fell from that one spot. He kept on saying that it looked really ugly, and soon he would fix it. He kept postponing the job one day at a time, then it became weeks, then months. Finally he stop noticing the bald spot on the ceiling. When they sold their home is when he noticed it again, and knew he should have fixed it early on instead of wait until the truth had gone unnoticed.

IT DETERMINES THE STRENGTH OF YOUR MIND.

COLOSSIANS 3:2 & 1 CORINTHIANS 2:16
"Set your mind on things above and not on the things that are on earth."

HEBREWS 11:15
"And indeed if they had been thinking of that country from which they went out, they would have had opportunity to return."

JEREMIAH 2:18
"But now what are you doing on the road to Egypt? To drink the waters of the Nile?"

p o i n t : The enemy can make you imagine sin as acceptable. Like in Genesis chapter 3, where Eve is tempted by the apple because the serpent tells her she can be like God and be in control of what is right and wrong. The enemy knows how much we are worth to God. If we start considering things, there will be a price, and the enemy will match it.

THE SHELF LIFE OF YOUR INFLUENCE.

JOHN 15:16
"You have not chosen Me but I have chosen you, and appointed you, that you should bear fruit and that your fruit should remain."

GENESIS 22:6
"And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son, and he took in his hand the fire and the knife. So the two of them walked together."

r e c a p : God speaks to Abraham and tells him that he must sacrifice his son Isaac. Abraham obediently listens and begins to prepare the altar. When he is about to kill Isaac, God stops him and Abraham's heart is suddenly changed. God sees that Abraham was going to give up his son, to let go of what he cherished most in his life... what he was most attached to, to listen to the voice of God.

p o i n t : God didn't want Abraham's son Isaac, He wanted Abraham's heart. Sometimes we are attached to things in this life more than we are to God. God wants us to stop and give everything up to him, our possessions and everything we have. To be able to let it go when He asks for it.

This point speaks to me a lot because I know the sacrifices I've had to make in my life, many times not wanting to risk everything I love and had. I realized that he prepared me for the big things, when I gave up the simplest pleasures like eating meat, or getting rid of all my magazines that I collected, or when I threw away a journal that I kept in high school worth sentimental value. When the big sacrifices needed to be made, I already knew that God would bless me. If He blessed me in the little things, then He would surely bless me in the greater things that I would give up to Him. My God always gives more back, than what I give up. I've gained a thousand friends, when I lost the only friend I ever wanted to keep.

Shalom !
Love, jenavie.

DANIEL 1

i LOVE Daniel.
+ note the ages of these rulers... very young +

DANIEL 1:1
"In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it."

SETTING 605 BC at the height of Babylon's fame and fortune

BABYLON (picture source)
Baghdad. Her name was once Babylon. She is the city that is parallel to that of our western culture today; Hollywood or Las Vegas. A city full of idols and religion. People worshipping each other, or other God's like Scientology! Mansions and cars, expensive educations, entertainment, the famous, and most successful. Babylons' fortress was filled with palaces, treasures, statues, temples, shrines, and the famous Tower of Babel. It was full of the most elite, rich, and intellectual. Babylon is a kingdom of magicians, enchanters, myths, legends, astrologers. The are people who want to compete with God, rather than to serve God. They say to themselves, "I am, and there is none besides me (Isaiah 47:8 & 10)"




I wrote down a few notes that one of my pastors (Chris Brown of Northcoast in Vista,CA) mentioned a few years ago in a sermon he did on Daniel. He compared the Babylon empire to God:

This is everything I've obtained vs. Every good and perfect gift comes from above
Concerned about me vs. Consider others better than yourself
Love those who love you vs. That's not love, even pagans do that
Do whatever you want vs. Deny yourself and follow me
Get as much and as fast as you can vs. Give all that you can
Store up treasures for yourself vs. Store up treasures in Heaven.

MAIN CHARACTERS

Jehoiakim - Known as Eliakim, then changed his name when he became King of Judah for eleven years (609 BC - 598 BC) at the age of 25! Preceded by his younger brother Jehoahaz. He originally ruled the Egyptians until 605 BC when they were defeated by the Babylonians. Jehoiakim changed allegiance and paid tribute to Nebuchadnezzar II in Babylon then ceased after 3 years and went back to the Egyptians which resulted in the seige and fall of Jerusalem of 597 BC. He died in his mid-thirties. (source)

Nebuchadnezzar II - King of Babylon. Known as the greatest ruler of the Neo-Babylonian period. He captured Jerusalem in 597 BC, destroyed the city and temple, and deported many of the prominent and noble Israelites from Judah into Babylon. He was known for his prophetic dreams, which Daniel interpreted. In Daniel chapter 2, he has a prophetic dream of the rise and fall of world powers that began with the his reign up to the coming of the Messiah. (source & NIV)

Daniel - Young Jewish boy of Judah held captive by the Babylonians. Full of integrity and never compromised his faith for pagan kings. Daniel was the only one who could interpret King Nebuchadnezzar's dreams, through visions that God gave to him. He rose to the top quickly as prime minister, and many Babylonians resented his success. (source: NIV Student Bible)

DANIEL 1:2
"And the Lord delivered Johoiakim king of Judah into his hand, along with some of the articles from the temple of God. These he carried off to the temple of his god in Babylonia and put in the treasure house of his god."

King Nebuchadnezzar desecrates all of the sacred articles from the house of God by displaying it all in a pagan temple. That is like taking the cross of Jesus Christ and placing it in a Mormon temple.

Isaiah prophesied this day, "The time will surely come when everything in your palace , and all that your fathers have stored up until this day, will be carried off to Babylon. Nothing will be left, says the Lord. And some of your descendants, your own flesh and blood who will be born to you, will be taken away, and they will become eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon."

DANIEL 1:3
"Then the king ordered Ashpenaz, chief of his court officials, to bring in some of the Israelites from the royal family and the nobility -- "

RIGHT: Map of the Empire of Babylon. (source) Observe the locations of Jerusalem and Babylon (light blue arrow), the two cities are about 900 miles. This is how far Daniel and his friends went... possibly by feet or on camel back. (Thank God for cars now days) They were kidnapped by the Babylonian army and held captive in Babylon. Where they would learn the language and literature of the Babylonians.

I could not imagine being kidnapped in my own home and being taken away from my family and friends. When I was fifteen, I was a sophomore in high school, loving life on a small island and hoping to never move away. These are the days of teenage hood consisting of peer pressure, temptation, sin, rebellion, self-consciousness, admiration, lust, desire, and belonging. We are healthy and smart with great potential and success. We are on the verge of learning, and everything that we are taught is the foundation of our knowledge. I remember learning about Evolution, and wasn't sure how anyone could ever believe the Big Bang Theory. Now I imagine Daniel in Babylon being taught myths and sorcery, astronomy, and the divinity of Babylonian gods. He must have thought it was all bogus! I immediately close the doors to Jehovah Witnesses and Mormons talking about their religion at my doorstep because I know what I believe in and can't stand their persuasions and evidence that they have on their religion. (no offense, they probably feel the same towards Christians) I would be so afraid to be anywhere near pagan rituals and anything to do with idols and other gods. Imagine being a Christian and being held captive in a foreign country, being taught the Koran and having to become Muslim. That is probably exactly how Daniel felt, in misery and devastation.

Maybe when he reached the city of Babylon, he was intrigued? There must have been some sort of "wow" to all the riches that illuminated that city. Like coming from Hawaii and going to Las Vegas. Or growing up in the country and then going to Paris. Culture shock.

What kind of person is Daniel? King Nebuchadnezzar orders for men that fit this description:

"Israelites from the royal family and the nobility - young men without physical defect, showing aptitude for every kind of learning, well informed, quick to understand, and qualified to serve in the king's palace." DANIEL 1:4

without physical defect = no disability / handsome = physically attractive / showing aptitude of every kind of learning = intelligent and capable in every subject / well informed = incredibly knowledgeable / quick to understand = that's self-explanatory / qualified to serve in the king's palace = perhaps fit like a soldier. //

DANIEL 1:5
"The king assigned them a daily amount of food and wine from the king's table. They were to be trained for three years, and after that they were to enter the king's services."

Daniel is 'assigned' a daily amount of food and wine... probably because they took one look at him and thought that he needed more meat on his body! Like when football players have to put on meat and muscle so they can meet weight regulations. But they were given food and wine from the king's table! This was food for the royalty... food of great quality and richness. No spam or hot dogs!

DANIEL 1:6-7
"Among these were some from Judah: Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and azariah. The chief official gave them new names: to Daniel, the name Belteshazzar; to Hananiah, Shadrach; to Mischael, Meshach; and to Azariah, Abednego."

Their names are changed when they arrive in Babylon. 'Assigning new names was a common court practice in the ancient world. Its blatant intention was to change the entire identity of the bearer until the life matched the title. The new name marked new ownership and was meant to hail a new destiny. God originated the concept. We see the practice of renaming in Scripture as early as Genesis when He changed Abram's name to Abraham.' (moore)

I named my daughter Evangeline because of its meaning. Its true that when I named her, I prayed that when she became a woman, her name would be who she was. Her name means 'Bearer of good news' and also 'like an angel.' Her middle name is Rocky, after her fathers stage name; who he was known as. I hope that one day Evangeline will be that bearer of good news, spreading the gospel to the lost, and continuing in the ministry that her father walked. Having a name is having an identity. Who we belong to. Just as our last names are and is changed once we're married. Jesus Christ had the name above all names! It is a name that all will bow down to, a name that we call in times of trouble, that we praise, and worship. It is a holy name. Even as we call ourselves followers of Christ... we are CHRISTians! It means so much more than what kind of music + life + church we go to. The meaning behind the names of Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah are pretty intense. Their Hebrew names have a reference to God, and their Babylonian names contained a reference to the false gods of Babylonia.

Daniel "God is Judge" > Belteshazzar "May Bel (a God of Babylonia) protect his life"
Hananiah "Yaweh is gracious" > Shadrach "Under command of Aku the moon God"
Mishael "Who is like God" > Meshach "Who is like Aku"
Azariah "Whom God will help" > Abednego "Servant of Nebo"

Daniel must have been furious at his new idolatrous name. I wouldn't want to be named Abednego, servant of a god I don't want to serve. I wonder if Daniel and his friends still called each other by their hebrew names when they were in Babylon.

DANIEL 1:8
"Daniel resolved not to defile himself with the roayl food and wine, and he asked the chief official for permission not to defile himself this way."

... to be continued

Evidence of Salvation

"Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves."

As I turned to this weeks devotional the scripture had everything to do with what has been on my mind lately, "What is faith?" Whenever people ask me this, I recite Hebrews 11:1 in my head, "Faith is the substance of all things hoped for, the evidence that cannot be seen." Its one of my favorite scriptures, because faith cannot be seen and yet it is the substance of what also cannot be seen! Its beyond our minds, and in order to understand that, you must have faith. I just had this revelation that all of our emotions, feelings, passions, desires, and character can be proven through our actions, expressions, and what we do. That same applies to our faith... proven by the evidence of our s a l v a t i o n. & our salvation is Christ within us ! If Christ is in us, then we display the characteristics of Him! p o w e r.

"If anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ." - Romans 8:9

Beth Moore lists a few remarkable ways that Christ's presence within us creates obvious realities completely foreign to us:

Conviction of sin. Without Christ, we lack a supernatural sorrow over sin. We may feel guilty, but human guilt differs from the conviction experienced by the redeemed. Guilt centers on ourselves and others. Conviction is the realization that our sin personally offends God. When convicted, our wrongdoing is a God issue rather than merely a people issue. Remember, Christ's Spirit is "holy," so He reacts to anything unholy. The Spirit is the One causing us to squirm. In our humanity, we are not innately "good" enough to squirm over sin.

A war with our old natures. The Holy Spirit's task is to make us more like Christ. He takes up residence with a primary job: conformation. We may resist change-- But when we do, we will sense the war within. In our natural selves we are not compelled to change, but our inner selves have compulsions to change.

A Strange sense of peace. Even when we don't necessarily like God's choices for us, we experience a supernatural sense of inner peace when we submit and trust.

An alien ability to respond like Christ. When yielded to God's control, at times we will respond with feelings, words, or actions totally distinct from our own natures. We may sometimes thing, That couldn't have been me. If we do not possess the Spirit of Christ, no matter how hard we attempt to "yield" to God's control, we will not experience that alien ability in our feelings and responses. We will be capable of "good works" but not "God works." Only a believer perceives the difference.

I took a spiritual gifts evaluation a few days ago, curious to see what it would say. I wasn't sure what my spiritual gifts were, nor was I aware of the many spiritual gifts there actually are. My highest results which I scored a 12 out of 12 on, was the gift of "faith":

FAITH

Literal Meaning: To trust, have confidence, believe.

Description: The gift of Faith is the divine enablement to act on God's promises with confidence and unwavering belief in God's ability to fulfill His purposes.

Distinctives:

• Believe the promises of God and inspire others to do the same.
• Act in complete confidence of God's ability to overcome obstacles.
• Demonstrate an attitude of trust in God's will and His promises.
• Advance the cause of Christ because they go forward when others will not.
• Ask God for what is needed and trust Him for His provision.

Traits:

• Prayerful
• Optimistic
• Trusting
• Assured
• Positive
• Inspiring
• Hopeful

Cautions:

• Need to act on their faith.
• Should remember that those who speak with reason and desire to plan do not necessarily lack faith.
• Should listen to and consider the counsel of wise and Spirit-filled believers.

References:

1 Corinthians 12:19, 13:2; Hebrews 11:1; Romans 4:18-21

When I read over the distinctives of having Faith... I realize how much God has built me up to be able to say humbly, yet in boldness and confidence, that I have Faith. I have a hard time grasping those who have no faith at all. I hurt for them and wonder how they could ever live a day without faith and the breath of l i f e. I wonder how they deal with little hills and slopes, and what would happen when the mountains stood in their way. Without Christ's dwelling, His peace and joy is not present in the individual :( This makes me quite sorrowful and I would like to conclude that salvation is the evidence of your faith... and for those who have not, and want, it is just as far as a little prayer.

I wrote a song when I was first saved, to remember this little prayer...

"Dear God, I am a sinner
and I need forgiveness
I believe that Jesus Christ
shed His precious blood
and died for my sins
I now invite Him
into my heart
to live as my personal Savior
In your precious name, amen"