Fire On The Mountain...

So what if you’re in a fire right now? A fire that has been heated seven times hotter than what others seem to be going through. Like the three Hebrew boys…

“Nebuchadnezzar, his face purple with anger, cut off Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. He ordered the furnace fired up seven times hotter than usual. He ordered some strong men from the army to tie them up, hands and feet, and throw them into the roaring furnace. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, bound hand and foot, fully dressed from head to toe, were pitched into the roaring fire. Because the king was in such a hurry and the furnace was so hot, flames from the furnace killed the men who carried Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego to it, while the fire raged around Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.

Suddenly King Nebuchadnezzar jumped up in alarm and said, “Didn’t we throw three men, bound hand and foot, into the fire?”

“That’s right, O king,” they said.

“But look!” he said. “I see four men, walking around freely in the fire, completely unharmed! And the fourth man looks like a son of the gods!”

Nebuchadnezzar went to the door of the roaring furnace and called in, “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, servants of the High God, come out here!”

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego walked out of the fire.

All the important people, the government leaders and king’s counselors, gathered around to examine them and discovered that the fire hadn’t so much as touched the three men—not a hair singed, not a scorch mark on their clothes, not even the smell of fire on them!” Daniel 3:19-27

Maybe this year has felt like you’ve been bond and thrown into a roaring furnace from January to December. But look, it’s the end of the year and you’re standing in victory right in the midst of it. You’re praising God right in the midst of the fire. The only thing that burned off the three Hebrew boys was the shackle. They only things the fire has been able to burn off you are every bondage and shackles.

It’s burned off self. It’s burned off the weight and the flaws, but it hasn’t touched you.

Rest in the midst of the heat. There’s a fourth man in the fire with you, the world and those who’ve wished you evil can testify to that.

Keep praising, that’s your rest, your praise and your trust.

Those outside see the hand of God upon you. And you’re coming out with not a smell of smoke, not looking like what you’ve been through… but better, because self has died, character has formed in the midst of the trial. It’s only Jesus.

Then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego to even higher positions in the province of Babylon. Daniel 3:30

Be expectant for the new. What was meant to kill you, to burn your will, to melt your faith, raze your trust and consume you has only brought promotion your way. Be expectant for promotions to come, for higher, for better. Don’t let what you’ve been through this year lower your expectations or determine your joy. Shedrach, Meshach and Abednego came out of the fire that was meant to destroy them and got promotions. The plot to destroy them made a way for their promotion.

God’s got you, and that’s why He’s promised that When you pass through the waters, I will be with you, and through the rivers, they will not overwhelm you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned or scorched, nor will the flame kindle upon you. Isaiah 43:2