Keeping the Streak Alive
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· 26 viewsSpiritual disciplines offered rest to Daniel and his friends during stressful situations. Their examples remind us that our worth and dependence is in God, who is trustworthy. Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young; every day holds an opportunity to walk out your faith through disciplines and worship.
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Intro
Intro
This one-week series examines what the story of
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Daniel says about the importance of spiritual disciples and worship.
Will we create “streaks” in our own pursuit of discipleship and sanctification?
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1. Time is a gift from God—how should we use it?
The time and season that youth are in is unique and amazing.
Blessings of this time include less responsibilities (most likely, youth don’t have to support themselves and others financially) and being encouraged to learn, to explore sports and the arts, to create, to serve their community.
Youth in this stage of life can serve God with abandon!
2. Studies show, however, that
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teenagers are now reporting stress levels as high as adults …
and are not coping well (stress eating and insomnia, as opposed to rest and exercise).
There is pressure to perform academically.
There is sexual pressure.
There is pressure to appear perfect
3. Sometimes it feels overwhelming.
Some youth even become suicidal.
To be clear, suicidal thoughts and attempts (and mental illness in general)
are not challenges solved only through spiritual solutions.
Just like the person fighting cancer, or the child with broken bones, people with suicidal thoughts need medical intervention and professional licensed counselors as well as fervent prayer.
The less we stigmatize mental illness, the more people we can potentially save.
This link provides warning signs and interventions for suicidal people: https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org/how-we-can-all-prevent-suicide/.
4. In the best of circumstances, we can still feel overwhelmed by the responsibilities and relationships of life.
This may sound like a contradiction, but
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spiritual disciplines offer you rest.
A quiet, meditative space to commune with the God who adores you.
A space where you don’t have to compete and strive, but instead, take up the offer of Jesus:
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“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light” ().
5. A person’s young age is not a spiritual liability.
Youth have equal and unfettered access to God right now. is true for you:
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“Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity.”
The apostle Paul gave this advice to Timothy, in whom he recognized a God-given gift for leadership of a local fellowship in a major metropolitan city.
His age did not impede his ability to be spiritually mature and a great example of godliness.
6. Spiritual disciplines helped four young Jewish boys—Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah—to stand up to the empire that crushed their native land.
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Daniels 1:8-16
8 But Daniel resolved that he would not defile himself with the king’s food, or with the wine that he drank. Therefore he asked the chief of the eunuchs to allow him not to defile himself. 9 And God gave Daniel favor and compassion in the sight of the chief of the eunuchs, 10 and the chief of the eunuchs said to Daniel, “I fear my lord the king, who assigned your food and your drink; for why should he see that you were in worse condition than the youths who are of your own age? So you would endanger my head with the king.” 11 Then Daniel said to the steward whom the chief of the eunuchs had assigned over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, 12 “Test your servants for ten days; let us be given vegetables to eat and water to drink. 13 Then let our appearance and the appearance of the youths who eat the king’s food be observed by you, and deal with your servants according to what you see.” 14 So he listened to them in this matter, and tested them for ten days. 15 At the end of ten days it was seen that they were better in appearance and fatter in flesh than all the youths who ate the king’s food. 16 So the steward took away their food and the wine they were to drink, and gave them vegetables.
They are a great example of trusting God before others “in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity.”
They are a great example of trusting God before others “in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity.”
They fasted from the king’s food (), opting for vegetables and water.
In the same way that Paul advised Christians in Corinth not to eat meat sacrificed to idols ()—not because of the meat itself, but in order to reflect a clear testimony that they worship Christ alone—
Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah fasted from the food of the king to demonstrate the source of their sustenance was Yahweh alone.
We should, for the sake of the gospel (NOT legalism!), consider the ways we can send confusing messages to people who are new to the faith, or who don’t know Christ, by the things we partake of.
It’s a sign of maturity when we are able to lay down our liberty in order to help someone else.
7. They had a consistent and real prayer life—
when their very lives were threatened, they submitted to God through prayer.
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17 Then Daniel went to his house and made the matter known to Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, his companions, 18 and told them to seek mercy from the God of heaven concerning this mystery, so that Daniel and his companions might not be destroyed with the rest of the wise men of Babylon.
In , they asked God to interpret the king’s dream for them, and God did.
In , they asked God to interpret the king’s dream for them, and God did.
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The practice of prayer in times of relative peace helped them to develop a prayer “muscle” memory when they were in times of strife.
8. They also demonstrated spiritual discipline in what they did not practice.
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16 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered and said to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. 17 If this be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king. 18 But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.”
In , Daniel’s three friends are threatened with death for refusing to worship the king’s golden image.
In , Daniel’s three friends are threatened with death for refusing to worship the king’s golden image.
Their brave response was this:
“The God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and he will deliver us[a] from Your Majesty’s hand. But even if he does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.”
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9. “Spiritual disciplines” can sound lofty and stodgy, but they’re really just different practices that help you to remember that God is at work in your life.
Prayer, lectio divina (repeated reading of a Bible passage followed by quiet contemplation), Spotify playlists, and listening to books of the Bible while working out or before sleep are all ways to remember and communicate with the Lord during the course of everyday life.
10. This article from Forbes tells about some teenagers who are making an impact: Thomas Ehrlich and Ernestine Fu, “High School Students Making a Difference in the Lives of Others,” Forbes, September 11, 2013, https://www.forbes.com/sites/ehrlichfu/2013/09/11/high-school-students-making-a-difference-in-the-lives-of-others/#3c3b4a733fc0. These young people are not waiting to hit a certain age in order to make a positive impact in their communities.
Let’s pray.