There’s Always Hope: Part 4 — A ‘Time With God’ Audio Devotion

Subscribe to Time With God podcast

King Nebuchadnezzar made an image of gold, sixty cubits high and six cubits wide, and set it up on the plain of Dura in the province of Babylon. He then summoned the satraps, prefects, governors, advisers, treasurers, judges, magistrates and all the other provincial officials to come to the dedication of the image he had set up. So the satraps, prefects, governors, advisers, treasurers, judges, magistrates and all the other provincial officials assembled for the dedication of the image that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up, and they stood before it.

Then the herald loudly proclaimed, “Nations and peoples of every language, this is what you are commanded to do: As soon as you hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipe and all kinds of music, you must fall down and worship the image of gold that King Nebuchadnezzar has set up. Whoever does not fall down and worship will immediately be thrown into a blazing furnace.”

Therefore, as soon as they heard the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp and all kinds of music, all the nations and peoples of every language fell down and worshiped the image of gold that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up.

At this time some astrologers came forward and denounced the Jews. They said to King Nebuchadnezzar, “May the king live forever! Your Majesty has issued a decree that everyone who hears the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipe and all kinds of music must fall down and worship the image of gold, and that whoever does not fall down and worship will be thrown into a blazing furnace. But there are some Jews whom you have set over the affairs of the province of Babylon – Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego – who pay no attention to you, Your Majesty. They neither serve your gods nor worship the image of gold you have set up.”

Furious with rage, Nebuchadnezzar summoned Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. So these men were brought before the king, and Nebuchadnezzar said to them, “Is it true, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, that you do not serve my gods or worship the image of gold I have set up? Now when you hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipe and all kinds of music, if you are ready to fall down and worship the image I made, very good. But if you do not worship it, you will be thrown immediately into a blazing furnace. Then what god will be able to rescue you from my hand?”…

Daniel 3

Transcript

Good morning,

Hope 103.2 is proudly supported by

All this week at this time of day we’ve been talking about the theme that there is always hope when you walk with God. Now what do we even mean by walking with God? Well, it means that God journeys through life with you and you keep Him close.

And as He speaks to you and guides you in life, you say, yes, Lord, and you do what He’s leading you to do. You respond to what He’s saying to you.

And maybe say, well, how does God speak to me? Well, what we’re doing each weekday morning at this time is opening the Bible and listening to God, and I encourage you to make that a part of your own personal practice in life, especially a part of your morning routine, to just, as you get up, read a bit out of the Bible, inviting God to speak to you.

As God speaks to you, respond to Him. Always have yes on your lips when God is speaking to you.

Well, we’re looking all this week at the this theme. There’s always hope, and I don’t know what you’re facing in your life, but as you think about that, even maybe bringing up the topic and thinking about it is stressing you out. It’s making you nervous. We can get short of breath. Our heart can beat irregularly. We can sweat, all of these physical things is just manifesting how worked up we are about a hopeless situation that we’re in. We can become quite depressed and hopeless.

But there is always hope.

And we’ve looked at two foundations of hope out of this story in the Bible where these three men Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego did not worship an idol set up by the king of Babylon. The king became furious and said, I’m giving you one more chance. Then I’m throwing you into a furnace of fire. And who is the God who will deliver you out of my hands? It seemed hopeless, and they said, Here’s our first basis for hope: our God whom we serve is able to deliver us. We serve a God who can reach into any situation, no matter how hopeless it seems, and deliver us.

Secondly, they said our second basis for hope is that God is for us. He will deliver us, O King. They were confident that God was on their side, and no matter how desperate your situation, you can be sure God is on your side.

The third basis for their hope was this world is not the big thing. It’s just a warmup for the big thing. Death is not the end of your existence. It’s just a doorway into an eternal future. And as a person with a relationship with God through Jesus Christ, you have an eternal future with God.

That is the big thing. That’s what matters. The situations of this world and this life simply are gearing you up for that eternal existence. And here’s what these three guys say to the king of Babylon. They say: God will deliver us out of your hand, O king, but if not, even if He doesn’t deliver us, be it known to you, O King, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.

Even if God doesn’t deliver us, we are still not going to do that because we know that what happens to us in this world is not the big thing. It’s not the end. Our hope looks forward to the next world.

Jesus was crucified on Friday, but He knew that Sunday was coming when He would be raised from the dead.

David said, I walk through the valley of the shadow of death. The apostle Paul, when he was in prison in Rome for his faith, he wrote to his friends outside, and he said, I know that your prayers will turn out for my deliverance. Listen, whether by life or by death. Either way, I’m going to be set free from this suffering, and what matters is not what happens now, but the next life.

What happens when I walk through the doorway of death? This is our hope as Christians.

I’m John North.