Earlier in this series we looked at

Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego and Belteshazzar. 

Today we take a closer look.
Belteshazzar was missing in action (MIA) and the Bible is silent as to why. So when the king called together everyone to participate in his vanity affair, only Rack, Shack and Benny had to stand and explain themselves. In Daniel chapter 3, we see three men stand up for their beliefs regardless of the consequences. Their response is

 ^”…If that is the case, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us from your hand, O king.But if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we do not serve your gods, nor will we worship the gold image which you have set up.”

Their response wasn’t conditional on God’s reaction. They were willing to die for what they believed in. They ran their leg of the race to the fullest. But 3 quarters does not make a whole.

After being thrown in the fire, King Nebu looks in and says

²⁵ “Look!” he answered, “I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire; and they are not hurt, and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God.”

The three guys ran their part of the race but only Jesus could finish it. They put in all of their strength and energy but only God could complete it. Just like these three men, without Jesus our race is incomplete. Jesus is the only anchor that can finish our race. For some of us, the reason why Jesus is absent in our race is because we have barely run our own leg of the race, content to watch from the sidelines, for others we have allowed the evil one to prevent us from even lacing up. Running the race comes by practice. As long as we neglect to continually exercise through reading His word and praying, we will never be fit enough  to run our lap. So the next time you feel the urge to take a break or watch from the sidelines remember that …..

An Olympian is one who puts in their best and let’s God do the rest
An Olympian is one who realizes that Jesus is the only Anchor that can complete the race
An Olympian is one who doesn’t weigh their choices by God’s presents but by his presence

Rack, Shack and Benny are Olympians

Second chance
His country protested and he was subsequently reinstated. On Tuesday, he showed the world that his effort was golden by winning the 1500m.

One wrong decision and all her dreams went up in smoke
I don’t know how she ended up in that situation, caught red-handed with another woman’s husband. But the fact remains that it was a conscious choice on her part. This act got her paraded in front of Jesus, barely clothed by the blood thirsty Pharisees.

Second chance
Jesus protested her treatment (not her sin) by pointing out to the Pharisees that nobody was in a position to judge. On Passover Sunday, she showed the world that her faith was true by being the first to run to the tomb to see if He had risen.

Sometimes we mess up and we have no one to blame but ourselves. The world acts as judge and jury and hands down a harsh sentence, but we have an Advocate who as long as we breathe offers us a second chance. I don’t know what you have done in the past, but the next time someone tries to define your future by your poor past decisions remember that …

The inception of her nation was incest and drunkenness.
In order to satisfy their greed they sacrificed their children to the god Chemosh.
This is her ancestry, her people and yet with class she let’s her mother-in-law know

Your people shall be my people,
And your God, my God.
 Where you die, I will die,
And there will I be buried.
The Lord do so to me, and more also,
If anything but death parts you and me.
She could have chosen to return with Orpah, she also could have stayed and told Naomi that ” Look you need help, you are old and decrepit and need someone, so I’m here, be grateful. You owe me big time. Consider it from a materialistic perspective Ruth was doing Naomi a favor and not the other way around. Even Boaz affirms this point when he first meets her.

A couple of months (or years) later she seeks out Boaz at the threshing floor, and once again with humility and class she proposes to him and says “I am Ruth, your maidservant. Take your maidservant under your wing, for you are a close relative.” She could have found a young spry man but she didn’t, she sought him out at the cover of night to provide him a perfect cover in case he wanted to refuse her. Boaz realizing his good fortune says “Are you sure you want an aged man like me”

A classy faith is beautiful to behold because it bestows grace and favor on the unfortunate. Winning sometimes isn’t everything, the manner in which you carry your victory also makes a powerful statement about your character. So the next time you succeed, remember that ….

Words cannot describe it but seeing 6 of the fastest men in the world on the same stretch left me speechless. Here’s the weird thing, I’m not from the Netherlands, Trinidad, USA or Jamaica and yet with anticipation I sat at the edge of my seat, eyes glued to the screen, fixated on Usain.

At the beginning of the story, he started slow

At the midpoint, he struggled to catch up

At the end, he overcame

At the beginning of his story
David started out as a forgotten kid stuck with the animals. Even when Priest Samuel didn’t anoint any of his brothers, his father, Jesse had to think twice before recalling that he indeed had one more son.

At the midpoint
His father-in-law tried to kill him, not once and definitely not twice.
15+ years after that, he messes up and gets busy with a lady taking a bath, named Bathsheba.
Raised messed up kids, synonymous with incest, murder,coup, rebellion.

At the end
He is called a man after God’s own heart.

It isn’t about how you start the race. It is about how you finish it. So run with endurance the race that is marked out for you. Stay in your lane, keeping your eyes fixed on the One who is the Author and Finisher of your Faith. The Alpha and Omega, has marked out your lane and it MUST be different from mine because our spiritual genetic code is as diverse as the physical ones. So wake up, where ever you are in your journey, get back in the race and remember that ….

How does someone with no schooling teach?
How does someone who grew up on the streets preach?
How do 11 untrained men driven by materialistic goals change the world?

Faith is confidence that what we hoped for will come to pass. 

This isn’t cookie-cutter faith that is assured by back up plans.
This is walk on water when you don’t know how to swim kinda faith.

Do you have it?

Don’t let anyone ever tell you that faith is easy, cuz it’s not. The disciples followed Christ for 3 years and then preached like crazy after he left, but have you ever thought what that would look like in 2012. A bunch of men leaving their families and friends, selling their possessions and taking it to the streets. Talking to anyone and everyone about this guy who disappeared. Some would end up in detainment camps like Abu Gharib, while others were shot in the back. One was sentenced to die by electrocution but for some reason the volts weren’t enough to zap him dry and then his pardon  from the Governor came through and so he got on a plane and went to spread the word. Blacklisted and ridiculed with only the clothes on their back, believing that what He spoke will come to pass, they pressed on. So the next time you are asked to serve and excuses cloud your mind remember ….

An Olympian believes that what they hoped for will come to pass
An Olympian dedicates mind, soul, body, to achieve their ultimate goal.
An Olympian does not cower behind their inadequacies, but focuses on their abilities
An Olympian is one who realizes that every mountain is just another stepping stone to greatness

The disciples are Olympians

The truth is that I haven’t been watching the Olympics but today I sat down for 10 minutes and watched Gabby Douglas win gold in the all around competition. So small and yet so magnificent, so young and yet so determined. Last year, no one knew her name, this year she raises to fame as the first African-American to win the all-round.

She tweeted yesterday:

Gen 22: 9 – 10
…And Abraham built an altar there and placed the wood in order; and he bound Isaac his son and laid him on the altar, upon the wood. And Abraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. 

Two questions
What possesses a young virile boy to lie down and allow his old arthritis ridden father to tie him up?
What convinces a father to trust God with the life of his only son?

The easiest thing to do is to give an excuse, one of  the hardest thing is to sacrifice that which you would prefer to keep. The world we live in justifies the former and shuns the later. The bond between a parent and a child is profound and can elevate or eliminate a dream. A godly parent is hard to find and a trusting child even harder. From toddlers to high school kids, CEOs to head–of-states excuses abound, distrust reigns and destinies are altered. Be the godly parent, or be the trusting child and never forget that …

The shooting shocked a desensitized nation previously bent on pleasure and struck chords of terror in the heart of many parents.“No matter how well I do, I’m going to give my best in every single race, and every single race, I’m going to have that Colorado incident on my mind.” She got on a plane, knowing that her life is a gift that must honor those whose story has ended and even with the pain still fresh, she did just that.

As blood ran down the streets, Shadrach paused to get one last look at the burning stump which represented all that was left of the tree he climbed countless times as a boy.

Meshach mumbles a prayer for sanity, and thanks God that his mother’s death came before his younger sister’s repeated violation by the Babylonian troops.

Hands tied behind their back, with their feet shackled, united in misery and in bondage. their minds forever seared with the images they left behind, they wonder what the future would hold.

By the river of Babylon, Abednego bends to slake his thirst and silently washes his tear stained face as he remembers Mount Zion and his father’s butchered corpse at its foothills.

Belteshazzar looks ahead, scared that if he glances his faith would fail and his body would crumble beneath the burning heat. He recalls the ransacked temples walls, the bodies in the street and asks, “Father why am I still standing”

Stripped of their names, dignity and pride, wealth and position, family and culture, ridiculed and possibly castrated.

But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king’s delicacies. Daniel 1:8

SERIOUSLY.

Familial problems have a way of making us docile. They strike at our core and so we retreat to lick our wounds and pray for deliverance, sometimes abandoning the call Christ has placed in our hearts for lost souls. I’ve tried in the past to fix my family, but I’m beginning to realize that I can’t solve all their problems. I’ve resented God at times because He has allowed things to happen, and point blank told him “When you fix my family, I will go preach to the needy.” So if you are like me, the next time you feel overwhelmed by the dangers close to home, pray and remember that …

Sorry. I know that you must be tired of hearing, reading, and watching it,  but for the next 10 days let’s stretch the Olympic metaphors a bit further and hopefully gain insights that will not just impact our discussions for the present but ultimately change our lives.

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, Fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Heb 12: 1 – 2

10 days, 10 stories, 10 Olympic-sized acts of Faith.

I care but this is really out of my hands.

It’s not my fault; you have to understand the household I grew up in.

I’m listening, but you need to understand that these things take time.

Sound familiar?

Sometimes the hardest thing to do is to ignore the excuses that naturally spring to your lips and act.

Case in point.

Abigail is a pragmatic woman who wasn’t active in the nonexistent dating scene in her village. Her parents like many others arranged her marriage and she complied as the dutiful daughter. Unfortunately, she finds herself married to a fool (her words not mine) who’s selfishness stirs up the anger of God’s anointed one (David). This is the starting point, the crossroads; the fate of her household could have been a totally different one if she had refused to listen, refuse to act and refuse to speak wisely and intercede

Listening: this is easier said than done. Jesus’ brother James implores the church to Lead with your ears, follow up with your tongue, and let anger straggle along in the rear. (James 1:19 MSG)

Acting: so David isn’t happy, Abigail finds out and IMMEDIATELY takes action. In haste, hurried, flew into action, wasted no time, choose your version of the Bible, verse 18 of 1^st Samuel 25 makes it plain that she didn’t call a committee together or draft a proposal, she saw a grievance and immediately tried to rectify the situation.

I like to talk but the words I say don’t define me, my actions do. James in the 2^nd chapter of his book (verse 14 and 15) begs you to answer these two questions.

Dear friends, do you think you’ll get anywhere in this if you learn all the right words but never do anything? Does merely talking about faith indicate that a person really has it?

Speak Wisely and Intercede: there is a time for everything. A time to act and a time to speak wisely, what effect do your words have? Do they come at the right time? I remember my mother trying to drill it into my long term memory that a word fitly spoken is like gold.

Solomon says [Proverbs 16:24] Pleasant words are like a honeycomb,  Sweetness to the soul and health to the bones.

Speaking wisely requires us to acknowledge the truth, Abigail entreated David by first acknowledging the fact that her husband was a fool.

Speaking wisely to resolve conflict requires us to intercede on behalf of another. Abigail tied her fate to that of Nabal and served as an intermediary.

So what next.

I have to admit that I don’t always speak wisely, I seldom intercede when an altercation occurs and when it comes to listening, let’s just say that I spend the time my mouth is closed working on a reply.

That’s the truth.

Now I gotta go ACT and start making some changes.

Have a blessed weekend