Weekly Devotional: Gems From Pastor Jim 9/21/2020

by Jim Hughes

Dan. 3:25 “Look!” Nebuchadnezzar shouted. “I see four men, unbound, walking around in the fire. They aren’t even hurt by the flames! And the fourth looks like a divine being!”

I can only imagine what Nebuchadnezzar must have thought when he saw four people walking around in a fire that he had made seven times hotter than normal. A lot of fearful things must have gripped him. It just did not happen! People do not walk around in the middle of any kind of fire without being consumed by it. Period. Yet, there they were! Not only did he see the Hebrews he had thrown into the fire walking around, there was an extra person with them! Where in the world did he come from? How is it even possible? He had to just appear because no one lives in a fiery furnace! He saw these men walking around unbound, and he had made sure that they were tightly bound before they were cast into the furnace.

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were seemingly just out for a stroll in the flames. They weren’t being affected by the fire whatsoever! They apparently were deep in conversation with the other man, oblivious to what was going on around them. It was a strange sight indeed. I know that I would have been scared of what I was seeing and more than curious as to how it could be and what it meant. The king didn’t know it, but God was with them in the furnace.

Isn’t it comforting to know that we serve a God who knows when we stand up for Him regardless of what others may think or do? We serve One who cares about the situation we are in and is able to help us through it. He never leaves us hanging. He is always with us as we go through our difficult circumstances of life. He doesn’t promise to change what we are going through, but He does promise to go with us through it.

The wonderful thing about it is that when we walk with the Lord through our difficult circumstances of life, things change for us. Our faith grows stronger, our confidence in God’s love for us grows stronger, our awareness of His ability to help us grows, our ability to let go of our own power lessens, and our gratitude for the God we serve grows. Adversity is a good thing when you go through it with the Lord at your side

About the Author:

Spending his formative years in Ft. Wayne, IN, Jim followed the love of his life to southeast Iowa where they married and have spent the majority of their lives. Jim has pastored several churches throughout his life and has worked many years in local factories to help support his family. The father of two married adult children and one son still at home, Jim is a first-time author.

C Through Marriage came into being through many years of pastoral and life experiences. The book first took on a life of its own over 20 years ago when I sought to address the much publicized moral failures of prominent leaders in the church. In the chapter on Chasity, I include the guideliness that I developed then to protect one's self from such failures.

I am a firm believer in order to make sense out of life you have to use much common sense. We need to get back to the basics of what has worked for many, many generations. If is isn't broke, why try to fix it? I strive to return to the basics of what really works in all my writings.