For the past 2 Sunday's Jonathan has been teaching in S.S. about peer pressure. Most of the time when we think of that we think of teens getting involved in the wrong crowd and letting their peers dictate who they are because they just want to fit in, but everyone faces pressure, from a child to a grown adult. Although a child will not face it in the same way, it is still there. We need to adopt some new ways of thinking when it comes to this topic.
Jonathan has been talking about all of this and I have enjoyed it so much...
The Bible talks about 3 young men who faced some GREAT pressure. In Daniel chapter 3, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego were faced with some big decisions..they could have easily fell down and just worshipped the image to save their own necks, but no, they told the king inverse 16, we are not careful to answer thee in this matter. It was a big deal, but it was not even something they had to think about because they knew what they stood for and it was not negotiable. We need to have things in our lives that are not negotiable, Set some standards for what we believe, and not back down on them no matter what.
In the next 2 verses these men told the king~ hey look you may think that your all big and bad, But our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king. But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up. We cannot fear the pressure that we are faced with because if we stand against the fight God promised to make a way of escape. There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it. 1 Corinthians 10:13. I know this is easier said than done sometimes...I have fought this battle myself because when we see all that is around us we sometimes get scared and give in.
Another perfect example is the story of Peter walking on the water to Jesus. Matthew 14:28-31 Peter started off right...he had faith that God was there and would keep Him, but then he took his eyes off of Jesus and saw all that was around him and he began to sink. I am so thankful to know that God is there to catch us when we fall, but I hope I can learn how to see through clouds of despair and the heat of the battle andKNOW that God is right there. I am thankful to know that we as Christians can have a face in the wind and stand against the pressures we face because we have someone so much great by our side.
No comments:
Post a Comment