MAY 5TH & 19TH, 2024
THE CHALLENGE OF YOUR FAITH
Proverbs 19:8 – Do yourself a favor and learn all you can; then remember what you learn and you will prosper.
Proverbs 4:13 – Always remember what you have learned. Your education is your life, so guard it well.
Proverbs 24:5 – Wisdom brings strength and knowledge gives power.
Daniel’s Third Test: Challenges To His Faith
Daniel 1:4-5 – King Nebuchadnezzar commanded: Select young men and make sure they are well versed in every branch of learning. Teach these young men all the language and literature of the Babylonians. They are to be trained for three years, then some will serve the king after they graduate.
Daniel 1:17a – God gave these four young men and unusual aptitude for learning the literature and science of that time.
Daniel 1:18-20 – When the three-year training was completed, the chief official brought all the young men to King Nebuchadnezzar. The king talked with each of them and none impressed him as much as Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. So they were appointed to his regular staff as advisers! In all matters requiring wisdom and balanced judgment, the king found the advice of these young men to be ten times better than that of all the magicians and enchanters in his entire kingdom!
How To Excel In Your Education And Not Lose Your Faith
1. Decide in advance to stand for God.
Daniel 1:8a – Daniel made up his mind not to defile himself.
Proverbs 1:7 – Start with God, the first step in learning is bowing down to God: only fools thumb their noses at such wisdom and learning.
Proverbs 15:33a – Reverence for Lord is an education in itself.
Proverbs 2:6-7 – All wisdom comes from the Lord, and so do common sense and understanding. God gives helpful advice to everyone who obeys Him and protects all of those who live as they should.
2. Never stop learning.
Proverbs 18:15 – Wise men and women are always learning, always listening for fresh insights.
II Timothy 2:15 – Study to show yourself approved unto God, a workman that isn’t ashamed.
Proverbs 19:8 – Those who get wisdom do themselves a favor, and those who love learning will succeed.
Knowledge: Information gained from education or experience.
Wisdom: Seeing and responding from God’s viewpoint.
3. Steep myself in God’s Word.
Joshua 1:8 – Study God’s Word continually. Meditate on it day and night so you may be sure to obey all that’s written in it. If you do you will be prosperous and successful.
I must learn the truth in order to discern the lies.
Your commandments give me great understanding. It’s no wonder I can see and hate every false way of life.
Proverbs 15:14 – A wise person is hungry for truth, while the fool feeds on trash.
4. Choose believers as my best friends.
I Cor. 15:33 – Do not be misled, bad company corrupts good character.
Ecc. 10:3 – Fools show their stupidity by the way they live, it’s easy to see they have no sense.
Psalm 1:1-2 – The happiest, the ones God blesses, don’t walk with those who suggest doing wrong, don’t stand with those who like to sin, and don’t sit around with cynics who deny God.
5. Stay connected to a Church.
Hebrews 10:25 – Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage on another.
I Peter 2:15 – It is God’s will that you live such a good life that it silences those who foolishly condemn the Gospel without knowing what it can do for them.
6. Remember that God will reward you.
Matt. 5:11-12 – Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is you reward in heaven.