4Ws

MAKE A STAND FOR JESUS

O C TO B ER 3 1 , 2 02 1

WORSHIP WORD
Lord I Lift Your Name, DANIEL 1:8-13 We recently concluded our series on Life Detox, that helped
Eternal God, Solid
Ground us to understand and deal with our toxic realities. These toxic
8 But Daniel made up his mind realities such as anxiety, purposeless, entitlement, pride, etc. are
that he would not defile part of the culture of the world. Though the world says this is
WELCOME himself with the king’s choice the culture and what’s normal, the Bible teaches us that we are
food or with the wine which he to be different from the world and not to conform to its patterns
Recall a moment when drank; so he sought permission (Romans 12:2).
you experienced
persecution because from the commander of the
you made a stand officials that he might not How can I be different when everything pushes me to give in?
to obey God rather defile himself. 9 Now God We are to dare to be different by making a stand for Jesus. This
than doing what was granted Daniel favor and means that His convictions, His moral values, and His standards
considered normal or compassion in the sight of the will be ours as well. It means that how we go about our daily
usual.
commander of the officials. 10 living and how we relate to others will be based on the Bible.
The commander of the officials Sometimes, we’re afraid that following hard after God may result
said to Daniel, “I am afraid into us getting hurt or missing out on living a fun life. So, how do
of my lord the king, who has we make a stand for Jesus?
allotted your food and your
drink; for why should he see 1. TRAIN (DANIEL 1:3-8)
your faces looking gaunt in In Daniel 1:3-4, Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah were
comparison to the youths who exiled to Babylon and chosen to serve in the king’s court. They
are your own age? Then you learned the culture and ways of the Babylonians and were even
would make me forfeit my assigned new names that were the names of the gods of the
head to the king.” 11 But Daniel Babylonians! Daniel was called Beltheshazzar, to Hananiah was
said to the overseer whom the assigned Shadrach, Mishael was called Meshach, and Azariah
commander of the officials was called Abed-nego. These men were pressured to follow the
had appointed over Daniel, pagan culture around them, but in Daniel 1:8 we read that Daniel
Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, “made up his mind not to defile himself”. What can we learn from
12 “Please put your servants to the conviction of Daniel? We learn that what we put in our minds,
the test for ten days, and let us will affect and impact how we would act and react to situations
be given some vegetables and people around us.
to eat and water to drink. 13
Then let our appearance be Knowing God’s Word will help us to live a life that pleases God.
examined in your presence We see this in the life of Daniel when the ruling king of that time
and the appearance of the ordered that all would not pray to any god but him. (Daniel 6:7)
youths who are eating the However, in verse 10 we see that Daniel went against the king’s
king’s choice food; and deal command and continued to pray to God “as he had been doing”
with your servants according —this means that worshiping and praying to God was Daniel’s
to what you see.” culture and was part of his values. Making a stand for Jesus starts
when we know God’s Word. The more we know what’s written in
God’s Word, the more it influences our mind, our hearts, and the
more it will transform our actions (Joshua 1:8). It’s impossible to
make a stand for Jesus if we don’t know His Word. Our convictions
are formed by what is constantly absorbed in our mind. What we
listen to and expose ourselves to will influence our moral values.
If we make it our conviction to read and meditate on God’s Word,
it will transform us. May it be our prayer for the Lord to teach us
to love His Word.
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MAKE A STAND FOR JESUS
OCTOB E R 31, 20 21

WORD WEEKLY
2. TRUST (DANIEL 3:14-18) DISCUSSION QUESTIONS PRAYER POINTS
Did you know that there is a difference in knowing God in our mind I. Thanksgiving
and completely trusting Him in our heart? What does it mean to 1. In what ways have you
Worship God for who He is,
been conforming to the
trust the Lord? It means that we are to fully trust who God is and patterns of this world? what He has done, and what
what He can do. In Daniel 3:14, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego He will do in our lives
were confronted by King Nebuchadnezzar when they refused to 2. What do you need to do II. Country and the World
bow down to the king’s image that was set up. They however to be transformed so you Upright and moral governance
answered the king that they were willing to face the consequences will dare to be different of Public Servants
because they believed God could rescue them, but even if God from the world? A God-centered Philippines
would not rescue them, they would still not bow down to King Repentance and Salvation
3. How will you make a stand
Nebuchadnezzar’s image (Daniel 3:16-18). This kind of faith comes for Jesus starting this week? III. Church
from knowing who God is and trusting that He knows what’s That CCF Members would honor
best. We need to believe that that God is who He says He is. And and love God and make disciples
because He knows what’s best for us and is walking with us, then Elders, Pastors, Leaders, and
we can entrust every area of our lives to Him. Families
Ministries and Churches

3. TRY (DANIEL 1:9-20)

WORKS worldwide
PRAY CARE SHARE
The world would influence us to try one thing and another, and IN ACTION IV. CCF Facilities
often these things hurt us. We make a stand when we try our Worship and Training Center
best to make a stand for Jesus. The more we make a stand for Pray for people who are Prayer Mountain
Jesus by obeying Him, the more we encounter Him. The more we hesitant to completely
V. Personal Concerns
encounter Him, the more we begin to trust Him because we can surrender their lives to Deeper intimate relationship
prove that God is good and faithful. (Romans 12:2) Christ, for fear of what they with God
might have to give up. Pray Righteous living
that they will learn to entrust Salvation of family and friends
As we look back in Daniel 1:8, we see that after Daniel made up
every area of their lives to
his mind not to eat the king’s choice food that was offered to them, Him because He is good,
he talked with the palace officer about it. Amazingly in verse 9,
we see God granted Daniel favor in the sight of the commander
and He knows what is best
for us. Make a stand for
MEMORY VERSE
and officials! We need to trust as we obey God, He is working in Jesus by sharing the gospel Romans 12:2
areas that we don’t see and areas we cannot change. The servant to these people that you
of the king advised against Daniel’s request for fear that their are praying for! And do not be conformed
appearance would drastically change by eating vegetables only, to this world, but be
but Daniel was firm in his conviction not to eat the king’s choice transformed by the
renewing of your mind,
food (v.10;12-13) Miraculously, at the end of 10 days, Daniel and so that you may prove
his friends had a better appearance and looked healthier than what the will of God is,
all the others who ate the king’s diet (v.15-20)! Many of us have that which is good and
missed out on God’s miracles because we chose to disobey God. acceptable and perfect.
We don’t want to obey Jesus because we got disappointed with
fellow believers, or we got hurt because we expected God to do
something, but He chose to act differently. We must realize that
life would not be problem-free, but God’s love will embrace us
and surround us through it all. We need to make a stand for Jesus
because He made a stand for us when He died on the cross for
our sins. Jesus gives us hope that though the things of this world
are temporary, what we have in Him is forever. Will you entrust
your life to Jesus and in His power to transform and make a stand
for Him? We pray that you will make a stand for Jesus today, and
everyday!