An Online Devotional from Pastor Chad Carter

W e ' r e m o r e t h a n j u s t a C h u r c h . . . W e ' r e a F A M I L Y !

Fire By Invitation

Pastor Chad Carter

“Fire By Invitation”

Pastor Chad Carter

Scripture Reading: Daniel 3:14 – 30

How many of you today can identify with the idea of

being thrown into a fire. Today, I want to identify

three ways in which fiery trials of life come at us.

The first types of fiery trials are those that are completely unexpected. They come at the most inopportune times. Many times, the fire catches us off guard. When we’re just doing our best to be who God wants us to be, and we think we’re doing pretty well, it's then that all of a sudden, out of nowhere, you find yourself smack dab in the middle of one of the biggest messes of your life.

When the fire sweeps in, it begins to consume everything in its path. It seems you can hardly blink, and the fire has attacked “here.” Then it moves on to “there.” Before you know it, you find yourself sidetracked, having to change your focus from puruit of your goals to full blown fire prevention. You find yourself looking for buckets of water just to keep from seeing your life destroyed.

The second type of fire of life doesn't just shows up unexpectedly by a random act of chance. This type of fire comes as a calculated, premeditated attack of the enemy against your life.

Satan hates God, and he hates you because you are God’s child, and he will use your life as a means of retaliation, rebellion and retribution against the Lord, by going through you. There are attacks of the enemy that come with no other objective in mind than to take you out and ruin any usefulness you may be to God and His Kingdom.

The devil will seek to deceive and devour you. He will seek to persuade you to turn against the very God who, in His own grace and mercy, redeemed you unto Himself. Your enemy will fight you. He will attack you. He will rob you blind! He will bring sickness, pain and disease. He will bring discouragement and dissatisfaction. He will bring confusion and chaos. He will make you believe you’ve been abandoned and that you're alone. He will lie about your inheritance in God and attempt to deceive you concerning God’s plan for your life. He will tell you you’re not saved, you’re not important, and you don’t have any value to God or others!

But my dear brothers and sisters in Christ, let your pastor remind you today that the devil is a liar and the father of all lies. You are more than a conqueror through Christ that loved you and gave Himself for you. Greater is He that is in you, than the lying devil in the world! Let me remind you that when the enemy comes against you, then like a flood the Spirit of the Lord will raise up a standard against Him. Let me remind you this morning that your God was the winner before the battle ever started and He will not leave you sitting on the sidelines in defeat!

He will pick you up! He will turn you around. He will place your feet on solid ground. The God who delivered you from the hand of the lion and the mouth of the bear, is the same God who will deliver you from the hand of your enemy. And when it’s all been said and done and the dust dies down on the battlefield, you will be the one standing tall and strong with a spirit of victory and hope, because your God who HAS delivered you, will YET deliver you again!

The third kind of fire of life that I want to briefly touch on this morning, is the fire that comes by invitation.

Did you know there are some fires that show up at your front door on beautiful parchment paper, in a beautifully sealed envelope with a little ribbon around it. The invitation has pretty writing and eloquent words on it. But this invitation doesn’t have a place for you to RSVP. This invitation doesn’t afford you the choice to opt out. There’s no little box to check that says, “Yes, I’ll participate in this fiery trial of life” or, “No thanks, I believe I’ll sit this one out.”

This invitation has come from one bigger than you, and often doesn’t give you a choice of whether or not to participate. I'm sure if you received advanced warning on some of the fires you’ve walked through, you would have made arrangements to miss that appointment.

The invitation I’m talking about that brings you into a lot of the fires of your life is an invitation from God Almighty Himself, and He doesn’t give you the choice to sit it out or participate; He just designates that it’s your turn to go in.

Moses, didn’t ask to be exposed to the burning bush. God stepped into his path that day and wouldn’t let him miss the fire. He didn’t ask for the pillar of fire by night. But God stepped into the path and lit the way. By HIS CHOICE, Israel moved or Israel stayed put. BY HIS CHOICE the fire came and the fire went. By HIS CHOICE, the fire protected or the fire consumed!

Job didn’t ask for the trouble that befell his life to come upon him. He didn’t ask for his children, status and wealth to be stripped from him in one fell swoop! He didn’t ask His wife to turn her back on God and persuade him to do the same thing! He didn’t ask for his friends to forsake him and speculate about what sins he committed to bring such horrible judgment against himself.

Job didn’t ask for any of that. And the enemy didn’t just bring it. Job was one of those who found himself on the receiving end of one of those beautifully decorated “Fire by Invitation” cards from the Throne Room of God.

I’m here to tell you today, there are some fires that are not of your making. And believe it or not, some fires are not of your enemy’s making either. Some fires show up for no other reason than God gave them a first class invitation to do so!

Now, turning to our text today, you wouldn’t think that Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego's fiery furnace was one of those fires that just came by unexpected circumstance. Perhaps you think it was one of those fires that came as an attack of the enemy. But I would submit to you that the fire the three Hebrew children faced that day was neither a fire that came by chance or a fire that came by calculated attack of the enemy, but rather, it came by invitation of the Most High God.

When you examine the text today, you find that Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were in a situation that looked hopeless. Nebuchadnezzar was a paganistic king, an idolater, and he expected everyone else in the kingdom to be the same. There was NO escaping this trap. There was no easy way out. There was no "Plan B." There was no optional out. They had one choice to make: either refuse the true and living God to worship an idol, or accept an invitation to the fire.

I don’t know how you feel about it today, but I believe there is a lot that we are faced with in this day and age that puts us in a position similar to the three Hebrew children. We can either give in to the way of the world – we can throw in the towel and give in to the system of the age and the spirit of anti-Christ – or we can stand our ground, knowing full well that it may just land us up in the fire.

Church, let me tell us today – there is only one option for the born-again, blood bought people of God – and that’s to STAND FOR WHAT’S RIGHT, EVEN IF IT MEANS THE FIRE! Stand for what’s right, even if it means the flames. Stand for what’s right, even if it means danger could cross our path! Like Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, we know that God is able to deliver us, not only from the flames of the fire, but from the hand of ungodly kings as well! ...Somebody say, “stand for what’s right…. Or you’ll fall for anything!”

Many see the fire as an obstacle… But what we really need to see is that the fire may just be God himself putting us into an opportunity for deliverance.

Hebrews 12:29

For our God is a consuming fire. (AMP: For our God [is indeed] a consuming fire.)

Ezekiel 1:27

And I saw as the colour of amber, as the appearance of fire round about within it (NLT: flickering like a fire), from the appearance of his loins even upward, and from the appearance of his loins even downward, I saw as it were the appearance of fire (NLT: burning flame, shining with splendor), and it had brightness round about.

Deuteronomy 9:3

Understand therefore this day, that the LORD thy God is he which goeth over before thee; as a consuming fire he shall destroy them, and he shall bring them down before thy face: so shalt thou drive them out, and destroy them quickly, as the LORD hath said unto thee.

Isaiah 29:6

Thou shalt be visited of the LORD of hosts with thunder, and with earthquake, and great noise, with storm and tempest, and the flame of devouring fire (NLT: I, the LORD of Heaven’s Armies, will act for you with thunder and earthquake and great noise, with whirlwind and storm and consuming fire).

Seven Takeaways from today's message:

1. God is not just IN the fire… He IS the fire you’ve been fearful of.

2. The brilliance and magnitude of God’s fire will destroy those who reach out to

touch you and do you harm.

3. He will show himself to be visibly present with you in the fire – giving you hope,

courage, and strength.

4. God will not leave you bound and fallen in the fire. He will burn off the bondages,

and raise you to your feet in victory.

5. He will cause your enemy to bless you, and glorify your God.

6. He will bring you out of the fire, without even the appearance of destruction –

without even the smell of smoke…

Some fights take it out of you and you feel fatigued. But I believe today that God is about to give his people some victories that don’t leave you battle-scarred and worn. He’s about to bring you out of His all-consuming fire without a singe on your clothing, without a care and worry-worn look on your face, walking upright in strength and power, and not so much as the smell of smoke on your clothes.

7. Look at verse 30 of Daniel 3: "Then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach,

and Abednego, in the province of Babylon."

To end your season of attendance to a "Fire By Invitation," God is about to make those that would curse you – promote you instead.

Are you ready for favor? ...Then don't refuse the fire!

Pastor Chad Carter

Family Harvest Church

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