Fiery Furnance – Part 1 by Sandy Brunson.
Parents of troubled teens are heart broken, devastated, and feel lost and all alone. Christian parents of troubled teens have hope, hope in Jesus. Christian parents do not escape the possibility of having a troubled teen; they just have faith to fight the fight. Parents who are looking for schools for troubled teens, programs for troubled teens, troubled teen schools, camps for troubled teens, troubled teen camps, programs for troubled boys, programs for troubled girls, boot camps, Christian boarding school, or wilderness therapy programs all face the dilemma. The difference is that Christian parents pray, and their hope is in Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Please enjoy the following article by Sandy Brunson, director of Volunteers for Jesus.
The lessons learned in "adversity" often prove the character of God in the believer to face the next one. He is ALWAYS working...and He is ALWAYS developing us as we are continually yielded unto Him in spirit and in truth...applying His commandments, His truth to our lives and circumstances.
Our faith in God is often tried and tested...for the purpose of proving our faith, making us more fruitful, strengthening and equipping us in Kingdom ways that fit us to face the future as well as to live an eternal existence with God. Proven faith is also a demonstration of God and His ways to unbelievers who walk beside us and observe our lives.
Possible tests and trials are as numerous as the various circumstances to which the human race can be exposed. As believers, children of God, disciples and followers of Jesus Christ...we are still a part of the human race, and we are vulnerable to the many circumstances and situations that affect every living creature living in a "fallen world." Though we are redeemed by the Blood of the Lamb, and saved from the power of sin...we are still subject to tests and trials in our walk with the Lord, in relationships, in ethics, in finances, in health, in death of loved ones, in loss of jobs or projects, in daily choices of life, in trying circumstances in work and society and culture, etc., to name some of the main ones.
In all these things, we, as human people tend to be "bound" in some ways to behavioral habits, customs, culture, traditions, family, friends, preferences, attitudes of long standing, patterns of thinking that drive us, and many other such things that hinder us from fully following God or in bearing MUCH fruit for Him. Some "good things" can even hinder our relationship with Him and the plans and purposes He has for us, and we have to be willing to lay even those things on the altar if they are not in the best interest of our growth and development in Him. He will lead and guide us into all truth concerning everything in our lives...good and bad.
To be in bondage to anything or anyone is a cause for the "pruning shears" to come out of the shed and be directed toward the branch. For the child of God...this is inevitable! There is no escaping it. Pruning will involve pain at the most and some discomfort at the least. The Vinedresser knows best, and He knows "when" the time is right for pruning. Remembering that His purpose is not to "take away" but rather to "make room...to add to" our lives in abundance of His will and His ways being demonstrated in our lives. Trusting Him, we can not only face pruning knowing that each test and trial has a completion point (specific tests and trials do not last forever) ...but that we will be the better for it. The "bondage" in our lives will be cut off and broken, and we will be "loosed" ...set free to bring glory to Him and His Kingdom.
I ask you to prayerfully read the entire 3rd chapter of Daniel for the backdrop of this lesson. Three young Jewish men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, friends of Daniel, had been set over the affairs of the province of Babylon (Iraq!)...under the leadership of a self-centered, wicked leader named Nebuchadnezzar. These young men were devoted to our God. They were disciplined, gifted in wisdom, possessing knowledge and were quick to understand. They were purposed in their hearts to honor God with their lives...even in the midst of a wicked people who were commanded to worship the wicked King Nebuchadnezzar. This is KEY, and we will see that this commitment to God and to His truth was the preparation that made them candidates for a miraculous deliverance by the Hand of God. They were not whiners nor complainers...but worshippers of God in spirit and in truth! In the day of their trouble...when they called upon the Name of the Lord... He not only delivered them in due season...BUT He was also WITH THEM in the midst of their "fiery furnace"...as they "looked unto JESUS" in the way their dispensation made possible.
To be continued......
Looking unto Jesus,
Sandy
For more articles on troubled teens please visit www.abundantlifeacademy.com, www.abundantlifeacademy.info, www.abundantlifeacademy.us, www.troubledteenministries.com, www.troubledteens4jesus.com, www.troubledteensdirectory.com, www.restoringtroubledteens.com
