I was reading in Daniel 3 a few days ago about the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego getting thrown into the fiery furnace because of their complete unwillingness to worship king Nebuchadnezzar’s hunk of idol junk. I’ve read this story a bunch of times, but I often miss the miracle of it…
Or at least the 3 guys’ part in the miracle.
Daniel 3:17 If this be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king.
They were willing to stick their neck out BEFORE they saw God work.
Maybe we see fewer miracles today because we’re unwilling to stick our butt to the fire in faith God is gonna show up…
We want a ‘sign’ or a ‘feeling’ first.
There are some things God has promised us that we’ll always be able to act and believe on…
Hebrews 13:5 Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said,“Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.”
So maybe our faith needs to be activated before our eyes….
We need to believe BEFORE we see,
Your thoughts?
We collect things over the years.
Looking at any Christmas tree is kinda like a trip down memory lane. We all have those ornaments that instantly bring back memories when we look at them. Maybe they’re ornaments that our children made or just something we bought on vacation, our Christmas trees are shaped by years of collecting ornaments and decorations.
You and I are kinda like that. Our experiences in the past and the people we’ve come in contact with shape us over the years. The things we learn and the places we go all make us… us.
Our potential to shine.
A Christmas tree’s main job is to light up and provide beauty. Without the tree being plugged in and lit, it kinda loses its luster and purpose. Sure, the tree is still there, but it’s not doing what it’s meant to do.
We have the potential to light up every place we go. To shed light and hope in every area of our lives. To give light to our place of work, our family, places we shop, our church, places we eat, our school, and anywhere else we go. If we don’t provide that light, we’re not accomplishing our purpose.
It’s what’s underneath that really matters.
Call me selfish and materialistic, but my favorite part of the Christmas tree… the gifts underneath. Sure, it’s great to give gifts, but I also like to GET gifts. Really the tree just kinda houses the gifts for me… it’s what’s underneath the tree that matters most.
It’s our heart that really matters. God wants our hearts to be pure and focused on him and accessible to his shaping and molding. It’s what’s underneath us that really matters too. Sure, we need to change our actions, but if our heart’s right, we’ll get the outside right.
We need something to hold us up.
My Christmas tree would fall and break all of the gifts under it if it didn’t have a tree stand holding it up and supporting its weight.
You and I need people to hold us up. People close to us to encourage us and call us out when we’re screwing up. We need support from a church family and from friends. Find support and use it!
Can you think of any more? Add in the comments.
It’s not about me.
The millennial generation (those born between 1980 & 2000) is often called a selfish generation. To put it plainly, we can often think that it’s all about us. We’re kinda born and bred thinking life is about what we want, what we can get, and how we can be happy. In order for the millennial generation to truly change the world (I believe we will), we’re going to have to realize that it’s not really about us.
It’s about others.
It’s about Christ.
It’s not about me.
Concentrated passion is contagious.
Millennials are a passionate generation. Most millennials believe that they can make a difference in some capacity. The problem? We’re also the short attention spanned – microwave – cell phone – world at our finger tips generation.
That can make it tough for us to concentrate anything on anything. If we realize where our true passion lies and find a way to concentrate it on a single target, a single cause, or a single mission, it’ll be contagious. We have to focus on our call and our passion. We can’t run from thing to thing, project to project… not if we want to be contagious.
Real community cares.
Twitter, Facebook, blogs, texting, and the rest of the online world have made ‘community’ easier than ever. With the click of a computer mouse or the touch of a cell phone, we can instantly find someone like us or someone to talk to.
The problem? Real community reaches beyond a click of a mouse and into truly caring. Don’t get me wrong, I still believe that this can happen online, I just think we have to do a better job of building it… in the safest way possible.
OK, your turn…
If you’re a millennial, what tough conclusions have you come to?
If you’re older than a millennial 
, what can you teach us?
