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Looking at some common test we go through in life.
All of these test come out of the book of Daniel with Daniel going through most of the tests, his friend going through one of the tests and even King Neb going through a test.
I have been saying that...
Before Every Success there is a test
God wants to see if you can handle what he is about to give you: greater blessing; greater success; prosperity; or even spiritual experiences.
God want’s to see how you handle what you have before he gives you more.
So far we have looked at five tests.
Standing Firm When Your World is Rocked
Standing Firm When You’re Pressured to Conform
Standing Firm When Your Beliefs are Belittled
Standing Firm When You’re Faced with the Impossible
Standing Firm When Through Persecution.
Today We will look at this one:
When God Tests You with Success
Even Success has a test in it!
Success is more Dangerous to Your Soul than Suffering
People let success go to their heads and they think crazy.
It sometimes changes their character…
Compliments are a test and if you let them go to your head, you fail the test.
We are going to talk about the danger of pride, arrogance and ego when you are successful, because it’s easy to forget God.
Daniel 4 will talk about King Neb and how he lost everything because of His pride, his arrogance and his ego.
It’s 32 years after the last dream Daniel interpreted for him… he is in his 50’s.
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You can expect to be tested with your successes.
If you pass the test, you get more… if you fail, you don’t.
We are going to look at 3 things today.
What do we need to remember to keep us from making the same mistakes the King did?
What are the steps to recovery after you’ve failed?
What are the things I need to remember about God that will stabilize me though success or suffering.
WHAT ARE THE THINGS YOU NEED TO REMEMBER THAT WILL KEEP YOU FROM MAKING THE SAME MISTAKE THE KING DID?
1. DON’T BECOME COMFORTABLE & COMPLACENT WITH SUCCESS.
That doesn’t sound like someone who is depending on God… When things are going good, you don’t pray, you go to the beach.
He was caught in himself…
You don’t want God against you.
2. PAY ATTENTION TO THE WARNING SIGNS.
Success can be like being on a stage with the bright lights in your eye, it can blind you… make you think you are something that you are not.
Look at this…
God clearly warned NEB, he did not just remove him.
He gave him a chance to change.
What are the Warning Signs in Your Life?
Pride, Conflict, forgetting God, Confusion - not knowing what to do right now shows you are not as connected to God as you need to be; Temptation...
God warns NEB.
Daniel tells the king what to do…
Repent - Stop Sinning & Do What’s Right
change your mind… attitude… the way you think
Repent takes humility and humility is a choice.
Pride -when I accept credit for the things God has done in my life and through my life.
Humility - is not thinking less of yourself, but thinking of yourself less.
It’s know you are loved by God with all of your limitations ands having a realistic assessment of yourself.
Repent and humble yourself… it’s a choice.
Show Kindness to the Poor and Oppressed
It gets the focus off of yourself and onto others.
You begin to think about other people’s needs instead of your own.
It also keeps you in touch with reality.
In America, we don’t realize how blessed we are.
If you have coins in your pocket, laying around the house, in a jar… you are wealthier than 90% of the world.
Refrigerator with food - wealthier than 50% of the world.
Most people in the world would love to be poor in America.
If you live in America you are rich.
When you show kindness to the poor and oppressed, it helps keep you in reality… Missions trips can do this.
Here’s some Biblical reasons to do this...
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This happens in Connect Groups.
When you care for other’s needs in your group, they will be there for you in your time of need.
You gain respect when you treat those who have no voice with respect.
We are to repent and then Show Kindness to the Poor and the oppressed
3. DON’T PUT OFF DOING WHAT YOU KNOW IS RIGHT.
NEB Had 12 months to repent, but he did not.
He put off doing what he knew he needed to do.
This will also be a reason you and I fail, we put off doing what we know is right.
Question - If God warned you in a dream that you were going to lose everything that you ever worked for in your life if you didn’t change, would you wait 12 months?
Truth is … He has warned us… The Bible says that if we do this, he will bless us and we will succeed.
If we don’t do this, we will not.
NEB lost everything for about 2 years… not sure.
Here’s how that looks today.
a friend will leave his wife and kids for someone else…
A friend will all of a sudden do something self destructive...
NEB’s life collapses very publically, but God has mercy on hIm and restores him.
God Had Mercy On Nebuchadnezzar and Restored His Mind.
God restored his mind, his power, his wealth, and his kingdom… everything to him.
Here is what NEB did on his road to recovery.
3 STEPS TO RECOVERY AFTER A FAILURE
Neb did 3 things that brought him back.
He Looked Up… woke up … and spoke up
1. LOOK UP TO GOD.
If you are here and you are i a mess, You need to lift up your eyes to heaven… to the Lord.
He is the one who can help you, not the government, not someone else...
Re-focus on the Lord.
2. WAKE UP AND START WORSHIPPING THE LORD.
Wake up to god’s greatness, not your own.
Begin worshipping Him.
Worship puts your focus on the Lord and off of yourself and whatever problems or successes you have.
You need to must develop the habit of daily QT.
Read the Word, Worship the Lord, Pray - - - Daily.
You need to find a connect group you can attend consistently.
Don’t let success take you away from your relationship with the Lord or from serving him.
You can’t name one thing that is better for you than worshiping the Lord.
Some need to re-commit to worshiping the Lord every week.
When his sanity returned, he began praising the Lord and being grateful for the things in his life.
I don’t know what you are going through right now, but (write this down)
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