CHANGING OUR THINKING -- Daniel 1:3-4
Then the king ordered Ashpenaz, chief of his court officials, to bring in some of the Israelites from the royal family and the nobility - young men without any physical defect, handsome, showing aptitude for every kind of learning, well informed, quick to understand, and qualified to serve in the king's palace. He was to teach them the language and literature of the Babylonians.
In order to mold these captive young men into good servants of the king, Nebuchadnezzar had to change their thinking. The best way for him to do this was to re-educate them, making sure they learned the language and literature of Babylon, which included an ample education about the gods of Babylon. So Nebuchadnezzar gave orders that Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah would be re-educated into the pagan philosophy of Babylon.
This same type of thing is happening today in our Christian churches and within our Christian communities. The thinking of good Christian people is being swayed by pagan thinking spewed out not only by our secular-humanistic society, but by our own Christian leaders. Take this case in point. I know of a Christian company that has been in business for nearly fifty years. Throughout its history, it has been blessed by God and has been allowed to grow to a multi-million dollar operation. A few years ago, the management of this company instituted a new management policy, turning away from Christian principles to the pagan, communist principles of a popular new management philosophy. Like all of Satan's ploys, this management philosophy looks exceedingly good. But it's basic "herd vs flock" philosophy, fraught with terms like "empowerment," goes directly against scriptural teaching. Over the past few years, profits for this company have dropped, long-term employees are quitting in droves and the entire company is filled with a pervading sense of doom. Management has tried one thing after another to "fix" the problems, all the while missing the mark on the root problem - their new and "wonderful" management philosophy. They have moved their allegiance from God's principles to Satan's. When they move back – and I’m sure that at some point they will - I believe that God will once again bless their efforts. But until then, they will suffer nothing but problems brought on by their shift in allegiance.
Remember what Paul said in 2 Corinthians 6:14-18 (and the direct quotes he made from Leviticus 26:12; Jeremiah 32:38; Ezekiel 37:27; Isaiah 52:11; Ezekiel 20:34, Ezekiel 20:41 and 2 Samuel 7:14):
“Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness? What harmony is there between Christ and Belial? What does a believer have in common with an unbeliever? What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: ‘I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people.’
‘Therefore come out from them
and be separate, says the Lord.
Touch no unclean thing,
and I will receive you.’
‘I will be a Father to you,
and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.’”
Many people believe this passage refers only to marriage. But the truth is, it refers to any “yoking” of ourselves to others. This includes business partnerships – something I can attest to when it comes to disastrous results. This includes close friendships – something else I can attest to with additional disastrous results. Now, it’s true that we can’t all work for “Christian companies.” There aren’t that many out there! Instead, I’m talking about forming a partnership of some kind with another person or group who are not Christian. As for friendships, there is nothing wrong with having friends who aren’t Christian. How are you going to witness to the lost if you don’t know any lost people? But it does include close friendships – those with whom you spend most of your social time, those whom you seek out when you need wise counsel. Any circumstance which requires your thinking to be conformed to that of another fits nicely into this category.
Don't allow anything around you to change your thinking and fill your mind with the ways of the enemy. Don't allow the philosophies of man to sway you from the truth contained in God's word. Remember, just because you're in Rome doesn't mean you have to do as the Romans do. You are a child of God. Use His Word to make sure you act like it.
Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true. Acts 17:11
WHAT'LL IT TAKE TO CONVINCE YOU? – 1 Samuel 5:1-7
After the Philistines had captured the ark of God, they took it from Ebenezer to Ashdod. Then they carried the ark into Dagon's temple and set it beside Dagon. When the people of Ashdod rose early the next day, there was Dagon, fallen on his face on the ground before the ark of the LORD! They took Dagon and put him back in his place. But the following morning when they rose, there was Dagon, fallen on his face on the ground before the ark of the LORD! His head and hands had been broken off and were lying on the threshold; only his body remained. That is why to this day neither the priests of Dagon nor any others who enter Dagon's temple at Ashdod step on the threshold.
The LORD's hand was heavy upon the people of Ashdod and its vicinity; he brought devastation upon them and afflicted them with tumors. When the men of Ashdod saw what was happening, they said, "The ark of the god of Israel must not stay here with us, because his hand is heavy upon us and upon Dagon our god."
The Philistines were stubborn. You've got to give them that. They believed in many gods, so the God of Israel was just one of many in their minds. They believed that their god, Dagon, was the best, of course. So they carried the ark into their temple and set it at Dagon's feet, their way of showing God who was boss. And the next morning, Dagon had fallen over on his face before the ark! Not to be swayed, they set Dagon back up on his pedestal, only to find him flat on his face again the next morning, this time with a few pieces broken off! Did they deny their pagan god and worship the one true God? Nope. They decided that they'd better just move the ark – thereby moving God – out of the territory. Hard to convince, weren't they?
But you and I are no different. God performs countless miracles, great and small, in our lives every day. And every time He does something wonderful, we're elated. He helps us find a new job, or straightens out a mess with one of our kids, or keeps us from having a wreck, or countless other things that are just what we wanted to happen. And we're on a spiritual high. We've climbed to the top of the spiritual mountain and our faith couldn't get any stronger. Right? Yep – for about 24 hours. Then all of a sudden, things go askew, and we're right back where we were ... walking through a valley of fear and despair, our faith blown out the window like a feather. How many miracles does it take to convince us that God is in control, that He is in charge, and that everything that is happening is according to His purpose?
This is not a new problem. Even the disciples experienced difficulty believing, although they were right there with Jesus every day, witnessing miracle after miracle, walking in His presence, basking in the warmth of His love. Remember what He said to Philip when Philip said, "Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us." I can feel the frustration in the Lord's voice when He responded, "Don't you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you for such a long time?" (John 14:8-9) Jesus was saying, "What is it going to take to convince you?" He says the same thing to you and me today.
