When we take a stand for the Lord on principle, even non-Christians are impressed. Do you know why? Because courage and conviction are in short supply these days. In a world of compromise and moral ambiguity, Pastor Greg Laurie believes we will never go wrong if scripture is our guide.
Greg speaks on the importance of following God’s consistent, unchanging standard for how we live in his message, Dream On. It is the most fulfilling path since it leads to a life of character and conviction. You can’t go wrong if you put God and the principles of Scripture first in your life.
We know there’s going to be a lot of conflict in the future, but ultimately there will be peace when Christ comes back and establishes his Kingdom. How will this all end? That is what’s revealed in the book of Daniel. It’s a powerful book that gives us an overview of human history.
God Is In Control
‘It also gives us a penetrating look into our future as well,’ says Greg. ‘And because Daniel was writing about his future, which happens to be our past, we can see how accurate he is because Daniel predicted the success of kingdoms that would come after him. We can see the prophet was 100% accurate.’
The Bible is the one book that dares to predict the future, and there’s so much we learn in the book of Daniel. We follow the kingdoms of the world, right up to the Antichrist. It’s a reminder to us that God is in control of what is happening in the world. God is sovereign over the affairs and leaders of nations.
‘The parallel to the book of Daniel would be the book of Revelation,’ says Greg. ‘You can’t really understand Revelation without a good understanding of Daniel. We learn how to identify the tactics of the devil and overcome them. We also learn how angels are actively involved in the life of every believer.’
Daniel tells us how to live a Godly life in an ungodly place. What are we supposed to do in light of the fact that Christ is coming back? A great answer is given to us in Romans 13. It tells us what we should be focussed on these critical days. And we have a wonderful example of that also in Daniel.
‘Israel was conquered by Babylon because they kept turning to false gods and idols,’ says Greg. ‘The Lord warned them and they ignored it. Nebuchadnezzar desired to seduce Daniel, along with his young friends. But he did not understand that these boys had character.’
Live a Godly Life
Non-believers are always hoping Christians will mess up. They want to see us be hypocrites because then they don’t have to be uncomfortable with the message we proclaim. When you live a Godly life, you stand in your principles and treat people with love and kindness. It drives others like Nebuchadnezzar, insane.
‘That was certainly happening with Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego,’ says Greg. ‘They refused to bow down before the golden image of the king. This is a principled stand they were making on their faith in God. When you take a stand for the Lord on principle, even non-Christians are impressed.’
When we make our stand for what is true, God will bless us. A little with God is better than much without Him. Daniel held his ground to the very end. He remained there until the first year of King Cyrus. Daniel had been in a place of influence for 50 years, and no one had a bad word to say about him.
‘The torch of the gospel must be passed from generation to generation,’ says Greg. ‘Because every generation needs to hear it. Daniel was that man in his day. There will be other men and women that God will raise at the right time.’
‘That’s why we all need to make our stand for Christ.’
