The Blazed Trail Podcast

Take every thought captive

Urged to respond based upon my emotions, I remembered this verse, “take every thought captive”, 2 Corinthians 10:5. We are to examine each thought that races through our minds and look at it with intent. I notice why I feel this way and ask myself, does this response please the person or please me? Emotions are good indicators of how our hearts feel but reacting without examining them can be destructive instead of constructive.

“Emotions are like toddlers, they’re fun, but you wouldn’t put them in charge.” Mama Bear Apologetics

God’s counsel

Another verse that comes to mind, when I think about how to appropriately respond based on my emotion is: “count others more significant than yourselves”, Philippians 2:3. Do my emotions want to prove my own right or show love for others? More often than not, we skip the step of quieting ourselves and asking the question WHY? Why do these feelings bubble up so strongly? We need the Word of God, the Bible, to inform, instruct and counsel. To make us wise in our emotionally driven lives.

I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go;I will counsel you with my eye upon you.Psalm 32:8

Poem

Photo by Kat Jayne from Pexels

Emotions are high and low, but they don’t run the show.Emotions are up and down, but I still stand my ground.Indicators of the mind, what my heart lies behind.I must take the time to stop, so the wisdom can drop.I take every thought captive, so I am adaptive.Living well with Christ in me, obedience is key.

We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ.2 Corinthians 10:5

God gave me a dream about the importance of wearing proper footwear. I hope it inspires and gives you hope like it did for me too!

The dream:

Photo by Debora Cardenas on Unsplash

Whilst in the water, I looked down at my feet and I was wearing footwear. I asked my surfing instructor, “why am I wearing shoes on a surfboard, don’t most people go barefoot”? The instructor replied, “yes, but this will help you have traction and stability on the board”.

Dream Interpretation

After I wrote down my dream I prayed and asked the Lord for its meaning. Then I started thinking about spiritual warfare and the armour of God. So I read Ephesians 6:10-17 and came across verse 15 about our feet being “fitted with the readiness that comes from gospel of peace”. Reflecting upon my dream, the obvious factor are surfers don’t wear shoes so the symbolism in that came obvious to me. I have allowed the waves of fear and worry to push me off my “board” or path. Instead I need to be stable in my faith, with gospel fitted footwear, so I can ride the waves instead of letting them crash over me.

It’s all about the proper footwear

Whenever I embark on a new sport or outdoor activity my first reaction is, “what’s the proper footwear”? I want to excel at what I am learning and not waste my time with improper gear. For example, I know what my feet need in a shoe to perform well on the basketball court because of my years of experience. But when my husband introduced me to rock climbing I had no clue what my feet needed. Turns out rock climbing shoes are a lot LESS comfortable than a cushioned basketball sole. However, the tight fit of a rock climbing shoe was important in manoeuvring up and around a rock wall. Proper footwear doesn’t always seem comfortable at first, but with trust in its purpose it can help maximize performance.

Spiritual proper footwear

As Christians we need to have this same mentality when we walk in our faith. Are we wearing the proper footwear to best suit our spiritual quest? When we read Ephesians 6:10-17 we learn about the armour of God. As part of the armour of God, footwear is part of the spiritual gear.

“…with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.”Ephesians 6:15

My faith is in the Gospel of peace because then I am protected, supported and able to stand strong. I’m agile in my faith – ready to move in any direction. I fasten up my gospel shoes each morning because I know Jesus is the peace I stand on. Fully prepared and ready to move so wherever I go I can share the good news. I trust in the purpose of the Gospel and fasten it under my feet to be ready for anything that shakes my path.

Unlike buying a shoe at a store,

Daniel was wise

Daniel, a God fearing man, devoted to the faith but serving in a palace that defiled God with certain practices. What struck me about Daniel was his wisdom in how he got out of these types of practices. For example, through his good judgment and communication skills Daniel’s wisdom came from how he conversed with the kings officials. He never argued or rebelled when the officials told him what he had to do. Instead he simply spoke to them in wisdom and tact by offering other solutions to their assertions.

Daniel chapter 1 – wise with the king’s officials.

Daniel and the other wise men went through significant training prior to serving the King. During their training one aspect was to eat off the King’s table of meat and wine, supposedly to make them healthy and strong. However to Daniel, and Israelite customs, eating this way was sinful and dishonouring to God. Why? Well, the king’s food offered the first portion of the slaughtered meat to idols and a portion of the wine to a pagan altar. Since Daniel never made exceptions that trumped serving God, he presented another option to only eat vegetables and water instead. He created a test for 10 days to only eat his way and after the ten days the king’s officials were to judge his health and strength. Instead of letting his feelings of fear and emotions of worry dictate his decisions, Daniel used wisdom to solve problems.

“Please test your servants for ten days: Give us nothing but vegetables to eat and water to drink. Then compare our appearance with that of the young men who eat the royal food, and treat your servants in accordance with what you see.” So he agreed to this and tested them for ten days.At the end of the ten days they looked healthier and better nourished than any of the young men who ate the royal food. So the guard took away their choice food and the wine they were to drink and gave them vegetables instead.Daniel 1:12-16

Wisdom in conflict

Proverbs 3:7, “Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord and shun evil”. This was Daniel… nothing feared him more than his fear for the Lord. He did not allow what he could SEE stop him from believing in what God saw. More importantly, He knew what God saw by believing in His law and making choices based on his knowledge of Him.

Similarly to Daniel’s situation Jesus also faced what he could not eat, which would have defiled His own beliefs in God. The Devil tempted Jesus with bread to trick Him into serving His immediate satisfaction rather than His eternal one.

Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.” Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.” Matthew 4:1-4

How did Jesus combat the devil… He did it with scripture, the ultimate truth. Wisdom speaks truth and asks, what does the Bible say about this?

What wisdom looks like for us

Daniel, known for his outstanding gifts in language and literature brought about favour from the kings. However, he never took credit for the gift of wisdom he had.

Daniel was Humble

Daniel always gave God the credit because he knew giving God the glory was more important than receiving his own. This is true humility; recognizing God’s power above our own.

Daniel chapter two – King Nebuchadnezzar’s dream.

During the reign of King Nebuchadnezzar, Daniel was facing his possible death once again. The King had a dream that troubled him greatly. So much so that he couldn’t sleep. So he needed an interpretation but no wise man that he summoned (aka: magician, enchanter, sorcerer and astrologer) could give it to him. Instead they said, “what the king asks is too difficult. No one can reveal it to the king except the gods, and they do not live among humans” (Daniel 2:11). This response made the King so furious that he ordered a new decree that all wise men be put to death – this included Daniel and his friends (Daniel 2:12-13).

Once Daniel heard about the new decree he asked the King for time, so that he might interpret the dream for him (Daniel 2:16). Daniel at the time had no clue what the interpretation was, but he knew God did. So he urged his friends to pray with him. Through their unity as believers they humbled their hearts to God and pleaded for His mercy (Daniel 2:18). And God answered…

God answers their prayer.

During the night the mystery was revealed to Daniel in a vision. Then Daniel praised the God of heaven and said: “Praise be to the name of God for ever and ever; wisdom and power are his. He changes times and seasons; he deposes kings and raises up others. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the discerning. He reveals deep and hidden things; he knows what lies in darkness, and light dwells with him. I thank and praise you, God of my ancestors: You have given me wisdom and power, you have made known to me what we asked of you, you have made known to us the dream of the king. Daniel 2:19-23

Humility recognizes that when we are weak GOD, the HERO of HEROES, is strong!

Psalm 73:26, “My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.” We need to focus on God’s strength working in us and humbly approach Him in midst of our own trials like Daniel.

After Daniel received the interpretation from the Lord he praised Him for it. Then he approached the man in charge of the execution and essentially says, “STOP, I CAN INTERPRET THE KING’S DREAM!” (I imagine him yelling this as it was probably an intense moment). Then Daniel sees the King…

The King asked Daniel, “are you able to interpret this dream for me?” Daniel replied, “no wise man, enchanter, magician or diviner can explain to the king the mystery he has asked about, but there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries…” .. Daniel 2:27-28

In verse 28, Daniel could have taken the credit to impress the King by s...

Who’s the Hero of Heroes?

In the book of Daniel, we learn about Daniel – a devoted man of God who served in the palace among other highly esteemed men (Daniel 1:3-6). He served different types of kings in his lifetime. God gifted him with favour and the ability to interpret all kinds of visions and dreams. Known for his outstanding abilities, handsome good looks (Daniel 1:4), wisdom and courage – Daniel had it all! He’s a hero! But when we read about Daniel we see that the true HERO of HEROES was God working through him.

Daniel’s faith – the lions den.

King Darius was reigning in this time and he liked Daniel very much due to his exceptional abilities. So the King wanted to appoint Daniel to the highest position in the kingdom. When the administrators and governors heard about this they were jealous because he had such favour with the King. So they wanted to find him guilty of something but knew Daniel wasn’t guilty of anything. So they had to get crafty..

…the administrators and the governors tried to find grounds for charges against Daniel in his conduct of government affairs, but they were unable to do so. They could find no corruption in him, because he was trustworthy and neither corrupt nor negligent. Finally these men said, “We will never find any basis for charges against this man Daniel unless it has something to do with the law of his God.”Daniel 6:4-5

So these administrators and governors went as a group to the king and said:

“May King Darius live forever! The royal administrators, prefects, advisers and governors have all agreed that the king should issue an edict and enforce the decree that anyone who prays to any god or human being during the next thirty days, except to you, Your Majesty, shall be thrown into the lions’ den.  Now, Your Majesty, issue the decree and put it in writing so that it cannot be altered—in accordance with the law of the Medes and Persians, which cannot be repealed.” So King Darius put the decree in writing.Daniel 6:6-9

The men knew how devoted Daniel was to God. So they easily caught him praying as he normally did. With the new decree in place, King Darius had no choice but to throw him into the lions den. But THIS is the redemption story…

The Lord rescues Daniel, the Hero of heroes.

An angel of the Lord came to rescue Daniel by shutting the mouths of the lions. When the King approached the lions den – Daniel answered him…

“May the king live forever! My God sent his angel, and he shut the mouths of the lions. They have not hurt me, because I was found innocent in his sight. Nor have I ever done any wrong before you, Your Majesty.” The king was overjoyed and gave orders to lift Daniel out of the den. And when Daniel was lifted from the den, no wound was found on him, because he had trusted in his God.Daniel 6:21-23

The Hero of Heroes – Jesus.

Since we are focusing on the hero of heroes,