Changing Faces Ministries Podcast
The Value of a Moment
[ Music ] >> Welcome to the Changing Faces Ministries Podcast. If you can see yourself the way God sees you, you will have a changing face. Here is your host, Pastor Jeff Landrum. [ Music ] >> Good morning, good morning, good morning. Want to welcome each and everyone of you to our Changing Faces Ministries Podcast. I'm your Pastor Jeff Landrum. And where we do believe, if you can see yourself the way God sees you, you will have a changing face. Once again, it is another great, great Friday morning that God has given us. And I'm excited and happy to be here with you. And so, so thankful for it. So, I definitely want to take out this opportunity to thank all of our faithful listeners, everyone who comes back every single Friday morning to share with us from all across the world. I mean, you think about it, we've been so tremendously blessed to have you come across, come here every Friday morning. So, we don't take that for granted. We don't take that lightly. So, we want to say thank you. We want to say thank you. And we just ask a favor for you, ask a favor of you. Every chance you get, we ask you to like, share, and support our ministry on all your social media platforms. Just get the good news out there so that other people may hear and get a chance to experience what it is that One Voice is bringing through the Word of God. So, we thank you. We also want to thank One Voice Radio for an awesome opportunity to allow us almost three years. Now, coming back to you every single Friday morning, we don't take that for granted. So, definitely thanks One Voice Radio and the founder of One Voice Radio, Dr. Sam Moore. So, thank you so much for this. So, now that we've gotten that, had a chance to do the thank yous to everyone out there. And hopefully we didn't begin anybody. We want to jump into something that is extremely, extremely important for you, for me. And if truth be told at some point in all of our lives, we have missed this, what we're going to talk about today. And I don't want anybody to miss the moments. I don't want anybody to miss what it is that we're talking about today. So, if you got your pen and piece of paper, I wanted to get a chance to take notes and what we're going to get a chance to share with you today. You know, in life, the moments, whether they're brief moments or expanded moments, it may seem, you know, sometimes moments may seem small while others carries the weight of eternity. You know, moments in our lives, whether it's the birth of a child, whether it's buying your first home, whether it be getting married, moments, things that we don't think about while we have them. But how many of you know, moments can lay the foundation for our lives? You know, having that child, it was a moment. You know, if nine months, a natural childbirth, those moments, you know, and if a natural birth, you know, anywhere from a minute to an hour or however long it takes for the baby to come, those are moments. But it's structured the next 18, 19 years of your life because you got another life that you were raising. That moment when you decided that you wanted to go off to college or you wanted to choose this career, and now it's 30 years later, that moment that you made that decision has structured the rest of your life. That moment you said I do has structured the rest of your life, the moments in our lives, you know, whether they are small or great, they can carry the weight on the eternity of our lives. This story we're gonna talk about today, highlights how moments in a decision, moments of courage and moments of faith can change everything. When faced with the situation that what we're gonna talk about today, these three boys, they stood firm in the moment. In the most critical moment of their life, this moment shaped the rest of their lives. So today we wanna look at the value of a moment and build the example of the three Hebrew boys and how they responded in a most critical moment when everyone had an opportunity to see. This is what I wanna pay attention to. Oftentimes the moments of our lives happen when we're on the world stage. The moments of our lives take place when, you know, it's the most critical. What question is how do you respond in the moments of your life? Do you fold on the pressure or do you stand firm in the moments? And how you stand could determine how other people respond. I'm gonna show you what I mean today in our message today. And this is what we're gonna look at. So if you got your bobs, I want you to turn with me to Daniel chapter three, we're gonna read verses 16 and 18. Daniel chapter three, and we're gonna read verses 16 through 18. And it reads, "Shat rack, me shack, and a bendigo, answered and said to the king. O never connect her. We are not careful to answer D in this matter. If it be so, our God whom we serve, it's able to deliver us from the burning fire of ferns, and he will deliver us out of God hand, O king. But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image without has set up." This moment, this very crucial time in their lives, in this very particular moment of their lives, they have an opportunity to do something great. So today, for a subject, we wanna talk about the value of a moment, the value of a moment. Dear Heavenly Father, God Almighty, we thank you once again that you have allowed us this moment in time to come before you, to share your word, to be in the midst, to be in your presence. Or right now, I ask that you prepare our minds to receive what it is that you have for us today. And right now, Lord, I ask that you remove me, that they hear none of me, but hear all of you, and let your word go forth with power, to make us better than we were before we came. And we will always be so grateful and careful to give you the praise on and glory. In your son, Jesus Christ's name, we do pray. And we all said, amen, the value of a moment. Let's just make the picture of this moment. You got Shat Rack, Meshack, and Abednego. Right now, or in a position to make a decision, because that was a decree went out, that when these sultra sounds and the music is being played, that everyone should bow and give homage to the King and pay their respects to the King to bow down and worship the King. Now, these three boys, they knew that if they didn't bow, they knew what the penalty was for not bowin' down, but because of what they believed and who they believed in, they chose, they would not bow down to the King, like everybody else was doing. Everybody else was giving King payin' the King their respect, but these three boys did not bow down to the King because they only had one true God and he wasn't it. So they wasn't gonna give in to what everybody was doing in the moment and bowin' down and worship the King. The penalty was that anybody who didn't bow down and worship the King was gonna be thrown into the fiery furnace and throw me in, thrown into the fiery furnace, you have an opportunity to lose your life and you can lose your very life in this moment of decision-making to who you gonna serve and who you gonna worship. And I'm here to tell you, they're gonna be moments in time in your life, my life, to what we're gonna have to make a decision, even though it could cost us everything, this very decision we're gonna have to make. We're talking about today the value of a moment. These three boys in this moment that they were faced with, do I bow down like everyone else and give in to what everybody else is doing or do I say faithful to what I believe in and who I believe in, what do you do when you have this moment of your life and you got a decision that you're faced with? How do you handle these decisions? Small or great, how we handle decisions and moments can determine our identity and it could affect other people's lives that are around us. So these three boys in this moment that they're in, do we do like everybody else or do we stand firm in what we believe, even standing firm in what we could believe can cost us our very lives. So what do you do when you're faced and you have that moment of your life? So when we look at these three verses, in verse 16, it says that Hebrew boys, they understood the importance of speaking up in the moment. The boys declared their faith in the moments of challenges are trusting God's ability. In the moments of your life are you are afraid of the moments? Because if truth be told, these boys in the realm or in the moment that they was in had an opportunity to be afraid because they could lose their very life. Sometimes the value of a moment comes when we choose to stand for what is right without hesitation or fear. Moments can test you. The moments of your life can test you. Do you really believe what you say you believe and how much do you believe it? Do you believe it enough that you will and then sacrifice and give your very life in this moment? We're talking about the value of a moment. These three boys in this moment of their time of life that they was in, it became evidence. They were not just hoping for deliverance. They were confidence in God's power. When we value the moments, we show our faith by believing in God's ability to rescue us no matter the circumstances. See, because in this moment, moment is gonna try your faith because they trusted and believed in God. And we know faith is a substance of things hoped for and evidence of things unseen. They hoped and they believed they trusted in God. Trusting in God took them to a point again, thrown in a fiery furnace and just knowing that God is gonna see you through it. In your moments of life, and when you're tried and tested, do you have the belief that despite what it looks like or how it may seem, the God that I say I believe in will see me through? Do you have that kind of faith to believe that in the moment that you're in? It's the, in this moment that they were in, it's the ultimate stance of faith. The boys understood that the outcome was not in their control, but their faithfulness to the God was valuing the moment, means standing firm, even when the results is uncertain. It's a reminder that our loyalty to God is not based on what he does for us, but who he is. I want you to understand that. See, because I'm here to tell you, just because you say and just because you believe in God don't mean that you're not gonna have moments in your life where it's gonna be tested. Do you really believe what you say you believe? Do you really trust and believe in the God that you say you believe in in that moment? Or are you gonna give me in just like everybody else? See, in Noah's days, Noah had a moment to where he can live like everybody else on the world was living. Or in this moment when God came to him and shared a secret with them. Oh, Noah, Noah, Noah, Noah, let me share something with you. I regret the fact that I ever made man. So what I'm gonna do is I'm gonna destroy all of them, but for you and your family, this is what I want you to do. Do you trust in God enough that why everybody else is having fun in that moment of your life? Are you gonna stand firm on what God is sharing with you? Because if you do and God knows you, it says Noah, walk with God. Are you walking close enough with God that he shares a secret with you on what he's about to do? And in him sharing that secret with you in that moment, you trust and believe in that moment. We know Noah trusted and believed in God because it says early in the morning, he got up and started going doing the thing as a God told him to do. But I want you to think about it in that moment of him, in that moment of God sharing with him. He had a decision to make in that moment. In that moment shaped the rest of his life because for over 100 or something years, Noah did what God told him to do. And that in doing what God told him to do, God used him to repopulate the earth. Can God trust you enough in the moments of your life or are you gonna give in just like everybody else? These three boys in this moment that they're in, faced with a decision that could cost them their very life or do I stand and believe in the God that I say I believed in, what are you gonna do? We're talking about the value of a moment. So it's five key things when we start talking about value in a moment. These three boys told King never could never, if it don't be so key, you know, when you look at it, when you look at the diversions, what it says, it says, oh, King, it says, never can neither, never can neither, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, answered and said, oh, King, oh, never can neither. We are not careful to answer D in this matter. 'Cause the King had asked him a question. He says that, you know, when a never can neither ask him a question, it says, I have made but well, but if you worship not, ye shall be cast the same hour into the midst of a burning fire at first. And who is that God that should deliver you out of my hand? Never can neither ask him a question about their God. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answer them and said to the King, oh, never can neither. We are not careful to answer D in this matter. If it be so, our God, whom we serve is able. Look, O King, this moment that I'm faced with of my life, it may look bad from the way you see it, but we ain't gonna ask you the way you want us to ask you. If it be so, just if you gotta do what you gotta do and throw us in that old fire and furnace, and if he don't, he's more than able. The God that we serve is more than able. I'm here to tell you, knowing God and having faith in God doesn't keep you from having to go into trouble, doesn't keep trouble away from you, doesn't keep you out of the fire of life, but knowing God that you trust and you believe in, even if he don't, you got to stand firm and know that he's able. So it's five key things that we wanna talk about and value in the moment. Moments of decision shape our destiny. Moments of decision shape our destiny. The boys could have bowed down to the golden image to save their lives, but the moment they chose faith over compromise. Our decision in critical moments often shaped the trajectory of our spiritual journey. The moments in that moment, they chose faith over compromise. It would've been easy. It would've been easy to give in, to go along to get along. It would've been easy just to do what everybody else was doing and not cause trouble for the king. It would've been easy just to walk along that pathway and do just like everybody else. But I'm here to tell you, when it talks about two roles, a wide road and a narrow road, if you're gonna serve and trust and believe in God, sometimes you're gonna have to, it's gonna cost you some things. It's gonna cost you to things, to go to do what God has called you to do. But our decisions in critical moments can shape the trajectory of our spiritual journey. Moments of decision shape your destiny. We're talking about the value of a moment. Then we're gonna look at the power of immediate faith. The boys didn't wait to see what would happen. They declared their trust in God immediately. There's value in not hesitating when the face with challenges, when we exercise immediate faith, we demonstrate our unwavering trust in God's timing and will. I don't want you to understand that. It says they didn't wait to see what's gonna happen. See, faith is a substance of things hoped for. It's the evidence of things I've seen. They can hope that their stance would keep them from going into fire. That's their hope. But faith says even if he don't, I know he can. Let's look at the story. The three Hebrew boys, they stood affirmed to the God they believed in, but it didn't keep them out of the fire. Their faith allowed them to go into the fire, but allowing them to go into the fire, it allowed them to see God at a whole new level. When you trust and believe in God, it don't keep you out of trouble. It just lets you know that God can come into the trouble that you're in and God can change that situation for your favor because all things we're doing, God should get the glory for it. Now, if God would have kept them out, the other folks wouldn't have the chance to see the glory of God coming to the midst of the furnace. Nebuchadnezzar would not have a chance to see God come into it if they would have kept them out, 'cause it would have may have seemed like a Nebuchadnezzar would have won. But because God didn't keep them out of the fire and allowed them to go in, it was able to see God on a whole new level because God didn't keep you from losing the house, but he kept you from sleeping outdoors, because God didn't keep the lights on. It kept you in the dark, but it allowed you to build trust in a whole new way, because God didn't allow this job to stay open. It closed the door on this, but it allowed you to see opportunities in opening your own business. What I'm here to tell you is, just because he don't keep you out of the fire, don't mean he can't come into it with you and show you him in a whole new way. We have to learn to take immediate action, even though it don't look like what we think it should look like, even though it don't seem like what we should think it should seem like. We have to learn to trust God, even though it don't feel right, don't look right. And it might cause us to go into a fire. We got to know that even going into it, God can go into it with us. And then not only do it affect us, but it's gonna affect everybody around us, because when they thought you was gonna be walking around with your head down when the job closed, you walking around in a better spirit than they are, because God still provided for you, even in the midst of you losing everything that you had, even in the midst of a job closing, even in the midst of everybody walking away from you, God came into the midst of it and he still kept you. We're talking about the valuing of the moment. There's also valuing and not compromising. Valuing the moment sometimes means standing firm in your convictions. Even when everyone else is going the other way, integrity in a moment of pressure glorifies God. What do you do and how do you spend your time when nobody else is looking? What do you do? Or do you still have integrity when nobody else is around? Do you still do the right thing regardless of what? These three boys, nobody would have criticized these three boys if they would have just bowled down like everybody else was doing. But when you know what you know and you know who you know and you understand something about who brought you, who kept you in the midst of all of this other stuff that's going on in the world and in your life, if it had not been for the Lord who was on your side, you wouldn't have what you have, you wouldn't be who you are. So you don't compromise when it's going to get tough. The tough get going. There's a value in not compromising regardless of what it looks like. Regardless of everybody else looking at you and talking about what you're gonna do. Don't compromise. There's a value in the moment. Courage in the moment inspires others. See, there's some time that's gonna come times in your life to where everybody is looking and wondering, what are you gonna do now? You did all that spiritual talk when things are going good. But now things don't look so good. What are you gonna do now? The three boys' courage wasn't just about their own deliverance. It was a witness to all who saw it. I want you to think about that. King never can neither. An unbeliever was moved by their faith. Your and my courage in the face of adversities can inspire those around us and turn harsh to God. When people are watching what you're gonna do and how are you gonna respond? Don't compromise. Don't give in. Stand up for what you believe in, even if it costs you everything. Even if it costs you everything, you must stand for what you believe because somebody else's life can be impacted by what you do. There was a time, and the only perfect one that ever walked the face of this earth in Jesus Christ. In the garden, he said, "If this cup can be removed from me," he said, "Nevertheless, it's not my will. It's the I will be done." That one act, that one moment, where he understood that he was the only one that could save us. He made that nevertheless in our lives, and that's gonna come a time in your life and my life where we're gonna have to say nevertheless. It's not hard. I see it and I want it to happen. It's your will that's gonna be done in this life and in my life. And if it's your will that's gonna be done, I'm gonna trust in you to lead me, guide me, and direct me through these situations and circumstances, even if it hurts, even if it don't feel right, even if I don't like it, because it's not only my life at stake. It's other people's lives at stake as well. And it's maybe somebody looking or watching you at this moment in your life that needed to see you respond in the way that you respond so that their lives may be saved. Every moment brings glory to God. The moment the three boys were thrown into the fire, God showed up in the mist. The value of their moment wasn't just in their survival. It was that God's presence was undeniable in the fire. When we value and seize the moment, God's glory is revealed through our lives. I want you to understand this. We're just talking about a value of a moment. And I want you to think about this. You might say, well, I ain't had none of them moments in my life. What I instruct you to do is just to keep living. There's gonna be a point in time, a moment in your life, whether you're young or whether you're old, you're gonna be faced with points where you're gonna have to make a decision. Do you really truly believe in the God that you say you believe in? Because if you do, it may not only affect you, but it can affect other people around you. These three boys stood firm in the moment that they were facing. And in them standing firm, it turned some hearts and minds of some onlookers. And when those onlookers see, then some things change. Oh, Nebuchadnezzar, an unbeliever, said his heart was moved by what he saw. Because I think it says that he knew that he was only three, that he threw in the fire, but he says when he looked in, he said, not wasn't there three, but why do I see four? And some onlookers could be looking at you and say, I know they just got fired. I know they just lost a job. I know their wife or their husband just walked out on them. I know life ain't going the way they want to do. Why they walking around smile? Giving glory to God. Not all the time the fires in your life are about you. It may be so someone else can be delivered. Which brings me to my closing point. Have you ever seen somebody, you know what it was like or even you? It may well be you talking about this. Anybody who knows me, I'm a very functional person and I always like to be on time. But you got some of those people, they live for that moment. They live for the moment to show up in that moment. They live for the moment. They like to be late. They call it fashionably late. Because they know that if I show up and I'm fashionably late, everybody, all eyes are going to be on me and all eyes are going to be on me so that they can see maybe the clothes that they got on. They can see the hairstyle. They can see the beauty that you have when you come into the room. So what those people do? They wait until the very opportune moment to show up when everybody else is there so that everybody can see and everybody can glory. Everybody can see what it is they got. They can see the outfit, can see the clothes, can see the look. And everybody can be inspired by what they see because they waited until the very opportune moment so that everybody may see. That could be a reason that God hadn't showed up in your situation yet. Because there could be some reason that God hadn't changed turn that situation around. There could be reasons that God hadn't done what you wanted to do when you wanted to do it. There could be reasons if God's God may be waiting until everybody else show up that everybody else can see what he's doing and how he's doing that so their life may be changed so that they can see the glory of the God in your life. God may not keep you out of the fire. God may wait till you go in and when he shows up, it's going to be right on time because God hasn't lived being fashionable late but he just like my grandma's used to say he may not come when you want him but he is always on time. Because God has a way of showing up in the moments of your life so that he and he alone can get the glory. I don't know where you are in your life and I don't know what you got going on here. He's got going on in your life. The only thing I know is that the God I serve, he's never late, he's never early. He is always on time. This could be a moment for you. This could be a moment that is pricking your heart and telling you now in this moment is the right time for you to give your life to the only one that was willing and able to die for you. And if you've never received Christ as your Savior, today will be a perfect opportunity for you to do it. Or if you're here today and you want to become a part of this ministry, whether you're in, in Montgomery or wherever you are in the country or in the world, we would love to hear from you. And we would love to, that you come alongside of us and support us in the ministry and give God the glory for all things. Or if you're here today and you just desire a prayer, we're going to pray for you as we get ready to get out of here today. We're talking about the moments of your life. And keep living. You, me, we, us, we're going to be faced with moments. We're going to have to make a decision. But I wouldn't let it be said that I waited too late because this may be your first moment or this may be your last moment because there's a value in the moment. I want to tell you, and I just want to pray a simple prayer with you. If you're here today and you've never received Christ in the day you want to receive Him, it's very simple. As saying, "Lord, I'm a sinner and I need a Savior and I choose you." Based on what your word of God says, "If I confess with my mouth and believe in my heart that God raised Jesus from the dead, I can be saved." And today, with a clean heart and sincere heart, I pray that prayer to you. And if you just prayed that prayer, I want to say welcome to the family. God bless you and God keep you. And here at Change and Face of Ministries, we do believe that if you can see yourself the way God sees you, you will have a change in faith. God bless you and God keep your eye on prayer. See you again on next Friday, God bless. Thanks for tuning in to the Changing Faces Podcast. Be sure to download the podcast as well as like, subscribe, and share. ♪♪