God of Heaven

It has been incredibly windy the past couple of days. I was out on the baseball field Thursday night and 12-year-old boys were getting blown around on the field. They didn’t have enough weight to keep them still. They needed some weights in their shoes. Yesterday, Josiah and I went and played some golf, and the wind was blowing our golf balls all over the place. That’s the only reason we shot such high scores.

Today, there is another wind that’s blowing, and that’s the wind of doctrine! This wind is blowing and swirling and raging all around. False teachings and beliefs are all around us trying to knock us down, knock us off course, striving to confuse the direction of lives.

Eph 4:14 (ESV) so that we may no longer be…carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes.

There is a safeguard against these winds. We must have a fixed point that will hold us steady when the winds are blowing. We need an anchor point for our lives if we are going to stay on course and stand up against the wind. What is that anchor point?

God is…

You and I must have it settled in our heart and mind that God is over it all. Yes, man makes decisions daily. He makes choices. Some of them for good and some for bad. But over it all is this absolute, this undeniable anchor point that will bring stability to all of life, if we will trust our lives with it. There is a…

• God of heaven: (4 times this phrase is used; 1 time God in heaven)
• Dan 2:18 (ESV) and told them to seek mercy from the God of heavenconcerning this mystery, so that Daniel and his companions might not be destroyed with the rest of the wise men of Babylon.
• Dan 2:19 (ESV) Then the mystery was revealed to Daniel in a vision of the night. Then Daniel blessed the God of heaven.
• Dan 2:28 (ESV) but there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries, and he has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will be in the latter days. Your dream and the visions of your head as you lay in bed are these:
• Dan 2:37 (ESV) You, O king, the king of kings, to whom the God of heaven has given the kingdom, the power, and the might, and the glory,
• Dan 2:44 (ESV) And in the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that shall never be destroyed, nor shall the kingdom be left to another people. It shall break in pieces all these kingdoms and bring them to an end, and it shall stand forever,
• Deu 4:39 (ESV) know therefore today, and lay it to your heart, that the LORD is God in heaven above and on the earth beneath; there is no other.

• God is sovereign over the situation.
• Dan 2:1-16 (ESV) In the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuchadnezzar had dreams; his spirit was troubled, and his sleep left him. [2] Then the king commanded that the magicians, the enchanters, the sorcerers, and the Chaldeans be summoned to tell the king his dreams. So they came in and stood before the king. [3] And the king said to them, “I had a dream, and my spirit is troubled to know the dream.” [4] Then the Chaldeans said to the king in Aramaic, “O king, live forever! Tell your servants the dream, and we will show the interpretation.” [5] The king answered and said to the Chaldeans, “The word from me is firm: if you do not make known to me the dream and its interpretation, you shall be torn limb from limb, and your houses shall be laid in ruins. [6] But if you show the dream and its interpretation, you shall receive from me gifts and rewards and great honor. Therefore show me the dream and its interpretation.” [7] They answered a second time and said, “Let the king tell his servants the dream, and we will show its interpretation.” [8] The king answered and said, “I know with certainty that you are trying to gain time, because you see that the word from me is firm— [9] if you do not make the dream known to me, there is but one sentence for you. You have agreed to speak lying and corrupt words before me till the times change. Therefore tell me the dream, and I shall know that you can show me its interpretation.” [10] The Chaldeans answered the king and said, “There is not a man on earth who can meet the king’s demand, for no great and powerful king has asked such a thing of any magician or enchanter or Chaldean. [11] The thing that the king asks is difficult, and no one can show it to the king except the gods, whose dwelling is not with flesh.” [12] Because of this the king was angry and very furious, and commanded that all the wise men of Babylon be destroyed. [13] So the decree went out, and the wise men were about to be killed; and they sought Daniel and his companions, to kill them. [14] Then Daniel replied with prudence and discretion to Arioch, the captain of the king’s guard, who had gone out to kill the wise men of Babylon. [15] He declared to Arioch, the king’s captain, “Why is the decree of the king so urgent?” Then Arioch made the matter known to Daniel. [16] And Daniel went in and requested the king to appoint him a time, that he might show the interpretation to the king.
• God is the source of the dream that troubled Nebuchadnezzar and stole away his sleep.
• The wise men of Babylon are proven false because they can’t tell the king his dream or give the interpretation.
• Interestingly, the wise men got part of the problem right. Only God could give the dream and the interpretation.
• Nebuchadnezzar is frustrated and possibly fearful.
• The wise men are frustrated and terrified. The situation they just got thrust into is going to end up with them losing their lives and their homes destroyed and their wives and children out destitute on the streets.
• Notice Daniel remains calm in the situation. He responded with prudence and discretion. We might put it this way—“he kept his head.” How does Daniel have the fortitude to remain calm when the captain of the king’s guard has come to haul him off to future execution? Daniel know that no matter the situation—God is the God of heaven and the God of the earth.

• God is sovereign over the solution.
• Dan 2:17-23 (ESV) Then Daniel went to his house and made the matter known to Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, his companions, [18] and told them to seek mercy from the God of heaven concerning this mystery, so that Daniel and his companions might not be destroyed with the rest of the wise men of Babylon. [19] Then the mystery was revealed to Daniel in a vision of the night.Then Daniel blessed the God of heaven. [20] Daniel answered and said: “Blessed be the name of God forever and ever, to whom belong wisdom and might. [21] He changes times and seasons; he removes kings and sets up kings; he gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding; [22] he reveals deep and hidden things; he knows what is in the darkness, and the light dwells with him. [23] To you, O God of my fathers, I give thanks and praise, for you have given me wisdom and might, and have now made known to me what we asked of you, for you have made known to us the king’s matter.”
• Prayer is to be a pattern of our life. Not just a response to a problem.
• God gave the dream, and he was the only one who could give the answer.
• If God is over every situation, then he is over every solution.
• There is a way that God would want us to go about life.
• Pause and think about a particular situation you are in right now. Could be the kids. Could be work. Could be your heath. Now ask yourself—does God speak to your situation in his word. Has he revealed the solution, much like he revealed the mystery of the king’s dream to Daniel?

• What does Daniel reveal about how to deal with all of life’s situations?
• God is eternal. He is not changed by the changing times.
• God owns wisdom. He knows what to do in every moment of life. Will we choose to seek him for every moment or will just wait for the moments when life seems to ask the impossible? (tell me my dream!)
• God owns power. Do we really believe God is able for every moment?
• Since God owns wisdom, he is able to give it to everyone who seeks it from him.
• Jas 1:5-6 (ESV) If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. [6] But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind.
• God made known to Daniel the impossible. The situation was impossible for the wise men because they were not relying on the one true God. Daniel did rely on him and God told him the dream and the interpretation, the meaning of the dream!
• God is sovereign over every situation in life. God is sovereign over every solution in life. He is the solution!
• When you feel like you are in the dark, that life is a mystery—turn to the Lord. Light dwells with him!

Life Group Discussion Guide:

• How does knowing that God is “God of heaven” give you an anchor point for your life?
• How does that truth affect your viewpoint of the “situations” in your life?
• Why does prayer need to be a pattern of life and not just a response to a problem?
• Read Daniel 2:20-23. How do the truths revealed about God shape how you look for solutions in life?