Cool in the Furnace

I touched on this a little earlier…but I felt like I should go into more detail. The story occurs in Daniel Chapter 1-3. Where Shadrach, Meshac, and Abed-nego were being faithful to God yet being chastised for it. They did nothing wrong, yet they suffered severe consequences because they would not bow down to Nebuchadnezzar and worship him. Because of their extreme faith, they were thrown into the furnace. But Nebuchadnezzar was so pissed, he ordered the fire to be seven times as hot as normal. It was so hot that the guards throwing the three into the furnace were killed. So after they were thrown in, Nebuchadnezzar looked into the furnace and saw not just three men in the furnace but a fourth one as well. The fourth was Christ in the midst of the fire next to three. Nebuchadnezzar ordered them out and not a hair on the head was singed, nor their clothes damaged. I told you earlier that God told me two weeks ago that a fire would be coming. I was able to prepare, like Shadrach, Meshac, and Abednego were able to prepare. They fasted…and God called me to a fast as well. Thus when the flames hit this week, yesterday and today, Im as prepared as they were. The flames of adversity are not hitting me, not even a singe. I have more peace now in the midst of the flames than I did last week when everything was going great. God is walking by me side by side protecting me from the after-effects of the fire. Im not being injured, emotionally or psychologically speaking, in fact, Im thriving in the furnace. It doesn’t make sense, but the last four years haven’t made sense. How can so much negativity and unjustness happen to a person, yet he still maintains his peace and joy? In the natural it doesn’t compute…but I’m living above a natural plane, Im in a supernatural experience, and that is the difference. It doesn’t make sense but the hotter the flames get, the more my peace and joy become. Christ is next to me in the furnace, just like he was next to Shadrach, Meshac and Abednego. I shudder to think how I’d react to the adversity if I wasn’t living my life right. Im very very thankful. I think one of the reasons why God prompts me to go into so much detail on this blog, and be so personal is so that He can shine his glory through me. He is using me in ways I’ve never even imagined. If I can make it through…anyone can.

Today was a very busy day at work. Did I use that word..Busy? I guess I did. I had to be extremely focused as Im under some pretty tight deadlines. I had several meetings today, and several projects that needed to be initiated. I was able to stay calm under pressure and had a very productive day. In fact, I got a last minute call to meet with the managing director of a huge electrical engineering firm. That sales meeting went very well as I think we’re going to get a big contract out of it.

We had the positive living group tonight. There were only three of us as my Muslim friends are still enjoying their Ramadan Iftar feasts. They told me they would rejoin after Ramadan. Tonight Joel’s message was “Favor has been released to your future.” I was at Lakewood the week that was recorded. I remember the sermons by the jokes Joel tells at the beginning of his message. It was all about how God’s favor will track you down no matter where you are and what you are doing. It’s the prosperity doctrine. This causes a lot of controversy amongst even Christian believers. They don’t adhere to that philosophy and criticize Osteen because of it. But having God’s favor track you down has happened to me so many times in my life, even now. Im a total living testimony to the first part of Deuteronomy 28. After the video, we discussed it. Nearing the end of the discussion, Catherine, an older German lady, spoke up and said is that really true? Does God’s favor really find you that way? She didn’t even finish her sentence when I got a phone call. It was a 212 area code, so I figured I should answer it if its from New York. On the other end of the line was a guy named Shawn Edwards. Shawn is the guy who founded URfilez.com, that is the Middle East equivalent of Itunes. This guy is a big deal. Shawn and I had met before (read back in the blog a few months). He is a very sharp individual and we come from similar circumstances. We are both around 40, both good looking (Ha…) both worked in Hollywood at the same time, both moved to the Middle East to try things that had never been done here before, and both married girls from Oklahoma (Well it worked for awhile). So we connected. He has been following the Funniest Person in Bahrain from afar. He tells me that he is connected with a state of the art facility in Abu Dhabi (near Dubai) in the United Arab Emirates, and has access to financing. Would I know how to develop content for this region. Hello….that’s what I did in LA for 10 years. So we are supposed to talk when he gets back to Bahrain next week. But this could be big big big. Im supposed to send him my proposals, treatments, and trailers. So I hung up the phone and I said…yes…it is true Catherine God’s favor really does find you that way.

It’s cool in the furnace.