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July 28, 2002
Denial is Not a River in Egypt!
Step 2 Message
Speaker: Jimmy Lee
Daniel 4:19-33 (NASB)
19"Then Daniel, whose name is Belteshazzar, was appalled
for a while as his thoughts alarmed him. The king responded and said,
'Belteshazzar, do not let the dream or its interpretation alarm you.'
Belteshazzar replied, 'My lord, if only the dream applied to those who
hate you and its interpretation to your adversaries! 20'The
tree that you saw, which became large and grew strong, whose height reached
to the sky and was visible to all the earth 21and whose foliage
was beautiful and its fruit abundant, and in which was food for all, under
which the beasts of the field dwelt and in whose branches the birds of
the sky lodged—22 it is you, O king; for you have become
great and grown strong, and your majesty has become great and reached
to the sky and your dominion to the end of the earth. 23'In
that the king saw an angelic watcher, a holy one, descending from heaven
and saying, "Chop down the tree and destroy it; yet leave the stump
with its roots in the ground, but with a band of iron and bronze around
it in the new grass of the field, and let him be drenched with the dew
of heaven, and let him share with the beasts of the field until seven
periods of time pass over him," 24this is the interpretation,
O king, and this is the decree of the Most High, which has come upon my
lord the king: 25that you be driven away from mankind and your
dwelling place be with the beasts of the field, and you be given grass
to eat like cattle and be drenched with the dew of heaven; and seven periods
of time will pass over you, until you recognize that the Most High is
ruler over the realm of mankind and bestows it on whomever He wishes.
26'And in that it was commanded to leave the stump with the
roots of the tree, your kingdom will be assured to you after you recognize
that it is Heaven that rules. 27'Therefore, O king, may my
advice be pleasing to you: break away now from your sins by doing righteousness
and from your iniquities by showing mercy to the poor, in case there may
be a prolonging of your prosperity.'
28"All this happened to Nebuchadnezzar the king. 29"Twelve
months later he was walking on the roof of the royal palace of Babylon.
30"The king reflected and said, 'Is this not Babylon the
great, which I myself have built as a royal residence by the might of
my power and for the glory of my majesty?' 31"While the
word was in the king's mouth, a voice came from heaven, saying, 'King
Nebuchadnezzar, to you it is declared: sovereignty has been removed from
you, 32and you will be driven away from mankind, and your dwelling
place will be with the beasts of the field. You will be given grass to
eat like cattle, and seven periods of time will pass over you until you
recognize that the Most High is ruler over the realm of mankind and bestows
it on whomever He wishes.' 33"Immediately the word concerning
Nebuchadnezzar was fulfilled; and he was driven away from mankind and
began eating grass like cattle, and his body was drenched with the dew
of heaven until his hair had grown like eagles' feathers and his nails
like birds' claws.
Examples of denial:
· Minimizing
· Generalizing
· Dodging
· Blame shifting
How do we move out of denial and into God’s grace?
Three illusions we need to be made aware of…
1. The illusion of strength (Verses 20-22)
2. The illusion of wealth (Verse 27)
3. The illusion of control (Verse 30)
Steps to progress…
· Recognize that God is God and we are NOT
· See that our ‘stump-like, rock-bottom experiences’
are opportunities to reconcile with God.
· Open up!
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