Today, we start off with a question to get you thinking.  What is it like for you to be a Christian?  What has been your experience?  I want to see if you connect with one of six possible Christian experiences.  Nothing scientific.  These may not apply to you.  Ready?

First.  Do you feel like you are trying to be a good person?   Some days are good.  Some days are not so good.  And you have noticed that over time, when it comes to religion, you feel tired and guilty because you realize you will never be enough.  Your Christian experience is that there is a standard to live up to; you miss that standard, and it wears you out.

Second.  Do you feel like you are struggling to add religious things to your already busy life?  You haven’t reprioritized your life around God; instead, you have tried to add religious activity, like church, bible reading, and prayer, to your already busy life.   It leaves you feeling like church stuff is hard because there is too much to do in your busy life, you can’t get it all done.  Your Christian experience is that Christianity is a struggle.

Third.  Do you feel like it’s a secret?  No one knows you are a Christian.  You believe in God, you love God, but you are nervous to talk about your belief in God.  It leads you to feel bad about yourself because you wish you had more courage.   Your Christian experience is timid, maybe even fearful.

Fourth.  Do you feel like you believe in God, but you aren’t comfortable with surrender?  It kinda scars you to fully surrender because you wonder, ‘What will God want me to change?’   So, you stay close enough to feel good but far enough away not to get involved.  Your Christian experience is being comfortable doing the least possible.   

Fifth.  Do you feel like it’s something you were born into as a kid, and now it’s a routine?  You may feel like you are high on knowledge and low on passion.  Maybe you know who you should be, but somewhere along your life, you tapped out.  That means you have settled into going through the motions. Your Christian experience can be described as ‘pushing through’ while at the same time feeling mature because you have been around Christianity since you were a kid.

Sixth.  Do you feel like it's something that has completely changed your life?  God’s grace has transformed how you view yourself, how you treat others, and how you live.  For you, Christianity is easy.  You’re not perfect, and you are very aware of your issues, but loving God is easy.  Talking about God is easy.  And you wish everyone could experience God’s grace like you have.   Your Christian experience is real because you live with courage that comes from knowing God deeply loves you.

I want you to ask yourself, ‘What has been my Christian experience?’  I ask because today we read about Daniel’s experience.  

Daniel 6:6 So the administrators and high officers went to the king and said, “Long live King Darius! 7 We are all in agreement - we administrators, officials, high officers, advisers, and governors - that the king should make a law that will be strictly enforced. Give orders that for the next thirty days any person who prays to anyone, divine or human - except to you, Your Majesty - will be thrown into the den of lions. 8 And now, Your Majesty, issue and sign this law so it cannot be changed, an official law of the Medes and Persians that cannot be revoked.” 9 So King Darius signed the law. 

10 But when Daniel learned that the law had been signed, he went home and knelt down as usual in his upstairs room, with its windows open toward Jerusalem. He prayed three times a day, just as he had always done, giving thanks to his God. NLT

Do you see that line, ‘…knelt down as usual …just as he had always done, giving thanks to his God’?   This means, even when Daniel faced death, it was normal for Daniel to pray, have courage, and be grateful.   It’s how he lived.  It wasn’t unusual.  If you knew Daniel, this is what you expected from him.  Every day, he prayed.  Lived with courage.  And was grateful.  And when he faced death, it didn’t change him; Daniel did what he always did.  We call this faith and character.

Please note, I didn’t say Daniel did this now and then.  I didn’t say that Daniel only did this when bad things happened.  I didn’t say after Daniel had a ‘me day’, social media time, then he gave his leftover time to God.  I didn’t say that Daniel prayed less or more based on how bad things were.   No, Daniel did this every day.  He was consistent.  It was normal.  He prayed.   Lived with courage.  And was grateful.

What can we learn from Daniel’s experience?  Daniel consistently placed his life in God’s hands, regardless of his circumstances.   In this entire Bible study of Daniel, I think these verses explain how Daniel thrived, not just survived, through the trials of his life.  He consistently gave his life to God regardless of his circumstances.  Even if it meant facing death.

Is this your Christian experience?  Do you place your life in God’s hands every day?  And do you do this regardless of what happens around you?  If the people you lived with were interviewed, they would say, ‘Yeah, they consistently pray, they are the most courageous and grateful people we know.’

Living like this has been a struggle for me.  Why?  Because I wanted to give my life to God, while at the same time, I wanted to control my life.  Can you connect with that?  I wanted to fully surrender my life to God, but I also expected health, wealth, and happiness.  And throw in success and comfort.  And if anything threatened my perfect life, I didn’t know what to do.   I felt stress and anxiety.  I got serious with God and prayed more and more.   I prayed that God would forgive me and be with me.  I prayed that God would remove my pain.  I felt miserable.  I wasn’t very grateful.  I tried to hide that I was angry.  And in all my struggle, do you know what I discovered?  I discovered that all my turmoil was because I didn’t want to give control to God and relax.  I was demanding that life look the way I wanted it to look.  I wasn’t consistently giving my life to God regardless of my circumstances.

What do we learn from Daniel?  If you want to thrive, not just survive, through the trials of life, give control to God every day, regardless of your circumstances.  How?  Pray, live with courage, and be grateful.

Now, let’s slow down and think about this.  Do you think that's normal for North American Christians?  I don’t think it is.  Our greatest struggle, as Christians in North America, is that we have been blessed by God.   And because we have been blessed by God, we struggle to see our need for God.  That makes sense, right?  We aren’t crying out to God for food.  We aren’t crying out to God for safety.  We don’t have the internal stress of survival to ‘need’ God or to ‘pursue’ God.  Why?  We have already been blessed by God, so we look at our lives and think, I don’t need God.   Yes, we know we need God in a generic sense.  But we don’t need God to move on our behalf by lunch.  In general, what I’m about to say may not apply to you, but our prayers are prayers that basically tell God how He can make our lives look the way we want them to look.  It leaves our Christian experience to be passive.  Does this make sense?

Please understand I am talking about the North American church when I say, in general, and this may not apply to you, they struggle to pray.   They report, they act cowardly in living out their faith.  And they report that they are miserable or just going through the motions. We have been so blessed; we haven’t a clue about the cost of what it means to be a Christian in this world.  I’m not trying to be edgy or offensive, but would you agree with me that the Christians in North America struggle to pray?  They act cowardly?  And they report, they feel miserable, or are just pushing through?

I want to share with you what is being reported about Christianity in the world today.  This past year has been the most violent against Christians.  

The organization Open Door reports, more than 380 million Christians around the world now face high levels of persecution and discrimination for their faith (up by 15 million from last year’s figure of 365 million) – a record number, representing one in seven Christians worldwide (up from one in eight four years ago). It’s an increase of a staggering 140 million since 2018.

For a better understanding of what it means to be a Christian in our world today, I want to share this video.

Let’s watch this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J5iCoD9OREQ 

How do you think the Christians in those top ten countries of persecution and death would be if they could move to America today?  They probably would be passionately prayerful people.  Probably the most courageous people we have ever met.  Probably unbelievably, over the top, grateful.

So why can’t we live like this?  Because we have been blessed by God.  We don’t live in the reality that we need God.  And because we have been blessed by God, we don’t see our need of God.  And because we don’t see our need for God, it leaves our Christian experience to be passive.  And many Christians report, I feel miserable, or I am just pushing through.

What do we need?  We need to make a choice and do something.   We need to build our faith and character.  Like a muscle in your body, if you want it to be strong and developed, you must build it, stretch it, and stress it.  No muscle in your body will ever become stronger as you sit home scrolling or binge-watching.  It’s the same thing spiritually.  Your spiritual muscles, your faith and character, are only built up when you make a choice and do something.  If you don’t, if you play it safe all the time, your spiritual muscles, your faith and character, will become weaker and weaker.  Your relationships, weaker.  Your emotions, weaker.  There will be no spiritual maturity.  This is common sense, right?  If you don’t use your spiritual muscles, you won’t develop your spiritual muscles.  

What becomes our Christian experience?  We become church consumers.  We expect others to make church bigger, better, and more exciting for us.  We do less, and think others need to do more.   We are stagnant.  We complain.  We push through religious activities.  We don’t have time to go deeper with God in discipleship.  Like a toddler, we expect others to care for us, inspire us, and make things fun for us.  Our entire Christian experience becomes passive and based on our feelings.

I want you to see this scripture.

2 Timothy 3:1 In the last days it is going to be very difficult to be a Christian. 2 For people will love only themselves …and prefer good times to worshiping God. 5 They will go to church, yes, but they won’t really believe anything they hear. Don’t be taken in by people like that. TLB

Doesn’t that sound like today?  

Do you know how you develop your spiritual muscles, your faith and character?  You make a choice to do something.  And if that makes you feel icky or scared, that’s just your immaturity begging you not to do anything.  So, with feelings of being icky and with feelings of fear, you do it anyway.  It’s called courage.  And then you keep doing it until it’s normal.  That’s how you spiritually develop your muscles of faith and character.   It’s how you grow up and become stronger.  One of the most interesting things I have seen over the years is the assumption that God will change me automatically; I don’t have to do anything.  God can, but that’s not normal.  

I want to share a quote with you.

No man is born either naturally or supernaturally with character; he has to make character. Nor are we born with habits; we have to form habits on the basis of the new life God has put into us.

– Oswald Chambers

To close, I want you to make four decisions with no apologies.  Four decisions that require you to build your spiritual muscles and grow in your faith and character.  

First.  Decide to live in reality.  

Ephesians 6:12 This is no weekend war that we’ll walk away from and forget about in a couple of hours. This is for keeps, a life-or-death fight to the finish against the Devil and all his angels. MSG

We aren’t in heaven, and until we are, we will live in a world with sin and evil.  Why do bad things happen?  Why is life a struggle?  Because we live in a world with sin and evil.  Scripture is so clear, we should expect a life of struggle in this world.  That’s reality.

We have brothers and sisters living in the top ten countries of persecution and death.  Pray for those who are persecuted and killed for their faith.   Why?  They need your prayers, and we need perspective.  We must live in reality.  And remember, nothing you are asked to do in North America will compare to what Christians around the world are going through.  And it is only through the grace of God, we don’t face persecution or death for following Jesus.  This perspective will change everything in your life.  Pray, pray, pray for your Christian brothers and sisters in this world.   Decide to live in reality.

Second.  Decide today to give your life to God.

1 John 2:16 For the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see, and pride in our achievements and possessions. These are not from the Father, but are from this world. 17 And this world is fading away, along with everything that people crave. But anyone who does what pleases God will live forever. NLT

Regardless of what is happening around you, like Daniel, fully surrender your life to God and relax in that.   I didn’t say that it would be easy.   I didn’t say you will have health, wealth, and success.  I said, regardless of your circumstances, fully surrender your life to God and relax in that.  Remember, chances are, most of your stress and anxiety about life are probably from not wanting to give God control and demanding that life look the way you want it to look.  

Third.  Decide to pray, live in courage, and be grateful.

Revelations 21:6 I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To the thirsty I will give water without cost from the spring of the water of life. 7 Those who are victorious will inherit all this, and I will be their God and they will be my children. 8 But the cowardly, the unbelieving, …they will be consigned to the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death. NIV

Your faith and character, like a muscle, aren’t things that grow automatically.  They only grow in you when you make the choice to go after those things.  No more excuses.  We pray.   We live in courage.  And remember, courage comes with feelings of icky, and feelings of fear.  That icky feeling, that feeling of fear, comes from your immaturity begging you not to do anything.  And be grateful every day.  These are spiritual choices that grow your faith and character.

Are you married?  Be amazing in that marriage.  Are you working?  Be amazing where you work.  Are you retired?  Be amazing in retirement.  Are you a friend?  Be an amazing friend.  Are you are parent?  Be an amazing parent.  Are you a Christian?  If you don’t use your spiritual muscles, you won’t develop your spiritual muscles.  Right where you are, in the circumstances of your life, live it out.  Grow your faith and character.

Fourth.  Decide to advance God’s kingdom through the local church.    

1 Corinthians 12:27 You are Christ’s body - that’s who you are! You must never forget this. Only as you accept your part of that body does your “part” mean anything. MSG

There is no greater purpose in life than joining God and His body in His mission to redeem people.   There is a reason God built His church, His body, on earth.  There is a reason you were invited to be a part of it.  There is a reason we make His church a priority in loving, attending, giving, serving, and growing.  It’s where we spiritually come to life.  It’s where we learn to grow up in faith and character.  It’s where we join with others to share God’s grace with visitors.

What is your other option?   Be a North American Christian consumer.   Do less while expecting others to do more.  Complain.   Blame others for the decisions you won’t make.  Expect others to make your church bigger, better, and more exciting.  Don’t go deeper into discipleship.  Please hear me, that is a miserable way to live.  No spiritual growth.  It requires no faith or character.  Remember, if you don’t use your spiritual muscles, you won’t develop your spiritual muscles.  

Listen to these verses.

Hebrews 10:24 Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works. 25 And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near. NLT

Don’t stop the habit of meeting together.  Why?   Because when you are a part of the body of Christ, you motivate and encourage each other.  If you are comfortable pulling away from your spiritual family, it’s a spiritual red flag.

Let’s close.  Real quickly, four decisions that will change your life.  They will change your Christian experience.  

Decide to live in reality.   Decide today to give your life to God.   Decide to pray, live in courage, and be grateful.  Decide to advance God’s kingdom through the local church.  

Let’s close with this question, ‘What has been your Christian experience?’