Lions Den or Den of Lions

Daniel 6:1-16
- A few things to point out

1) Verse 3 he noticed his excellent spirit. He noticed that something was different about him.
2) People were jealous of what he had that they could not get. So they sought out to get him.

Now to the lesson:
a) (verse 16)- cast him into the "den of lions"
b) Serving God will get you cast into a "den of lions" every now and then. But there is a reason for it:

- It will stregthen you
- To witness to someone else

John 6:1-12

God will allow us to go through certain trials and tests to prove us. These are the "den of lions" tests.
Daniel could have said, "I wont do it again", I'll only worship you, My King."
But then he would have failed the test and wouldn't have been a great witness to these people.
But in doing what he did, he proved his faithfulness in God and was a great witness to all these people.

- Look at Shadrach,Meshach, and Abednego.
- Paul was able to be happy in prison because he was doing what God wanted him to do.

Then we have the martyrs- realizing that even unto death, it is worth it to serve Christ. The martyrs killed for preaching about Jesus. To keep their life, all they had to do was stop preaching. But they realized that God had a purpose for them and it was worth it for them to fufill their purpose even if it took them giving their life to get it done.

You can be a great witness for God when he places you in a "den of lions". Just keep hold of your faith and realize that there is a reason for it. Maybe to strengthen you, maybe to be a witness for someone else.

You cannot be a witness for Christ in a lions den. Did you expect to find a rabbit in there? Of course you got eaten by the lion!

Should someone that's been an alcoholic for 50 years, then became a christian last month, go to a bar with his old crew? That's walking right into temptation with people that are most likely going to try to get you to drink.

Now lets soppose this same man goes to dinner with a few friends and a couple of them have a beer with dinner. Yes, he may be tempted, but this is a scenerio where he is better equipt to fight the temptation and pass the test.

Are you putting yourself into a situation where your most likely to lie?

The point that i want to make with this is that we will have troubles and trials in this life. Christian or sinner, we will all have troubles. But we, especially we as Christians, should do our very best to stay out of 
'lions dens."

You may make it into and out of a few "lions dens" without seeing the lion, but if you go into enough "lions dens" you will get eaten.