Category: Daniel

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Friends Through Fire & Rain

Do you smell like smoke? Odd question isn’t it?

It could be the smoke of something that burned in the kitchen, a good cigar or pipe, or perhaps a campfire. My son smells like smoke frequently – he’s a firefighter.

We have been looking at different people in the Bible who have had a friendship relationship with God. God has never been nor will He ever be a “fair weather” friend. He has made us promises to never leave us or abandon us.

“But now the Lord Who made you, O Jacob, and He Who made you, O Israel, says, “Do not be afraid. For I have bought you and made you free. I have called you by name. You are Mine! 2 When you pass through the waters, I will be with you. When you pass through the rivers, they will not flow over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned. The fire will not destroy you. 3 For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, Who saves you...” Isaiah 43:1-3a NLV

In the book of Daniel chapter 3, King Nebuchadnezzar commanded that a statue of gold be built in his likeness. All the people who lived in the country were to bow down and worship the statue when they heard music playing. Everyone did as there were told except for three Jewish young men who were prisoners in the country. You’ve probably heard of them; Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. Those in authority told the king that these men wouldn’t bow and it made him very angry. He called them in and gave them strict warning that next time they heard the music they were to bow.

The music played but the men didn’t bow. They were brought before the king again and he was extremely angry. He had the furnace heated hotter than it had been for melting gold, had the  men bound and thrown into the fire.

Let’s digress from a moment. In his original warning the king had told them they would be thrown into the furnace if they didn’t bow. This was their response.

“Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, it is not necessary for us to answer you on this point. 17 If our God Whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, He will deliver us out of your hand, O king. 18 But if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image which you have set up!” Daniel 3:16-18 AMPC

Let me paraphrase. King we don’t have to take a lot of time to think about our answer. If you throw us in the fire our God will deliver us. If you don’t throw us in we still aren’t going to serve your god or worship your statue.

They knew that God had brought Noah safely through the flood, they knew the stories of how God used to Moses to deliver the children of Israel. They were not afraid to stand strong because they knew that God would be there with them!

At this response, they were bound and  thrown in the furnance. Now here’s where it gets interesting. Nebuchadnezzar was looking on and as he watched, he saw that the men were walking around in the fire and that there was a fourth man in there with them!

Hallelujah!! God showed up in grand fashion.

To this the King reacted:

“Nebuchadnezzar went closer to the flaming furnace and said to the three young men, “You servants of the Most High God, come out at once!” They came out, 27 and the king’s high officials, governors, and advisors all crowded around them. The men were not burned, their hair wasn’t scorched, and their clothes didn’t even smell like smoke. 28 King Nebuchadnezzar said: Praise their God for sending an angel to rescue his servants! They trusted their God and refused to obey my commands. Yes, they chose to die rather than to worship or serve any god except their own. 29 And I won’t allow people of any nation or race to say anything against their God. Anyone who does will be chopped up and their houses will be torn down, because no other god has such great power to save.” Daniel 3:26-29 CEV

These men were slaves in a foreign country. They took a very unpopular stand – they refused to worship any god other than God the Father. They were persecuted and their lives were threatened but they stood strong.

They went through a fiery trial and came out, not even smelling like smoke.

If you’re going through a fiery trial of persecution for your stand for the Lord, Stand strong! Don’t bend, don’t compromise, don’t bow – God will show up and walk in the fire with you and He will bring you out!

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A Thankful Heart

Just about to wrap up the 7 weeks of thankfulness but I can only hope that by now it has created a desire in you to live a life filled with thankfulness and of commitment to the Lord.

In the book of Daniel there are several incidences where the King stopped all that he was doing to give thanks to Daniel’s God, the true God. It leads to me ask if my relationship with the Lord causes those around me to praise God – do they see God working in my life in such a tangible way they are thankful?

“Then Nebuchadnezzar said, “Praise the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Their God has sent his angel and saved his servants from the fire! These three men trusted their God and refused to obey my command. They were willing to die instead of serving or worshiping any other god. 29 So I now make this law: Anyone from any nation or language group who says anything against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego will be cut into pieces, and their house will be destroyed until it is a pile of dirt and ashes. No other god can save his people like this.” 30 Then the king gave Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego more important jobs in the province of Babylon.” Daniel 3:28-30

The 3 Hebrew young men had refused to worship an idol made of gold and were thrown into a firery furnace. God saved them and the verses above are the king’s reaction to what he saw God do. The king made a law that said no one would be able to speak against their God. He saw the power of God at work in their lives and he gave praise to God. What he didn’t realize is that you can’t legislate a lifestyle of righteousness & morality. It comes from relationship.

I have to tell you that I was ready to get up this morning and share a thought on “unplugging”. Not unplugging from our relationship with the Lord but just unplugging from things that drain us. And then I was going to tell you that I would be unplugging from the morning devotional and blog for the next week. I wanted the opportunity to sleep in and get some good rest. Yep, I was going to take time off but as I was trying to word my thoughts correctly, I kept hearing verses like “don’t get weary in doing well” and the “joy of the Lord is your strength”. Then there was “those who wait on the Lord have their strength renewed” and finally

“Don’t worry—I am with you. Don’t be afraid—I am your God. I will make you strong and help you. I will support you with my right hand that brings victory.” Isaiah 41:10 ERV

Once again I found my strength renewed because my strength doesn’t come from the amount of sleep I receive each night it comes from the Lord God who empowers me for each day and from the joy I find in Him and doing what He has called me to do. Being a Christ following person is a full time service and not just a recreational use.

As we come to the end of the daily teachings on Thanksgiving, I ask you this – does your lifestyle lead others to praise your heavenly Father? Do the people around you want to have a relationship with God because they can see how wonderful He is?

We’re here to be a light to the world so let others see Jesus in you.

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Cross the Finish Line!

Did you know that God desires for you to be triumphant today?

Well He does! He has provided a way for you to ALWAYS be victorious – not so, you say. Yes way! And when we do triumph and give Him the glory, it’s like the smell of a sweet perfume. So when folks ask “What’s that smell (i.e. how did you come out that victorious), we can say, “Oh, it was God helping me, taking me through, making me victorious.”

In the book of Daniel we read of 3 young men who refused to compromise their stand for God. The king had ordered everyone in the realm to bow before his statue and worship him. Take a knee! But these three, even though they were in the king’s employ, refused.

The king’s anger was out-of-control. He demanded their worship and their allegiance. Again they refused even though death was to be their most certain consequence. The king ordered the refining fires to be heated to the greatest possible intensity, seven times hotter than it had ever been. And when the three publically stood in opposition to the king he had them bound and thrown into the fire.

“So the soldiers tied up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego and threw them into the flaming furnace with all of their clothes still on, including their turbans. The fire was so hot that flames leaped out and killed the soldiers.

24 Suddenly the king jumped up and shouted, “Weren’t only three men tied up and thrown into the fire?”

“Yes, Your Majesty,” the people answered.

25 “But I see four men walking around in the fire,” the king replied. “None of them is tied up or harmed, and the fourth one looks like a god.”[a]

26 Nebuchadnezzar went closer to the flaming furnace and said to the three young men, “You servants of the Most High God, come out at once!”

They came out, 27 and the king’s high officials, governors, and advisors all crowded around them. The men were not burned, their hair wasn’t scorched, and their clothes didn’t even smell like smoke. 28 King Nebuchadnezzar said:

Praise their God for sending an angel to rescue his servants! They trusted their God and refused to obey my commands. Yes, they chose to die rather than to worship or serve any god except their own.” Daniel 3:21-28 CEV

When we serve the King of Kings we aren’t promised a perfect life but we are promised a protected life. These men came out of a life threatening situation and they didn’t even smell like smoke. What obstacle do you face that could be any greater than this? God is the same now as He was then.

Here’s to victory today – Always! ” Now thanks be to God, who always leads us to triumph in Christ, and through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place.” II Corinthians 2:14

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Influence Without Compromise

This morning I was reading the first chapter of the book of Daniel. As a young man Daniel was taken captive by King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. Jerusalem had fallen to this King when Daniel was a young man, probably in his teens. He and other Jewish young men, along with young men from Babylon were taken into Nebuchadnezzar’s palace to be trained as servants to the King. This was a 3 year training period.

During that time the king wanted all the young men to be on a special diet of rich food and wine. Daniel asked for permission to be excluded from such a diet because some of the food that they were to eat would make him unclean according to Jewish law. At first the man who was responsible for the well-being of the trainees was resistant. However, he was persuaded to allow Daniel and three others a 10 day trial and if they continued to look well-fed and healthy he would allow them to continue with the foods that Daniel considered clean. Daniel’s diet worked and so for the rest of the training time they were allowed to eat the way they requested.

I know, I know; nice story but…what’s that got to do with everyday living. Daniel and his friends had plenty to complain about. They were young men taken from their home town of Jerusalem. They were prisoners, captives in a hostile nation. However, they were singled out to be trained as servants for the King, a high position for a slave.

They could have possibly written letters home asking for a rescue team to be sent in or maybe even plotted to overthrow their guards and at the very least they could have walked around complaining about their circumstances and the hopelessness of their future. (Sound familiar)

How many people around you are complaining? Talking about how awful everything is – “this is the worst it’s ever been. Woe is me! What are we to do? Christians are being singled out for their beliefs and no one is speaking up for them.” You hear it all the time.

Is there a comparison on how rough it was for Daniel and how it is today? If there is then we should be looking at what Daniel did. Daniel continued to serve His God! He didn’t compromise the teachings that he had received in Jerusalem.

“So the guard agreed to test Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah for ten days. 15 After ten days, Daniel and his friends looked healthier than all the young men who ate the king’s food. 16 So the guard continued to take away the king’s special food and wine and to give only vegetables to Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah.

17 God gave these four young men the wisdom and ability to learn many different kinds of writing and science. Daniel could also understand all kinds of visions and dreams.

18 At the end of the three years of training, Ashpenaz brought all the young men to King Nebuchadnezzar. 19 The king talked to them and found that none of the young men were as good as Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. So these four young men became the king’s servants. 20 Every time the king asked them about something important, they showed great wisdom and understanding. The king found they were ten times better than all the magicians and wise men in his kingdom. 21 So Daniel served the king until the first year that Cyrus was king.” Daniel 1:14-21 ERV

How long are we “imprisoned” in some way before we start to complain? How long do we go before we start to compromise what we know is God’s will and truth? These young men were in training, in captivity for 3 years and they showed great wisdom and understanding and the King came to rely on them. They were godly men living a godly example in a very ungodly nation.

I tried to figure out from an historical perspective how long Daniel actually served the King of Babylon. Based on the first and last verse of this chapter, I figure it was about 65 years. That’s correct – and in all that time Daniel kept his integrity, served God and didn’t complain! Now that’s an example to follow.

Complaining only changes the heart of the person doing it; it embitters them. Standing for godliness and righteousness keeps us usable and influences kings. Let God be magnified in what you do today!

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