Saturday, January 10, 2015

Daniel’s Devotion (Part 2)



Hello Friends!

Welcome Back! Let’s continue our study of Daniel’s Devotionfrom God’s Word…

Daniel’s Devotion (Part 2)

March 25, 2014 was the 57th anniversary of the signing of the "Treaty of Rome" signed by the European leaders in the city of Rome. More on the significance of this day below. But first, let’s look to our reading for today…

To begin with, “Nebuchadnezzar had dreams” and he was “troubled” to the point of loosing “sleep”:

Now in the second year of Nebuchadnezzar’s reign, Nebuchadnezzar had dreams; and his spirit was so troubled that his sleep left him. Then the king gave the command to call the magicians, the astrologers, the sorcerers, and the Chaldeans to tell the king his dreams. So they came and stood before the king. And the king said to them, “I have had a dream, and my spirit is anxious to know the dream” Daniel 2:1-3

We then see Daniel had been summoned by the Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar to tell him his “dream” and to interpret it for him:

Then Daniel went to his house, and made the decision known to Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, his companions, that they might seek mercies from the God of heaven concerning this secret, so that Daniel and his companions might not perish with the rest of the wise men of Babylon. Then the secret was revealed to Daniel in a night vision. So Daniel blessed the God of heaven Daniel 2:17-19

God gifted Daniel with the ability to reveal the dream to the Babylonian King and to interpret it for him:

But there is a God in heaven who reveals secrets, and He has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will be in the latter days. Your dream, and the visions of your head upon your bed, were these Daniel 2:28

The dream that King Nebuchadnezzar had was of an image of a man with a head of gold, chest and arms of silver, his belly and thighs of brass, two legs of iron and ten toes of iron and clay mixed. There was a Stone that hit the image of the man and broke it into pieces:

This image’s head was of fine gold, its chest and arms of silver, its belly and thighs of bronze, its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of clay. You watched while a stone was cut out without hands, which struck the image on its feet of iron and clay, and broke them in pieces. Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold were crushed together, and became like chaff from the summer threshing floors; the wind carried them away so that no trace of them was found. And the stone that struck the image became a great mountain and filled the whole earth Daniel 2:32-35

Daniel's interpretation of the King's dream was actually the revelation of the "empires" of the coming Gentile world powers from the times of Daniel until the times of the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. Daniel told King Nebuchadnezzar that he was the "head of gold" – the first of the Gentile world powers.

The passages found later in chapters 7 & 8 give us the understanding that the Medo-Persian Empire followed by the Grecian Empire and the Roman Empire would take Gentile history all the way to a time when the "ten toes" would appear – the "Revived Roman Empire" of the future...

As mentioned above, in 1957 a group of European leaders met to sign the "Treaty of Rome" in Italy in which I believe set the stage for the European Union of today. A very close investigation of the EU reveals that it is at least an "infrastructure" of the fulfillment of Daniel's prophecy of the "ten toes" which will become ten nations, kings or regions…

The key verse to notice about this prophecy is noted as "the days of these kings":

And in the days of these kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed; and the kingdom shall not be left to other people; it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever Daniel 2:44

The Creator God of heaven will destroy these “kings” and set up the kingdom that Jesus Christ will rule and reign over at His Second Coming – The 1000-Year Millennial Kingdom. This interpretation of these prophecies from Daniel fits the prophecies of John the Revelator in his book of prophecy:

The beast that you saw was, and is not, and will ascend out of the bottomless pit and go to perdition. And those who dwell on the earth will marvel, whose names are not written in the Book of Life from the foundation of the world, when they see the beast that was, and is not, and yet is. “Here is the mind which has wisdom: The seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sits. There are also seven kings. Five have fallen, one is, and the other has not yet come. And when he comes, he must continue a short time. The beast that was, and is not, is himself also the eighth, and is of the seven, and is going to perdition. “The ten horns which you saw are ten kings who have received no kingdom as yet, but they receive authority for one hour as kings with the beast. These are of one mind, and they will give their power and authority to the beast. These will make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb will overcome them, for He is Lord of lords and King of kings; and those who are with Him are called, chosen, and faithful.” Then he said to me, “The waters which you saw, where the harlot sits, are peoples, multitudes, nations, and tongues. And the ten horns which you saw on the beast, these will hate the harlot, make her desolate and naked, eat her flesh and burn her with fire. For God has put it into their hearts to fulfill His purpose, to be of one mind, and to give their kingdom to the beast, until the words of God are fulfilled. And the woman whom you saw is that great city which reigns over the kings of the earth – Revelation 17:8-18

The evidence is very strong that we are living in those days…

Thank you for reading! Don’t miss next week’s continued investigation of Daniel’s Devotion

May the Lord Jesus Christ continue to bless you with His perfect love, mercy and grace!

Keep looking up and sharing the Gospel while there is still time… Hallelujah and Maranatha – come quickly Lord Jesus!

Blessings!
Shane <><

Friday, January 9, 2015

Treasures

Matthew 6:19-21 NIV

“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

I am on the association board for our subdivision and this past year there have been a few residence that want us to change the bi-laws to allow building sheds.  The argument from that group is that if they can’t have a shed then they may need to move as they have run out of space.  Of course there are those that oppose it also who have said that it’s time to take inventory of what you are storing and get rid of junk. 

We are told in Matthew that we are not to store up earthly treasures, “things”.  Rather we should be storing up treasures in heaven.  What are treasures in heaven? 

Treasures in heaven are a number of different things.  Jesus is one of our treasures.  If we are committing our resources, be it money, time or talents, to do his work, that is storing up treasures in heaven. 


How are you investing what God has given you to produce more treasure for him?

Thursday, January 8, 2015

Thursday Devotional - New Year Training

With the start of another year, I have heard many people indicate their healthy goals for this year. Some plan to watch carefully what they eat, some plan to be more committed to regular physical exercise and others plan to do both! I agree these are important goals, especially for believers, since our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit.
I Corinthians 6:19-20  19 Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; 20 you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.

Taking care of our bodies through physical training is important, so how much more important is our spiritual training?
I Timothy 4:7b-16          Train yourself to be godly.For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come. This is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance. 10 That is why we labor and strive, because we have put our hope in the living God, who is the Savior of all people, and especially of those who believe.

11 Command and teach these things. 12 Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity. 13 Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to preaching and to teaching. 14 Do not neglect your gift, which was given you through prophecy when the body of elders laid their hands on you.

15 Be diligent in these matters; give yourself wholly to them, so that everyone may see your progress. 16 Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers.

What goals for godliness do you and I have for this coming year?
How will you and I train ourselves to be godly?
Studying God's Word for life application is the best place to start.
We also learn more by teaching others, so who will you teach?

Our sincere pursuit of the eternal God will never be a waste of time or disappoint!

Alice

Wednesday, January 7, 2015

Trust Issues

I will love You, O Lord, my strength.
The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer;
My God, my strength, in whom I will trust;
My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
I will call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised;
So shall I be saved from my enemies.  Psalm 18:1-3

Do you ever fear of a relationship because you have trouble trusting them?   It might be something that has happened to us in our past holding you back, and other times, it may be a sense you have about them.  I remember when a close relative disappointed me and lost my complete trust.  The incident became a memory that would shelter me from others.  No one could be trusted.  However through God’s love, I was able to come back and find the courage to trust again.  That would change my relationships, both old and new. When I stopped limiting myself to avoid being hurt and extended the same level of trust that I had placed in God, future disappointments did not change me because I knew God had my back, and my relationships became more healthy because they were both strong  and authentic.

Trusting in God will unlock endless possibilities for your relationships with others.   There are numerous reasons why we lack trust.  We don’t trust others because we worry of them being worthy of it.  We don’t trust a situation because it has always failed previously, and we don’t even trust ourselves because we have either never done it before or have told ourselves it cannot be done.  However, we serve an awesome and mighty God for which there are absolutely NO boundaries.  If we pray earnestly for His guidance and truly trust Him, He will give us wisdom to know who to trust, His word as guidance to any situation, and His strength to overcome our own fears and doubts.


Surety in God gives us the confidence to move forward in any situation.  As today’s verses remind us, He is a rock, fortress, our strength, shield and salvation that is indeed worthy to be praised.  When the world may seem uncertain around you, trust in God that He would never steer you wrong, and then extend that very trust to others knowing He will always be there for you.  How much do you truly trust God?  Where can God restore your trust in others?  My prayer is that we remember God’s love and grace when dealing with our own trust issues.  Amen.

Monday, January 5, 2015

Tues Devo: Choices matter

Proverbs 4:23-27 “Watch over your heart with all diligence, for from it flow the springs of life. Put away from you a deceitful mouth and put devious lips far from you. Let your eyes look directly ahead and let your gaze be fixed straight in front of you. Watch the path of our feet and all your ways will be established. Do not turn to the right nor to the left; turn your foot from evil.” (NASB)

Hello,

Quick – what is the most important thing for a follower of Jesus to do? How does one narrow that list down to just one? So many things to pick from – sharing your faith, reading your Bible, praying, caring for the poor/orphans/widows, loving your neighbor. So….how can we pick the most important thing?
Yeah, I know – kind of a trick question…..

But there is an answer! The answer I believe is obedience. We are to be obedient to the instructions of God. Our Creator and Designer gave us the instruction manual full of the keys to life. But our problem is that we feel we are smarter….or don’t care….so we either don’t read the instructions or we choose to do differently. But our choices matter. Our actions matter. Our choices and our actions need to be rooted in the love based instructions from God. They ought to be a response of loving obedience to the One who sent His only Son to redeem us….a choice He didn’t have to make.

So before you make the “normal” choice about what to do with your time, your words or your attitudes – hold it against the standards God put forth out of loving design….your choices and actions matter.

Have a blessed day,