Daniel’s Devotion (Part 5)

Hello Friends!

Welcome Back! Let’s continue our study of “Daniel’s Devotion” from God’s Word…

Daniel’s Devotion (Part 5)

Daniel chapter 6 is one of the most practical chapters in the Bible. However, it is also prophetic. You may recognize the story from your days in Sunday School and maybe even have seen the drama played out in a church program. It is a wonderful story of the "steadfastness of Daniel":

It pleased Darius to set over the kingdom one hundred and twenty satraps, to be over the whole kingdom; and over these, three governors, of whom Daniel was one, that the satraps might give account to them, so that the king would suffer no loss. Then this Daniel distinguished himself above the governors and satraps, because an excellent spirit was in him; and the king gave thought to setting him over the whole realm – Daniel 6:1-3

Darius the king had published a decree that told his subjects they were not allowed to offer up a prayer to anyone other than the King himself:

So the governors and satraps sought to find some charge against Daniel concerning the kingdom; but they could find no charge or fault, because he was faithful; nor was there any error or fault found in him. Then these men said, “We shall not find any charge against this Daniel unless we find it against him concerning the law of his God.” So these governors and satraps thronged before the king, and said thus to him: “King Darius, live forever! All the governors of the kingdom, the administrators and satraps, the counselors and advisors, have consulted together to establish a royal statute and to make a firm decree, that whoever petitions any god or man for thirty days, except you, O king, shall be cast into the den of lions. Now, O king, establish the decree and sign the writing, so that it cannot be changed, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which does not alter.” Therefore King Darius signed the written decree – Daniel 6:4-9

This decree was meant to bring harm to Daniel, but instead it brought praise to Daniel's God!

You know the story so well, so allow me to just bring to your attention some of the highlights of this portion of Daniel that we are using for our devotional reading for today. There are many blessings to be found in this passage. Here are just a few.

Daniel, as was his custom, went to his chambers and kneeled to pray towards Jerusalem, as he had been commanded. By the way… Daniel was not trying to hide as he prayed. He prayed with the windows open so that all the Kingdom could see the faithfulness of Daniel:

Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went home. And in his upper room, with his windows open toward Jerusalem, he knelt down on his knees three times that day, and prayed and gave thanks before his God, as was his custom since early days. Then these men assembled and found Daniel praying and making supplication before his God – Daniel 6:10-11

Daniel's enemies rushed to the King to report Daniel going against the King's decree. Daniel decided that it was more important to obey God than man. When we do that we must be ready to face the circumstances – no matter what the cost – as was the case with Daniel:

And they went before the king, and spoke concerning the king’s decree: “Have you not signed a decree that every man who petitions any god or man within thirty days, except you, O king, shall be cast into the den of lions?” The king answered and said, “The thing is true, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which does not alter.” So they answered and said before the king, “That Daniel, who is one of the captives from Judah, does not show due regard for you, O king, or for the decree that you have signed, but makes his petition three times a day – Daniel 6:12-13

The King, realizing what his decree meant to Daniel was very displeased with himself and wanted to change his decree but was reminded by his men that the "law of the Medes and Persians" would not allow the king to change that order which would send Daniel to the death as a punishment for simply praying.

And the king, when he heard these words, was greatly displeased with himself, and set his heart on Daniel to deliver him; and he labored till the going down of the sun to deliver him. Then these men approached the king, and said to the king, “Know, O king, that it is the law of the Medes and Persians that no decree or statute which the king establishes may be changed – Daniel 6:14-15

How important is our prayer time? Would we be willing to face a death sentence to be faithful to the dictates of God for our spiritual lives? Daniel is a perfect example for us to follow! What a promise that Daniel was reminded of by the King as he was being thrown into the lion's den:

So the king gave the command, and they brought Daniel and cast him into the den of lions. But the king spoke, saying to Daniel, “Your God, whom you serve continually, He will deliver you” – Daniel 6:17

As we "continually serve Him" He takes care of all our needs – even physically. There is so much more in this passage that we could share. Let me draw your attention to the prophetic portion of our reading for today:

 I make a decree that in every dominion of my kingdom men must tremble and fear before the God of Daniel. For He is the living God, and steadfast forever; His kingdom is the one which shall not be destroyed, and His dominion shall endure to the end. He delivers and rescues, and He works signs and wonders in heaven and on earth, who has delivered Daniel from the power of the lions. So this Daniel prospered in the reign of Darius and in the reign of Cyrus the Persian – Daniel 6:26-28

The King put out another decree that in all of the kingdom men should "tremble and fear before the God of Daniel.” The entire kingdom would recognize the God of Daniel as the "living God” who was “steadfast forever” and that “His dominion shall endure to the end."

The kingdom that will "endure to the end" is the one that Jesus Christ will set up after the seven year Tribulation, yet in the future…

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 <><

Terrible Twos

Ephesians 4:2

Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.

This verse was a great one for me this week as my son, who will be 2 next week, has really been really testing us, especially me lately.  I realize this is part of the age but it really is a time that as parents, we have to learn to be patient and loving. 

This made me think about how much do I test God?  Am I like a 2 year old at times?  God is beyond patient with us, more so than we ever deserve.  Let’s work today on being as patient with others as God is with us and trying not to test God as much as a 2 year old.

Thursday Devotional - A True Sister

The apostle Paul was quite an amazing follower of Christ. I’m sure some doubted the sincerity of his conversion at first, but I don’t think there’s any room for doubt now. His life was full of evidence that He loved God with His whole heart. He was a true father to many.

I Timothy 1:1-2          Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the command of God our Savior and of Christ Jesus our hope, ² To Timothy my true son in the faith: Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.

Well, today is my niece’s spiritual birthday! Maria asked Jesus to forgive her of her sins and accepted Jesus Christ as her Savior three years ago today. I wrote a devotional about it three years ago and how evident it was in just the first 24 hours after her conversion that the Holy Spirit was actively working in her life. She had become my true sister in Christ!

Well, three years later, there’s even more evidence. She continues to have a concern for the lost and remembers to take things to God. She will take big and small victories or trials to God through praise and petition. One such example, a few weeks ago we were all eating dinner together and discussing all the various trials going on in our own lives and the lives of others around us. Maria chimed in and said we could pray to God about it all. So, we did just that, we all stopped in the middle of dinner and lifted up various concerns to God.

Maria is not only my niece, but most importantly she’s my true sister in Christ! We’re celebrating that today!

Who are your true brothers and sisters in the faith?

How evident is it that you and I are true brothers and sisters to others?

When was the last time you and I shared our faith?

Or when was the last time we wrote an encouraging letter to a fellow believer?

Who will you and I encourage today?

Paul, as a true spiritual father to Timothy, showed his love to him by continuing to encourage and instruct him. We have two of his letters to Timothy for our own encouragement and instruction!

Alice

Certainty over Luck

And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson and Jephthah, about David and Samuel and the prophets, who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions, quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies.

These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised, since God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.  `Hebrews 11:32-34, 39-40

There are many things in life that people will say is left up to chance.  “Hopefully, we will get lucky,” one would say.  “There’s risk in everything,” another might say.  With so much uncertainty in the world, why should we ever feel certain that things will turn out in our favor?  After all, what goes up must come down, right?

Faith in God gives us certainty that all things happen with good intention.  Last week, I mentioned faith as, “Assurance about what we do not see.”  (Hebrews 11:1b)  Years ago, I remember getting into an accident and totaling the car I was just about to finish paying off.  This was just after my wife and I had just purchased a new home which we knew would tighten our budget.  Then, my wife was laid off from work just prior to our move.  Did I mention that this was the year of the Great Recession?  I still remember vividly where we had nothing left in our bank account, and I just looked to God crying, “I don’t know what else you want me to do.  I can’t do this on my own.”  Now some would believe that we were victims of bad luck or unfortunate circumstances.  Yet when we had nothing, we still had God.  The very next day, a check came in the mail covering all the upcoming expenses for the next week.  That’s what faith will do.  And what did God’s intention teach me?  First, I learned dependency on God and surrendering all to Him.  Second, I learned contentment appreciating what God has blessed me with.   When we have faith in God, there is no luck or coincidence.  There is God’s righteous intention and the chance to gain wisdom and clarity of His purpose for our lives from it.

Acceptance of God’s will gives clarity in all situations.  Things cease to affect us adversely, and become opportunities to gain understanding of God’s plan for our lives.  What circumstances have you been given that need a God-centered perspective?  How can we have certainty of God’s goodness in uncertain times?  My prayer is that we don’t buy into luck but instead have certainty in Jesus Christ.  Amen.

Daniel’s Devotion (Part 4)

Hello Friends!

Welcome Back! Let’s continue our study of “Daniel’s Devotion” from God’s Word…

Daniel’s Devotion (Part 4)

This fifth chapter of Daniel's prophecy is not only a prophetic passage of great importance but also a chapter that has a very important historic significance as well. The King of Babylon, at the time of chapter 5 is Belshazzar who most likely was the grandson of Nebuchadnezzar. King Nebuchadnezzar had died and Belshazzar came to power over this world empire near the time of the end of this great Gentile world power.

The King had invited 1,000 of his "lords" to a banquet, which actually turned into the "last hoorah" for King Belshazzar:

Belshazzar the king made a great feast for a thousand of his lords, and drank wine in the presence of the thousand – Daniel 5:1

Though the Medes and the Persians had been threatening to overthrow the Babylonians, the King felt secure inside the walls of this supposedly "impregnable city" with its double high walls surrounding the city, a city that had never been defeated.

During the course of the evening the King called for the "Temple vessels" that his grandfather had brought out of the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem to Babylon. The King had his servants fill these "special vessels" with wine and made them available to the King's guest. This was a very bad mistake:

While he tasted the wine, Belshazzar gave the command to bring the gold and silver vessels which his father Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the temple which had been in Jerusalem, that the king and his lords, his wives, and his concubines might drink from them. Then they brought the gold vessels that had been taken from the temple of the house of God which had been in Jerusalem; and the king and his lords, his wives, and his concubines drank from them. They drank wine, and praised the gods of gold and silver, bronze and iron, wood and stone – Daniel 5:2-4

It was while the drunken party was going on that the Medes came from the North and the Persians from the South and damned up the water entering the city under its Northern wall and exiting under its Southern wall. That gave Babylon's enemies a dry tunnel under the walls to enter the city. This was the method by which the "impregnable city" was entered by its major enemies at that time. The Babylonian Empire was brought down by the Medo-Persian Empire – the second of the Gentile world powers to rule over Jerusalem and the Jewish people.

This passage is describing the fall of the Babylonian Empire but does not mention that the city of Babylon was destroyed. The city of Babylon has never been totally destroyed. However, Bible prophecy seems to say this will happen in the last days.

Ancient Jewish Prophets say that Babylon must be totally destroyed and never be rebuilt:

Isaiah chapters 13 & 14

Jeremiah chapters 50 & 51

Revelation chapters 16 & 18

Seventy-five years after the fall of the Babylonian Empire, Ezra lived in Babylon:

This Ezra went up from Babylon; and he was a ready scribe in the law of Moses, which the Lord God of Israel had given: and the king granted him all his request, according to the hand of the Lord his God upon him… For upon the first day of the first month began he to go up from Babylon, and on the first day of the fifth month came he to Jerusalem, according to the good hand of his God upon him – Ezra 7:6 & 9

Secular history tells us that Alexander the Great ruled the world from his headquarters in Babylon, 200 years after the fall of the Babylonian Empire. The Apostle Peter started a church in Babylon 500 years after the fall of the Empire:

She who is in Babylon, elect together with you, greets you; and so does Mark my son – 1 Peter 5:13

One day in the future, Babylon will be totally destroyed.

The other thought that I have is pertaining to the use of the "implements" from the Temple. Because the Babylonians desecrated the Temple and it's implements…

But you his son, Belshazzar, have not humbled your heart, although you knew all this. And you have lifted yourself up against the Lord of heaven. They have brought the vessels of His house before you, and you and your lords, your wives and your concubines, have drunk wine from them. And you have praised the gods of silver and gold, bronze and iron, wood and stone, which do not see or hear or know; and the God who holds your breath in His hand and owns all your ways, you have not glorified. Then the fingers of the hand were sent from Him, and this writing was written. “And this is the inscription that was written:

MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN.

This is the interpretation of each word. MENE: God has numbered your kingdom, and finished it; TEKEL: You have been weighed in the balances, and found wanting; PERES: Your kingdom has been divided, and given to the Medes and Persians. Then Belshazzar gave the command, and they clothed Daniel with purple and put a chain of gold around his neck, and made a proclamation concerning him that he should be the third ruler in the kingdom – Daniel 5:22-29

God brought judgment to King “Belshazzar” and “Darius the Mede received the kingdom”:

That very night Belshazzar, king of the Chaldeans, was slain. And Darius the Mede received the kingdom, being about sixty-two years old – Daniel 5:30-31

God will also bring His eternal judgment on Babylon:

The voice of them that flee and escape out of the land of Babylon, to declare in Zion the vengeance of the Lord our God, the vengeance of his temple – Jeremiah 50:28

Make the arrows bright! Gather the shields! The Lord has raised up the spirit of the kings of the Medes. For His plan is against Babylon to destroy it, because it is the vengeance of the Lord, the vengeance for His temple – Jeremiah 51:11

Biblical Babylon is the modern-day state of Iraq, where the Antichrist may be headquartered and will rule over a "one world" political, governmental, economic system in the last days. The rebuilding of war-torn Iraq is setting the stage for Bible Prophecy to be fulfilled…

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 <><

Faith of a Child

Matthew 18: 2-5

He called a little child to him, and placed the child among them. And he said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.  Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me.

One of my neighbor’s has a daughter with a rare-neuromuscular disorder called Dystonia.  Bre is 13 years old and loves Jesus with all of her heart.  Earlier this week, her mom shared a story that I wanted to share for today’s devotion.

“We went out to dinner with our friends and Bre was adamant about getting the waitresses attention to meet her. She tried several times, ignoring my gestures to wait until the very sweet waitress had a free minute (or more). She finally built up enough breath support to loudly say to the waitress, "I have a question." She came over to Bre and knelt down. Bre, of course started out with the usual questions, but then quickly added, "Do you believe in Jesus?". The new friend said with hesitation, "Not really." Bre didn't skip a beat to tell her that the hug she was getting is not only from Bre herself but from Jesus and He loves her. The tears started flowing. Bre continued to tell her that Bre is his helper and that He is for real. Our new friend was crying so hard that I gave her a hug. She let me know that she has been going through a very hard time and that doubt has settled in about God, but that she has been thinking about Him a lot lately. I told her that everything happens for a reason and Bre is just reassuring her that He is with her and things will be ok. Sometimes I am numb to Bre's work in meeting new friends because it happens all the time, but this moment has taught me to be more patient and that this is her job. Please pray that our new friend finds her way and her struggles are less of a burden.

As a parent we all worry about what our children will do in their lifetime, whether they are special needs or typical. I honestly believe that Breanna has already found her calling.”

My prayer today is that you too will have the faith of a child, undoubting, unwavering, pure faith.

Thurs Devo - God's Presence Felt

God is always available. He is always there. We may not always feel His presence, though. It usually means we aren’t living in total surrender and obedience to Him. He wants to dwell among us, but He can’t be in the presence of sin. He has given us instructions in His Word so that we can enjoy His presence.

When God setup the Israelite priesthood and ordained Aaron and his sons, He gave them specific instructions to follow in order for Him to dwell among them. The tedious and repetitive tasks were to also remind them of their rightful place before a holy God. After completing His instructions for the week long ordination process, God promised to bless them. The priests and the rest of the Israelites would experience God’s glory and His presence!   

Leviticus 9:6        ⁶ Then Moses said, “This is what the Lord has commanded you to do, so that the glory of the Lord may appear to you.”

After Moses and Aaron did just as God commanded, then they were able to receive and give His blessing and see and feel His presence!
Leviticus 9:22-24               ²² Then Aaron lifted his hands toward the people and blessed them. And having sacrificed the sin offering, the burnt offering and the fellowship offering, he stepped down. ²³ Moses and Aaron then went into the tent of meeting. When they came out, they blessed the people; and the glory of the Lord appeared to all the people. ²⁴ Fire came out from the presence of the Lord and consumed the burnt offering and the fat portions on the altar. And when all the people saw it, they shouted for joy and fell facedown.

Just this past week my family felt God’s overwhelming presence as He directed us through a very sad and hurtful situation with some fellow believers. There’s been joy in the midst of the hurt, as we’ve seen God amazingly answer prayers for direction! Sometimes the answer came through added hurt, but God worked good out of it by using those circumstances to make it very clear what we’re to do! Even with the pain, there’s no greater joy than feeling God’s presence. As we’ve followed His lead one step at a time, He’s given clear confirmation over and over again, overwhelming us with His Presence!

How have you seen and felt God’s presence as you live to obey Him?

What blessings has God given to you and me as we obediently live out His commands and do the work He’s instructed us to do?

God’s Presence can be felt!

Overflowing Hope

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.  Romans 15:13

One of my favorite pastimes is watching the State of the Union address.  You see my family is deeply rooted in politics.  My mother worked heavily in government, and instilled in me both a high level of civic education and a heavy dose of political discussions.  So this has always been a big thing.  Over the years, it has lost a lot of its luster because of the numerous ideas laid out by each President’s agenda rarely ever comes to be reality.  Yet for one night, there is a moment of sincere optimism.  There is dare I say, hope that things will be better in the days to come.  As a follower of Christ, I always have the hope that I serve Him better and for better days to come. 

When we have true belief in God, we are filled with eternal hope.  Before I get into hope, I feel the need to define it better because I struggle distinguishing between hope and faith.  Faith is that which you have certainty of or as the latter portion of Hebrews 11:1 says, “Assurance about what we do not see.”  Hope focuses on the ideal situation or as the definition states, “what is wanted that can be had.”  In using these terms with Christ in mind, we have faith both in Christ as Lord and in our salvation declaring Him Lord over our life, and we have hope that the life we live both righteously and enthusiastically follows Him.  I often refer to a song We Fall Down because that describes what Christ’s hope in us is all about.  The chorus says, “We fall down, but we get up for a saint is but a sinner who fell down and got up.”  Hope says that no matter how far you have fallen and times you have failed, Christ loves and believes in you the one day you will be the person He envisioned.

We should always have hope because Jesus has hope in all of us.  From the story of Peter who denied Him to Paul who persecuted His believers, He always gives us another opportunity to follow Him.  Along those lines, we too should follow His example and have hope not only for God’s favor but also for other to be followers of Christ as well.  Who in your life can you instill hope in?  How can you trust God more to have greater hope?  My prayer is that our spirit overflows with hope.  Amen.

Tues Devo: Self-made....?

Genesis 22:7-14 “Isaac spoke to Abraham his father and said, “My father!” And he said, “Here I am, my son.” And he said, “Behold, the fire and the wood, but where is thelamb for the burnt offering?” Abraham said, “God will provide for Himself the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” So the two of them walked on together. Then they came to the place of which God had told him; and Abraham built the altar there and arranged the wood, and bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. Abraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” He said, “Do not stretch out your hand against the lad, and do nothing to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me.” Then Abraham raised his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him a ram caught in the thicket by his horns; and Abraham went and took the ram and offered him up for a burnt offering in the place of his son. Abraham called the name of that place The Lord Will Provide, as it is said to this day, “In the mount of the Lord it will be provided.”” (NASB)

Hello,

One day last week I was driving and this car passed me with a large window sticker in the back that read “Self Made” in a very elaborate font. I chuckled, then looked down at his license plate and it was personalized to simply read “SELF”. Caused me to think a lot. We like to pick on the younger generation for not having a great work ethic, or being willing to work as hard as those who came before. So, from one angle……someone took pride in their efforts to work hard and saw results. I like that they are potentially proud of their work ethic, and drive to see results toward a goal. But, this just doesn’t justify the mentality of “self-made”.

Should we work hard? Yes.

Should we strive for best results? Yes.

But we must not forget the source. God is THE source. He is the source of all of the following (and more - pardon the partial list J ): Opportunity, connections, strength, skill, ability, foresight, friendships, wealth. So yes, we must choose to take the opportunities in front of us – but who provided them? Yes, we must work hard – but who gives the strength when things are challenging and the friends to encourage us to keep pushing?  

Self-made? Nope….not at all, I am 100% God-Made. Now I must always remember this to keep from pride, and as a witness to those who watch my life.

Oh yes, one more thing….even if the material part is not there by measurements of others – that does not diminish the fact that I am God-made. You see, we must not merely measure the material – but more importantly measure the character. Love, kindness, peace, gentleness, self-control, purity – the strength and motivation for these are also from God – and the evaluation of who we are in the use of these character items far outweighs the material.

Have a blessed day,

Will Hill