Daniel: Day 11

"...but the people who know their God will display strength and take action." Daniel 11:32b

An Angel was telling Daniel all of the things that were about to happen. Persia was going to reach its climax and then be broken into pieces. Those pieces would then begin to feud and fight each other. This verse is talking about a king who lashes out at the Jews and destroys their sanctuaries and does away with their sacrifices (their only method of redemption at that time). But the Jews would rise up and take action.

I don't remember exactly how the quote goes but this verse reminded me of it. The quote talks about how evil runs rampant because good people just didn't do anything. But what does this mean for us today - to display strength and take action? Honestly, I'll have to think on it for a bit. But, it hits home. I have so many thoughts about the things I'dlike to do in my life but can't seem to find the time or the energy. I've had dreams of ministry for years (since I was 16 or 17) but I just haven't taken the steps necessary to accomplish them. But even more simply than that - this can apply to my day-to-day in how I act or react to people. How many times have I been involved in conversations or just been a bystander to conversations that lead away from God or Godly principles. Most of the time it is while I'm at work and I feel like I don't have any place to say anything because it would be inappropriate or something. Hmm...

Lord, I love You and praise You. Father, I ask for wisdom and discernment and I ask that You would help me understand what it is that You are trying to say to me. Help me define what's in my heart with words my mind can understand. Father, I pray for a deeper relationship with You. I pray for anyone reading this, that You would draw them closer to You as well and that You would bless them and touch them in their lives in just the way that they need You to. Thank You, Lord, for grace and mercy. In Your awesome Name I pray. Amen.

Daniel: Day 9

So I Gave My Attention To The Lord God

"...I, Daniel, observed in the books the number of the years which was revealed as the word of the Lord to Jeremiah the prophet for the completion of the desolations of Jerusalem...So I gave my attention to the Lord God to seek Him by prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth and ashes." Daniel 9:2-3

I spent a lot of time in my car today. I had to drive 2 1/2 hours over to an Army base to do some paperwork and then drive the 2 1/2 hours to come back home. Well, since Nicole's and my schedule doesn't allow us the opportunity to get over to church on a regular basis, I've been downloading podcasts of a church I would like us to start going to when she and I eventually move out to San Diego. And for me, the best way to stay awake while driving for multiple hours is to listen to something that engages my brain. Music puts me to sleep. But NPR - that keeps me awake. And these church service podcasts kept me awake for the same reason - because my brain was actively engaged in listening.

Well, the pastor of that church was doing a long 21 week series on how to study the Bible and how to deepen our relationship with God. And I started reading tonight and this 2nd and 3rd verse of Daniel 9 caught my attention and reminded of some of the stuff the pastor has been talking about. But, look at those two verses. Daniel was studying the books that today we know as the Old Testament. And in particular, he was reading through Jeremiah. He noticed that Jeremiah prophesied the "completion of the desolations of Jerusalem." That just means that Israel's captivity was going to be over soon. But, instead of throwing a party and going wild, what did Daniel do? He gave his attention to the Lord. And not only did he give his attention to God, but he went to God to confess all of the sins of disobedience and a lack of humility and walking away from God. He thanked God for His grace, mercy, and forgiveness but even when the end of captivity was in sight Daniel went to God and basically apologized for all of the sins of Israel. He kept himself humble and he kept his eyes on God.

In verse 13 of the same chapter, Daniel says, "As it is written in the law of Moses, all this calamity has come on us; yet we have not sought the favor of the Lord our God by turning from our iniquity and giving attention to Your truth."

So, even after all that they did, all that they saw, and all that God rescued them from they still ignored God and lifted themselves above God. So..."the Lord has kept the calamity in store and brought it on us; for the Lord our God is righteous with respect to all His deeds which He has done..." (verse 14).

This is a prime example of who not to be - of what not to do. Do not ignore God. Do not ignore that still small voice that prompts you to do what's right. It may be more difficult, but walk according to what you know in your heart is the right way to walk. Be the man or woman that stands up for your convictions and stands up for God. You don't have to be a Bible thumper. You don't have to be overwhelming, but just do what is right and don't lose sight of God. Own up to your shortcomings and failures, but take them to God and let Him free you from the burden of failure. You will not get it right. You will mess up. But God is big enough to cover all of your mistakes - He already did it 2000 years ago when He put His Son on a cross to act as the perfect sacrifice.

"It is by his deeds that a lap distinguishes himself if his conduct is pure and right." Proverbs 20:11

Lord, God - I love You and I praise You. Thank You for grace and mercy. Thank You for Your forgiveness. Lord, I confess to You and admit that I screw up. I haven't been as close to You as I should be. I haven't been putting in the effort to maintain our relationship. But, I miss You, Lord. I pray for wisdom and knowledge. I pray that You would open my ears to hear Your wise council. I love You. In the name of Jesus I pray. Amen.

Daniel: Day 5

MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN

"God has numbered your kingdom. You have been weighed on the scales and found deficient. Your kingdom has been divided and given over to the Medes and Persians."

In Daniel 5, the son of Nebuchadnezzar, Belshazzar, had been the king for over 20 years. And one day he had a party with his wives, concubines, etc. and he used the gold vessels from the temple of God to fill with wine and general blasphemary. Then, out of nowhere, God showed His hand out of thin air and His hand wrote the above words on a wall in front of the king. So, Belshazzar sent for all of his wise men (to finally include Daniel after all the others failed) and Daniel interpreted the writing (above). That very night, Belshazzar was murdered and Darius the Mede became the king.

There are certain statements in the Bible that make me react by saying, "I would love to hear God say this about or to me." This isn't one of those statements. Reading this makes me A) Grateful for Jesus and the forgiveness and mercy we find in His sacrifice, and B) Ask myself what I can do to, instead of hearing God tell me what He told Belshazzar, hear God say "Well done good and faithful servant." The application for today is to just keep on pressing in. Keep your eyes on God and He will say well done.

Lord I love You and praise You. Thank You for Jesus. Thank You for Your sacrifice. I continue to pray for wisdom, knowledge, and discernment. I also continue to pray and ask for a closer relationship with You. I pray these things also for anyone who may be reading this. In the name of Jesus I pray all things. Amen.

Daniel: Day 4

Chapter 4 of Daniel is about how Nebuchadnezzar came to recognize God as the one true God.

Daniel 4:6-8a - "So I gave order to bring into my presence all the wise men of Babylon, that they might make known to me the interpretation of the dream. Then the magicians, the conjurers, the Chaldeans and the diviners came in and I related the dream to them, but they could not make its interpretation known to me. But finally Daniel came in before me, whose name is Belteshazzar according to the name of my gods, and in whom is a spirit of the holy gods..."

This is Nebuchadnezzar talking. And this is not the same dream that Daniel interpreted the first time (in chapter 2). So some amount of time has passed from that first dream until this dream. We don't know how much time, though. And in these verses, Nebuchadnezzar was telling his testimony - how he came to know that God is God - so he is speaking in the past-tense. Because looking back on it, Nebuchadnezzar realizes that he knew back then, even before he believed in God, that there was something different about Daniel. He recognized that Daniel had a relationship with something holy.

I also noticed something else later on in chapter 4 (verse 19, after Nebuchadnezzar told Daniel his dream) - "Then Daniel, whose name is Belteshazzar, was appalled for a while as his thoughts alarmed him. The king responded and said, 'Belteshazzar, do not let the dream or its interpretation alarm you.' Belteshazzar replied, 'My lord, if only the dream applied to those who hate you and its interpretation to your adversaries!"

I noticed that Daniel had grown to love Nebuchadnezzar - the man who captured the Jews and ruled over one of the greatest kingdoms on Earth.

I believe God had appointed Nebuchadnezzar as Daniel's charge - his mission..his ministry. So, here are my two applications of this:

1) A lot can be said for consistency. Be constant in your pursuit of God. Be constant in your pursuit of wisdom and discernment. Be steady in yearning for what is true and right and just. Because even though God has grace and mercy and He has forgiven us for ALL of our mistakes and sins, the world is not so forgiving. The world will judge you according to the preconception of how they feel you judge them just because your are a Christian. So be constant. You won't always be right, but so long as you maintain your heart to serve and your heart for God, the world will recognize it - even if they don't know what it is that they are recognizing.

2) Love. You cannot serve anyone that you do not love. Love the people in your life the way God loves them. Compassion, sympathy, empathy - these are all synonyms for love. Daniel, even though he knew the king was wrong for his beliefs, still cared for Nebuchadnezzar so much that the true interpretation of the dream alarmed and appalled him. His heart probably sank into his stomach as Nebuchadnezzar told him the dream.

Father, I love You. Thank You for grace and mercy. Father, consistency has big one of the biggest problems I've had in Your and my walk together. I come close to You and then move far away. And then do it again and again. But Lord, I don't want that. I don't want to be that person that doesn't maintain that close contact with You. When I think about the people who have made the biggest impacts on me as a Christian, a servant, and a leader, they are all people who have stayed the course with You. In life, we need to be flexible, but not in our relationship with You. So Father, I ask that You would draw me and anyone reading this close to You. Draw us closer and closer. Light never-ending fires of passion for You and for Your will in our hearts from now on. Be our source of joy, happiness, release, strength, and wisdom. Be our best friend. I love You and praise You, Father. Thank You. In the name of Jesus I pray all things. Amen.

Daniel: Day 3

Daniel 3 is the chapter where Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego were thrown into the furnace because they refused to bow down to the golden statue that Nebuchadnezar had built. But, I love it. They did the difficult thing - they stood up for what they believe in. Not only did they stand up for God, but they were ready to face whatever consequence God would allow them to face for it.

Here's the thing about faith - God doesn't necessarily take us out of the scary situation. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego were all actually thrown into the furnace. But God will deliver us from evil. In this case, God saved the three from burning. Did the three of them know that they would not be burned? I bet they didn't. I bet they figured they would die every bit as much as everyone else. Their faith wasn't in that God would rescue them - their faith was in that they knew that no matter what happened, it was God's will. They cared more about doing the right thing and what God wanted than what was comfortable or easy or what they wanted.

Daniel 3:16-18 - "Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego replied to the king, 'O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to give you an answer concerning this matter. If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the furnace of blazing fire; and He willdeliver us out of your hand, O king. But, even if He does not, let it be known to you, O king, that we are not going to serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up."

So, they knew God could deliver them unharmed and they had faith in His ability. But they knew full well that He might not save them from the fire. But whether He saved them from the fire or not, they knew He would deliver them from the king.

So, what can I do to be more like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego? What has the world told me to bow down to every time it passes by? What has the enemy told me to worship? What is it I need to say no to?

Those are good questions to ponder.

Lord, I love You and I praise You. Thank You for Your grace and mercy. Father, I pray for strength of conviction, strength of will, discernment, understanding, knowledge, and wisdom. And I pray for those things for anyone reading this. And Lord, above all else, I pray that Your perfect will be done on earth as it is in heaven. In your Name I pray. Amen.

Daniel: Day 2

So, it turns out that a drastic change in diet in a very short period of time (read: instantly) equals throwing your body out of whack and almost debilitating headaches. So, my wife and I have decided that we aren't giving up on this fast, but we are changing the parameters. We realized that such a drastic fast was just too unrealistic and unhealthy of a goal. So, we are just going to cut out coffee and candy/deserts out of our diet for the remainder of the fast.

Daniel 2 started to get a little intense. In chapter 2, Nebuchadnezzar had a dream about a statue that was made of different metals and earth. Then a stone dropped on top of it and crushed it all and there was nothing left of it.

Once Daniel began interpreting this dream for the king, it all started to make sense to me. The different metals (as Daniel explained) were all of the different kingdoms from Babylon (the gold head) to Rome (the feet that were iron mixed with clay). The stone that crushed it all was Jesus.

But again, I find myself in a place where a practical application or the "so what" factor isn't obvious to me. A lot of the time, I'll read the Bible and to me it is interesting history or just information that gives me further insight into God and Jesus. But it is important to try and find a way to apply what you're reading - a lesson to be learned; something to take home. And when I start thinking about it, there are a few. But for the sake of time, I'll go with something that I touched on in yesterday's blog: God blesses not just the righteous but everyone else around the righteous as well.

Daniel 2:24 - "Therefore, Daniel went in to Arioch, whom the king had appointed to destroy the wise men of Babylon; he went and spoke to him as follows: 'Do not destroy the wise men of Babylon! Take me into the king's presence, and I will declare the interpretation to the king.'"

Daniel was a brave man. Or maybe bravery had nothing to do with it. He was confident. He was confident in God and therefore had no reason to fear. Nebuchadnezzar had made it clear that whoever was interpreting his dream either got it right or he would be killed. Daniel knew this. He knew that he had one chance. But he had so much faith and confidence in his relationship with God and in the fact that he heard from God that he volunteered himself to be put on the chopping block. But notice what he said in verse 24: "Do not destroy the wise men of Babylon!" The "wise" men that he referred to weren't just the Jews. When he said wise men he was talking about the pagan one's also. He didn't just put his life on the line for his own people, he put his life on the line for the very people that captured his people. He valued human life the way that Jesus values all human life.

And it was partially for their sake that God revealed to Daniel Nebuchadnezzaar's dream and its meaning. It was partially for them that Daniel risked his life to interpret it.

But, ultimately it was for the glory of God that God revealed it to Daniel and Daniel revealed it to the king. Look how the king reacted to Daniel (2:46-47): "Then king Nebuchadnezzar fell on his face and did homage to Daniel...The king answered Daniel and said, 'Surely your God is a God of gods and a Lord of kings and a revealer of mysteries, since you have been able to reveal this mystery.'"

Lord, I love You and praise You. Thank You for Your grace. Thank You for dreams, visions, and the interpretations and meanings to them. Thank You for loving us so much that You are intimately involved in our lives every moment of every day. Thank You for Your mercy. Thank You for Your Son and the forgiveness and salvation that has been granted through Him. Father, I continue to pray for guidance, understanding, discernment, knowledge, and wisdom. I pray for anyone reading this post that You would bless them and enlarge their territory and keep them from evil that it may do no harm. I pray for blessing and protection over me and my family as well. In the name of Jesus I pray all things. Amen.

Daniel: Day 1

My wife and I were able to go to church yesterday for the first time in a while. Her work schedule doesn't normally give us the opportunity plus our church is about an hour away from us. But, we were able to go yesterday and we found out that starting today our church is doing a 21-day fast. The pastor didn't specify what kind of fast to do just that he asked each of us to fast for 21 days.

So my wife and I decided to do the Daniel fast. But along with the Daniel fast, we are reading one chapter of the book of Daniel every day of the fast (I do realize there are only 12 chapters and we are doing a 21-day fast, but it'll be okay).

So Daniel, Chapter 1.

There wasn't one verse or even just a section of a verse that jumped out at me in this chapter. But what did jump out at me was Daniel's faith and his strength of conviction and the fact that God will bless those around you on account of you. Daniel 1:5a says, "The king appointed for them a daily ration from the king's choice food and from the wine which he drank..."

King Nebuchadnezzar asked his staff to go pick out some "perfect" kids from the Jews which had been captured. They were going to be educated by the Babylonians so they could be liaisons between the Jews and the Babylonians.

But here is what I'm talking about with Daniel's strength of conviction:

Daniel 1:8 - "But Daniel made up his mind that he would not defile himself with the king's choice food or with the wine which he drank; so he sought permission from the commander of the officials that he may

not defile himself."

Daniel's faith in God:

When the commander of the officials told Daniel he couldn't grant Daniel's request because when Daniel and his buddies showed up to court looking gaunt and thin (because they asked to be given only vegetables to eat and water to drink) it would be his head (literally) on the chopping block.

Daniel 1:12 - "Please test your servants for ten days, and let us be given some vegetables to eat and water to drink. Then let our appearance be observed in your presence and the appearance of the youths who are eating the king's choice food; and deal with your servants according to what you find."

Basically, he was saying - give it a test drive. If you find that we look healthy then let us continue to eat how we want; if not, then we'll eat what you tell us to. He acted on his conviction and faith in God and allowed God to take care of the rest.

But the last

thing I noticed was that even though it seems that Daniel was taking the initiative in all of this, God also blessed the other three Jews that were with Daniel. Daniel 1:17 - "As for these four youths, God gave them knowledge and intelligence in every branch of literature and wisdom; Daniel even understood all kinds of visions and dreams."

So what? Why is any of this important? Well here is the application:

Always do what you know and feel to be the right thing to do. But do it with the heart of giving it up to God to let Him do as He sees fit. You do what you are supposed to do and God will not only be there to help you get through the tough times, but He'll bless you and elevate you ABOVE the circumstances. He will guide you through it and land you on top.

Lord, thank You for Your grace and mercy. During this period of fasting, I pray for wisdom and knowledge

. I pray for guidance and understanding. Lord, I ask that You would show my family the direction You want us to go and I pray that You would give us the strength of conviction to go there. I pray for faith where faith is lacking. And I pray that You would bless us as we attempt to go where You want us to go and do what You want us to do. And I only have one question to ask, Father - what do you have for me to do for You today? I love

You and praise You. In the name of Jesus I pray. Amen.

Glorified for Him

"Jesus spoke these things; and lifting up His eyes to heaven, He said, 'Father, the hour has come; glorify Your Son, that the Son may glorify You..." - John 17:1

Jesus was praying just before he was arrested and put on trial, etc. He prayed for Himself (17:1-5); He prayed for His disciples (17:6-19); He prayed for everyone that believes in Him (17:20-26).

I was having a conversation with a co-worker the other day. He was telling me that he and his mother used to get into arguments about whether or not Christians should focus on getting rich and getting money. One of them took the stance that God wants to bless His children, the other took the stance that the love of money is the root of all evil. But, here in John, Jesus asks to be glorified so that He could glorify God. Jesus WAS (and is) God. So the act of God glorifying Jesus would automatically glorify God because Jesus is God.

But, get this - Jesus is in us (those who have accepted Jesus as our Lord and Saviour). We are in relationship with Him. He has cleaned our souls, given us new hearts, and shown us His eternal grace and mercy. When God blesses us, He is glorifying Himself. This is not necessarily about money - that was just an example. But whether it be money, or God blessing you with being good with words or being comfortable in front of crowds, it is always for His glory.

Jesus' heart was not for God to glorify Him so He could hoard the glory. Jesus wanted to be glorified so that He could, with His very life and every word and action, point back to God - the source of all life. The lesson this teaches me is to continuously analyze the state of my heart - the heart that God gave me. Make sure that my heart is in the right place. I want to win the lottery. Why do I want to win the lottery? What do I want to do with it? I want to do ministry. Why do I want to do ministry? Who has God put on my heart to reach or to minister to?

The bottom line is this: no matter what you do, where you go, or how much money you do ro don't have - no matter what God has blessed you with (A) recognize that it comes from God, and (B) always give it back to God and always give the credit to God. Use those blessings and those gifts to glorify God. Be the light to the world that God has called us to be.

Lord, I thank You and praise You. Thank You for Your grace and mercy. Thank You for the glory You bestow on us, in us, and through us. Father, I pray for myself and anyone else reading this that You would give us "see-through" vision. Help us see through the situation to the purpose You have for us in that situation. Help us see the gifts You've given us and how we can use them to glorify You. Give us the strength and courage to do so. I love You and praise You. In the name of Jesus I pray - Amen.