Daily Manna (Coffee with Jesus)

Daniel is teaching us how to pray as well as how to be in prayer—honest and sincere. God wants nothing less than honesty in our talking with him.  God knows our hearts, glad or sad, joyous or troubled, bearing all or keeping it all inside.  Nothing escapes God’s notice when it concerns what is concerning us. 

As we read of Daniel’s visions that tell of things to come that we really don’t want to deal with but is necessary to learn, we come to a place where Daniel, high officer in the Babylonian kingdom, who is more comfortable than most exiles, lays down the royal robes and puts on burlap.  Daniel then falls to his knees in the dust with all of God’s people on his mind.  Daniel is in the ashes crying out for an end to the well-deserved punishment for the hideous, repulsive, rebellious, perverted sins of God’s people.  Daniel, it seems, as taken all that sin upon himself and is crying out to God, asking for God’s compassions to “fail not”, as the scriptures say that Daniel is meditating upon as he prays! 

Daniel is adamant and quite passionate in the admission of all those sins as he tells  God, “Yes, we have all sinned and we all deserve the punishment that you had to dish out, but now, God, how long?”  We must admit, we have prayed the “how long” prayer, right?

God hears prayers like Daniel’s prayer.  And God answers before the prayer is finished!  Friends, what bring me to tears, (yes, that ugly but tender cry), are these words said first before the message of things to come is given: “Daniel…you are so loved.” 

As Daniel prays for hope, Hope is delivered.  “You are so loved.”  Can you just hear God saying these words to Daniel affectionally and compassionately through Gabriel?

Friends, we are so loved by the same God that delivered hope to Daniel.  “For God so loved the world (that’s you and I and all of us on earth) that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”  (John 3:16) Jesus, God’s Son, left heaven to walk among us.  He taught us how to love like God loves us.  He showed us who God really is and what He wants.  Jesus then took all our sins and placed them on his shoulders in passionate prayer, taking the “cup” as God asked.  Then Jesus willingly laid down his life for ours, taking all the punishment for those sins that we well deserved and died an excruciating death—Our sins nailed to a cross.  The mission to save the world complete. 

Jesus went to hell and back again to defeat death and rose to life on the Third Day—left that grave—just as He said He would.  Jesus, Our Only Hope.  Jesus, our Savior and now our Lord for all who believe—really believe.

Daniel 9, The Message

God’s Covenant Commitment

^1-4 “Darius, son of Ahasuerus, born a Mede, became king over the land of Babylon. In the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, was meditating on the Scriptures that gave, according to the Word of God to the prophet Jeremiah, the number of years that Jerusalem had to lie in ruins, namely, seventy. I turned to the Master God, asking for an answer—praying earnestly, fasting from meals, wearing rough penitential burlap, and kneeling in the ashes. I poured out my heart, baring my soul to God, my God:

^4-8 “‘O Master, great and august God. You never waver in your covenant commitment, never give up on those who love you and do what you say. Yet we have sinned in every way imaginable. We’ve done evil things, rebelled, dodged and taken detours around your clearly marked paths. We’ve turned a deaf ear to your servants the prophets, who preached your Word to our kings and leaders, our parents, and all the people in the land. You have done everything right, Master, but all we have to show for our lives is guilt and shame, the whole lot of us—people of Judah, citizens of Jerusalem, Israel at home and Israel in exile in all the places we’ve been banished to because of our betrayal of you. Oh yes, God, we’ve been exposed in our shame, all of us—our kings, leaders, parents—before the whole world. And deservedly so, because of our sin.

^9-12 “‘Compassion is our only hope, the compassion of you, the Master, our God, since in our rebellion we’ve forfeited our rights. We paid no attention to you when you told us how to live, the clear teaching that came through your servants the prophets. All of us in Israel ignored what you said. We defied your instructions and did what we pleased. And now we’re paying for it: The solemn curse written out plainly in the revelation to God’s servant Moses is now doing its work among us, the wages of our sin against you. You did to us and our rulers what you said you would do: You brought this catastrophic disaster on us, the worst disaster on record—and in Jerusalem!

^13-14 “‘Just as written in God’s revelation to Moses, the catastrophe was total. Nothing was held back. We kept at our sinning, never giving you a second thought, oblivious to your clear warning, and so you had no choice but to let the disaster loose on us in full force. You, our God, had a perfect right to do this since we persistently and defiantly ignored you.

^15-17 “‘Master, you are our God, for you delivered your people from the land of Egypt in a show of power—people are still talking about it! We confess that we have sinned, that we have lived bad lives. Following the lines of what you have always done in setting things right, setting people right, please stop being so angry with Jerusalem, your very own city, your holy mountain. We know it’s our fault that this has happened, all because of our sins and our parents’ sins, and now we’re an embarrassment to everyone around us. We’re a blot on the neighborhood. So listen, God, to this determined prayer of your servant. Have mercy on your ruined Sanctuary. Act out of who you are, not out of what we are.

¹⁸ “‘Turn your ears our way, God, and listen. Open your eyes and take a long look at our ruined city, this city named after you. We know that we don’t deserve a hearing from you. Our appeal is to your compassion. This prayer is our last and only hope:

¹⁹     “‘Master, listen to us!
    Master, forgive us!
    Master, look at us and do something!
    Master, don’t put us off!
    Your city and your people are named after you:
    You have a stake in us!’

Seventy Sevens

^20-21 “While I was pouring out my heart, baring my sins and the sins of my people Israel, praying my life out before my God, interceding for the holy mountain of my God—while I was absorbed in this praying, the humanlike Gabriel, the one I had seen in an earlier vision, approached me, flying in like a bird about the time of evening worship.

^22-23 “He stood before me and said, ‘Daniel, I have come to make things plain to you. You had no sooner started your prayer when the answer was given. And now I’m here to deliver the answer to you. You are much loved! So listen carefully to the answer, the plain meaning of what is revealed:

²⁴ “‘Seventy sevens are set for your people and for your holy city to throttle rebellion, stop sin, wipe out crime, set things right forever, confirm what the prophet saw, and anoint The Holy of Holies.

^25-26 “‘Here is what you must understand: From the time the word goes out to rebuild Jerusalem until the coming of the Anointed Leader, there will be seven sevens. The rebuilding will take sixty-two sevens, including building streets and digging a moat. Those will be rough times. After the sixty-two sevens, the Anointed Leader will be killed—the end of him. The city and Sanctuary will be laid in ruins by the army of the newly arriving leader. The end will come in a rush, like a flood. War will rage right up to the end, desolation the order of the day.

²⁷ “‘Then for one seven, he will forge many and strong alliances, but halfway through the seven he will banish worship and prayers. At the place of worship, a desecrating obscenity will be set up and remain until finally the desecrator himself is decisively destroyed.’”

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

We are so loved!  Our response?  Love God back!

Believe, repent, and be saved from all our sins. Live expectantly with hope forever!  Watch what God does, hear what God says—and do that!  Trust and obey, for there’s no other way…

Yes, harder stuff is coming, but God wins in the end.  He always has and always will.

Lord,

You are our only Hope for life forever.  You are the One and Only who can be trusted with our very lives for you created us, you know us and you love us still!  The prayer of Daniel, “Master, listen to us! Master, forgive us! Master, look at us and do something! Master, don’t put us off! Your city and your people are named after you: You have a stake in us!” has been answered profoundly and forever by you, dear Jesus!  Thank you for saving us. Thank you for bringing up from the ashes to see the beauty of living life with you. Yes, Lord, I love you back—with all my heart, mind and soul.

In Jesus Name, Amen

There will be an end to this world’s pride, “do it my way” attitudes, pride in ministries, self-promotion through manipulation, the hunger for power and more power and control.  Guess what?  In the end, God wins.  God has always won because He is God.  God is always in control of all that He has created.  Humans are awarded free will to make choices, but God works all things for the good of those who love Him.  On top of all that, Jesus, His Son, set things right with God for all who believe and repent of all sins that have been paid for in full.  God is good and greatly to be praised, indeed!

If we are dazed by what is going on now, there is more to come.  We are not defeated!  Hang on. Get a grip on God’s grace.  Hang on to the Hand who loves you most.  Love like God loves us as if our lives depended on it…because it does.

Daniel 8, The Message

A Vision of a Ram and a Billy Goat

“In King Belshazzar’s third year as king, another vision came to me, Daniel. This was now the second vision.

^2-4 “In the vision, I saw myself in Susa, the capital city of the province Elam, standing at the Ulai Canal. Looking around, I was surprised to see a ram also standing at the gate. The ram had two huge horns, one bigger than the other, but the bigger horn was the last to appear. I watched as the ram charged: first west, then north, then south. No beast could stand up to him. He did just as he pleased, strutting as if he were king of the beasts.

^5-7 “While I was watching this, wondering what it all meant, I saw a billy goat with an immense horn in the middle of its forehead come up out of the west and fly across the whole country, not once touching the ground. The billy goat approached the double-horned ram that I had earlier seen standing at the gate and, enraged, charged it viciously. I watched as, mad with rage, it charged the ram and hit it so hard that it broke off its two horns. The ram didn’t stand a chance against it. The billy goat knocked the ram to the ground and stomped all over it. Nothing could have saved the ram from the goat.

^8-12 “Then the billy goat swelled to an enormous size. At the height of its power its immense horn broke off and four other big horns sprouted in its place, pointing to the four points of the compass. And then from one of these big horns another horn sprouted. It started small, but then grew to an enormous size, facing south and east—toward lovely Palestine. The horn grew tall, reaching to the stars, the heavenly army, and threw some of the stars to the earth and stomped on them. It even dared to challenge the power of God, Prince of the Celestial Army! And then it threw out daily worship and desecrated the Sanctuary. As judgment against their sin, the holy people of God got the same treatment as the daily worship. The horn cast God’s Truth aside. High-handed, it took over everything and everyone.

¹³ “Then I overheard two holy angels talking. One asked, ‘How long is what we see here going to last—the abolishing of daily worship, this devastating judgment against sin, the kicking around of God’s holy people and the Sanctuary?’

¹⁴ “The other answered, ‘Over the course of 2,300 sacrifices, evening and morning. Then the Sanctuary will be set right again.’

* * *

¹⁵ “While I, Daniel, was trying to make sense of what I was seeing, suddenly there was a humanlike figure standing before me.

^16-17 “Then I heard a man’s voice from over by the Ulai Canal calling out, ‘Gabriel, tell this man what is going on. Explain the vision to him.’ He came up to me, but when he got close I became terrified and fell facedown on the ground.

^17-18 “He said, ‘Understand that this vision has to do with the time of the end.’ As soon as he spoke, I fainted, my face in the dirt. But he picked me up and put me on my feet.

¹⁹ “And then he continued, ‘I want to tell you what is going to happen as the judgment days of wrath wind down, for there is going to be an end to all this.

^20-22 “‘The double-horned ram you saw stands for the two kings of the Medes and Persians. The billy goat stands for the kingdom of the Greeks. The huge horn on its forehead is the first Greek king. The four horns that sprouted after it was broken off are the four kings that come after him, but without his power.

^23-26 “‘As their kingdoms cool down
    and rebellions heat up,
A king will show up,
    hard-faced, a master trickster.
His power will swell enormously.
    He’ll talk big, high-handedly,
Doing whatever he pleases,
    knocking off heroes and holy ones left and right.
He’ll plot and scheme to make crime flourish—
    and oh, how it will flourish!
He’ll think he’s invincible
    and get rid of anyone who gets in his way.
But when he takes on the Prince of all princes,
    he’ll be smashed to bits—
    but not by human hands.
This vision of the 2,300 sacrifices, evening and morning,
    is accurate but confidential.
Keep it to yourself.
    It refers to the far future.’

* * *

²⁷ “I, Daniel, walked around in a daze, unwell for days. Then I got a grip on myself and went back to work taking care of the king’s affairs. But I continued to be upset by the vision. I couldn’t make sense of it.”

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

So far, Daniel has taught us about passionate, on your knees, praying, tenacious, unrelenting faith and the refusal to give up on the God who saves us.  Right now, as we read about earthly kingdoms who will go to war for top billing in this world, I think of Jesus.  I think of what He did to save me.  I think of how He went to hell, defeated our real enemy and death, and rose again to give us life forever.  For—ever!

So, does it matter who does what to whom?  I feel a song of praise…

Jesus, Jesus, Jesus; there’s just something about that name.
Master, Savior, Jesus, like the fragrance after the rain;
Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, let all Heaven and earth proclaim
Kings and kingdoms will all pass away,
But there’s something about that name.
Kings and kingdoms will all pass away,
But there’s something about that name.

(“There’s Just Something about that Name” by Bill and Gloria Gather)

Final victory…

“Therefore, if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves,not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.

In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:

Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing
    by taking the very nature of a servant,
    being made in human likeness.
And being found in appearance as a man,
    he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death—even death on a cross!

Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
    and gave him the name that is above every name,
that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
    in heaven and on earth and under the earth,and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.  (Philippians 2:1-11)

Lord,

Thank you, thank you, thank you!  What a fellowship, what a joy divine, leaning on the everlasting arms…

In Jesus Name, Amen

I am a dreamer.  It is rare that I don’t dream weird happenings that include snippets of what occurred that day.  My brain acts like a faulty computer in need of repair as it mixes up all the files put in to produce a completely different story based on my life occurrences.  I also dream of those things that concern me.  I dream about people I once knew.  I hear them as they were in my life.  I can almost hear their voices again as I dream.  Rich foods can give me nightmares of unreal proportions. 

But I also dream of what God wants for our lives versus what I want.  God uses dreams and visions, day and night, to help us understand and be ready for what lies ahead. 

Daniel has a dream…” but he kept it to himself” …his dream concerns all God’s people who belong to Him now as well as then.  Read prayerfully…

Daniel 7, The Message

A Vision of Four Animals

In the first year of the reign of King Belshazzar of Babylon, Daniel had a dream. What he saw as he slept in his bed terrified him—a real nightmare. Then he wrote out his dream:

^2-3 “In my dream that night I saw the four winds of heaven whipping up a great storm on the sea. Four huge animals, each different from the others, ascended out of the sea.

⁴ “The first animal looked like a lion, but it had the wings of an eagle. While I watched, its wings were pulled off. It was then pulled erect so that it was standing on two feet like a man. Then a human heart was placed in it.

⁵ “Then I saw a second animal that looked like a bear. It lurched from side to side, holding three ribs in its jaws. It was told, ‘Attack! Devour! Fill your belly!’

⁶ “Next I saw another animal. This one looked like a panther. It had four birdlike wings on its back. This animal had four heads and was made to rule.

⁷ “After that, a fourth animal appeared in my dream. This one was a grisly horror—hideous. It had huge iron teeth. It crunched and swallowed its victims. Anything left over, it trampled into the ground. It was different from the other animals—this one was a real monster. It had ten horns.

⁸ “As I was staring at the horns and trying to figure out what they meant, another horn sprouted up, a little horn. Three of the original horns were pulled out to make room for it. There were human eyes in this little horn, and a big mouth speaking arrogantly.

^9-10 “As I was watching all this,

“Thrones were set in place
    and The Old One sat down.
His robes were white as snow,
    his hair was white like wool.
His throne was flaming with fire,
    its wheels blazing.
A river of fire
    poured out of the throne.
Thousands upon thousands served him,
    tens of thousands attended him.
The courtroom was called to order,
    and the books were opened.

^11-13 “I kept watching. The little horn was speaking arrogantly. Then, as I watched, the monster was killed and its body cremated in a roaring fire. The other animals lived on for a limited time, but they didn’t really do anything, had no power to rule. My dream continued.

^13-14 “I saw a human form, a son of man,
    arriving in a whirl of clouds.
He came to The Old One
    and was presented to him.
He was given power to rule—all the glory of royalty.
    Everyone—race, color, and creed—had to serve him.
His rule would be forever, never ending.
    His kingly rule would never be replaced.

^15-16 “But as for me, Daniel, I was disturbed. All these dream-visions had me agitated. So I went up to one of those standing by and asked him the meaning of all this. And he told me, interpreting the dream for me:

^17-18 “‘These four huge animals,’ he said, ‘mean that four kingdoms will appear on earth. But eventually the holy people of the High God will be given the kingdom and have it ever after—yes, forever and ever.’

^19-22 “But I wanted to know more. I was curious about the fourth animal, the one so different from the others, the hideous monster with the iron teeth and the bronze claws, gulping down what it ripped to pieces and trampling the leftovers into the dirt. And I wanted to know about the ten horns on its head and the other horn that sprouted up while three of the original horns were removed. This new horn had eyes and a big mouth and spoke arrogantly, dominating the other horns. I watched as this horn was making war on God’s holy people and getting the best of them. But then The Old One intervened and decided things in favor of the people of the High God. In the end, God’s holy people took over the kingdom.

^23-25 “The bystander continued, telling me this: ‘The fourth animal is a fourth kingdom that will appear on earth. It will be different from the first three kingdoms, a monster kingdom that will chew up everyone in sight and spit them out. The ten horns are ten kings, one after another, that will come from this kingdom. But then another king will arrive. He will be different from the earlier kings. He will begin by toppling three kings. Then he will blaspheme the High God, persecute the followers of the High God, and try to get rid of sacred worship and moral practice. God’s holy people will be persecuted by him for a time, two times, half a time.

^26-27 “‘But when the court comes to order, the horn will be stripped of its power and totally destroyed. Then the royal rule and the authority and the glory of all the kingdoms under heaven will be handed over to the people of the High God. Their royal rule will last forever. All other rulers will serve and obey them.’

²⁸ “And there it ended. I, Daniel, was in shock. I was like a man who had seen a ghost. But I kept it all to myself.”

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

Through a vision, God told Daniel about the coming of the Messiah and the final judgment. Daniel didn’t understand everything he saw, because some of the events would take place five hundred years later.

God always fulfills his prophecies. Those who believe that all that God says is really real and have accepted Jesus, His Son, as Savior and Lord of their lives, can have confidence in him no matter how bleak the world may seem.

Faith and trust.  Growing deeply in faith means there is more to life than meets the eye. For that’s what faith is. Faith is trusting what the eye cannot see. We could spend time going around and around at the implications of Daniel’s dream and ponder what current countries might be involved in the final days until Jesus comes, but I would rather grow my faith in the One who loves me most and trust the One and Only who is completely in control of our lives.  I live gratefully for God’s Son who saved me and for His Holy Spirit who lives in me who teaches, convicts, guides, leads, pulls me away from danger, comforts and counsels me in God’s Ways. 

Lean into what Max Lucado says about this passage.  Build Hope, Trust and Faith in God who is building an unshakable Kingdom with Jesus as King forevermore. God calls us to simply love Him back and to love others like He loves us.  Without conditions.

• “Eyes see the prowling lion. Faith sees Daniel’s angel.
• Eyes see storms. Faith sees Noah’s rainbow.
• Eyes see giants. Faith sees Canaan.
• Your eyes see your faults. Your faith sees your Savior.
• Your eyes see your guilt. Your faith sees his blood.
• Your eyes see your grave. Your faith sees a city whose builder and maker is God.
• Your eyes look in the mirror and see a sinner, a failure, a promise breaker. But by faith you look in the mirror and see a robed prodigal bearing the ring of grace on your finger and the kiss of your Father on your face.”  (Lucado)

Lord,

We don’t have to know the future to know you.  Just like the song of my past teaches,

I don’t know about tomorrow,
I just live from day to day.
I don’t borrow from its sunshine,
For its skies may turn to gray.
I don’t worry o’er the future,
For I know what Jesus said,
And today I’ll walk beside Him,
For He knows what is ahead.

Refrain:
Many things about tomorrow,
I don’t seem to understand;
But I know who holds tomorrow,
And I know who holds my hand.

Lord, some think I have just a “Pollyana” way of thinking but they don’t know how much I trust in what you say and how faith in you is my way of life.  I love you with all my heart, mind, and soul.

In Jesus Name, Amen.  I believe, and I will always sing your praises.

You know them.  We all know them.  They are the people we run to when we need them to pray with us in troubling or cataclysmic situations in our lives.  They are “lions” in prayer because they believe, really believe in the One whom they are calling upon.  Believing makes them strong lions of faith and strength, overcomers  with confidence, no matter what situation they are thrown into—even a den of wild animals.  No, I’m not talking about the church nursery…but a real den of real lions! 

Know God. Know a Daniel. Be a Daniel for others!

Daniel 6, The Message

Daniel in the Lions’ Den

^1-3 Darius reorganized his kingdom. He appointed one hundred twenty governors to administer all the parts of his realm. Over them were three vice-regents, one of whom was Daniel. The governors reported to the vice-regents, who made sure that everything was in order for the king. But Daniel, brimming with spirit and intelligence, so completely outclassed the other vice-regents and governors that the king decided to put him in charge of the whole kingdom.

^4-5 The vice-regents and governors got together to find some old scandal or skeleton in Daniel’s life that they could use against him, but they couldn’t dig up anything. He was totally exemplary and trustworthy. They could find no evidence of negligence or misconduct. So they finally gave up and said, “We’re never going to find anything against this Daniel unless we can scheme up something religious.”

^6-7 The vice-regents and governors conspired together and then went to the king and said, “King Darius, live forever! We’ve convened your vice-regents, governors, and all your leading officials, and have agreed that the king should issue the following decree:

For the next thirty days no one is to pray to any god or mortal except you, O king. Anyone who disobeys will be thrown into the lions’ den.

⁸ “Issue this decree, O king, and make it unconditional, as if written in stone like all the laws of the Medes and the Persians.”

⁹ King Darius signed the decree.

¹⁰ When Daniel learned that the decree had been signed and posted, he continued to pray just as he had always done. His house had windows in the upstairs that opened toward Jerusalem. Three times a day he knelt there in prayer, thanking and praising his God.

^11-12 The conspirators came and found him praying, asking God for help. They went straight to the king and reminded him of the royal decree that he had signed. “Did you not,” they said, “sign a decree forbidding anyone to pray to any god or man except you for the next thirty days? And anyone caught doing it would be thrown into the lions’ den?”

“Absolutely,” said the king. “Written in stone, like all the laws of the Medes and Persians.”

¹³ Then they said, “Daniel, one of the Jewish exiles, ignores you, O king, and defies your decree. Three times a day he prays.”

¹⁴ At this, the king was very upset and tried his best to get Daniel out of the fix he’d put him in. He worked at it the whole day long.

¹⁵ But then the conspirators were back: “Remember, O king, it’s the law of the Medes and Persians that the king’s decree can never be changed.”

¹⁶ The king caved in and ordered Daniel brought and thrown into the lions’ den. But he said to Daniel, “Your God, to whom you are so loyal, is going to get you out of this.”

¹⁷ A stone slab was placed over the opening of the den. The king sealed the cover with his signet ring and the signet rings of all his nobles, fixing Daniel’s fate.

¹⁸ The king then went back to his palace. He refused supper. He couldn’t sleep. He spent the night fasting.

^19-20 At daybreak the king got up and hurried to the lions’ den. As he approached the den, he called out anxiously, “Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you serve so loyally, saved you from the lions?”

^21-22 “O king, live forever!” said Daniel. “My God sent his angel, who closed the mouths of the lions so that they would not hurt me. I’ve been found innocent before God and also before you, O king. I’ve done nothing to harm you.”

²³ When the king heard these words, he was happy. He ordered Daniel taken up out of the den. When he was hauled up, there wasn’t a scratch on him. He had trusted his God.

²⁴ Then the king commanded that the conspirators who had informed on Daniel be thrown into the lions’ den, along with their wives and children. Before they hit the floor, the lions had them in their jaws, tearing them to pieces.

^25-27 King Darius published this proclamation to every race, color, and creed on earth:

    Peace to you! Abundant peace!
        I decree that Daniel’s God shall be worshiped and feared
    in all parts of my kingdom.
        He is the living God, world without end. His kingdom
    never falls.
        His rule continues eternally.
        He is a savior and rescuer.
        He performs astonishing miracles in heaven and on earth.
        He saved Daniel from the power of the lions.

* * *

²⁸ From then on, Daniel was treated well during the reign of Darius, and also in the following reign of Cyrus the Persian.

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

Working for a denomination in the religious world, the worst words you can hear are, “So, we had a meeting…,” especially if you were not IN the meeting.  Daniel’s peers in leadership were so jealous of Daniel’s character traits that included the words “exemplary and trustworthy” that they had to scheme to bring him down.  It is interesting to note that they used Daniel’s greatest asset—His communion with God through prayer.  Obviously, the schemers did not have these character traits in their lives!

Daniel faith and belief in the Living God influenced the King but not enough for the King to realize that he was being played but men full of jealousy for Daniel who was “not in their circle”.  Have you ever been in these situations?  Jealousy is another form of hate which stems from our root-sin of self.  Envy follows along with sarcasm and complaining while scheming to bring down those who are currently doing the work and doing it well.

I have worked alongside schemers who tried their best to bring me down while I was doing the work I was assigned to do.  Going over and beyond really ticks off schemers who want you to do what they do—only what is required—or less.  I have found that praying like Daniel with faith knowing that God would take care of the situation without me as He changes the hearts of those opposing me while changing my heart works!  These sincere, honest prayers work because God is always at work for our good and best!  He loves us that much and more!

God knows us, inside and out.  (Psalm 139) There is nothing hidden from God.  Nothing in our lives, good or bad, escapes the notice of God!  So, trust God!  The One and Only who loved us before we loved Him and loves us unconditionally, beyond our wildest thinking, will take care of us.  Believe and be saved from the lions in our lives. 

Be lions of trust in God through courageous, faithful prayer in communion with God.  We cannot really know God without talking AND listening to God…just like any other relationship we build.  But this, THIS relationship with God is the most important relationship we will ever have.  It is a relationship we need now and forever—until Jesus comes to take us home.  This relationship makes all other relationships better and produces the lasting, spiritual fruits we all want to have.  (See Galatians 5 for the list!) 

Lean into God.  Look full in His wonderful face like Daniel did as he look toward his home in Jerusalem and up into the heavens to God, the Father from his window.  Never, never, never stop praying to God!  This communion with God is God’s way of making us holy before Him.

Daniel did not stop praying because he belonged to God.  (Read that again.)

Who do you belong to and to whom do you worship? 

Who do you think about most? 

Who do you talk to and listen to most? 

The answers might be clues to the measure of our faith.

Lord,

Thank you for helping us come to the lion’s den to learn what you want us to know for today.  There is more here to meditate upon so I will listen to you all day long.  Teach me, Lord, for I am your servant.

In Jesus Name, Amen

Got trust issues with humans?  I do, because I am one.  Not to worry. Trust God.  Believe what HE says because what He says is really real and can be trusted. 

Daniel 4 is full of verbs, (action words), that describe fully the sovereignty of Gods supreme power, control, dominion, rule and authority over all His creation.  What He says, He will do.  When He is mocked, He takes care of those who mock Him.  Such powerful verbs: God “rules,” “appoints,” “executes,” “accomplished.” These terms attest to the existence of a heavenly Architect and blueprint, and His blueprint includes you and I.  Don’t mess with God!  He is God—we are not.

Daniel 4, The Message

The Writing of a Disembodied Hand

^1-4 King Belshazzar held a great feast for his one thousand nobles. The wine flowed freely. Belshazzar, heady with the wine, ordered that the gold and silver chalices his father Nebuchadnezzar had stolen from God’s Temple of Jerusalem be brought in so that he and his nobles, his wives and concubines, could drink from them. When the gold and silver chalices were brought in, the king and his nobles, his wives and his concubines, drank wine from them. They drank the wine and drunkenly praised their gods made of gold and silver, bronze and iron, wood and stone.

^5-7 At that very moment, the fingers of a human hand appeared and began writing on the lamp-illumined, whitewashed wall of the palace. When the king saw the disembodied hand writing away, he went white as a ghost, scared out of his wits. His legs went limp and his knees knocked. He yelled out for the enchanters, the fortunetellers, and the diviners to come. He told these Babylonian magi, “Anyone who can read this writing on the wall and tell me what it means will be famous and rich—purple robe, the great gold chain—and be third-in-command in the kingdom.”

^8-9 One after the other they tried, but could make no sense of it. They could neither read what was written nor interpret it to the king. So now the king was really frightened. All the blood drained from his face. The nobles were in a panic.

^10-12 The queen heard of the hysteria among the king and his nobles and came to the banquet hall. She said, “Long live the king! Don’t be upset. Don’t sit around looking like ghosts. There is a man in your kingdom who is full of the divine Holy Spirit. During your father’s time he was well known for his intellectual brilliance and spiritual wisdom. He was so good that your father, King Nebuchadnezzar, made him the head of all the magicians, enchanters, fortunetellers, and diviners. There was no one quite like him. He could do anything—interpret dreams, solve mysteries, explain puzzles. His name is Daniel, but he was renamed Belteshazzar by the king. Have Daniel called in. He’ll tell you what is going on here.”

^13-16 So Daniel was called in. The king asked him, “Are you the Daniel who was one of the Jewish exiles my father brought here from Judah? I’ve heard about you—that you’re full of the Holy Spirit, that you’ve got a brilliant mind, that you are incredibly wise. The wise men and enchanters were brought in here to read this writing on the wall and interpret it for me. They couldn’t figure it out—not a word, not a syllable. But I’ve heard that you interpret dreams and solve mysteries. So—if you can read the writing and interpret it for me, you’ll be rich and famous—a purple robe, the great gold chain around your neck—and third-in-command in the kingdom.”

¹⁷ Daniel answered the king, “You can keep your gifts, or give them to someone else. But I will read the writing for the king and tell him what it means.

^18-21 “Listen, O king! The High God gave your father Nebuchadnezzar a great kingdom and a glorious reputation. Because God made him so famous, people from everywhere, whatever their race, color, and creed, were totally intimidated by him. He killed or spared people on whim. He promoted or humiliated people capriciously. He developed a big head and a hard spirit. Then God knocked him off his high horse and stripped him of his fame. He was thrown out of human company, lost his mind, and lived like a wild animal. He ate grass like an ox and was soaked by heaven’s dew until he learned his lesson: that the High God rules human kingdoms and puts anyone he wants in charge.

^22-23 “You are his son and have known all this, yet you’re as arrogant as he ever was. Look at you, setting yourself up in competition against the Master of heaven! You had the sacred chalices from his Temple brought into your drunken party so that you and your nobles, your wives and your concubines, could drink from them. You used the sacred chalices to toast your gods of silver and gold, bronze and iron, wood and stone—blind, deaf, and imbecile gods. But you treat with contempt the living God who holds your entire life from birth to death in his hand.

^24-26 “God sent the hand that wrote on the wall, and this is what is written: mene, teqel, and peres. This is what the words mean:

“Mene: God has numbered the days of your rule and they don’t add up.

²⁷ “Teqel: You have been weighed on the scales and you don’t weigh much.

²⁸ “Peres: Your kingdom has been divided up and handed over to the Medes and Persians.”

* * *

²⁹ Belshazzar did what he had promised. He robed Daniel in purple, draped the great gold chain around his neck, and promoted him to third-in-charge in the kingdom.

^30-31 That same night the Babylonian king Belshazzar was murdered. Darius the Mede was sixty-two years old when he succeeded him as king.

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

No matter how much power we think we have here on earth, God is in control. He is supreme over all creation.  Rest in this thought alone.  We are not in charge.  Take the weights off!

To say Jesus is “sustaining all things by his powerful word” (Hebrews 1:3) is to say he is directing creation toward a desired aim. Jesus is continually active in his creation. He exercises supremacy over all things. The world is shaking. God isn’t. Things fly beyond our control. Never beyond His.

Jesus said, “I will never leave you. I will never forsake you” (Hebrews 13:5). That promise is backed by the price He paid for me to be able to have a personal relationship with Him. That price was paid on Good Friday when “He carried our sins in His body on the tree” (1 Peter 2:24). It’s at that cross that He wrote “forgiven” over every sin of my life. And “eternal life” over the eternal death penalty for a lifetime of hijacking my life from Him.  So, “nothing can ever separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:39).

Do you feel distant? Removed? God isn’t. “He is before all things, and in him all things hold together” (Colossians 1:17). Were He to step back, the creation would collapse. His resignation would spell our evaporation. “For in him we live and move and have our being” (Acts 17:28).

From generation to generation, God’s hand is at the helm of creation, spring still follows winter, and winter follows autumn. There is an order to the universe. He sustains everything.  God is the one who “causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous” (Matthew 5:45), so “don’t worry”, says Jesus. God is the one who feeds the birds and watches the sparrows. God is the one in charge of everything, even (and especially) the details of our lives.  God delights in the details of our lives!

God isn’t making up this plan as He goes along. That is the human way.  No, “The Most High God rules in the kingdom of men, and appoints over it whomever He chooses” (Daniel 5:21 NKJV). He “executes judgment, putting down one and lifting up another” (Psalm 75:7 NRSV). “The fierce anger of the LORD will not turn back until he has executed and accomplished the intents of his mind” (Jeremiah 30:24 NRSV).

So, what are some of your favorite words to describe God’s sovereignty?

Focus on those words the next time you struggle with feeling out of control or anxious.  This exercise works—I do it often to “stay in shape” with my faith!

Lord,

The story of you through Daniel is powerful, transforming, and incredibly significant for the days we live in right now.  Just being still, letting go of what we think we control while knowing You by reading Your Word and listening to Your Spirit while meditating on your authority and sovereignty brings immediate peace to my soul.  May all I think, say and do reflect your glory and give you praise all day long.

In Jesus Name, Amen

When we talk about God’s work in our lives, do our testimonies glorify us who lived thorough it to tell it?  Do we speak of how bad our sins were to get the attention of our audience or how good our God is?  What is our testimony? 

To God be the glory, great things He has done we sing; but do we tell of his glory by giving him praise for all things that are good that He has done?  Do we praise and worship the One and Only who does all things right—even from bad things?  Do we praise God alone for all He has done, is doing and will do?  For only God is the one who does all things right and makes all things righteous.  It is God who brings us to our knees for our own good when we try to take the glory and praise from Him. 

Worship God alone.  Realize the depth of His love for us.  Understand that there is no one like our God.  Trust and obey Him.  There is no good in us that God has not put there so others will know Him, too.  That how heavenly thinking and holy behaving works!  God in us.  God with us.  Saved by Jesus, His Son.  Forever.  To God be the glory!

Daniel 4, The Message

A Dream of a Chopped-Down Tree

^1-2 King Nebuchadnezzar to everyone, everywhere—every race, color, and creed: “Peace and prosperity to all! It is my privilege to report to you the gracious miracles that the High God has done for me.

³ “His miracles are staggering,
    his wonders are surprising.
His kingdom lasts and lasts,
    his sovereign rule goes on forever.

^4-7 “I, Nebuchadnezzar, was at home taking it easy in my palace, without a care in the world. But as I was stretched out on my bed I had a dream that scared me—a nightmare that shook me. I sent for all the wise men of Babylon so that they could interpret the dream for me. When they were all assembled—magicians, enchanters, fortunetellers, witches—I told them the dream. None could tell me what it meant.

⁸ “And then Daniel came in. His Babylonian name is Belteshazzar, named after my god, a man full of the divine Holy Spirit. I told him my dream.

⁹ “‘Belteshazzar,’ I said, ‘chief of the magicians, I know that you are a man full of the divine Holy Spirit and that there is no mystery that you can’t solve. Listen to this dream that I had and interpret it for me.

^10-12 “‘This is what I saw as I was stretched out on my bed. I saw a big towering tree at the center of the world. As I watched, the tree grew huge and strong. Its top reached the sky and it could be seen from the four corners of the earth. Its leaves were beautiful, its fruit abundant—enough food for everyone! Wild animals found shelter under it, birds nested in its branches, everything living was fed and sheltered by it.

^13-15 “‘And this also is what I saw as I was stretched out on my bed. I saw a holy watchman descend from heaven, and call out:

    Chop down the tree, lop off its branches,
        strip its leaves and scatter its fruit.
    Chase the animals from beneath it
        and shoo the birds from its branches.
    But leave the stump and roots in the ground,
        belted with a strap of iron and bronze in the grassy meadow.

^15-16     Let him be soaked in heaven’s dew
        and take his meals with the animals that graze.
    Let him lose his mind
        and get an animal’s mind in exchange,
    And let this go on
        for seven seasons.

¹⁷     The angels announce this decree,
        the holy watchmen bring this sentence,
    So that everyone living will know
        that the High God rules human kingdoms.
    He arranges kingdom affairs however he wishes,
        and makes leaders out of losers.

* * *

¹⁸ “‘This is what I, King Nebuchadnezzar, dreamed. It’s your turn, Belteshazzar—interpret it for me. None of the wise men of Babylon could make heads or tails of it, but I’m sure you can do it. You’re full of the divine Holy Spirit.’”

“You Will Graze on Grass Like an Ox”

¹⁹ At first Daniel, who had been renamed Belteshazzar in Babylon, was upset. The thoughts that came swarming into his mind terrified him.

“Belteshazzar,” the king said, “stay calm. Don’t let the dream and its interpretation scare you.”

“My master,” said Belteshazzar, “I wish this dream were about your enemies and its interpretation for your foes.

^20-22 “The tree you saw that grew so large and sturdy with its top touching the sky, visible from the four corners of the world; the tree with the luxuriant foliage and abundant fruit, enough for everyone; the tree under which animals took cover and in which birds built nests—you, O king, are that tree.

“You have grown great and strong. Your royal majesty reaches sky-high, and your sovereign rule stretches to the four corners of the world.

^23-25 “But the part about the holy angel descending from heaven and proclaiming, ‘Chop down the tree, destroy it, but leave stump and roots in the ground belted with a strap of iron and bronze in the grassy meadow; let him be soaked with heaven’s dew and take his meals with the grazing animals for seven seasons’—this, O king, also refers to you. It means that the High God has sentenced my master the king: You will be driven away from human company and live with the wild animals. You will graze on grass like an ox. You will be soaked in heaven’s dew. This will go on for seven seasons, and you will learn that the High God rules over human kingdoms and that he arranges all kingdom affairs.

²⁶ “The part about the tree stump and roots being left means that your kingdom will still be there for you after you learn that it is heaven that runs things.

²⁷ “So, king, take my advice: Make a clean break with your sins and start living for others. Quit your wicked life and look after the needs of the down-and-out. Then you will continue to have a good life.”

The Loss and Regaining of a Mind and a Kingdom

^28-30 All this happened to King Nebuchadnezzar. Just twelve months later, he was walking on the balcony of the royal palace in Babylon and boasted, “Look at this, Babylon the great! And I built it all by myself, a royal palace adequate to display my honor and glory!”

^31-32 The words were no sooner out of his mouth than a voice out of heaven spoke, “This is the verdict on you, King Nebuchadnezzar: Your kingdom is taken from you. You will be driven out of human company and live with the wild animals. You will eat grass like an ox. The sentence is for seven seasons, enough time to learn that the High God rules human kingdoms and puts whomever he wishes in charge.”

³³ It happened at once. Nebuchadnezzar was driven out of human company, ate grass like an ox, and was soaked in heaven’s dew. His hair grew like the feathers of an eagle and his nails like the claws of a hawk.

* * *

^34-35 “At the end of the seven years, I, Nebuchadnezzar, looked to heaven. I was given my mind back and I blessed the High God, thanking and glorifying God, who lives forever:

“His sovereign rule lasts and lasts,
    his kingdom never declines and falls.
Life on this earth doesn’t add up to much,
    but God’s heavenly army keeps everything going.
No one can interrupt his work,
    no one can call his rule into question.

^36-37 “At the same time that I was given back my mind, I was also given back my majesty and splendor, making my kingdom shine. All the leaders and important people came looking for me. I was reestablished as king in my kingdom and became greater than ever. And that’s why I’m singing—I, Nebuchadnezzar—singing and praising the King of Heaven:

“Everything he does is right,
    and he does it the right way.
He knows how to turn a proud person
    into a humble man or woman.”

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

Daniel concluded his explanation of prophecy with an exhortation to obedience and urged the king to turn from his sins and humble himself before the Lord. Daniel had a “therefore” in his message. Daniel was calling for repentance. He wanted the king to change his mind, acknowledge his sins, turn from them, and put his faith in the true and living God, the Most High God of the Hebrews. Nebuchadnezzar knew enough about Daniel’s God to know that what Daniel spoke was the truth, but he did nothing about it. The king was passing up a gracious opportunity to make a new beginning and submit to the will of the Most High God. He made the wrong decision.

Just like Nebuchadnezzar, we have a decision to make.  There are only two choices:  Jesus or the enemy.  Jesus offers and follows through with eternal life from God to all who believe, repent, follow, and obey for He is the One who makes all things right. 

The enemy makes all things about us until we are destroyed by our own selfishness which leads to death.

Choose wisely.

Lord,

I choose you because you loved me first and chose me to follow in the footsteps of Jesus, my Savior and Lord.  Thank you for saving my soul and making me whole, setting all thing right between you and I.  Thank you for all you have done, are doing and will do in me.  To you be the glory!  Always and forever!

In Jesus Name, For Your Glory, Amen

What are the true colors of our faith and trust in God?  When our faith is put to the fire, what will it show to the world?  What does worshiping only God mean?  How strong is our faith knowing we might not get what we want but we will do what God says anyway?  What doe is mean to lay our lives down in obedience?  All these questions have answers. 

Daniel 3, The Message

Four Men in the Furnace

^1-3 King Nebuchadnezzar built a gold statue, ninety feet high and nine feet thick. He set it up on the Dura plain in the province of Babylon. He then ordered all the important leaders in the province, everybody who was anybody, to the dedication ceremony of the statue. They all came for the dedication, all the important people, and took their places before the statue that Nebuchadnezzar had erected.

^4-6 A herald then proclaimed in a loud voice: “Attention, everyone! Every race, color, and creed, listen! When you hear the band strike up—all the trumpets and trombones, the tubas and baritones, the drums and cymbals—fall to your knees and worship the gold statue that King Nebuchadnezzar has set up. Anyone who does not kneel and worship shall be thrown immediately into a roaring furnace.”

⁷ The band started to play, a huge band equipped with all the musical instruments of Babylon, and everyone—every race, color, and creed—fell to their knees and worshiped the gold statue that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up.

^8-12 Just then, some Babylonian fortunetellers stepped up and accused the Jews. They said to King Nebuchadnezzar, “Long live the king! You gave strict orders, O king, that when the big band started playing, everyone had to fall to their knees and worship the gold statue, and whoever did not go to their knees and worship it had to be pitched into a roaring furnace. Well, there are some Jews here—Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego—whom you have placed in high positions in the province of Babylon. These men are ignoring you, O king. They don’t respect your gods and they won’t worship the gold statue you set up.”

^13-15 Furious, King Nebuchadnezzar ordered Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego to be brought in. When the men were brought in, Nebuchadnezzar asked, “Is it true, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, that you don’t respect my gods and refuse to worship the gold statue that I have set up? I’m giving you a second chance—but from now on, when the big band strikes up you must go to your knees and worship the statue I have made. If you don’t worship it, you will be pitched into a roaring furnace, no questions asked. Who is the god who can rescue you from my power?”

^16-18 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered King Nebuchadnezzar, “Your threat means nothing to us. If you throw us in the fire, the God we serve can rescue us from your roaring furnace and anything else you might cook up, O king. But even if he doesn’t, it wouldn’t make a bit of difference, O king. We still wouldn’t serve your gods or worship the gold statue you set up.”

^19-23 Nebuchadnezzar, his face purple with anger, cut off Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. He ordered the furnace fired up seven times hotter than usual. He ordered some strong men from the army to tie them up, hands and feet, and throw them into the roaring furnace. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, bound hand and foot, fully dressed from head to toe, were pitched into the roaring fire. Because the king was in such a hurry and the furnace was so hot, flames from the furnace killed the men who carried Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego to it, while the fire raged around Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.

²⁴ Suddenly King Nebuchadnezzar jumped up in alarm and said, “Didn’t we throw three men, bound hand and foot, into the fire?”

“That’s right, O king,” they said.

²⁵ “But look!” he said. “I see four men, walking around freely in the fire, completely unharmed! And the fourth man looks like a son of the gods!”

²⁶ Nebuchadnezzar went to the door of the roaring furnace and called in, “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, servants of the High God, come out here!”

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego walked out of the fire.

²⁷ All the important people, the government leaders and king’s counselors, gathered around to examine them and discovered that the fire hadn’t so much as touched the three men—not a hair singed, not a scorch mark on their clothes, not even the smell of fire on them!

²⁸ Nebuchadnezzar said, “Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego! He sent his angel and rescued his servants who trusted in him! They ignored the king’s orders and laid their bodies on the line rather than serve or worship any god but their own.

²⁹ “Therefore I issue this decree: Anyone anywhere, of any race, color, or creed, who says anything against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego will be ripped to pieces, limb from limb, and their houses torn down. There has never been a god who can pull off a rescue like this.”

³⁰ Then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the province of Babylon.

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

If you throw us in the fire, the God we serve can rescue us from your roaring furnace and anything else you might cook up, O king. But even if he doesn’t, it wouldn’t make a bit of difference, O king. We still wouldn’t serve your gods or worship the gold statue you set up.”

I desire the faith of Daniel’s friends, don’t you?  To avoid worship of anything other than God is the way to the kind of faith God desires in us.  They knew God would be with them in the fire.  They didn’t know the outcome of being in the fire, but they knew God.  Because of their extreme faith in God, they would not worship anyone or anything else.  And get this…the added faith statement says it all…”but even if he doesn’t (rescue us) we will not serve or worship your gods and statues!”

This is the true test result of our faith…even if God does not do what we prefer, we will worship God alone.  Wow.  Rest in this thought as we evaluate our faith right now.  Take all the time you need, I am.

These three Jewish men knew the law of God—“You shall have no other gods before Me. . . . You shall not bow down to them nor serve them” (See Exodus 20:3, 5). Once the Lord has spoken on a matter, the matter is settled, with no room for discussion or need for compromise. To bow before the image even once, no matter what excuse the young men might have given, would have destroyed their witness and broken their fellowship with God.

If we feel God is not as close as we once thought in our lives, who moved in the relationship?  The better question might be who or what are we thinking about most these days?  That is where our worship lies.

Good news!  God has provided us a rescue—He sent his son, Jesus!  Leave the fiery furnace of all our sins that leave marks and scars and receive complete forgiveness by calling on his name!  Believe and be saved.  Forever.  Once and for all.

Nebuchadnezzar saw four men in the furnace, and he thought the fourth was an angel who looked like “a god”. But the fourth person in the furnace was Jesus Christ in one of His pre-incarnate appearances in the Old Testament.  Yes, He did.  And He’ll do it again!  Believe and be saved!

Lord,

Why worship anyone else but you?  Lord, you are all I need.  You have rescued me even before I knew I needed it.  While I was yet a sinner, you died for my sin.  If fact, you died for all sins that people would commit in the future.  I believe.  Thank you for saving my soul and making me whole.  I worship you and praise you for all you have done for me.  What kind of love is this?  More than I can imagine or describe!  Even if eternal life was not the goal, I will worship you because of your loving kindness and goodness.  Thank you, Lord!

In Jesus Name, Amen

Dream, dream, dream, dream
Dream, dream, dream, dream

The mysteries of this world are great.  We see the wonders of the world, marvels of nature, and are in awe as we think about how it came to be over the centuries.  And sometimes we sit in agony and fear, wondering how we will get out of a seemingly impossible situation.  When we stop to pray, knowing it is not in our hands, and ask for help; God reveals exactly what we need to know, with wisdom for the way out, reaching down with His hand to pull us up.  God—The Great Revealer. 

I love this story of God in Daniel.  Daniel is dealing with crazy!  We all deal with crazy sometimes.  Look how Daniel is equipped to do God’s will in this perilous, seemingly impossible circumstance.  God is the great revealer of all we need to know when we need to know it. 

Daniel 2, The Message

King Nebuchadnezzar’s Dream

^1-3 In the second year of his reign, King Nebuchadnezzar started having dreams that disturbed him deeply. He couldn’t sleep. He called in all the Babylonian magicians, enchanters, sorcerers, and fortunetellers to interpret his dreams for him. When they came and lined up before the king, he said to them, “I had a dream that I can’t get out of my mind. I can’t sleep until I know what it means.”

⁴ The fortunetellers, speaking in the Aramaic language, said, “Long live the king! Tell us the dream and we will interpret it.”

^5-6 The king answered the fortunetellers, “This is my decree: If you can’t tell me both the dream itself and its interpretation, I’ll have you ripped to pieces, limb from limb, and your homes torn down. But if you tell me both the dream and its interpretation, I’ll lavish you with gifts and honors. So go to it: Tell me the dream and its interpretation.”

⁷ They answered, “If it please your majesty, tell us the dream. We’ll give the interpretation.”

^8-9 But the king said, “I know what you’re up to—you’re just playing for time. You know you’re cornered. You know that if you can’t tell me my dream, you’re out and out doomed. I see right through you—you’re going to slap together some fancy stories and confuse the issue until I change my mind. No way! First tell me the dream, then I’ll know that you’re on the up and up with the interpretation and not just blowing smoke in my eyes.”

^10-11 The fortunetellers said, “Nobody anywhere can do what you ask. And no king, great or small, has ever demanded anything like this from any magician, enchanter, or fortuneteller. What you’re asking is impossible unless some god or goddess should reveal it—and they don’t hang around with people like us.”

^12-13 That set the king off. He lost his temper and ordered the whole company of Babylonian wise men killed. When the death warrant was issued, Daniel and his companions were included. They also were marked for execution.

^14-15 When Arioch, chief of the royal guards, was making arrangements for the execution, Daniel wisely took him aside and quietly asked what was going on: “Why this all of a sudden?”

^15-16 After Arioch filled in the background, Daniel went to the king and asked for a little time so that he could interpret the dream.

^17-18 Daniel then went home and told his companions Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah what was going on. He asked them to pray to the God of heaven for mercy in solving this mystery so that the four of them wouldn’t be killed along with the whole company of Babylonian wise men.

Dream Interpretation: A Story of Five Kingdoms

^19-23 That night the answer to the mystery was given to Daniel in a vision. Daniel blessed the God of heaven, saying,

“Blessed be the name of God,
    forever and ever.
He knows all, does all:
    He changes the seasons and guides history,
He raises up kings and also brings them down,
    he provides both intelligence and discernment,
He opens up the depths, tells secrets,
    sees in the dark—light spills out of him!
God of all my ancestors, all thanks! all praise!
    You made me wise and strong.
And now you’ve shown us what we asked for.
    You’ve solved the king’s mystery.”

²⁴ So Daniel went back to Arioch, who had been put in charge of the execution. He said, “Call off the execution! Take me to the king and I’ll interpret his dream.”

²⁵ Arioch didn’t lose a minute. He ran to the king, bringing Daniel with him, and said, “I’ve found a man from the exiles of Judah who can interpret the king’s dream!”

²⁶ The king asked Daniel (renamed in Babylonian, Belteshazzar), “Are you sure you can do this—tell me the dream I had and interpret it for me?”

^27-28 Daniel answered the king, “No mere human can solve the king’s mystery, I don’t care who it is—no wise man, enchanter, magician, diviner. But there is a God in heaven who solves mysteries, and he has solved this one. He is letting King Nebuchadnezzar in on what is going to happen in the days ahead. This is the dream you had when you were lying on your bed, the vision that filled your mind:

^29-30 “While you were stretched out on your bed, O king, thoughts came to you regarding what is coming in the days ahead. The Revealer of Mysteries showed you what will happen. But the interpretation is given through me, not because I’m any smarter than anyone else in the country, but so that you will know what it means, so that you will understand what you dreamed.

^31-36 “What you saw, O king, was a huge statue standing before you, striking in appearance. And terrifying. The head of the statue was pure gold, the chest and arms were silver, the belly and hips were bronze, the legs were iron, and the feet were an iron-ceramic mixture. While you were looking at this statue, a stone cut out of a mountain by an invisible hand hit the statue, smashing its iron-ceramic feet. Then the whole thing fell to pieces—iron, tile, bronze, silver, and gold, smashed to bits. It was like scraps of old newspapers in a vacant lot in a hot dry summer, blown every which way by the wind, scattered to oblivion. But the stone that hit the statue became a huge mountain, dominating the horizon. This was your dream.

^36-40 “And now we’ll interpret it for the king. You, O king, are the most powerful king on earth. The God of heaven has given you the works: rule, power, strength, and glory. He has put you in charge of men and women, wild animals and birds, all over the world—you’re the head ruler, you are the head of gold. But your rule will be taken over by another kingdom, inferior to yours, and that one by a third, a bronze kingdom, but still ruling the whole land, and after that by a fourth kingdom, ironlike in strength. Just as iron smashes things to bits, breaking and pulverizing, it will bust up the previous kingdoms.

^41-43 “But then the feet and toes that ended up as a mixture of ceramic and iron will deteriorate into a mongrel kingdom with some remains of iron in it. Just as the toes of the feet were part ceramic and part iron, it will end up a mixed bag of the breakable and unbreakable. That kingdom won’t bond, won’t hold together any more than iron and clay hold together.

^44-45 “But throughout the history of these kingdoms, the God of heaven will be building a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will this kingdom ever fall under the domination of another. In the end it will crush the other kingdoms and finish them off and come through it all standing strong and eternal. It will be like the stone cut from the mountain by the invisible hand that crushed the iron, the bronze, the ceramic, the silver, and the gold.

“The great God has let the king know what will happen in the years to come. This is an accurate telling of the dream, and the interpretation is also accurate.”

^46-47 When Daniel finished, King Nebuchadnezzar fell on his face in awe before Daniel. He ordered the offering of sacrifices and burning of incense in Daniel’s honor. He said to Daniel, “Your God is beyond question the God of all gods, the Master of all kings. And he solves all mysteries, I know, because you’ve solved this mystery.”

^48-49 Then the king promoted Daniel to a high position in the kingdom, lavished him with gifts, and made him governor over the entire province of Babylon and the chief in charge of all the Babylonian wise men. At Daniel’s request the king appointed Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego to administrative posts throughout Babylon, while Daniel governed from the royal headquarters.

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

What we learn from Daniel:

• Daniel didn’t panic and join the crazy, he displayed wisdom.  Wisdom comes from God.
• Daniel quietly when to the chief of guards, the one “in the know”, seeking to understand the situation.
• Daniel politely asks the King for a little time with a promise to interpret the King’s dream.  This showed faith with knowing who to go to for help.
• Daniel secured the help of his friends to gather to pray, asking God for help.
• Daniel remained calm.  God revealed the dream to Daniel who in turn explained it to the King.  The crazy was calmed.  The dream revealed.
• What Daniel did next is the most important of all—He immediately gave God all the glory and told the King Who God is and what He can do!  Daniel was a witness for The Great Revealer to a King who didn’t know God.
• Daniel’s humbled way with the wisdom of God did not go unnoticed by God or the King.   The King promoted an exile to the highest position in the Babylonian Kingdom!  God will use Daniel many more times to reveal the awesomeness of God, The Great Revealer! 
• Daniel sings a song of praise to God!

Be like Daniel.  Rely and trust God.  Ask God to reveal His will and ways.  He will answer.

Lord,

Thank you for revealing what you will do when we trust fully on you—the One who loves us more than we can think, dream, or imagine!

In Jesus Name, Amen

Yes, the one in the lion’s den…

Daniel is a prophet of God who not only has visions from God, God has gifted him with abilities to interpret other people’s visions and dreams with understanding and wisdom.  All this is from God to protect his people while in captivity by the Babylonians who took them away from the life they once lived. God went with them.

Images generated by the book of Daniel have been percolating through the daily experiences of the people of God for well over two thousand years now, producing a richly aromatic brew stimulating God’s people to obey and trust their sovereign God.

Daniel teaches us that obedience to God in the pressures and stresses of day-by-day living and trust in God’s ways in the large sweep of history are always at risk, but especially in times of suffering and persecution.  Obedience to God is difficult when we are bullied into compliance to the God-ignoring culture out of sheer survival.  Trust in God is likewise at risk of being abandoned in favor of the glamorous seductions of might and size.

According to Eugene Peterson, Introduction to Daniel, The Message: “Daniel was written out of just such times.  There was little or no observable evidence in the circumstances to commend against-the-stream obedience or overarching trust.  But Daniel’s stories and visions have supplied what that society did not—could not—give.  Century after century, Daniel has shot adrenaline into the veins of God-obedience and put backbone into God-trust.”

Daniel is composed of stories and visions equally.  “The stories tell of souls living faithfully in obedience to God in a time of adversity.  The visions are wide-screen renditions of God sovereignty worked out among nations who couldn’t care less about him.  Six soul stories, four sovereignty visions.” (Peterson)

“The six soul-surviving stories nourish a commitment to integrity and perseverance right now.  Very few of us live in settings congenial to God-loyalty and among people who affirm a costly discipleship  Hardly a day goes by that we do not have to choose between compliance to what is expedient and loyalty to our Lord.  the stories keep us alert to what is at stake day by day, hour by hour.”  (Peterson)

“The four visions of God history-saving ways nourish hope in God during times when world events seem to put God in eclipse.  The visions are difficult to understand, written as they are in a deliberately cryptic style (apocalyptic).” (Peterson)

“From time to time they have been subjected to intense study and explanation.  But for the first reading, perhaps it is better simply to let the strange symbolic figures give witness to the large historical truth that eclipses the daily accumulation of historical facts reported by our news media, namely, that God is sovereign.  In the course of all the noise and shuffling, strutting and posing, of arrogant rulers and nations that we call history, with the consequent troubles to us all, God is serenely sovereign; we can trust him to bring all things and people under his rule.” (Peterson)

“There are always some of us who want to concentrate on the soul, and others of us who want to deal with the big issues of history.  Daniel is one of our primary documents for keeping it all together—the personal and the political, the present and the future, the soul and society.” (Peterson)

I’m excited to learn from Daniel who dared to stand firm in his faith of God.  This young man was thoroughly convinced God was sovereign and eternally in control.  I’m expectant to hear from God, going beyond what we first learned in our Sunday School classes of long ago that only touched the surface of the power of God. 

Stay focused on God in Daniel and his friends for that is the greater story of truth.  Daniel wouldn’t want it any other way!

Daniel 1, The Message

Daniel Was Gifted by God

^1-2 It was the third year of King Jehoiakim’s reign in Judah when King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon declared war on Jerusalem and besieged the city. The Master handed King Jehoiakim of Judah over to him, along with some of the furnishings from the Temple of God. Nebuchadnezzar took king and furnishings to the country of Babylon, the ancient Shinar. He put the furnishings in the sacred treasury.

^3-5 The king told Ashpenaz, head of the palace staff, to get some Israelites from the royal family and nobility—young men who were healthy and handsome, intelligent and well-educated, good prospects for leadership positions in the government, perfect specimens!—and indoctrinate them in the Babylonian language and the lore of magic and fortunetelling. The king then ordered that they be served from the same menu as the royal table—the best food, the finest wine. After three years of training they would be given positions in the king’s court.

^6-7 Four young men from Judah—Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah—were among those selected. The head of the palace staff gave them Babylonian names: Daniel was named Belteshazzar, Hananiah was named Shadrach, Mishael was named Meshach, Azariah was named Abednego.

^8-10 But Daniel determined that he would not defile himself by eating the king’s food or drinking his wine, so he asked the head of the palace staff to exempt him from the royal diet. The head of the palace staff, by God’s grace, liked Daniel, but he warned him, “I’m afraid of what my master the king will do. He is the one who assigned this diet and if he sees that you are not as healthy as the rest, he’ll have my head!”

^11-13 But Daniel appealed to a steward who had been assigned by the head of the palace staff to be in charge of Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah: “Try us out for ten days on a simple diet of vegetables and water. Then compare us with the young men who eat from the royal menu. Make your decision on the basis of what you see.”

^14-16 The steward agreed to do it and fed them vegetables and water for ten days. At the end of the ten days they looked better and more robust than all the others who had been eating from the royal menu. So the steward continued to exempt them from the royal menu of food and drink and served them only vegetables.

^17-19 God gave these four young men knowledge and skill in both books and life. In addition, Daniel was gifted in understanding all sorts of visions and dreams. At the end of the time set by the king for their training, the head of the royal staff brought them in to Nebuchadnezzar. When the king interviewed them, he found them far superior to all the other young men. None were a match for Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah.

^19-20 And so they took their place in the king’s service. Whenever the king consulted them on anything, on books or on life, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and enchanters in his kingdom put together.

²¹ Daniel continued in the king’s service until the first year in the reign of King Cyrus.

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

So far, so good!  These young men of God dare to cling to God and trust in His ways. 

Interesting to note:

• No matter how anyone viewed the fall of Jerusalem, the idols seemed to have won; actually, the Lord won the victory! He kept his covenant with Israel—he fulfilled his promises.
• Daniel and his three friends seem to have been taken in 605 B.C., when they were probably fifteen or sixteen years old.
• The majority of God’s people have not always followed the Lord and kept His commandments. Always the “faithful remnant” within the Jewish nation has come through the trials and judgments to maintain the divine covenant and make a new beginning.  Daniel is different.  Daniel is one of the faithful remnant.
• Daniel could have accepted his new society—but he did not.  God was with Daniel.
• The name of the true and living God in each of the names of these young men was replaced by the names of the false gods of Babylon; but would we expect unbelievers to do anything else?

Daniel teaches us how to respond when faced with oppression:

• The second step was to be gracious toward those in authority. (Remember the story of Joseph?)
• The first step for these young men in solving their problem and being transformers was giving themselves wholly to the Lord. Daniel’s heart—the totality of his being—belonged to God, as did the hearts of his friends.  (See Romans 12 for us)
• Convictions sometimes require creative negotiations led by God’s wisdom. Daniel and his friends were courteous and didn’t try to get others into trouble. They had a meek and quiet spirit. They saw the challenge as an opportunity to prove God and glorify His name.

Unconsciously directed by God, the attendant agreed to Daniel’s suggestion, and God did the rest. 

Trust and obey, for there’s no other way!  God provides where He guides.

Lord,

I will trust what you say and quickly obey with all that is in me!  Even when it is hard.  I know you will help me.

In Jesus Name, Amen

It’s the last chapter of Ezekiel!  Let’s recap…

(Written by Eugene Peterson, The Message)

Catastrophe strikes and a person’s world falls apart.  People respond variously, but two of the more common responses are denial and despair.  Denial refuses to acknowledge the catastrophe.  It shuts its eyes tight or looks the other way; it manages to act as if everything is going to be just fine; it takes refuge in distractions and lies and fantasies.

Despair is paralyzed by the catastrophe and accepts it as the end of the world.  It is unwilling to do anything, concluding that life for all intents and purposes is over.  Despair listlessly closes its eyes to a world in which all the color has drained out, a world gone dead.

Ezekiel is our master at dealing with catastrophe.  When catastrophe struck—it was sixth century B.C. invasion of Israel by Babylon—denial was the primary response.  Ezekiel found himself living among a people of God who (astonishingly like us!) stubbornly refused to see what was right before their eyes (the denial crowd).  There were also some who were unwilling to see anything other than what was right before their eyes (the despair crowd).

But Ezekiel saw.  He saw what the people with whom he lived either couldn’t or wouldn’t see.  He saw in wild and unforgettable images, elaborated in exuberant detail—God at work in a catastrophic era.  The denial people refused to see that the catastrophe was in fact catastrophic!  How could it be?  God wouldn’t let anything that bad happen to them.  Ezekiel showed them.  He showed them that, yes, there WAS catastrophe, but GOD was at work in the catastrophe, sovereignly USING the catastrophe.  He showed them so that they would be able to EMBRACE God in the worst of time.

The despair people, overwhelmed by the devastation, refused to see that life was worth living.  How could it be?  They had lost everything, or would soon—country, Temple freedom, and many, many lives.  Ezekiel showed them.  He showed them that God was and would be at work in the wreckage and rubble, sovereignly USING the disaster to create a new people of God.

Whether through denial or despair, the people of God nearly lost the identity as a people of God.  But they didn’t.  God’s people emerged from that catastrophic century robust and whole.  And the reason, in large part, was Ezekiel.

Ezekiel 48, The Message

The Sanctuary of God at the Center

“These are the tribes:

“Dan: one portion, along the northern boundary, following the Hethlon road that turns off to the entrance of Hamath as far as Hazor-enon so that the territory of Damascus lies to the north alongside Hamath, the northern border stretching from east to west.

² “Asher: one portion, bordering Dan from east to west.

³ “Naphtali: one portion, bordering Asher from east to west.

⁴ “Manasseh: one portion, bordering Naphtali from east to west.

⁵ “Ephraim: one portion, bordering Manasseh from east to west.

⁶ “Reuben: one portion, bordering Ephraim from east to west.

⁷ “Judah: one portion, bordering Reuben from east to west.

^8-9 “Bordering Judah from east to west is the consecrated area that you will set aside as holy: a square approximately seven by seven miles, with the Sanctuary set at the center. The consecrated area reserved for God is to be seven miles long and a little less than three miles wide.

^10-12 “This is how it will be parceled out. The priest will get the area measuring seven miles on the north and south boundaries, with a width of a little more than three miles at the east and west boundaries. The Sanctuary of God will be at the center. This is for the consecrated priests, the Zadokites who stayed true in their service to me and didn’t get off track as the Levites did when Israel wandered off the main road. This is their special gift, a gift from the land itself, most holy ground, bordering the section of the Levites.

^13-14 “The Levites get a section equal in size to that of the priests, roughly seven by three miles. They are not permitted to sell or trade any of it. It’s the choice part of the land, to say nothing of being holy to God.

^15-19 “What’s left of the ‘sacred square’—each side measures out at seven miles by a mile and a half—is for ordinary use: the city and its buildings with open country around it, but the city at the center. The north, south, east, and west sides of the city are each about a mile and a half in length. A strip of pasture, one hundred twenty-five yards wide, will border the city on all sides. The remainder of this portion, three miles of countryside to the east and to the west of the sacred precinct, is for farming. It will supply food for the city. Workers from all the tribes of Israel will serve as field hands to farm the land.

²⁰ “This dedicated area, set apart for holy purposes, will be a square, seven miles by seven miles, a ‘holy square,’ which includes the part set aside for the city.

^21-22 “The rest of this land, the country stretching east to the Jordan and west to the Mediterranean from the seven-mile sides of the ‘holy square,’ belongs to the prince. His land is sandwiched between the tribal portions north and south, and goes out both east and west from the ‘sacred square’ with its Temple at the center. The land set aside for the Levites on one side and the city on the other is in the middle of the territory assigned to the prince. The ‘sacred square’ is flanked east and west by the prince’s land and bordered on the north and south by the territories of Judah and Benjamin, respectively.

²³ “And then the rest of the tribes:

“Benjamin: one portion, stretching from the eastern to the western boundary.

²⁴ “Simeon: one portion, bordering Benjamin from east to west.

²⁵ “Issachar: one portion, bordering Simeon from east to west.

²⁶ “Zebulun: one portion, bordering Issachar from east to west.

²⁷ “Gad: one portion, bordering Zebulun from east to west.

²⁸ “The southern boundary of Gad will run south from Tamar to the waters of Meribah-kadesh, along the Brook of Egypt and then out to the Great Mediterranean Sea.

²⁹ “This is the land that you are to divide up among the tribes of Israel as their inheritance. These are their portions.” Decree of God, the Master.

* * *

^30-31 “These are the gates of the city. On the north side, which is 2,250 yards long (the gates of the city are named after the tribes of Israel), three gates: the gate of Reuben, the gate of Judah, the gate of Levi.

³² “On the east side, measuring 2,250 yards, three gates: the gate of Joseph, the gate of Benjamin, the gate of Dan.

³³ “On the south side, measuring 2,250 yards, three gates: the gate of Simeon, the gate of Issachar, the gate of Zebulun.

³⁴ “On the west side, measuring 2,250 yards, three gates: the gate of Gad, the gate of Asher, the gate of Naphtali.

³⁵ “The four sides of the city measure to a total of nearly six miles.

“From now on the name of the city will be Yahweh-Shammah:

        “God-Is-There.”

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

God called Ezekiel, priest and prophet, to lead His people through it all, with the ultimate message that God-Is-There—at the center.  God was, is and always will be there for all people who call on His Name and trust Him.  God’s Holy City was design for God to at the Center, because at the center of life, “God-Is-There.”  We can neither deny or be in despair when we truly believe that God is there. 

God is here!  God sent His Son, Jesus, to leave heaven and move into the neighborhood of humanity to remind us that God is with us!  God loves us.  God heals, provides, and protects all who believe.  “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”  John 3:16. This is God’s Way to reconcile us to Him.  We who believe are now the Temple in which God’s Holy Spirit resides and abides!

Interestingly to note, the new name of the City, GOD-IS-THERE, Jehovah Shammah is one of seven compound names of Jehovah found in the Old Testament:

Jehovah Jireh— “The-LORD-Will-Provide” (Genesis 22:13, 14)

Jehovah Rapha— “the LORD who heals” (Exodus. 15:26)

Jehovah Shalom— “The-LORD-Is-Peace” (Judges 6:24)

Jehovah Tsidkenu— “THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS” (Jeremiah 23:6)

Jehovah Shammah— “THE LORD IS THERE” (Ezekiel 48:35)

Jehovah Nissi— “The-LORD-Is-My-Banner” (Exodus 17:8–15)

Jehovah Ra’ah— “the LORD is my shepherd” (Psalm 23:1)

What would happen if we read over this list daily—gratefully praising God!

Do we really believe what God says about Himself really real? 

Our response to life will show who or what is at the center and be the answer!  There is a reason God’s Word reminds us often…“Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.” Proverbs 4:23 

“A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of.” –Jesus, Luke 6:45

So, we pause to ask ourselves, when the waves of cataclysmic proportions overwhelm us, how will we respond?  It will depend on who is at the center of our being.  How will we let God use the catastrophes in our lives for His glory and for our good?  Will we embrace God through it all—or not? Are we teachable?  Or will we succumb to denial or despair?  God’s gift of free will allows us to choose.  Choose wisely, my friends, choose wisely…I’m praying for all of us.

Lord,

Thank you for being with me, always there, sitting right beside me, with your banner of protection over me, your table of provisions in front of me.  You have redeemed me.  You have brought me out of trouble time and time again.  You have forgiven me and forgotten my sins.  But I will never forget what you have done for me as you work your salvation in me and through me.  I’m yours and I am eternally grateful, Jehovah-Shammah!

In Jesus Name, For Your Glory, Amen