Daniel

Do You Bring Glory to GOD? - Daniel

Good Morning! I hope that you have had a restful weekend and found time to read a little bit of Daniel. For me, it was a nice change up from reading about the sin that caused the doom and destruction of Jerusalem, to the triumph of taking a stand for GOD.

There are two good stories; The Fiery Furnace and Daniel and the Lions Den that would be worth your time reading.

To give you a little history on the book of Daniel. If you were to place Daniel in chronological order, it would appear around 2 Chronicles 36:4-10; the reign of king Jehoiakim. You see the Bible is not that hard when you start to put all the pieces together. Daniel should be divided into two parts, Chapters 1-6 tells of stories of Daniel, while chapters 7-12 tell of Daniel's visions of end times. These chapters would be a good companion to Revelation.

There are two other stories that are worth reading. One is a good story on dieting and the other is a king that GOD turned crazy, he started eating grass like a cow?!? This was due to his prideful ways. So, if you ever have a craving for grass, you may need to check your pride level. :)

Daniel 3:28-30 ESV
28 Nebuchadnezzar answered and said, "Blessed
be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego,
who has sent his angel and delivered his servants,
who trusted in him, and set aside the king's command,
and yielded up their bodies rather than serve and
worship any god except their own God....
29 Therefore I make a decree: Any people, nation,
or language that speaks anything against the God
of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego shall be torn
limb from limb, and their houses laid in ruins, for there
is no other god who is able to rescue in this way."
30 Then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and
Abednego in the province of Babylon.

Thought for the Day
These verses are the ending of the story of Meshach, Shadrach, and Abednego. Daniel has two stories where a believer's faith was tested to the extreme. In both of these stories the situation must have been terribly stressful, try for a moment to put yourself in their position.

In both situations, it meant sure human death, if GOD did not intervene. But in both stories they went boldly, not knowing if GOD would rescue them, or if they would find themselves at Jesus' feet in heaven. I would imagine most of us would not have to have our faith tested to those extremes, but when your faith is tested by the fires of life, is GOD glorified?

We as followers face trials every day, some are very large, and some are minor, but all are a test of our faith. How you handle these fiery trials is an example of how strong your faith is. If you crumble, become discouraged, maybe become angry at GOD, your faith needs to be strengthened. But, if you endure these trials with the attitude that no matter the outcome, you will trust and keep the faith that GOD is sovereign.

Always know that your friends and the other people that know you, know what you believe and stand for. Every time you withstand a fiery trial, speaks volumes of your faith. You are a shinning example of Jesus without speaking a word, GOD is glorified, satan losses. Heh Heh Heh.
Remember this when you face the next trial. I truly believe that we will be rewarded for our faithfulness when we go home. Have a GOD Glorified Day! Jim

Bible Trivia
What new name was given to Daniel?
Hint: Daniel 1:7

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