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Today is Wednesday September 15, 2010 and we are reading through the Bible in a year. Today's message comes from the reading of the Book of Daniel, chapters 1-3. If you would like to read the chapters along with us here online you can Click Here to read them or copy & paste this link onto your browser: http://www.imfollowingjesus.com/bible-september-15
Today's Message: Nothing Is Impossible
Perhaps one thing we should never forget in our walk with Christ is that the more we walk with Him, the more strength we have through Him. It is amazing how much a tiny bit of faith in God will do to change a situation, imagine just how blessed we are as that faith increases. Praise God! You know, people of the world and even false Christians are going to try and wreck our faith in God, they want us to think that God can not do anything for us, that we need to do it on our own. Well, these people do not know who they are dealing with, we have the one and only Living God on our side and no one can take us away from our God. They fail to realize that, “With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible.” -Matthew 19:26. We are human, no matter how much skills, money, or power we have, it is impossible for us to do some things, but nothing is impossible with God. Praise God!
Today we begin reading the Book of Daniel, the Book of Daniel is the twenty-seventh book of the Old Testament/Bible and contains twelve chapters. The author of the book is Daniel and it was first written to the Jews that were held captive in Babylon. The purpose of the book was to show how God rules the affairs of all men. What we are to learn from the book is that God is sovereign and honors those who honor Him.
Daniel was was carried captive into Babylon when he was a youth. Soon after his capture, Daniel and other select Israelite captives were favored and assigned new names which would hide their identity as Israelites and as citizens of Babylon. “And the king spake unto Ashpenaz the master of his eunuchs, that he should bring certain of the children of Israel, and of the king's seed, and of the princes; Children in whom was no blemish, but well favoured, and skilful in all wisdom, and cunning in knowledge, and understanding science, and such as had ability in them to stand in the king's palace, and whom they might teach the learning and the tongue of the Chaldeans. And the king appointed them a daily provision of the king's meat, and of the wine which he drank: so nourishing them three years, that at the end thereof they might stand before the king. Now among these were of the children of Judah, Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah: Unto whom the prince of the eunuchs gave names: for he gave unto Daniel the name of Belteshazzar; and to Hananiah, of Shadrach; and to Mishael, of Meshach; and to Azariah, of Abednego.” - Daniel 1:3-7. The name Daniel means God is Judge, but his Babylonian name Belteshazzar means Prince of Baal. As Daniel heard his new name called day after day, it was intended to remind him that the comfort, self-esteem, and high position he enjoyed in his new society were all the result of his being the Prince of Baal. The king's intent was that these select men would be taught to think and live like the Babylonians, slowly forgetting that they were children of God and turn to their false god.
Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah had all sorts of opposition, but they never gave up on God, somewhere in their mind, they too proclaimed, “Nothing is impossible with God!” Daniel and his friends refused to blend in with society and remained faithful to God, they could change their names, but they could not change their faith in God. First, Daniel's life was threaten when Nebuchadnezzar ordered all the wise men in Babylon destroyed. Nebuchadnezzar had a disturbing dream that he wanted interpreted, the catch, he wanted someone to tell him what the dream was first, he got sorcerers, astrologers, and even magicians to try to interpret the dream, but none of them could reveal the dream first, out of anger Nebuchadnezzar ordered all the wise men in Babylon killed. The first mistake he made was probably thinking that these men were wise in the first place, but Daniel approached the king. “Then Daniel went in, and desired of the king that he would give him time, and that he would shew the king the interpretation. Then Daniel went to his house, and made the thing known to Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, his companions: That they would desire mercies of the God of heaven concerning this secret; that Daniel and his fellows should not perish with the rest of the wise men of Babylon. Then was the secret revealed unto Daniel in a night vision. Then Daniel blessed the God of heaven...Daniel answered in the presence of the king, and said, The secret which the king hath demanded cannot the wise men, the astrologers, the magicians, the soothsayers, shew unto the king;..The king answered unto Daniel, and said, Of a truth it is, that your God is a God of gods, and a Lord of kings, and a revealer of secrets, seeing thou couldest reveal this secret.” - Daniel 1:16-19,27,47. Through God, Daniel was able to tell Nebuchadnezzar what his dream was and interpret it. Not only was his life spared, but even the others as well. I imagine God's objective to all this was for Nebuchadnezzar to realize not only God as number one, but to put his false gods away and only serve Him, but all he did was acknowledge God's existence.
After all that, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah would now be tested of their faith. Nebuchadnezzar had a golden statue built for worship and every time music played every person was to bow down to this statue and worship it. However, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, now named, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. refused to bow down and worship the idol. Out of anger Nebuchadnezzar had these men thrown into a fiery furnace, seven times hotter than it would normally be. “And he commanded the most mighty men that were in his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and to cast them into the burning fiery furnace. Then these men were bound in their coats, their hosen, and their hats, and their other garments, and were cast into the midst of the burning fiery furnace. Therefore because the king's commandment was urgent, and the furnace exceeding hot, the flames of the fire slew those men that took up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego....Then Nebuchadnezzar the king was astonished, and rose up in haste, and spake, and said unto his counsellors, Did not we cast three men bound into the midst of the fire? They answered and said unto the king, True, O king. He answered and said, Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God. Then Nebuchadnezzar came near to the mouth of the burning fiery furnace, and spake, and said, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, ye servants of the most high God, come forth, and come hither. Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, came forth of the midst of the fire....Then Nebuchadnezzar spake, and said, Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who hath sent his angel, and delivered his servants that trusted in him, and have changed the king's word, and yielded their bodies, that they might not serve nor worship any god, except their own God.” - Daniel 3:20-22,24-26,28. That fire was so hot that it consumed the men throwing Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego into the furnace, but not a hair was singed on these men, in fact, something amazing occurred, Jesus was in the midst of them, protecting them.
As Christian's, we are going to be faced with lots of opposition, even more so because we choose to live our lives by following Jesus Christ. Take a person that believes in God and one can be accepted, but say that you believe in Jesus and that acceptance can utterly turn into hate. For this reason many fear telling people that they walk with Christ. However, we can not allow the world or even our loved ones to keep us in the closet about our faith. We need to stand true to God even in the face of death, and obey God rather than man. If we do, God will honor us as He did Daniel and every other faithful servant. With God Nothing Is Impossible! We can overcome every obstacle with God. Praise God!
Enjoy the rest of your day/night and week.
God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina
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