Hands Of The Living God

King James Bible Daily Devotion – Learning Scripture One Day At A Time
Date: Monday, September 14, 2015
Chapters: Daniel 4-6 http://imfollowingjesus.com/Bible-Reading-257.html
Message Title: Hands Of The Living God

Hello My Friend,

Order, regular disposition or methodical arrangement of things. I am an order person, I love things in order and it drives me crazy when something gets out of order. Some people are pretty messy, they care less about things in order as long as they get it done. God likes things in order, and if you haven't noticed, everything He does comes in His time and order. Now, in a world full of corruption and wickedness everywhere we turn, it can seem like everything is out of control and God has sort of left us hanging. The truth is, God is in control, He's always in control, and He is putting everything in order exactly as He wants. You know, He hates to see all the violence and innocent people losing their lives just as much as we do, but everything is under His control no matter what part of the world we are in. “For we know him that hath said, Vengeance belongeth unto me, I will recompense, saith the Lord. And again, The Lord shall judge his people. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.” - Hebrews 10:30,31.

To fall into the hands of the living God, oh, what an understatement that is. Many people are well aware of God, but few are willing to acknowledge Him as the living God, who is in control of all things, but sooner or later, all the world will know that He is always in control. Babylon became very powerful under the hand of God, and they knew very well that Israels God was judging His people. Nebuchadnezzar being a witness himself even praised God, but would never acknowledge Him as his God who was above all gods. However, he was quick to call on the one who knew God when he had another strange dream.

“Nebuchadnezzar the king, unto all people, nations, and languages, that dwell in all the earth; Peace be multiplied unto you. I thought it good to shew the signs and wonders that the high God hath wrought toward me. How great are his signs! and how mighty are his wonders! his kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and his dominion is from generation to generation. But at the last Daniel came in before me, whose name was Belteshazzar, according to the name of my god, and in whom is the spirit of the holy gods: and before him I told the dream, saying, O Belteshazzar, master of the magicians, because I know that the spirit of the holy gods is in thee, and no secret troubleth thee, tell me the visions of my dream that I have seen, and the interpretation thereof. Now I Nebuchadnezzar praise and extol and honour the King of heaven, all whose works are truth, and his ways judgment: and those that walk in pride he is able to abase.” - Daniel 4:1-3,8,9,37.

It is pride that keeps a person from acknowledging God and making Him Lord of our lives. Nebuchadnezzar spent seven years as an animal before he humbled himself to God and acknowledged Him God and King over all. Don't let the world fool you, they may not want to know the living God, but they want His blessings when things go wrong. They are quick to go to someone who knows Him, but will never come to Him directly until they are in a position that they must come to Him. Now, the amazing thing is, many will not come to Him, they will suffer tremendously because of their pride. “Do ye think that the scripture saith in vain, The spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy? But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.” - James 4:5,6.

Now, after Nebuchadnezzar died his son Belshazzar reigned as king, after all the humility that he saw his father go through you would have thought that he would have turned to God, but he did something even worse than his father. He took the cups that were taken from the Temple in Jerusalem and began using them and worshiping his false gods with them. This time God did not use a dream to prove He was in control, He wrote a message on a wall. Once again, Daniel is called to interpret the writing only to find something chilling, God's wrath.

“And thou his son, O Belshazzar, hast not humbled thine heart, though thou knewest all this; But hast lifted up thyself against the Lord of heaven; and they have brought the vessels of his house before thee, and thou, and thy lords, thy wives, and thy concubines, have drunk wine in them; and thou hast praised the gods of silver, and gold, of brass, iron, wood, and stone, which see not, nor hear, nor know: and the God in whose hand thy breath is, and whose are all thy ways, hast thou not glorified: Then commanded Belshazzar, and they clothed Daniel with scarlet, and put a chain of gold about his neck, and made a proclamation concerning him, that he should be the third ruler in the kingdom. In that night was Belshazzar the king of the Chaldeans slain.” - Daniel 5:22,23,29,30.

Belshazzar was killed shortly after the interpretation was given, then the Mede's and Chaldean's took control of Babylon, and Darius reigned as king. Nations rise and fall not because of how great their leader is, but because of how great their God is, if they serve and acknowledge God as King it prospers, if they do not, it falls. The same is true for the Christian who wants to prosper in their personal lives, if God is not King in our lives we will suffer until we realize that He we need Him to be above all that we do. “For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble; Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is. If any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward.” - 1 Corinthians 3:11-14.

One thing about knowing God is that when He comes first, whether we want prosperity or not, He gives it to us. Daniel did not want to be third in command, but that's exactly what he got, he prospered greatly and was favored among Darius as well, it did not take long for the jealous Babylonians to try to have him killed. “It pleased Darius to set over the kingdom an hundred and twenty princes, which should be over the whole kingdom; And over these three presidents; of whom Daniel was first: that the princes might give accounts unto them, and the king should have no damage. Then this Daniel was preferred above the presidents and princes, because an excellent spirit was in him; and the king thought to set him over the whole realm. Then the presidents and princes sought to find occasion against Daniel concerning the kingdom; but they could find none occasion nor fault; forasmuch as he was faithful, neither was there any error or fault found in him. Then said these men, We shall not find any occasion against this Daniel, except we find it against him concerning the law of his God.” - Daniel 6:1-5.

Their attempt to have Daniel killed did not go so well, in fact, they were the ones who ended up being killed for deceiving the king in the first place. This is becoming a norm today, people are being persecuted left and right for being faithful to God. They are specifically targeting businesses that know they are Christians as if they have some point to prove, but the only point they are going to get is that God is always in control. God makes it easy for all to acknowledge and accept His Son, but if they touch Him or His people they will learn the hard way what happens when they do. “And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power;” - 2 Thessalonians 1:7-9.

Today's Prayer: God, As You bring prosperity to Your people by our simple obedience to You, let us be reminded that all the things we go through, whether it is easy or difficult, are used to give You honor and glory. As long as we do that we will continue to prosper, and even have more blessings than we can imagine. When the desires of the world clutters our attempts to follow Your will, give us Your power and strength to keep You as King and remain obedient to Your will. In Jesus' name. Amen.

God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina

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