Daniel’s Dilemma à Daniel’s Destiny

Daniel’s Dilemma  à  Daniel’s Destiny

Daniel and his three Hebrew buddies had a serious dilemma.

By King Nebuchadnezzar’s decree all the wise men in his kingdom were to die since, thus far, none could interpret the king’s weird dream. It just so happened that Daniel and friends were in the category of wise men in this kingdom of Babylon.

Now King Neb had asked a bit much of his staff of wise men—demanding that before they interpret his dream, they had to state what the dream was. By this he would know there was no faking it.

Since Daniel knew his God well he was confident that Yahweh, Who knows all things, certainly knew King Neb’s dream and what it meant. Daniel therefore ask if he might have a little time to consider the matter before the king lowered the boom on all the wise men. He was granted permission.

Daniel went home and told his three friends that their lives were on the line. BUT they knew and trusted their God, confident He would come through. That night God revealed the mystery’s solution to Daniel in a night vision.

With a grateful heart, Daniel praised God. In his declaration of praise we see the attributes of God which prompted such great faith.

"Daniel answered and said: ‘Blessed be the name of God forever and ever, For wisdom and might are His. ²¹ And He changes the times and the seasons; He removes kings and raises up kings; He gives wisdom to the wise And knowledge to those who have understanding.
²² He reveals deep and secret things; He knows what is in the darkness, And
light dwells with Him.

²³ I thank You and praise You, O God of my fathers; You have given me wisdom and might, And have now made known to me what we asked of You, For You have made known to us the king’s demand’” (Daniel 2:20-23).
 
Did you notice that I said, a couple of times, that Daniel and his friends knew their God? That is key to their great faith. They had a history with Yahweh (God). They knew the attributes of God—that wisdom and might are His; He can change the times and seasons; He can set up and take down kings; He the giver of wisdom and knowledge; He knows deep secret things and knows what’s in the darkness.
We too can have great faith, just like Daniel. When we know our God intimately and are familiar with His attributes, we will know He is trustworthy even in the scariest of circumstances.
When we pray, let’s let our prayers be based on God’s attributes. AND let’s let our expectations be based on God’s attributes.


 
Let’s each cultivate our own history with God. Our growth in faith today will be part of our history with God tomorrow.

 

You can read this entire fascinating story in your Bible, in the second chapter of Daniel. Here you’ll see Daniel state what the dream was and it’s interpretation, giving all credit to his powerful God. You can also learn about how King Nebuchadnezzar was so impressed he declared that the God of the Hebrews was the God of all gods, Lord of kings, and so on. He also gave Daniel a big promotion in his kingdom.

Thank you for reading my blog post today. I hope you’re encouraged to build your history with God. Your comments are welcome.

©Connie Wohlford 2015

A Lamp – Are you walking in the light or in the dark? (4)

Part 2.  A Lamp - Are you walking in the light or in the dark? (4)          

We continue with RiSiKiLi−

              You know− Read it, Study it, Know it, Live it.  

What do you know about the great prophet Isaiah?

Many know him as the one who said, But those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint. Isaiah 40:31

He also said quite a bit about light and our need for the light that comes from God. He besought God’s people to turn from their pagan ways and live in the illumination provided by the Word of God that was available to them at that time—around 700-690 B.C.

Also God spoke directly to Isaiah, giving clear direction for His people, the children of Israel. Under God’s authority, Isaiah declared God’s displeasure with His people.

Early on in Isaiah’s life of prophesying, he pleaded, O house of Jacob, come and let us walk in the light of the Lord (Isaiah 2:5).

Had God’s people made the choice to heed His plea, the course of their history would have been much different. They would have averted the disastrous consequences of their decision to walk in darkness rather than light.

Do you believe our own nation will face disastrous consequences for the ways we have turned away from God in recent years?

God had guided the Israelites through history and wanted to continue to do so. Had they obeyed the commands of the Lord, they would not have been overtaken and many brutally killed by their enemies. Their children would not have been carried away into Babylon, repeopled, and made into eunuchs and slaves.

Note that the terrible future, that awaited the Jews, did not come on them by the hand of their Heavenly Father, but by their own choice to walk away from His protective hand. In doing so, they walked right into the brutal hands of powerful enemies. They choose not to walk in the light of the Words of their Lord.

For many years God’s nation of chosen people were scattered, living under the thumb and rule of others—the very enemies of their God. Nonetheless, the world, and all of mankind, can be grateful that throughout this terrible time in Israel’s history, there was a remnant, though scattered, that remained in God’s light, faithful to God and the Words He had spoken.

Isaiah was one of those, as was Jeremiah, Daniel, the three Hebrew sons who survived the fiery furnace—and others as well.

We can learn useful lessons from those who’ve gone before us. God had shown them the way. He had provided the light for their path of life. In our own age, He has illuminated our way with His instruction manual for living, the Bible, God’s Word of Truth.

Look at the opening words of the Apostle John’s Gospel. He declares: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.

In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it (John 1:1-5).

John is telling us that Jesus is the expressed Word of God—the eternal and ultimate expression of God and is the light that no darkness can overtake. This gives us reason enough to dance and shout with unspeakable joy!




Photo by Joshua Hibbert

Are you walking in the light provided by your Creator? 

Moving about in the dark or even in dim light is tough going. It’s frustrating and makes it hard to accomplish much. And what we do accomplish is often flawed. We might also get hurt or even killed. 

Let’s commit to walk in the light of the Word of God.

Thank you for stopping by my blog today. Please feel free add a comment to the conversation if you’d like. 

©Connie Wohlford