When the World Is Against You…God is For You

Verses: Daniel 6 : 10 - 18

My thoughts about the verses:

We have to remember that the world does not have the final power over us.  We go through life thinking we have to watch people that are trying to come against us.  Many of us will hide our Christianity idea because we are afraid of retaliations.  In some countries it is against the very law to be a Christian.  In some places of the world being a Christian can bring you physical and emotional harm.  It is easy to understand why people feel that they have to stay hidden when they are worshipping God.

Daniel knew that the law was put into place.  He knew that if he continued worshiping God he would face a very harsh punishment.  Yet, his love of God was so strong that he continued to pray three times a day.  Going to God to thank God for what was happening in his life.  He prayed to God for his needs.  He did this without fear.  He did not worry about the things that would hurt him in this world.

The King was put in an awkward place.  Here come the leaders reminding him of the law that he wrote that could not be reversed.  Yet, here stood Daniel one that he liked and wanted to put over his Kingdom.  King Darius did not want to go through with it.  Yet, he knew he had no choice but to go with the law he passed.  Imagine what would happen to the rest of his laws if he changed this one for the benefit of this one man. 

King Darius has Daniel thrown into the den of lions.  Yet, before he does this he tells Daniel that he hopes his God will save him.  He wants to ensure that no one does anything to Daniel other than what the law states.  He then places a large stone in front of the den and seals it with his signet ring.  He doesn’t stop there he spends the whole night fasting and praying that Daniel will be okay.  He was asking for the safety of one that he cared about.

Imagine what it would feel like to be imprisoned because of your worship of God.  People all over the world feel this threat.  There are so many places in which being Christian is against the law.  The people know that if they worship God they could be imprisoned or killed.  Yet, they do not stop worshiping the Most High.  They risk their lives to ensure that they spend time with the One that has saved them.

Then we need to look at those that are free to worship.  How many times are they belittled or treated differently because of their dedication to God?  The fact is that they might not face prison or death, but they often live in hiding, so they are not affected by those that think they are not worthy enough to worship God.  I think of those in the GLBTIQA community when I think of this situation.  Many are more willing to admit that they are Gay than admit that they are Gay Christians.

I stand and say that I am a Christian that happens to be a Lesbian.  The most important thing to me is that I am a Christian.  Yet, there are so many others go through trials and ridicule because they say they ae Christian.  The fact is that there are people in the GLBTIQA community that harass others in the community that announce they are Christians.   People do that because they have been hurt by Christian groups that do not believe that Gays can be Christians.

What we have to remember is that God is for us.  When the world is coming down around us that God will be there lifting us up.  God will protect us and will bring people in our lives that will help them with their problems.  God will be there no matter what.  We need to make sure that we understand that being a Christian is something that we feel ashamed of.  God helps Christians and we must always keep us in the comforting arms of God.

Let the world go against us.  Yet, we need to remember that God is there with us.  As the world tries to destroy God will lift us up and guide us.  We need to never fear as long as God is in our life. 

Prayer:

We praise you Holy God.  We lift up your name in honor.  We thank you for your love.  We ask that you help us to remember that you are there in our life.  When the world is uniting against us you are there protecting us.  In the name of the Great Comforter we pray.  Amen

Questions:

Are you willing to walk with God no matter what happens?  Are you willing to accept the life that God has for you?  Have you accepted the help from the people God has given in your life?  If you are legally able to stand up and say that you are a Christian?  If you are not legally able to stand up are you willing to give God your love and by your life leads others to Christ’s love?

The Betrayal by Colleagues

Verses: Daniel 6 : 1 - 9

My thoughts about the verses:

Have you ever felt that the world is closing in around you?  Have you felt like everyone is plotting against you?  Do you feel outnumbered by the people that want to bring you harm?  Have you maintained your faith in God?

We all have had a moment like this in our life.  A moment when the odds seemed stacked against us.  We thought as long as we kept on the path that God has led out that we couldn’t be defeated.  Then all of a sudden you are forced to accept that people that you trusted are the ones that are stabbing you in the back.

Daniel was right there in the moment.  Yet, the sad part he didn’t know what was coming.   His colleagues so wanted to destroy him that they plotted against him.  They couldn’t find any legitimate offense that he had done against the King.  Their next best option was to convince the King to do a law that would directly affect him.

They knew that Daniel would live out his faith no matter what law was passed.  He was where he was because of the strength that he received from his faith in God.  They decided that the law would come down that if anyone was caught worshipping anyone except the King they would be put to death.

Basically the King was writing the death sentence for Daniel without really realizing what would happen.  We have to understand that we can be used by others to hurt people that are close to us.  We have to be careful who we listen to.  Sometimes the people most close to you are closer to being your enemies instead of your friends.  They will use you to get what they want out of the world.

The leaders in Medes and Persia knew that they couldn’t take Daniel down without the help of the King.  They knew that they had to pass a law that would take down what they felt was their greatest threat.  The King liked Daniel and was getting ready to set him over the entire Kingdom.  The plot was put in place.   What would happen was the destiny of the King, the leaders and Daniel.

Prayer:

Dear Holy God we praise you.  We lift up or voices to thank you for all that you have given us.  Help us always stay focused on you.  Help us accept that there will be people that will become jealous of whom we are.  In the name of the One True God we pray.  Amen

Questions:

Have you accepted that you need Jesus?  Have you been betrayed by your friends?  Is today the day that you forgive them and walk closer to God?

Turn Your Life Over to God

Verses: Daniel 5 : 1 - 31

My thoughts about the verse

We need you to turn our lives over to God.  This is a very hard thing for people to do.  We have this feeling that we need to control the environment around us.  We do not want to ask for others help.  We do not want to turn over our life, to lose the control that we desire.

We walk around with a chip on our shoulder.  Anytime we feel that someone is trying to take away our control our anxiety increases.  We often will avoid places in which we can’t control.  We often act out when the situation that we are in doesn’t go the way that we think it should.  We might push away friends and family because we feel that they are trying to control our lives.

Look closely at the scripture reading today isn’t that what is happening.  King Belshazzar was trying to control his environment and his life all on his own. He is acting like he is better than anyone around him.  He is sitting there drinking and indulging in things that are outside the barriers of God.  He is being pompous and boasting about his power and authority.  He has felt like he has conquered others all on his own.

Then all of a sudden a hand appears and begins writing on the wall.  You can imagine the anxiety attack that he had at that moment.  He has lost control of his environment and wanted answers.  So he brings people in that he has trusted to tell him what it meant.  They had no idea what the inscription meant on the wall.  King Belshazzar had to trust the Queen when she suggests calling Daniel to interpret the dream.

There he sits and you can imagine the look on his faith as David begins interpreting the writing that had appeared.  The fact was that because Belshazzar tried to keep the control he would be defeated.  He had opportunities in the past to give his life over to God.  Yet, he could not handle losing the control that he had in his life.

Things go from high anxiety to fear of loss.  David told him that he would die and that his kingdom would fall to an outside force.  Belshazzar did not have the same opportunity at that moment to ask God to forgive him like his father.  See Belshazzar even in this moment did not believe that God was needed in his life.

That very night he was killed.  The kingdom fell to an outside force.  His control over the Kingdom and life led to his demise.  His unwillingness to turn his life over to God led to his final fall.

I have been watching a series about people with Obsessive Compulsion Disorder (OCD).  Their life revolves around the need to control the environment.  They are often so trapped in their anxiety and do not believe that they can get well.  Their whole life is based on controlling the environment over the need of companionship or other things.  They clean because they need to protect themselves from diseases.  They stay in their house to protect themselves from other people and perceived threats.  The problem that occurs is their fears are irrational.  They really want to get well, yet they are afraid if they let go of their compulsions their life will fall apart.

How many of us have these compulsions and do not realize what we are doing?  I know that the one compulsion that I have is checking my phone and other people’s phones to make sure the phones have been hung up after a call has ended.  I know this stems from an event where I accidently came out to someone because I thought the phone was hung up but it wasn’t.  My cell phone has really led to some stress because I am afraid that it will dial someone when I am not expecting it.  Yet, I know this is irrational and I have been trying for a long time to just do it once and move on.  I know I have hung up and I will not accidentally call someone or say things that will out me or others.

We need to learn that we have to give over our lives full over to God.  We need to turn over those personal things that are separating us from God.  We have to come to a point in our life that we realize that I cannot do this without God. 

The moment that we decide we need God to handle the hard time in our lives will change us forever.  No longer will we fear the unknown.  No longer will we walk in this world alone.  No longer will the weight of our struggles be on only our shoulders. 

God will help you get through the day to day struggles.  God will provide away to overcome your fears.  God will be there when everyone else runs away.  God will be there if we only turn over our control of our life and let God be the guide.

Prayer:

God we praise you for you are rightly to be praised.  We honor your name for you are the Awesome God.  We thank you God for your live changing love.  Help us accept that we must give our lives over to you.  Help us as we are struggling in this life.  In the name of our Awesome God we pray.  Amen

Questions:

Have you turned over the control of your life to God?  Are you ready to say that I cannot do it myself?  Is today the day that you say here is my life guide me?

Boasting will Lead to Your Fall

Verses: Daniel 4 : 1 - 37

My thoughts about the verses:

How many times in our lives do we let pride come between us and following God’s will?  We often feel that what we are called to do is below us.  We feel as if we can do our own thing with our asking God for guidance.  We boast of our accomplishments. 

Yet, what happens when we do this?  We come to a point in our life that we realize that we have no choice but listen to God.  God will let us do our own thing, but eventually we will see that we are being foolish.  We will see that our way of living is actually leading us down a slippery slide into the depths of destruction.

Pride, boasting, is not the same as pride in who you are.  I am proud to be a Christian.  I am proud to be a woman.  I am proud of being a Lesbian.  I am proud of being an aunt and a partner.

Pride is thinking that you have ultimate control of how things turn out.  You boast over how you have climbed the corporate ladder.  You boast about your big fancy house.  You act as if you do not need anything in your life because you make things happen on your own.

Pride and boasting will have a way of making you turn away from God.  You don’t think you need God to help you achieve things.  You put your desires above serving God.  You depend less on your faith because you feel that you have the power inside you to overcome what you face without God.

This is where Nebuchadnezzar was in his life.  He had multiple times to accept the True Sovereign God.  He had on several situations give recognitions to God as a true God.  Yet, he still felt that he did not God in his own life.  He felt that he had done everything on his own.  He felt that he was equal to God because of the power of his kingdom.

God knocked him to his knees.  God pushed him to accept that he needed to accept God as the true sovereign King.  Yet, it wasn’t an easy road for Nebuchadnezzar.  He had to undergo a long period of madness.  He was made humble by the true King of the world.

Nebuchadnezzar accepted God in his life.  God showed the power that comes from disobeying the Holy One.  He learned that boasting that he more powerful than God was wrong.  He learned that he needed God in his life to truly be a Righteous King. 

How many times in our life have we thought that I do not need God to get through the situation that I am in?  In fact, I can get along just as good with or without the help of God.  I have accomplished great things on my own and God wasn’t there when I did it.

How many of us go out into the world boasting of our achievements.  We then come to this moment that God humbles us.  We find that without God we cannot do anything.  We are led to accept the Holy One in our life.   How many of us have turned to Christianity because of the broken condition that we felt at one time in our life?  We realize that without God we truly do not have the power or strength to go through life on our own.

How many Christians have boasted of their great accomplishments without giving glory to God?  How many of us have been knocked to our knees because we of our lack of humbleness?  We as Christians need to worship God with all of our heart.  Instead of  walking through life boasting of what we have done; we need to walk through life thanking God for all that had been done for us.

Prayer:

We praise God for all that you have done in our life.  Thank you for loving us.  We praise you for your gift of salvation.  Help us remember that we need you in our life.  Help us never turn away from you.  In the name, of the Holy One we pray.  Amen

Questions:

Have you accepted God in your life?  Have you boasted on what you have done without the help of God?  Do you need to accept Jesus in your life today?  Is today the day that you praise God for the gifts that have been given to you?  Do you need to ask God to forgive you for the times that you have boasted about what you have achieved without praising God?  What do you need to do today to grow closer to the Holy One?

Don’t Give Up on God…God Never Gives Up on You

Verses: Daniel 3 : 19 - 30

My thoughts about the verses:

Saying don’t give up on God is easier said than it is to do.  We go through real bad hardship and in the process we often feel like God isn’t there.  We feel abandoned because we cannot understand why we even have bad things in our life. 

We think to ourselves why Christian’s face bad things.  Why do we get sick from diseases that tear down our bodies?  Why do we have to work so hard just to live?  Why are we not walking on easy street?

So our mind tells us that God must have abandoned us.  Our spirit is trying to convince us that God is still there with us.  We have an inward battle between our fears and the truth.  Slowly we start to accept that we are not alone.  We look at our struggles and realize that there a lot of people that are also struggling.  We see people that are positive even though they are having a hard time in life. 

The battle can take a small time to conquer or a very long time.  Yet, what we can come to understand is God hasn’t left us.  We have a foundation that is stronger than anything that tries to overcome us.  We have to remember that Christians are protected by God.  In our times of great struggle God will be there to help us survive.

See God doesn’t give up on us when we are struggling with our faith.  God is there walking with us lifting us up.  We are never abandoned when we except Jesus in our life.  Even though we struggle with our life God is there. 

You can just imagine what was going on in the mind of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego.  They had faith in the power of God.  They felt deep in their heart and soul that they would be protected from anything that was thrown at them.  They continued to keep their faith in the one true God even though they were being peer pressured to turn away.  They trusted that no matter what happened they would be safe. 

You can imagine King Nebuchadnezzar and his anger rising because they would not obey his command.  He gave them a second chance to bow down to the god that he had created.  They looked him straight into the eye and said we are not doing it.  It is against the will of God.  I can imagine that Nebuchadnezzar’s face turning red his mouth snarling.  How could these men disobey him?

Nebuchadnezzar was mad and he was going to use Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego as an example to others that they must obey his rules.  He took it to the extreme by tying them and getting the fire extremely hot.  He throws them in the fire and waited for the cries and their death.

You can see the look on his face when he sees a fourth man in the fire.  How could it be he knew that only the three men were thrown into the pit of fire?  He watches intently as they stand in the fire and are not killed. 

He calls to them to come out of the fire.  You knew he was expecting them to have some burns.  He was already confused because they hadn’t burned.  Yet, what he sees amazes him they have no injuries, their clothes have no damage and they don’t even smell like smoke. It was through their faith that others could practice their belief in the True God.  For Nebuchadnezzar realized that their God was powerful and had performed yet another miracle. 

God had saved them from the fire because they never lost faith in God.  They did not turn from god to make sure they lived.  They went into the fire with the faith that whatever happened to them would get God’s will.  God was there and did not leave their side.  God didn’t give up on them.  They in turn did not give up in God.

We can learn that we need to never turn away from God.  No matter the struggle that we are going through God is there with us.  We need to do what God would call us to do without worry of what might happen to us.  As long as we are doing Go’s will we know that we are protected.  God will not turn away from us.  Though things may be tough we are stronger through the power and strength of God. 

Following God’s will is the most important thing that you can do.  You might be surprised where it leads you.  Yet, obeying God’s desire for your life will ensure a fruitful life.  God will use you to help others.  God will also stand by your side and surround you with the comforting arms when you needed it in your life.  

Prayer:

Dear God we praise you for the gifts that you give us.  We praise you for you love.  We thank you for never abandoning us.  Help us never turn away from you.  Help us remember that you are always with us.  Help us remember that as long as we do our calling we will find your guidance in our life.  In the name of the Holy One we pray.  Amen

Questions:

Have you accepted God in your life?  Have you accepted the calling that God has placed on your life?  Are you staying focused on God no matter what happens?  Do you understand that God will never leave your side?

Living a life of peace

Verses: Daniel 3 : 1 -18

My thoughts about the verses:

As I read this I stared thinking about the group ISIS.  They demand loyalty and are power hungry.  They want their subjects, people that they see as under them, to do things that are impossible.  When they don’t get what they want they punish the people severely.  It is shocking how many people they have killed in the last year.

They want people to accept their religious beliefs.  They are a terroristic group.  They do not represent the common Muslim.  People that believe Islam are peaceful and loving..  Yet, this extremist group believes that Islam is the only true religion.  Instead of using peace and love to lead people to the religion they use force to get people to change their views.

When you think of ISIS and their desire to convert the world to their version of Islam it reminds me of the Crusades.  At this time Christians forgot that they were to use love to lead people to Christ.  They used force to convert Muslims to Christianity.

It is ironic that these two groups have used destruction to lead people to a peaceful religion.  We have to remember as Christians we cannot live this kind of life.  We have to stop the violence so that people can live together in harmony.

We have to remember that God is a God of peace and love.  If we accept this we will turn away from force to convert people to one religion or the other.  We all have been affected by people that use violence to attack groups.  We are taught to love each other by Jesus.  When we do this we will see that peace will come. 

Prayer:

We praise you God for your love.  We thank you for the peace that you give us.  Help us express your love and peace to everyone.  Help us be Jesus someone today.  Help us to remember that violence is not the answer to stop differences.  Instead love and peace leads to saving grace.  In the name of the Beloved One we pray.  Amen

Questions:

Have you accepted the love and grace of God?  Are you showing love to each other?  Have you accepted that people need to be treated with peace?  Are you living the life that God wants from you?

Becoming Instruments of God

Verses: Daniel 2 : 46 - 49

My thoughts about the verses:

You have to remember that Nebuchadnezzar worshipped several gods.  This is something that many people have done in the future and the present day.  The problem is that none of the gods were able to do everything.  The gods also demand a sacrifice to be pleased.  It was believed that without the sacrifice they would face hardships.

The example of polytheism we can most identify took place during the time of the Roman Empire.  There were 20 major gods that had temples built for them throughout the land.  Many times individuals would consider one of the gods their personal deity and would build statues to put in their own homes.  They made sacrifices to please the gods so that they would not become angry and do things that would harm them.  They also gave gifts of sacrifice when the gods answered their prayers.

Christians, Jews, Muslims and several other religions worship one God this is called Monotheism.  Some monotheism religions sacrifice animals that are the best of their herd to worship God.  Their sacrifices were not to an angry vengeful God.  Instead the sacrifices were meant to worship God for the blessings that were given.  Christians believe that the true sacrifice was Jesus on the cross.  Christians believe this sacrifice was the last and only sacrifice that needed to happen to given them everlasting life.

God worked through Daniel to help him interpret the dream that Nebuchadnezzar had.  This interpretation let Nebuchadnezzar state that Daniel’s God was the God of gods.  Imagine hearing someone who was Polytheistic stating that God was the one true God.  We have to remember that this happened because Daniel told them that he was used as a vessel of God to bring the interpretation of the dream.

It is also interesting that Nebuchadnezzar promoted Daniel.  Think on this a moment Daniel was a captive that was chosen to learn with the sages of the kingdom of Babylon.  That in itself was a gift that God bestowed on Daniel.  Now Daniel was moved to one of the highest spots of the kingdom.  Then he requested that Nebuchadnezzar appoint Shadrach,  Meshach and Abednego  to a higher spot in Babylon.  At the same time Daniel state in the King’s court.

I want us to remember that Daniel did not claim that he was able to do it one his own.  That he was just an instrument that God used.  Daniel trusted God so much that he had gone to prayer to ask god to interpret the dream.  That night God heard his prayers and gave him the information that he needed.

We need to take this lesson to heart.  We can become instruments of God.  We need to not only talk the talk but we need to walk the walk.  Simply we need our lives so that others can come to accept God as the one true God.  We need to remember to pray to God when we need help.  We need to praise God when our prayers are answered.

We have to remember that God is the strength that we have each day to survive.  God is the one that blesses us.  Therefor we need to help the poor, the hungry, the sick, the thirsty and the lonely.  Basically we need to live open ourselves up to help those that need God in their life.  We need to be Jesus to someone today.

Prayer:

Dear God we thank you for all you have done in our lives.  We praise you.  We offer up our lives to you.  Help us become instruments of peace and love to the world.  Help us live the life that we need to live as Christians.  We ask that you walk with us every day so that people can see Jesus in our life.  In the name of the Jesus we pray.  Amen

Questions:

Have you accepted God in your life?  Have you asked God to use you as an instrument? 
Do you take the time to help those in need.  Do you live your life so others can lead others to the Holy One?