Balancing Ministry N' Work

Two weeks ago, we saw that king Nebuchadnezzar did not have the knowledge or wisdom to understand his dream. As one of the greatest kings of his day, with the power, money, and people at his disposal he could not determine the meaning of it and it troubled him. He reached out to his advisers for help but knowing that something was different with this dream he expected them to tell him the dream. They realized they could not talk their way out of it, they could not pretend that some fake god was talking to them, and they could not get the king to change his mind about telling them the details of the dream. In anger the king ordered the execution of all the wise men. Daniel and his friends were not at the meeting turned execution and as the Bible states, Daniel used ‘tact and discretion.’ Put another way, God gave him the words he needed when he talked to the captain of the guard and the king. They granted Daniel some time so that he could give the king the interpretation. Se...

Last week we saw an unhappy king who with all of his knowledge and wisdom could not understand a dream he had been given. He called his ‘wise’ men, who it appears he no longer trusted and asked them for something that was impossible for them to do. He asked them to not only interpret the dream, but before he would listen to their thoughts on what it meant he wanted them to tell him the dream. They objected and tried to convince the king that no one could do what he asked. My impression is that he was tired of their lies and figured if someone could tell him what the dream was then he could trust their interpretation. The king’s wise guys probably knew that they never really heard anything from their fake little gods. They were likely realizing that they really needed true divine intervention and they were at a complete loss. Psalms 121:1-2 “ 1  I lift my eyes toward the mountains. Where will my help come from? 2  My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of he...

Over the last couple of weeks we have seen Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah taken into captivity and being indoctrinated in the ways of the Babylonians. The guys were given new names, offered great food, all the wine they could want, and pretty much anything else. They were tempted in many ways, but we saw that they remained faithful. When it came to the food and wine being offered, Daniel determined he would not allow himself to be defiled. He asked if he could follow a diet that would not go against Mosaic Law. He hit a roadblock, but that did not stop him. Daniel kept marching forward. He was determined to keep God as THE Priority of his life. He persevered and God blessed his faithfulness. Daniel and his friends may not have been able to follow sacrificial law, but they were able to honor God in what they ate and drank. Last week we looked at how God rewarded their faithfulness. These 20ish year old guys were given wisdom and knowledge beyond their years. The king d...

The first month of 2020 is already behind us, and this morning we will wrap up the first chapter of Daniel. We started by looking at how the king was trying to change the young Israelites from faithful servants of the One True God, to people who lived like the rest of the world. This is something we face every day. The pressures of this world are trying to get us to change in one form or another. Our only defense against the evolution of morals, beliefs, and what is considered normal is to stay focused on God. If we continue to look to our God and hold on to His Word we can stand strong. Last week we looked at how Daniel took a stand and was determined to live righteously, he was not going to defile himself, and he was going to remain true to His God. At one point he hit a roadblock and could have easily given up, but he decided to keep following his convictions. Daniel made a choice and that choice was to make God THE Priority of his life. No matter what is going on, we need to ...