| Kingdom First - Hungry and Humility (part 2) Men and women have fasted at various times for variety of ways
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| Fearing God - His rule Job's attitude toward God in the beginning: It profits a man nothing when tries to please the God - Job 34:9 The Lord confronted him, "I will question you and you shall answer me - Job 38:2-3 Job 38-41 is a gallery of God's creative wisdom and power What was Job's response? I am unworthy - Job 40:4 God cares for His creation He gives all men life and breath - Acts 17:25 He endows the heart with wisdom and gives understanding to the mind - Job 38:36 God governs His universe He is the ruler of all things - 1 Chronicles 29:12 He does as he pleases - Daniel 4:35 Our plans depend entirely on him - Lamentations 3:37 God's rule is universal and absolute A sparrow can not fall to the ground without His will - Matthew 10:29 Not one drop of rain falls without His command - Amos 4:7 |
| Prayer of the Righeous - Intimate Prayer WHo is he who will devote himself to be close to me? - Jeremiah 30:21 God looks for people who will devote themselves to being close to him
Nehemiah had an intimate friendship with God:
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| Day 33 - Shining Like Stars Philippians 2:14-16
Application: Pray for a heart that truly loves deeply as you share your faith today. |
| Prayer of the Righeous - More Powerful Than We Can Imagine (part II) Two different responses to God's power: 1. Moses doubted God's power to feed the 600,000 men 2. Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego faced the furnace John the Baptist described God's power and man's insignifiance - Matthew 3:3
Imagine trying to asking a clerk compensate for dust when weighing an item for purchase - it would be absurd How do you current view God? |
| Prayer of the Righeous - More Powerful Than We Can Imagine (part II) Two different responses to God's power: 1. Moses doubted God's power to feed the 600,000 men 2. Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego faced the furnace John the Baptist described God's power and man's insignifiance - Matthew 3:3
Imagine trying to asking a clerk compensate for dust when weighing an item for purchase - it would be absurd How do you current view God? |
| No-Compromise Faithfullness Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, The God whom we serve is able to save us - Daniel 3:16-17 Compromise can help you move ahead or it can lead to utter disaster At time, they freely altered some things to please their Babylonians masters But an order to compromise their commitment to God, they adamantly refused Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego did not need to discuss anything, there was no decision to be made After the king saw how the three young men were saved, he sang a different tune - Daniel 3:28 Any choice to distance you from God, there is no compromise, the only answer is "NO". |
| No-Compromise Faithfullness Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, The God whom we serve is able to save us - Daniel 3:16-17 Compromise can help you move ahead or it can lead to utter disaster At time, they freely altered some things to please their Babylonians masters But an order to compromise their commitment to God, they adamantly refused Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego did not need to discuss anything, there was no decision to be made After the king saw how the three young men were saved, he sang a different tune - Daniel 3:28 Any choice to distance you from God, there is no compromise, the only answer is "NO". |
| No-Compromise Faithfullness Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, The God whom we serve is able to save us - Daniel 3:16-17 Compromise can help you move ahead or it can lead to utter disaster At time, they freely altered some things to please their Babylonians masters But an order to compromise their commitment to God, they adamantly refused Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego did not need to discuss anything, there was no decision to be made After the king saw how the three young men were saved, he sang a different tune - Daniel 3:28 Any choice to distance you from God, there is no compromise, the only answer is "NO". |
| Object Lesson You are his successor, yet you have not humble yourself - Daniel 5:22 Belshazzar, refused to learn from his grandfather's mistake Nebuchadnezzar long refused to bow before the Lord God humbled him by cause him to live like a wild animal Belshazzar dishonored God when he brought out gold cups from the temple for a drunken, idol-worshiping party Daniel explained to him, hos days as king had come to an end - Daniel 25:30 It does not help to dwell in the past, but it is a good biblical idea to learn from it. What lessons from the past jump out at you? |
| Object Lesson You are his successor, yet you have not humble yourself - Daniel 5:22 Belshazzar, refused to learn from his grandfather's mistake Nebuchadnezzar long refused to bow before the Lord God humbled him by cause him to live like a wild animal Belshazzar dishonored God when he brought out gold cups from the temple for a drunken, idol-worshiping party Daniel explained to him, hos days as king had come to an end - Daniel 25:30 It does not help to dwell in the past, but it is a good biblical idea to learn from it. What lessons from the past jump out at you? |
| Pride By my own mighty power, I have built this beautiful city - Daniel 4:30 Breakdown of how much we learn from our senses:
Nebuchadnezzar was given a dream and Daniel told him what it meant - the king's pride would result in a severe bout of divine discipline Daniel begged the king to give up his pride so that God could relent God had given Nebuchadnezzar an opportunity to humble himself God immediately accounced that the king would no lose his kingdom and be sent out to live a wild animal Nebuchadnezzar had to learn the hard way from taste and smell of grass since could not learn from sight Are you teachable? When God speaks to you, take it to heart |
| Importance of Insight Tell this man the meaning of his vision - Daniel 8:16 God gave Daniel a vision concerning future events Daniel realized the vision without a satisfying interpretation would do him no good An angel appeared to him to explain it because of his genuine desire for insight into the vision Knowledge of God's Word is good but having the practical understanding to apply it is life changing God promises to give understanding to anyone who earnestly seeks it How often do you seek out the scriptures on how to be a godly man, husband, father, employee? |
| Making a Lasting Impression King Darius sent a message - everyone throughout my kingdom should tremble with fear before thr God of Daniel - Daniel 6:25-26 How you live and how you demonstrate your faith can make a big impression Opponents of Daniel duped Darius into sending the prophet into a den of lions King Dairus wanted to see the power of Daniel's God put on display - that is exactly what happened Daniel came out without a scratch - it was a miracle and Darius praise the name of Daniel's God Our world is filled with men like Darius who see to see God power demonstrated in our lives |
| Making a Lasting Impression King Darius sent a message - everyone throughout my kingdom should tremble with fear before thr God of Daniel - Daniel 6:25-26 How you live and how you demonstrate your faith can make a big impression Opponents of Daniel duped Darius into sending the prophet into a den of lions King Dairus wanted to see the power of Daniel's God put on display - that is exactly what happened Daniel came out without a scratch - it was a miracle and Darius praise the name of Daniel's God Our world is filled with men like Darius who see to see God power demonstrated in our lives |
| Evil Alliances Keep your gifts or give them to someone else - Daniel 5:17 Daniel refused Belshazzar's offer of monetary gifts and polical status The Babylonian king wanted a favorable interpretation of a most disturbing vision Belshazzar obviously didn't know Daniel as he refused to make a buck with the gift God had given him Daniel didn't hesitate to give the bad news and meaning of the dream - Belshazzar had made his final politcal proposal Daniel let it be known that neither the truth nor his intergrity was for sale
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| Pride's Angry Partner Nebuchadnezzar flew into a rage - Daniel 3:13 Anger can erupt from a lot of things but most commonly from pride The proud man tends to believe that he is owed something such as respect and admiration Nebuchadnezzar's arrogance knew no bounds and it show showed up when three men refused to bow down to his idol Like his anger, Nebuchadnezzar had Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego thrown into blazing-hot Uncontrolled pride turns into uncontrolable anger God used the situation to save his faithful and humble the proud If you want to keep anger from being a problem in your life, put a check on your pride |
| Pressure is On I thanks and praise you, God, for you have given me wisdom - Daniel 2:23 Nebuchadnezzar had a strange dream and wanted to know what it meant When his advisors couldn't help, he had them all executed Daniel asked the king if he could take a crack at interpreting the royal dream The pressure was on - Daniel needed answers and soon Daniel asked his friend to pray for divine revelation and he received a vision that clearly explained the kig's dream God gave Daniel exactly what he needed to save his life and his friends lives When Daniel was squeezed, out came his faith in God who does his best work under pressure |
| Groundwork of Prayer I turned to the Lord God and pleaded with in prayer and fasting - Daniel 9:3 Daniel set the perfect example for us of what to do when bug changes are afoot He realized that 70 years of captivity had nearly run their course and God would shortly be up to something Daniel didn't know exactly what God had in mind but he did what he knew how to do in these situations:
God sent the angel Gabriel to explain to him the exact meaning - Daniel 9 What do you do when you sense that God is about to something big in your life? |
| Knowing God Means Having Great Energy Those who know God have great energy for God - Daniel 11:32 A contrast from those who don't know God - smoth and falttering talk When God is being fied or disreguarded, the can not rest; they feel they must do something The dishonor to God's name compels them to take action
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| Who is Jesus? Messiah Jews do not believe Jesus is who Christians say he is Up until about 1,000 years ago, Jew mainly interpreted Isaiah 53 as a prediction of the coming Messiah but now read it as the Suffering Servant aka the nation of Israel But there is some issues with this thought:
In fact, there is only one possible candidate for all of these to be correct:
Jews have been waiting for a political messiah but did not realize the Messiah would come as a lamb of God to be slaughtered for the sins on the world - Isaiah 53:7 Even demons know that Jesus is the Messiah - James 2:19 |