“…I Daniel, understood from the Scriptures, according to the word of the Lord given to Jeremiah the prophet, …so I turned to the Lord God and pleaded with Him in prayer…” (v2-3)

   The priority and power of the word of God is the pedestal on which real prayer is born!  One can only approach God on His terms and without a solid understanding of who God is, prayer is nothing more than talking to the air.  It may bring temporary comfort and peace as we look to something bigger than ourselves, but God does not act on our behalf based on our need or even our dismal situation. No; He acts upon the prayers of those who seek Him in truth with faith in the One True God that has revealed Himself down through history as the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

   Daniel’s eloquent, heart-wrenching prayer of confession and plea for divine intervention flowed from his study of scripture.  As he read the words of Jeremiah, his heart was stirred and his eyes were fixed on his “great and awesome God” (v46), and God heard him. (v21-23)

  I must never forget the God I serve has always been the author of life…His book contains the secrets to living.  As much as I could be attracted to emotional moments and charismatic individuals, it is really the Word of God that brings me peace as His Spirit teaches me His truth…for it is in those quiet moments of personal encounter that God – the Author Himself – shows up to show me what I need to see (and, more importantly, WHO I need to see).  It is through my personal discovery that God brings peace, and direction, and purpose in my life.  And when that happens, and the joy overflows or the sorrow spills over, I run hard to my Abba Father with my petitions and pleas of confession.  And God hears my cries!  What a powerful Book!

Oh Author of my life, thank you, my awesome God for revealing Yourself and Your ways to me through Your faithful servants that never took emotional short-cuts along the journey, but stayed steeped in truth and grounded in Your holy Word.  May I be as faithful to You, my King, as I discipline my life with Your truth.  May Your Word never be far from my side or absent from my mind.  I praise You, my King, for the power of Your mighty Word.  In Jesus’ Name.  Amen.

“I, Daniel was exhausted and lay ill for several days, then I got up and went about the King’s business…” (v27)

   Daniel is given another vision.  This one specifically about Alexander the Great and Antiochus Epiphanies (Kings of Media and Persia, but also a foreshadowing of the evil that would come at the end of time (seev17, 19,26).  Daniel got a view of evil at its finest hour; bringing powerful destruction on all who would oppose it…especially those who would reject following God’s path.  Daniel was sickened by what he saw, his energy was sapped and he was losing his grip on hope (Ecc1:17-18 gives a clue to his situation – “much vexation”).

   But Daniel refused to be consumed by evil.  His actions, though incredibly mundane, held great strides of faith.  “Then I got up and went about the King’s business.”  The king was Belshazzar (v1); he was the worst, and Daniel saw no good in him (ch5:17), yet the man of God went about his duties as a…uh…umm …who knows what Daniel job was…it was one of those duties given to people the king wanted to forget.  But Daniel did what was before him to do, and he did it with all his heart!  He left history in the hands of The History Maker and worked hard to glorify God in the task at hand.  Yes, evil may have its day…it may seem more like a life-time, but when the dust of time settles only those who faced life with faith will stand eye to eye with the Victor…the King of Heaven and Prince of Princes.

   Lord, make me stand, serve, and be about my duties until You return, make me faithful to not grovel in my sadness of evil situations. Make me stand and live today for Your Glory and Your Kingdom’s sake.  No matter who seems to be in charge in this present time…I know You, my King reign forever!  Amen.

“…I Daniel, was deeply troubled by my thoughts and my face turned pale…” (v28)

   The final day in the bigger story of the battle for the human heart is a dreadful thing.  This raging, flesh-eating, fading power at work in the world is wreaking havoc on the innocent, the guilty, the week, and the powerful alike.  And much like Daniel I find this all numbingly overwhelming.  The final scene is one of victory for the Power of the universe, but it cannot soften the peril of the enemy.  So many souls die because of sin.  

   But as much as Daniel was grieved, God’s heart surely breaks in two.  Jesus was even called “a man of sorrows”.  I’m sure because He could see the big picture and the ravaging enemy raging in his final, futile attempt to usurp God’s rule.  It will never happen, but many will suffer, many will be lost… Following Jesus may be hard, even life threatening at times, but choosing to reject the love of God is devastating.  Won’t you choose the love of God are let go of the lie that you can control the things that really matter?

Father, I am deeply troubled, thank you for being my companion through the pain… Make me more diligent to point others to the greater reality that is in Your Son Jesus.  Amen.

“His domain is an everlasting domain that will not pass away, and His Kingdom is one that will never be destroyed. (14b)

   Jesus wins!  That is the reality I seem to forget way too quickly.  I focus on the beast of raging inhumanity with all its pseudo-power to crush lives and devour all that is good.  (v4-8)  Kingdoms will rise and fall, they will even become progressively more skilled at exerting their powerful hand in their attempts to usurp the King of Heaven, but it is all a done deal.  God has history in the palm of His hand.  He is in control…always has been, always will be.  I must never forget that! 

   The beast of human pride and power will one day be stripped of its temporary authority (v12), and those of us who never gave up on truth, righteousness and obedience that flow from a seeking heart of determined faith in the Ancient of Days will experience victory…We will win too, right along side our Master and King (see v26-27).

   Oh to live in that reality…to walk by faith, not by sight…to choose to be fully alive by ling in the context of that Day and not be bogged down in the mud and mire of all that I can see, touch, and fret over.  That is what Jesus wants for everyone who follows Him to not have troubled hearts but instead to have a hope in a future filled with mansions and His eternal destroyable Kingdom.

Father, make me live in Your reality, trusting Your ways of doing things while others attempt to suggest a new and better way.  Allow me to overcome my fear of the beast of powerful and evil self-directed men and women. And make me a man of God like Daniel; calm, wise and sure of His God and King.  Make me a man of faith!!!

“I issue a decree that in every part of my kingdom people must fear and reverence the God of Daniel.” (v26-a)

   The ordeal was over; Daniel was vindicated (v21).  The treacherous men of deception were disposed of (v24).  The king was relieved! (v23)… and Daniel’s life of faith moves on.  There is another Royal decree from another King influenced by the consistent man of God…

   Father, help me operate like Daniel…calm, consistent, and faithful.  When my world explodes into insanity and evil men and women rage in an effort to subvert Your rule, keep me grounded in You, let Your peace reign in my life so that it infects those to whom You send me.  Please, Mighty King of heaven and earth, make Your Sovereignty known in me, for Your glory and Your fame (v26a-27)…. Amen.

   Spiritual discipline is a must for a consistent, God-centered life.  It may at times cost us greatly to maintain our purity and relationship to a holy God in the midst of an impure and Godless culture.  Daniel understood that!  He never wavered in his devotion to God.  Daniel never short-changed God in the area of giving his Lord time to talk, guide and help him live.  His time with God was priority number one, all other relationships and obligations took second place, and many around Daniel hated that (see v4c).  But God was faithful, and never let Daniel be harmed, although accused, sentenced and left for dead, Daniel’s life was safe – for it remained consistently in the hand of the almighty God, the King of Heaven… and earth! 

 

   I learn an important lesson today…I must never see a “dry devotional” time as useless.  There is a need to keep meeting with God day in and day out – for it is through the consistency of building my relationship with the Almighty by growing in patience and quiet peace that He will, at times, speak in clarity and power to move me forward in life.  He will bring radical change to the immovable world around me.  But I will miss it, I will never recognize His activity, if I do not maintain the discipline of consistently spending time learning to discern His voice from the noise  of the world around me.

Father, I am here again today, I’ll be here tomorrow.  I’m listening the best I know how!  I do believe.  I will trust, and no matter if it appears to my frail finite perspective that You remain silent or even distant, I will stick with meeting regularly with You.  I’ll keep listening, and waiting and asking for help!  Thank You for relationship, for grace, and forgiveness…I am Yours… do with me what You will.  Amen.

“…the satraps tried to find grounds for charges against Daniel.” (v4)

   There will always be opposition to those who seek to simply live by faith and obedient devotion to God.  Daniel (as was also the case with his three friends in Chapter 3) always rose to the top.  His character was spotless; his abilities were gifts of grace to those he served.  He always stood out in a crowd.  “Now Daniel so distinguished himself … by his exceptional qualities.”  (v3)  And those of lesser moral fiber just couldn’t tolerate it, the envy and need for self-exaltation overpowered their thoughts…Daniel had to go!  He was making them all look bad!

   This is a truth I must never forget.  As I seek to please God; to fall deeper in love with my Savior; to obey all I know to be true and right…I will be offensive to those whose lives are opposed to God’s plan.  The Apostle Paul speaks of this truth as an “aroma” in 2 Corinthians 2:15-16… It smells sweet to those who will bow the knee to the King of Heaven, but to those stubborn and set on doing life their own way; it stinks, and they, by some “mystery of evil” (2 Thes. 2:7), seek to destroy what they don’t understand or cannot manipulate to bend to their way of thinking and acting.  There will always be opposition right up to the final day. It was a fact of life for Daniel and it remains that way still today!

Father, grant me big faith to stand strong and fearless in the face of opposition, remove discontentment from my heart and replace it with the zeal of Your righteousness, grace and love for Your glory, my King!  Amen

“But you his son, O Belshazzar, have not humbled yourself though you knew all this.” (v22)

   God is not obligated to be patient with any of us.  He sees our hearts, our wills, and our passions.  He has no doubt if we want His friendship, love, and Lordship in our lives.  In our passage we find a parallel of two mighty Kings.  One who God slowly and mercifully came to in dreams and in words of honesty from God’s messenger, and over time Nebuchadnezzar submitted his will to the King of Heaven. 

  Then a couple of generations later along comes Belshazzar, a man who was corrupt, morally bankrupt, and proud.  And God scratches a message of doom on a wall at his party that spells out his impending demise.  Why?  The answer must rest in what Belshazzar knew.  He had heard all that had happened with his predecessor.  He had surely read the proclamation of his forefather’s faith and yet he rejected God.  He spat on the hand of grace, and in so doing sealed his own fate. He “did not honor the God who holds in his hand your life and all your ways.” (v23)  

  Yes, God is in control, and when we refuse to acknowledge that, we must accept God’s refusal of us.  God loves to show mercy, but never at the expense of his righteousness and holy justice. 

   Oh how quickly things change!  When we last left Daniel in Babylon, King Nebuchadnezzar had finally seen the light of life and was bringing reform to his kingdom.  Now we turn the page to the next chapter and we find a new king (possibly the son of Nebuchadnezzar’s successor – the historical record is not clear).  This new King has let the Kingdom go in a moral slide that quickly turned its inhabitants away from the reforms and proclamation of his predecessor.  This young King was bored with the entertainment and dulled by the sensations of his typical revelry, so he breaks into the temple of “the gods” that they and other human hands had made.

   There was Daniel, still there, quietly serving the One True God.  And when given the platform, he would speak on Yahweh’s behalf.  There is a lesson here for every true believer; for every struggling saint trying to maintain a righteous and holy life in a wrong and unholy atmosphere.  God doesn’t call us to change the world we live in, but to walk in faith and obedience with Him no matter the moral or spiritual climate.  And when given the chance to speak we must speak His truth!

   We can know for sure that opportunities to bear witness always arise for people who stand separate from the mass of popular shifts in trends, and when the moment comes we must courageously speak the truth and leave the possibility of change to God and to the conscious of those dying in the error of their thinking and actions.  Yes, things will change in rapid succession, sometimes in miraculous currents of reform and repentance and many times away from truth, morality and God.  So walk by faith…stay in the center of the stability of God’s truth and ways.  And as the world around us spins like a top bouncing from one extreme to another, God will uphold His own.  And His will most definitely will be done!

Father, I will trust you!  I will not make my decisions based on the ebbs and flows of societal whims and fickle fancies.  I will walk hand in hand with You and when my grip slips, I will trust You to hold me tight and take me through the night.  Amen.

   People can change!  I must never forget that.  The most hardened and self-absorbed of this mob we call the human race is not out of the reach of the Most High.  God can change any life He sees fit to change.  And He Does!  Day by day, the Mighty King of Heaven and Earth calls out to another self-sufficient soul and says;

    “I see your weakness; I know your fears, your insecurities, and your dirty little secrets.  Put your trust in me and stop relying on your feeble legs and limited wisdom to hold you up…I am God; you are not!  Don’t think for a moment that what you have is a result of your efforts alone.  I am the giver of all things good, and what I gave I can take away.  So, let it go and lift your eyes to mine.  See my smile, know this one truth…I am God – follow my plan.  It has a better outcome than your own.  Stop thinking the crazy thoughts that you can actually control your own destiny…come to your senses, turn to My wisdom, and find peace…I am your God too.”

   People can change!  Many will bow their wills to the living God and many more will not.  This great chapter of a repentant King is followed by an account of a proud unrepentant one.  The Bible never veers away from the truth that “the way to life is narrow and very few find it”.  But the truth remains; God is still changing lives!  No matter the status or social standing, God is active in our world!  He is calling out to those who, though maybe resist at first, will turn to Him in faith and offer Him the praise and glory that only belongs to the King of Heaven!

   Father, forgive me when I think for a moment that I can rule over my own destiny.  I submit to You!  Not only my destiny do I submit, but I also submit to You my assumptions of who I see as possible candidates for change.  Keep me from pronouncing judgment on whom I think will repent and who will not.  Keep me from putting people in the “lost-cause” category and give me the faith to trust You to change lives on Your time-table.  Amen.