WHEN THE PRESSURE IS ON: Daniel was made prime-minister of the realm, and one of three overseers of Babylon, of whom he was chief. Then under them were 120 satraps. Daniel was above all of them because he had "an excellent spirit" (6:3). This means his "spirit" was "abundantly greater than anyone else." He was faithful, solid, trustworthy, and totally honest. He was in charge of the treasury, so trusted was he. He was probably about 87 years old by now and still had what it takes. In fact, v.4 says there was "no fault found in him". The others envied him and hated him because he kept them honest! This is because Daniel always obeyed God's known will. So, they spied on him and looked for something to pin on him. They talked the king into making a decree that anyone who prayed to any god but Darius for 30 days would be cast into the den of lions. Daniel knew that the decree was aimed at him. So what did Daniel do when the pressure was on him to compromise his faith? He prayed three times a day JUST LIKE HE ALWAYS DID. The world around us doesn't mind if we pray, as long as we FIRST bow to their system and give God the left-overs.
KING DARIUS: Darius, a Mede, received the kingdom of Babylon (and the Chaldeans) from Cyrus the Persian King and thus is called "king". He thought a lot of Daniel and worked to save Daniel from his own decree! When Darius went to see if God had delivered Daniel from the lions, he cried out in pain! The king had Daniel's accusers, along with their wives and children, thrown into the lion's den and they were chewed to pieces before they even got to the bottom of the den! NEW DECREE: Everyone must tremble before the God of Daniel, for "He endures forever; His kingdom will not be destroyed, his dominion will never end." (6:26).
RESPONSE: Darius learned the EASY WAY what
Nebuchadnezzar learned the HARD WAY. If Daniel had succumbed to the pressure to
compromise even a little bit, he would have become ineffective and probably
would have been killed. The thing that made
him so useful was that he was distinctly different in his faith. He drew attention - some good and some
negative. When he was publicly pressured
to "surrender to the system" - he just kept walking - kept his
established routine - prayed like always.
I would imagine he thought just like the 3 who went into the furnace: "He can. He will. Even if He doesn't." He was confident because he had integrity, he
stayed faithful, and he believed and trusted God with his outcomes. And he maintained that attitude for at least
70 years in Babylon!
2 PETER 3:1-18
staying faithful in the face of false
teachers: (1) Keep your faith
stirred up with what God has already said in His Word. (2) Realize that people scoff the truth
because they want to live in their own lusts.
They are willfully ignorant, and their problem is not an intellectual
one, but a moral one. (3) The real
reason that God has held off in judging the world, is to give everyone time and
opportunity to repent and return to God. His promise can be counted on - He is coming back.
(4) Temporal, man-made things are not worth living for; eternal ones
are. Thus, we want to be found "blameless" by living to please God, not trying
to please ourselves. (5) "Grow in grace" - get an
ever-expanding understanding of what Christ has already done. Keep your eye on the prize - knowing Jesus. "new heavens and new earth": The word "new" here is Gr: "kainos" which means "RE-newed" - "new in nature", like in 2 Co 5:17, where our nature is new, but our bodies stay the same (rats!). Just as there was still an earth after Noah's flood, there will still be an earth after the fiery trial. "The meek (Noah) inherit the earth." The fire, like the water, is for cleansing. A farmer burns over his fields every three years to cleanse them, not to destroy them.
RESPONSE: I used to be terribly gullible. If everyone said that grass is red, I thought that somehow there was something wrong with me that grass appeared to be green! I was easily led because I was so insecure. I didn't really know anything for sure! Unfortunately I attended lots of "Christian conferences" back in my immaturity and followed a lot of "rabbit trails". So, I went after wealth, position, etc. NOW I HAVE FOUND THAT the God-Centered life is the ONLY WAY TO LIVE and to STAY AT REST (in faith). Remind me, dear Lord, to think about Your goodness and greatness every hour, at least once!
PSALM 119:129-152
PROVERBS 28:21-22
People who take bribes for favors, will eventually do it for
pennies. People who pursue money, never
have enuf. They hate people who have
more than they do, and feel entitled to more.
Not only that, but, as my mother always said, "easy come, easy go."
No comments:
Post a Comment