may 3 : Daniel 9

"Now, our God, hear the prayers and petitions of your servant. For your sake, O Lord, look with favor on your desolate sanctuary. Give ear, O God, and hear; open your eyes and see the desolation of the city that bears your Name. We do not make requests of you because we are righteous, but because of your great mercy. O Lord, listen! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, hear and act! For your sake, O my God, do not delay, because your city and your people bear your Name."
Daniel is a man known for his wisdom, obedience, and prayer. Its so amazing to see a man this righteous and holy. He was an ordinary man with unordinary faith. In this passage we see that Daniel basically saw God's wrath on Judah and Israel. He saw that God would wipe out much of it to cleanse the land of filth and sin. Daniel knew this, so he prayed. He fasted, dressed in sackcloth, and prayed for God's wrath to be small. He prayed for his entire country. To my amazement and probably to Daniel's also, God listened. He listened to a prayer that was prayed on behalf of his nation. The nation did not even support his prayer. It was a prayer from the heart of Daniel. I can't remember the last time I prayed with faith like that. I pray for the nation once in a while, but I must admit that it is hard for me to believe even as I pray it that it will be answered. It just seems like such a big obstacle. But as it says in the book of James, "pray with faith". Lets have prayers like this guys. Lets see how far we can push our faith =]

april 29 : Daniel 7

"In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence. He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all peoples, nations and men of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed."
It is always cool to see prophesies of Jesus years before Jesus came to the earth. Reading this passage God is very elusive in delivering his message. A lot of times we may misinterpret the meaning of God's messages to us. In this particular case I thought it was pretty weird how Daniel got someone in his dream to interpret his dream for him. He actually asked a usually inanimate object the meaning of his dream. There is no doubt that this son of man that comes from the clouds is Jesus Christ himself. Daniel knew of the coming way before it ever happened. Why would God show this to Daniel? I think that this was shown to Daniel mainly for us. God could have shown Daniel this dream to strengthen him, but I believe God wanted Daniel to share this with us in the future. This constitutes as evidence for Jesus being the Christ that the Jews have so longed and waited for. This is really kool =]

April 28 : Daniel 6

"Now when Daniel learned that the decree had been published, he went home to his upstairs room where the windows opened toward Jerusalem. Three times a day he got down on his knees and prayed, giving thanks to his God, just as he had done before. Then these men went as a group and found Daniel praying and asking God for help. So they went to the king and spoke to him about his royal decree: "Did you not publish a decree that during the next thirty days anyone who prays to any god or man except to you, O king, would be thrown into the lions' den?"
Man I love this story. I think its amazing that Daniel was able to stand his ground regardless of the decree set before him. In today's world in America we will not face the threat of being thrown into a lions' den. We just don't have that threat. But we face threats of many kinds on many different levels. I think the biggest threat to me is the doubt that sometimes clouds my faith. Studying in the university setting, especially in the sciences, we are told not to think in the creationists pattern of thought. We are told many different things that, usually, seem to be at odds with the Christian faith. We are left with this sense of doubt. Sometimes we are dragged down by our friends into places, where we did not necessarily want to go in the first place, but now enjoy. But we see from Daniel that he was able to overcome that - even if it meant his death. We can probably assume that Daniel had a great deal of fear during the whole process. But he still stood his ground. And in the end we see that God's name was glorified through it all. How awesome.

April 27 : Daniel 5

"This is what these words mean:
Mene: God has numbered the days of your reign and brought it to an end.

Tekel: You have been weighed on the scales and found wanting.

Peres: Your kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and Persians."

All I can say is, freaky! I thought this was such a scary chapter. The king basically got told that he was going to pay for his transgressions and die. So the story goes like this. The king took goblets from God's altar and brought it to his party. Then this king got his wives, concubines, and his friends and drank wine from them. Then they worshiped the gods of gold, silver, bronze. After that moment God sent down a big hand that wrote on the wall three words: Mene, Tekel, and Peres. Up above is the meaning of those words. The night Daniel had translated those words God took his life. What I learned from this a few things. First, there is a parallel between this story and that of Jesus'. Just as the king did not know when judgement was coming we too do not know either. I bet the king had no idea that this was going to happen like this. He was living life of sin, and it was then that God decided to take his life. Second, God watches what we do. He saw the king defile God's glory, and God was not happy. Third, we must heed the words of those who are faithful to God. Daniel basically gave a huge warning to the people of Babylon about who they should worship. This king failed to do so and he paid the price of it - even to this day. We must learn from the mistakes of those in the past. Even though they lived so long ago, we can learn a lot here.

April 25 : Daniel 4

"Immediately what had been said about Nebuchadnezzar was fulfilled. He was driven away from people and ate grass like cattle. His body was drenched with the dew of heaven until his hair grew like the feathers of an eagle and his nails like the claws of a bird."
As I was reading this chapter I began thinking of how powerful God is. God doesn't care who you are or what your status holds. People who are so powerful that no one would dare rise up against, God rises against. God is so powerful that he humbles whoever he needs to. I think a lot of people in this world are like this. I may be a little like this as well, maybe not as bad as King Nebuchadnezzar, but a little. I think we forget how we came to be who we are now. A lot of times we contribute our successes to our own power and might. Our own intellect and wisdom is what carried us this far. We know this is not true. God is the one who allows a certain thing to pass. God is also the one who gives you what you need when you really need it. It is a sin to not recognize the God who gave it all. We know this as we read this chapter. The King was getting over confident in himself. He worshiped other gods, while acknowledging the God of Daniel, yet he worshiped other Gods. It says in Scripture that God is a jealous God. We must be afraid not to anger him. With our successes let us not boast or find pride, but let us give praise to the Father who gives us opportunities and successes.

April 24 : Daniel 3

"Nebuchadnezzar said to them, "Is it true, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, that you do not serve my gods or worship the image of gold I have set up? Now when you hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipes and all kinds of music, if you are ready to fall down and worship the image I made, very good. But if you do not worship it, you will be thrown immediately into a blazing furnace. Then what god will be able to rescue you from my hand?"
I think its funny how King Nebuchadnezzar said, "what god will be able to rescue from my hand?" He thought of himself greater than any god I think. This King was known to be someone who worshiped many gods. He was a man who trusted in man gods, yet he probably had more faith in himself than any god. The big statue he made of gold that everyone needed to bow down to he probably didn't think it was a true god. He probably wanted people to worship it because he made it, indirectly worshiping him. However this is all speculation on my part. But how many people today have a mindset like this man? Most of may profess that we believe in Jesus' name for salvation. But many people have idols that they do not even know about. Some people believe entirely in themselves. Some people believe in others. Some people believe in materials they own or want to own. Have you ever questioned yourself, "do I have any idols?" Many of these idols are probably hidden behind our own intentions we may not even know. Let us look for these idols and throw them in the furnace.

April 22 : Daniel 2

He changes times and seasons;
he sets up kings and deposes them.
He gives wisdom to the wise
and knowledge to the discerning.

²² He reveals deep and hidden things;
he knows what lies in darkness,
and light dwells with him.

²³ I thank and praise you, O God of my fathers:
You have given me wisdom and power,
you have made known to me what we asked of you,
you have made known to us the dream of the king."

This story is awesome. I think its cool to see a man of God being appointed to a high governmental postion. Its not everyday you see a person placed in a high position because of his faith. In this chapter we see how Daniel gets his recognition. King Nebuchadnezzar had a dream that had to be figured out. He gathered up all the wise men, magicians, enchanters, and the alike of Babylon to interpret his dream. If they failed to interpret it they would die. The catch though to this interpretation was that the king would not tell them what the dream was. So bascially these guys were screwed. However, Daniel prayed to God that he would be given the answer. Daniel and his friends from Judah were all considered wise men, so they too would have felt the sword. Imagine how hard Daniel prayed. It says simply that Daniel "prayed", but I bet it was a really hard and fervent prayer. And of course God answers Daniel's prayer. Daniel then goes to the king to tell him his dream and the meaning behind it all. This king was not a God fearing man. He may have been a god fearing man, but not of the living God. So Daniel was bold to declare such a powerful statement up above. When is the last time you stood up for your faith like Daniel did. He was talking to the most powerful man at that time. He had all power in his hands. He did not know God - he was an idol worshiper and had many gods. But from this we can see that Daniel was an agent of change; bold and wise. Lets try to be like Daniel also!