Daniel 2:36-45 Video Devotional

Posted on Nov 3, 2020 by admin in Video Devotional | Tags: , , , ,

“This was the dream. Now we will tell the king its interpretation. You, O king, the king of kings, to whom the God of heaven has given the kingdom, the power, and the might, and the glory, and into whose hand he has given, wherever they dwell, the children of man, the beasts of the field, and the birds of the heavens, making you rule over them all—you are the head of gold. Another kingdom inferior to you shall arise after you, and yet a third kingdom of bronze, which shall rule over all the earth. And there shall be a fourth kingdom, strong as iron, because iron breaks to pieces and shatters all things. And like iron that crushes, it shall break and crush all these. And as you saw the feet and toes, partly of potter’s clay and partly of iron, it shall be a divided kingdom, but some of the firmness of iron shall be in it, just as you saw iron mixed with the soft clay. And as the toes of the feet were partly iron and partly clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong and partly brittle. As you saw the iron mixed with soft clay, so they will mix with one another in marriage, but they will not hold together, just as iron does not mix with clay. And in the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that shall never be destroyed, nor shall the kingdom be left to another people. It shall break in pieces all these kingdoms and bring them to an end, and it shall stand forever, just as you saw that a stone was cut from a mountain by no human hand, and that it broke in pieces the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver, and the gold. A great God has made known to the king what shall be after this. The dream is certain, and its interpretation sure.” – Daniel 2:36-45

Nebuchadnezzar’s dream of the kingdoms enters us into the beginning of the prophetic illustrations of the book. In it, we see a frightening statue with a head of gold, chest and arms of silver, middle and thighs of bronze and legs of iron and feet of partly iron and partly clay. Then the statue was struck by a giant boulder and crushed it all to where the wind then blew the dust into the air.

These kingdoms that represented the statue were worldly kingdoms (Babylon was the head of gold), which would follow one after another, whose focus was self and sin. They will fill God’s world with violence. These kingdoms were then destroyed by the final kingdom, God’s permanent kingdom, confronting the evil of the worldly kingdoms, bringing righteousness and justice that the previous kingdoms ignored.

Simply put, it was a warning to Nebuchadnezzar that his kingdom would receive its retribution and be destroyed. Those who rely on the kingdoms of the world should take this to heart and be afraid. Worldly kingdoms will end. God’s kingdom will rule forever (this is a spiritual kingdom – please do not in any way think I am referring to the U.S. as God’s kingdom). Us Christians, who have chosen to live in the Kingdom of God on earth will reap the benefits of God’s restoration, but the entrance fee must be required: salvation through Jesus that leads to repentance and obedience. We should be comforted by this passage with the knowledge that God will restore everything to the way it was meant to be. Justice will be served!


Daniel 2:12-16 Video Devotional

Posted on Oct 27, 2020 by admin in Video Devotional | Tags: , , , , , , ,

Because of this the king was angry and very furious, and commanded that all the wise men of Babylon be destroyed. So the decree went out, and the wise men were about to be killed; and they sought Daniel and his companions, to kill them. Then Daniel replied with prudence and discretion to Arioch, the captain of the king’s guard, who had gone out to kill the wise men of Babylon. He declared to Arioch, the king’s captain, “Why is the decree of the king so urgent?” Then Arioch made the matter known to Daniel. And Daniel went in and requested the king to appoint him a time, that he might show the interpretation to the king. – Daniel 2:12-16

Right at the start of this story, we see Daniel thrown again into the fire, this time simply because he was part of a certain group of advisors! He had nothing to do with the situation, but was looped in and, as verse 13 states, was hunted for death. It is really just predicament after predicament.

Note here that again, this had absolutely nothing to do with Daniel or his actions (even positive action). He is merely an innocent person thrown into a life and death situation. None of this was or even could have been his fault. I can imagine anyone in these situations becoming increasingly frustrated or even angry over constantly being looped into things that he had nothing to do with; yet, Daniel chose to respond with prudence.

Again, respect and love were how Daniel chose to treat the man who was literally hunting him for death. He reached out to Arioch directly and asked for clarification and immediately offered to give the king what he is seeking – an interpretation to his dream. There is no hesitation, annoyance, or desire to seek revenge on the man sent to kill him. Simply business – Daniel learns of the problem and calmly offers to fix it.

This can be a challenge for me; not responding to actual threats to my safety but responding to one of my children when they constantly interrupt me with questions during a movie. It doesn’t have to be a life-threatening situation; only an opportunity disguised as an irritation. This is a very real-life problem.

How often do we respond to people that are a thorn in our flesh (for whatever reason) when they come around the corner? Are you mean to them? Do you ignore them? Do you simply just wish in your heart they weren’t there? Or, like Daniel, do you choose to show nothing but love and respect and seek to serve their needs. That’s Daniel’s example. That’s our challenge.


Acts 17:10-15 Video Devotional

Posted on Jul 30, 2020 by admin in Video Devotional | Tags: , , , ,

“The brothers immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea, and when they arrived they went into the Jewish synagogue. Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so. Many of them therefore believed, with not a few Greek women of high standing as well as men. But when the Jews from Thessalonica learned that the word of God was proclaimed by Paul at Berea also, they came there too, agitating and stirring up the crowds. Then the brothers immediately sent Paul off on his way to the sea, but Silas and Timothy remained there. Those who conducted Paul brought him as far as Athens, and after receiving a command for Silas and Timothy to come to him as soon as possible, they departed.” (Acts 17:10-15)

The church in Berea does not get much “screen time” in the Bible, yet their value to all churches and individual Christians should be crystal clear. As much confidence as we have in our training and experience, no pastor has ALL the right answers. In fact, we should be acknowledging with humility every day that we may not be right in our exposition. That’s a much better position to put oneself in when trying to exposit and teach a Biblical interpretation – remember, the only one with the completely correct interpretation is the One.

That said, good pastors work through the scriptures daily, seeking to go deep and discover God’s truth for themselves as part of their own journey, and many of us come up with solid, faithful teaching as a result. Yet, that is not enough for any particular church or individual believer. Each and every one of us believers need to be searching the scriptures on our own and praying for understanding through the Spirit and learning as much as we can. Do not just be a listener or spectator, jump into the game and learn on your own. Grow discernment and desire knowledge that leads to wisdom.

Just like the Jews that came to Berea to try and mess everyone up, that strategy is employed by the enemy today (think health and wealth gospel) over and over again. The ones who stay true and learn for themselves are the churches/individuals who will be best equipped to endure to the end and combat against the lies. So, in short, pick up your Bible and study! Have a great afternoon 🙂


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