Daniel 2:46-49 Video Devotional

Posted on Nov 5, 2020 by admin in Video Devotional | Tags: , , , , , ,

Then King Nebuchadnezzar fell upon his face and paid homage to Daniel, and commanded that an offering and incense be offered up to him. The king answered and said to Daniel, “Truly, your God is God of gods and Lord of kings, and a revealer of mysteries, for you have been able to reveal this mystery.” Then the king gave Daniel high honors and many great gifts and made him ruler over the whole province of Babylon and chief prefect over all the wise men of Babylon. Daniel made a request of the king, and he appointed Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego over the affairs of the province of Babylon. But Daniel remained at the king’s court. – Daniel 2:46-49

Here we have the payoff to Daniel’s suffering over the dream and its interpretation. Daniel’s direct and respectful response to Arioch, prayer and trust in God, and boldness in front of Nebuchadnezzar was met with nothing else than spiritual fruit!

I am sure Daniel was much happier about it than Jonah, but just as surprised. Nebuchadnezzar repented! Though it initially seems like the king was giving glory to Daniel, he recognized Daniel’s God as the One with the power and Daniel as the recipient. This led to Daniel being given real influence and leadership over the kingdom, which would be huge, but lead to more opportunities to suffer. Daniel’s trust in God and obedience saved the day and put a target on his back.

This ending to the story tells us a few things: 1) Daniel’s way of interacting with non-believers is correct, and 2) influence leads to opportunity and suffering. We can learn today from how Daniel treated those who could be considered enemies. This matches with 1 Corinthians 13 – without love, our truth is useless. We have got to put that back at the forefront of our actions; everything we do must be filtered through loving actions and a respectful attitude! If we do that, our opportunities will only increase.

What Daniel did accomplished a lot for the kingdom of God. People were saved and influence was gained. But we need to be prepared as we work (or rush) for our chances to gain that kind of leadership; it will lead to suffering. I have had a few experiences lately of opportunities to have influence and lead, but they both quickly lead to me suffering emotional pain over the outcome of those circumstances. It was great to experience God using me, but in the end it hurt. That’s ok – even good, but we need to be ready for it. Again, obey God and trust Him to take care of the consequences – that’s our only chance for real success.


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.


Daniel 1:8-16 Video Devotional

Posted on Oct 20, 2020 by admin in Video Devotional | Tags: , , , , , ,

But Daniel resolved that he would not defile himself with the king’s food, or with the wine that he drank. Therefore he asked the chief of the eunuchs to allow him not to defile himself. And God gave Daniel favor and compassion in the sight of the chief of the eunuchs, and the chief of the eunuchs said to Daniel, “I fear my lord the king, who assigned your food and your drink; for why should he see that you were in worse condition than the youths who are of your own age? So you would endanger my head with the king.” Then Daniel said to the steward whom the chief of the eunuchs had assigned over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, “Test your servants for ten days; let us be given vegetables to eat and water to drink. Then let our appearance and the appearance of the youths who eat the king’s food be observed by you, and deal with your servants according to what you see.” So he listened to them in this matter, and tested them for ten days. At the end of ten days it was seen that they were better in appearance and fatter in flesh than all the youths who ate the king’s food. So the steward took away their food and the wine they were to drink, and gave them vegetables. – Daniel 1:8-16

Right away we jump into the first of the numerous conflicts between the Jewish examples (Daniel and his friends) and the Babylon assimilators. They are invited to eat food off the king’s table as an enticement to like Babylon culture and appreciate the generosity of the leaders so as to begin to like them. If the Jewish examples like the Babylonians, then the rest of the exiles will begin to trend that way as well. At least that’s the plan.

The conflict begins because the food form the king’s table does not match the Jewish kosher laws; it is riddled with food they can’t eat without breaking their vows to God – something Daniel and his friends have no intention of doing. It is clear that God comes first in their hearts. On top of that, they are confident that God will provide a way for them to be faithful while also providing a way through this ordeal that He allowed them to be in. Thus, they confidently suggest to the leaders that they eat only vegetables, offering a ten-day trial to prove that this will work out in favor of the Babylonian intentions.

The test works and Daniel and his friends look great on vegetables and are thus allowed to continue their faithfulness to God through food. They also begin to earn trust and influence in the Babylonian court. Off the bat, these men suggest wise ideas, make good, faithful decisions and see positive fruit.

Here’s the key – Daniel and his friends were put into a precarious position that one could have easily justified eating off the king’s table.  A lax attitude under pressure is a common struggle people face. But this passage shows that faithfulness is the key to success here. Only by being completely faithful (albeit in a gentle and respectful way), were these young men able to produce the fruit they did. They trusted God completely and stayed the course, yet chose wisdom and gentleness in their dealings. This is the formula to spiritual success in our actions. Stay unwaveringly faithful to God no matter what and treat those you are dealing with respectfully and with love.

God will bless your work in that – guaranteed. That won’t always mean it will be pain-free (Daniel is about to spend the night with hungry lions), but it will lead to His glory. Never compromise and never act with anger towards another.


2 Timothy 1:8-12 Video Devotional

Posted on Apr 23, 2020 by admin in Video Devotional | Tags: , , , , ,

“Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God, who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began, and which now has been manifested through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel, for which I was appointed a preacher and apostle and teacher, which is why I suffer as I do.” (2 Timothy 1:8-12)

Creation, fall, redemption. That’s how most people look at the story of the Bible. And, it is true – if you start reading in Genesis 1 and go straight through, that is the liner view we get. However, that is not the actual order of how it happened. As we can see in verse 9 (above), God gave us grace and purpose before the ages began. Let’s unpack that.

Imagine being able to go back before the world was created. God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit were all sitting around and talking about what they want to do. Brainstorming this act of creation. At that point, while the world was still formless and void, you were on the mind of God. They gave you purpose and grace before creation happened. In order to do that, it also means that redemption was planned before the world was created. I imagine it like this (this is a scenario I imagine – not scripture).

“We should create a race of beings that we can love and bless. We could show them the purest form of love and pour that love out on them in droves. Let’s give them real, sacrificial love. We should give our life for theirs! Sacrificing for our creation would show them the best love. Jesus will go to earth, sacrifice Himself to free people from their sin and give them eternity and purpose. Cool – let there be light!”

Redemption, creation, fall. That is the actual order of how the world came to be. Before the ages began, friend, you were on God’s mind. He has had a purpose and plan for you, along with loads of grace, waiting for your time on the earth. You were intentional, planned and are fully loved – from before the ages began!

That’s the God we serve, follow, trust and love. Enjoy Him today!


Ephesians 2:11-16 Video Devotional

Posted on Apr 16, 2020 by admin in Video Devotional | Tags: , , , , ,

“Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called “the uncircumcision” by what is called the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands— remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility.” (Ephesians 2:11-16)

Friends, as funny as some social media memes can be, plenty of others are made out of frustration and even anger. I have seen numerous posts and memes calling for the virus to be named after the Chinese or the Wuhan province; violence against Asians (New Yorker); and people blaming the Chinese for the virus. This is sad.

Whether or not any of it is correct is irrelevant. The problem is that the saving power of Christ brings people together under unity. With that as our banner, why on earth would we want to build up a dividing wall against other cultures or ethnicities? Jesus broke that down!

The point of what I am saying is this: because of who we are as the church and our calling to spread the gospel of PEACE, maybe we should live it out in our actions and not propagate, share or encourage behavior that puts a target on anyone’s back (literally or physically). They will know we are Christians by our love, dear friends.


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