Wed.’s Devo - The Fiery Furnace

Read: Daniel 2:24-3:30; 1 Peter 4:7-5:14; Psalm 119:81-96; Proverbs 28:15-16 Daniel went to Arioch who was the man in charge of killing all the wise men and told him not to kill them because he could tell the king his dream and its meaning. Arioch was so relieved and took Daniel straight to the king. *** Daniel made sure that the king knew it was nothing special about him, because no man could do what the king had asked. But, there was a God in heaven who revealed his secret to Daniel because He wanted the king to know what was going to happen in the future. *** Then, Daniel told him his dream. He had seen the statue of a man whose head was gold, its chest and arms were silver, its belly and thighs were bronze and its legs were iron. The feet were a combination of iron and backed clay. Then a rock, cut from a mountain struck it at its feet and the whole thing shattered into small pieces and was blown away by the wind till there was no trace of it. The rock became a great mountain that covered the whole earth. *** Then, Daniel told him what God had revealed as the interpretation. He and his kingdom was the head of gold. After him would rise another kingdom inferior to his (silver) , then another (bronze). The fourth would be strong like iron that would smash the other kingdoms. The feet and toes represented that iron kingdom and another very weak one (clay). They would try to align through marriages but it would’t hold together. *** During the reigns of those kingdoms, God would set up a kingdom that would never be destroyed or conquered. It would stand forever. It would bring down all the other kingdoms in the earth. This kingdom is the Kingdom of God and we are watching that happen in our day. He is destroying all the kingdoms of darkness, exposing their evil and wiping them out. The day is coming when there won’t be a trace of their evil left on the earth. Hallelujah! *** King Nebuchadnezzar fell on his face before Daniel and worshipped him. He ordered his people to offer sacrifices and burn incense for Daniel. He praised Daniel’s God and exalted Daniel to ruler over the whole province of Babylon. Daniel asked him to appoint Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego to be in charge of the affairs of Babylon. Daniel served in the king’s court. *** King Nebuchadnezzar made a golden statue of himself and at the dedication ordered everyone to bow when they heard the music. He threatened if anyone who refused to bow, they would be thrown into the fiery furnace. It was reported to the king that Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego refused to bow. They were brought before the king and asked about it. They said that they would never bow before the statue. They only bowed to their God. They also said that their God was able to save them from the furnace but even if he didn’t, they would never bow to the king’s statue. *** They were ordered to be thrown into the furnace which was heated up seven times hotter than normal. The men who threw them in were burned to death, but Shadrach, Meshack and Abednego walked with Jesus totally unharmed in the fire. *** The king saw them and called them out of the fire. They walked out not even smelling like fire. The king was so in awe and proclaimed that “there is no other god who can rescue like this!” He promoted them to an even higher position than before. *** When God is ready to do something in the earth, there is no one who can stop what he is doing. We are in a time like that. No news media lie, or threat, or false flag can stop the bringing down of the kingdom of darkness. It is coming down. *** Peter proclaimed in his day that the world was soon coming to an end. He emphasized our prayer life and our love for one another. He encouraged us to use our spiritual gifts to help one another. We will face fiery trials like Shadrach, Meshack and Abednego, but Jesus is in the fire with us and will bring us out unharmed. We want to be sure the suffering we go through is because of our stand for Jesus and not because we have done something to deserve suffering. It is a privilege to share in the sufferings of Christ. *** Leaders are told to lead with example and they will be rewarded in the end. It is God who exalts us and promotes us. *** Our enemy is the devil. He is looking for someone to totally devour. We stand in faith against him and he can not hurt us. *** When our suffering is over, God will restore, support and strengthen us and put us on a firm foundation. *** Lord, thank you for the ones who have gone before us and modeled faith. Thank you that we have no need to fear what the enemy has in store for us because you are so much more powerful and it is your good plans that will stand. We put our trust in you.