Tues.’s Devo - Walking in the Light

Read: Daniel 7:1-28; 1 John 1:1-10; Psalm 119:153-176; Proverbs 28:23-24 Daniel takes us back to the first year of King Belshazzar’s reign in Babylon. Daniel had a dream of four beasts that came out of the stormy sea. The first beast was like a lion with wings. Its wings were pulled off so it was left standing on the ground. It was given a human mind. The second beast looks like a bear which reared up on one side. It had three ribs in its teeth. It was told to get up and devour the flesh of many people. The third beast looked like a leopard with four wings on its back and four heads. Great authority was given this beast. The fourth beast was terrifying and very strong. If devoured it victims with it iron teeth and trampled their remains under its feet. It had ten horns. Then the thrones in heaven were set up and the Ancient of days sat to judge. Court was in session and the books of evidence were opened. The fourth beast was killed and destroyed by fire and the other three beasts had their authority taken from them though they were allowed to live a while longer. Then the son of man came in the clouds and approached the Ancient of days and he was given authority, honor, and sovereignty over all the nations of the world so that every one on earth would obey him. His rule would never end or be destroyed. Daniel’s dream was explained to him. The four beasts that he saw were four kings that would reign. In the end the saints of God would take the kingdom and possess it forever and ever. The last beast had ten horns which stood for leaders. A little horn also came up and brought down three of the ten horns. This horn spoke evil and came against the saints and prevailed against them, trying to change the timeline and the laws. He will succeed until God judges and it will be time to give the kingdom to the saints. In Daniel, the Ancient of days was God. In John, the Word of life is Jesus. Our fellowship is with both our Father and the Son. God is in light so there is no darkness in him. If we accept the Son, then we too live in light. In that light, we fellowship with each other and the blood of Jesus cleanses us from all sin. We all need to be cleansed from our sin because we all have been born into sin and darkness. Jesus came to bring us into the light where our sins are exposed and forgiven. Lord, thank you for your perfect plan for sinful man. Thank you that you want us to walk with you in the light and you made a way through Jesus that we can do that. We choose to walk in your light.

Mon.’s Devo - Daniel and the Lion’s Den

Read: Daniel 6:1-28; 2 Peter 3:1-18; Psalm 119:129-152; Proverbs 28:21-22 Darius divided his huge kingdom into 120 provinces and appointed a ruler over each. Daniel and two others were chosen to protect the king’s interests. Daniel proved himself more capable than all the other administrators so the king began making plans to place him over the entire empire. The other officers met together to scheme against Daniel and keep him from being promoted. They couldn’t find anything to criticize or condemn him with so they had to find something against his faith. Daniel prayed three times a day to God, so they decided to trick the king into making a law stating for the next thirty days, everyone in the kingdom had to only worship him. Anyone who was found worshiping another god would be thrown into the lion’s den. They appealed to the king’s arrogance and it worked. Daniel had to know this was happening and instead of appealing to the king for his rights, he appealed to God. That is where they found him, on his knees, praying about the whole situation. The king was notified and trapped in a corner by his own law. He finally had to stand by the law and have Daniel arrested to be thrown into the lion’s den. He told Daniel, “Your God whom you serve continually, he will deliver you.” The king was so distressed over what he had to do to Daniel that he couldn’t sleep or eat that night. Early the next morning, he ran to the den and yelled asking Daniel if his God was able to deliver him. Daniel told him that angels had shut the mouths of the lions because he was innocent. The king was overjoyed and had Daniel lifted from the den. Then the king gave orders to arrest the men who had accused Daniel and had them thrown into the lion’s den along with their wives and children. The angels released the mouths of the lions and they leaped on them and tore them apart before they even hit the floor of the den. Darius sent out a proclamation of praise to the Lord of Lords and told of how God rescued Daniel. Daniel prospered all during Darius’s reign and Cyrus’s, his predecessor. Peter warns us of the people who would mock God in the last days, saying that He was never coming back. These people choose to forget that God created the world with his Word. With his Word he destroyed the earth once with water and has promised to destroy it again with fire. To the Lord, a day is like a thousand years and a thousand years are like a day. God isn’t slow about what he has promised, he just doesn’t count time like we do. God is patient and wants everyone to have the opportunity to repent if they will. The “day of the Lord” is the day that Jesus will return. We will be with him as his warriors. When that happens it will be quick and the world will be surprised. He will come like a thief. The heavens will pass away with a great noise and the elements will melt with the heat. The earth will be burned up. Since all the things we see are going to be dissolved one day, how should we live? We should live holy lives and be found living in peace with God and our fellow man. We have been told all these things in advance that we might grow in grace and in the knowledge of Jesus Christ our Lord. To you be all the glory both now in our lives and forever. May we be faithful like Daniel and allow you to fight our battles and defend our innocence.

Sun.’s Devo - The Writing on the Wall

Read: Daniel 5:1-31; 2 Peter 2:1-22; Psalm 119:113-128; Proverbs 28:19-20 This chapter happened 25 years after the last one. Belshazzar has succeeded Nebuchanezzar and he apparently didn’t learn anything from Nebuchadnezzar’s humbling experience of being mad for seven years. Belshazzar was having a party and had his servants bring in the gold and silver cups that Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the Temple of God in Jerusalem. He wanted his guests and all his wives and concubines to drink from them and praise their false gods. While they were drinking God wrote a message on the wall and all they saw was the hand that was writing it and what it wrote. Belshazzar was trembling in his knees as he watched this. He called for all his sorcerers and wise men to interpret the words. None of them could make sense of it. The queen mother came in and immediately knew who to call because she was probably a young girl when Daniel had interpreted the dream of Nebuchadnezzar. She told them about Daniel and they called for him. He was promised a purple robe, a gold chain for his neck and to be promoted to the third highest ruler in the kingdom. Daniel told them they could keep their gifts because they didn’t mean anything to him but he would tell him the meaning of the words. The words were in Aramaic. Mene was written twice meaning that his days had been numbered and finished. Tekel meant that Belshazzar had been weighed in the balances and had not measured up. Peres meant that his kingdom had been divided and given to the Medes and Persians. Belshazzar gave Daniel all the gifts he had promised him and that night the king of the Chaldeans killed him and Darius the Mede took the kingdom. Peter warned the believers of false teachers. They cleverly taught destructive heresies and even denied the Master who bought them (Jesus). They would self-destruct. They taught immorality and slandered the truth. They made up schemes to trick the scam the people of their money. God condemned them long ago and they would soon be destroyed. God didn’t spare the angels who in Genesis 6 came down from heaven and had sex with the women of the earth. They have been thrown into hell in pits of darkness where they will be help until the judgment. God didn’t spare the pool oof the ancient world of Noah. He only spared Noah and seven others. God condemned Sodom and Gomorrah and turned them into heaps of asked. He made them an example of that will happen to ungodly people at the end of their lives if they don’t repent. He rescued Lot because of his righteousness. Wicked people are proud and arrogant and scoff at the supernatural beings that even the angels are afraid to speak against. These false teachers would be caught and their reward will be their destruction. They delight in deception and their desire for sin is not satisfied. They love to earn money for doing wrong like Balaam who was hired to curse Israel. God had to speak through his donkey. They are doomed to blackest darkness and are drawn to twisted sexual desires. They are slaves of sin and corruption. Peter gives a dire warning to those who know the Lord and Jesus and choose to go back into darkness. Their end will be worse that it would have been if the had never know Jesus. They prove the proverb, “A dog returns to its vomit” and “a washed pig returns to the mud.” That doesn’t mean that a dog or a pig can’t be totally redeemed and changed into a new man by renewing his mind in the Word but they have to be willing to do the work to change their patterns. God’s grace is sufficient to do just that. Lord, may we have eyes to see, ears to hear and a heart to understand the things of You.

Sat..’s Devo - Nebuchadnezzar’s Second Dream

Read: Daniel 4:1-37; 2 Peter 1:1-21; Psalm 119:97-112; Proverbs 28:17-18 Nebuchadnezzar proclaimed this great message to the people of all the things the Most High God had done for him and all the signs and wonders he had been blessed to see. He said this with arrogance exalting himself as the recipient of God’s signs because of his greatness. He was about to be humbled. While Nebuchadnezzar was enjoying the comfort of his palace and all his wealth, he had a most disturbing dream. He called in all his magicians, enchanters, astrologers and fortune-tellers…except Daniel. Had he forgotten about Daniel? No, God wanted to show Nebuchadnezzar that his best was far inferior to God’s best. Finally, he did send for Daniel, when he didn’t approve of the interpretations of his wise men. Nebuchadnezzar admitted that he knew that Daniel got his wisdom from another source than his magicians. Daniel had the spirit of the holy gods in him. This time Nebuchadnezzar told Daniel what the dream was. He dreamed of a large tree in the middle of the earth. It grew very tall and strong and had fresh green leaves and was loaded with fruit. Wild animals lived in its shade and birds nested in its branches. All the world was fed from this tree. Then a messenger from heaven came down and said to cut down the tree, lop off the branches, shake off the leaves and scatter the fruit; chase the wild animals from its shade and the birds from the branches, but leave the stump and the roots and bind them with a band of iron and bronze and surround them with tender grass. He was to live with the wild animals for seven years and have the mind of a wild animal. Then everyone would know that the Most High rules over the kingdoms of the world and he gives them to who He chooses. Daniel was wroth when he heard the dream because he knew exactly what it meant. In Daniel 2:37 God had said that He had made Nebuchadnezzar the ruler over all the inhabited world. He was the great tree. In that same verse it said that God had put even the wild animals and birds under Nebuchadnezzar’s control, and now they would be scattered. The leaves and the fruit stood for the prosperity and wealth of his kingdom. God had given him all of that glory. But now he would be cut down and live among the wild animals for seven years. The stump was a sign that his kingdom would be restored to him. A year went by and as Nebuchadnezzar was walking on the roof of his palace surveying his city that HE had made to display HIS majestic splendor, a voice came down from heaven. It said that he was no longer the ruler of this kingdom he thought was his. The dream was about to manifest and when the time set was over he would know that the Most High rules over the kingdoms of the world and gives them to anyone he chooses. When the seven years were over, and he returned to himself and praised and glorified and honored the King of heaven. He said, “All his acts are just and true and he is able to humble the proud.” What a picture of how God moves in the lives of those who refuse to listen to him. God is so loving that he would go to such extreme measures to get Nebuchadnezzar’s attention. His desire is that none of us perish but all come to the saving knowledge of who he is. Peter reminds us that God has given us everything we need to live a godly life. We received this power when we became Christians. Peter gives us a progression of this transformation. We start with faith. With our faith we are given a generous provision of moral excellence. As we begin to walk in that, we gain knowledge which will lead to self-control. This self-control will lead to patient endurance which will grow into godliness. Then we will have God’s heart and be able to love everyone. The more we allow the Holy Spirit to do that in our lives, the more affective we will be in our witness to the world. Lord, that is our goal, to grow into brotherly love and let you perfect us through our tests and trials. We love you and honor you with our lives.

Fri.’s Devo - Our Rock

Read: Daniel 2:24-3:30; 1 Peter 4:7-5:14; Psalm 119:81-96; Proverbs 28:15-16 Arioch was appointed by King Nebuchadnezzar to kill the wise man. When Daniel came to him with the dream and its interpretation, Arioch sent him straight to the king. He must have not wanted to be the executioner of sorcerers. He introduced Daniel as “one of the captives from Judah.” When the king asked Daniel if it was true, Daniel immediately gave the credit to God who had revealed the secret to him. He told him the dream and said that it had to do with future events that God wanted the king to know. He told him that he had seen a huge statue of a man. Its head was fine gold, its chest and arms were made of silver and its belly and thighs were of bronze. Its legs were iron and its feet were a combination of iron and baked clay. In his dream he saw a rock cut from a mountain but not by human hands. The rock struck the feet of the state smashing them to bits and then the whole statue was crushed into small pieces of iron, clay, bronze, silver and gold. The wind blew them away without a trace. The rock then became a great mountain that covered the whole earth. That was the dream and this was the interpretation. The head of gold was Nebuchadnezzar and his kingdom. After him would come another kingdom inferior to his, like silver is inferior to gold. It would fall too, and the next kingdom would be bronze. After that, a fourth kingdom would arise and be as strong as iron. That kingdom would smash the previous empires. The feet and toes which were iron and clay indicated that that kingdom would be divided. Some of it would be strong like iron and other parts would be weak as clay. They would try to strengthen themselves by allying together through intermarriage but they will not be able to hold. During the reigns of those kings, God will set up his kingdom that will never be destroyed or conquered. It will crush all the kingdoms into nothingness and will stand forever. That kingdom of God will be the rock. When King Nebuchadnezzar heard what Daniel said, he bowed down and worshipped him and commanded his people to offer sacrifices and burnt incense before him. He praised God as the greatest of gods. and the revealer of mysteries. Daniel was appointed to a high portion and given gifts. He was made ruler over the whole province of Babylon and his three friends Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were put in charge of all the affairs of the province. The king had a huge 90x9 foot gold statue made of himself and commanded everyone to bow and worship it when they hear the sound of the instruments. News got back to the king that Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego refused to bow. They were brought in and questioned about it. They were given the chance to bow and save their lives. Instead, they told Nebuchadnezzar that if they were thrown into the furnace that the God whom they served was able to save them and rescue them from his power. But, even if he didn’t, they wanted him to know that they would never serve his gods or worship the gold statue he had set up. Nebuchadnezzar was so furious he commanded that the furnace be turned up 7 times hotter. When they were thrown in the fire, it was so hot it killed the ones who threw them in. But the three men walked with Jesus in the fire. Nebuchadnezzar saw this and called them out. They walked out with not a trace of fire or smell of smoke. Once again, Nebuchadnezzar ended up praising God who was greater than him. The three were promoted to even higher positions than they were before. What a message of God’s redeeming power. If we honor and stand with God, he will honor and stand with us. Peter talked about the end of the world. As we get closer and closer to that end we are to show love for each other and let that love cover one another’s sins. All of the gifts God gives us are given for us to share with others. They are not for us to keep but to give away. He encourages us once again about suffering for Christ’s sake. We will reap a reward and identify with Christ in our suffering. Peter gave a word to the elders to care for the flock and lead them by example. We are to humble ourselves before God who is able to lift us up and honor us. The devil is looking for someone to devour, so we must stand firm against him and be strong in our faith. We are all going through trials so we must stand together. Suffering only lasts for a little while and then God restores, supports and strengthens us and places us on a firm foundation. Lord help us to stand together against the devil. May we stand with and strengthen one another. Our lives are for your glory.

Thurs.’s Devo - God is Our Judge

Read: Daniel 1:1-2:23; 1 Peter 3:8-4:6; Psalm 119:65-80; Proverbs 28:14 The book of Daniel begins at the time when Nebuchadnezzar besieged Jerusalem the first time. Daniel is writing this and he understands that only God could give Nebuchadnezzar the victory. He could have never defeated God’s people except God let him. Nebuchadnezzar took the sacred objects from the Temple which I would guess were the Ark of the Covenant and all the gold furniture. He placed them in his treasure-house of his god. He also commanded his officer, Ashpenaz to bring back young men of Judah’s royal family and from noble families as captives. He was to choose the best, smartest, best looking and gifted and teach them their language and culture. They would be fed and trained for three years to enter into royal service. Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah were chosen. They were probably around 12 years of age. They were renamed Belteshazzar, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. Daniel means “god is my judge” and his new name, Belteshazzar means “favored of Baal”. God was Daniel’s judge all through his life and defended him against all their decrees. Daniel was also favored by their god and was shown that by the favor his captors had for him. When he asked not to eat the unkoshier food of the Babylonians, he won their favor and their test. He was also favored by God and was given special ability to interpret the means’s of visions and dreams. Daniel and his three friends also found favor with the king who tested them and found them ten times more capable than any other the magicians and enchanters in his entire kingdom. Daniel remained in the royal service until the first year of the reign of King Cyrus. He and Ezra would have been in the kingdom together. Daniel would have known of his return to Jerusalem to rebuilt the Temple. During the second year of Nebuchadnezzar’s reign he had such a disturbing dream that he called all his magicians and enchanters, sorcerers and astrologers together. (Daniel would have still in his apprenticeship so he would not have been called.) Nebuchadnezzar demanded that they tell him his dream and its meaning or he would have them torn limb from limb and their houses turned into heaps of rubble. This was an impossible order and the psychics tried to reason with the king but he would not have it. He decreed them all executed. Men were sent to find Daniel and his friends to kill them. When they found them, Daniel asked why they were being killed and when he found out he went at once to see the king and to request some time. Daniel told his three friends to pray that God would show one of them what the dream and its interpretation was. That night God gave the dream and interpretation to Daniel. Daniel praised the Lord for revealing to him what was hidden in darkness. First Peter tells us how to love. We love each other as brothers and sisters with a tender heart and a humble attitude. We don’t repay evil for evil or insult for insult. to do this we have to keep our mouth from speaking what we feel in our raw emotions. God will turn his face toward those who do right and hear their prayers but he will turn his face against those who do evil. Peter tells us over and over not to worry if we suffer for doing right because that is what Christ did. We only have to worry if we are suffering for doing wrong. Christ suffered for us and died a physical death but was raised in the spirit to life. He went and preached salvation to the spirits of those who had died during the days of Noah. They were waiting in Sheol. To the eight people who were saved in the flood, the flood was their baptism cleansing their world from sin. Now Christ is in heaven seated at the right hand of God and all the angels and authorities and powers accept his authority. The good news of the kingdom continues to be preached through our changed life. We are Jesus’ ambassadors on the earth. May our lives point others to You and your salvation power. You are the resurrection and the life.

Wed.’s Devo - The Lay of the Land

Read: Ezekiel 47:1-48:35; 1 Peter 2:11-3:7; Psalm 119:49-64; Proverbs 28:12-13 Ezekiel’s tour guide from God showed him a new aspect of the New Temple area. He brought Ezekiel from the altar out through the north gate around to the entrance of the eastern gate. There was a stream of water that he took Ezekiel through. For the first cubit (1,750 feet) the water was ankle deep. The next cubit was knee deep, the next was up to his waist and the last was too deep to walk in so he had to swim. He asked Ezekiel if he had been observing. He led him back the way they had come and Ezekiel was surprised to see the trees growing on both sides of the river. The man told him that this river ran all the way to the Dead Sea and would make its salty waters fresh and pure. It would abound in fish. The marshes and swamps would not be purified. Fruit trees grew on both sides of the river and they would bear a new fruit every month. The fruit would be for food and the leaves for healing. The northern border was a city north of Canaan. The eastern border was Syria and the southern border was the last town in Judah by the Dead Sea. On the west was the Mediterranean Sea. It is opposite of Lebo-hamath which means the “enclosure of wrath”. Specific instructions are given for the Gentiles who have joined their hearts with God’s people. They were to be treated like the native-born Israelites and will receive an allotment among the tribes that they identify and live with. The tribes were to have their territory in this order, from north to south: Dan, Asher, Naphtali, Manasseh, Ephraim, Reuben, Judah. Next was the land of the Zadok priests who were faithful to the Lord. The Temple would rest in the middle of their land. Below them would be the Levites and the city would be in the midst of their land. Pastureland would be on both sides for the Levites and the people who worked in the city. Below them would be the rest of the tribes: Benjamin, Simeon, Issachar, Zebulon and Gad. The prince would have land to the east and west of the Temple. If you draw this out it makes the sign of the cross. The prince’s land is the cross bar. There were three gates on each side of the entrance into the city. Each gate was named a different tribe. On the north was Reuben, Judah and Levi. On the East was Joseph, Benjamin, and Dan. South was Zebulun, Issachar and Simeon and on the west was Naphtali, Asher and Gad. The distance around the whole city was 6 miles and the city would be called “The Lord is There.” In First Peter the main theme is our response and behavior whether it is with an unbelieving and harsh boss or spouse. The instruction is the same. We should live honorably and respectfully. We obey authority and follow God’s order of authority. We endure persecution and wrong accusations and prove our innocence by our lifestyles. Lord, help us to honor You with our lives and let our actions bring you glory. Thank you for the picture of Your new kingdom which is fair and good. We look forward for the things you are preparing for us.