linda bass

Daniel's demeanor as he prays is an attitude of humility and repentance. Daniel prepares by fasting as well as wearing sackcloth and ashes as a sign of mourning. This is important in this case because Daniel was preparing to stand in the gap for Israel and intercede for their return to the promised land. Ways I might prepare for intercession would be spending time in scripture, repentance of personal sins, quieting my heart, and preparing my spirit.

What encourages Daniel to seek God for the forgiveness and restoration of Israel to its homeland is, God's promise that Judah's captivity would only last 70 years. The practice on Daniel's part that leads him to pray is, reading and pondering the scriptures.

Three times the angel assured Daniel that "the saints of the Most High" will ultimately receive the kingdom and possess it forever. This truth is most precious to God's people during times of severe persecution and hardship. I expect the ultimate fulfillment of this prophecy to take place when Jesus returns to earth to destroy His enemies and set up His eternal kingdom.

The verse Daniel 7:13-14 describes "one like the son of man" as coming with the clouds of heaven. He is a divine figure because He was led into the presence of the Ancient of Days (God). The authority He received was sovereign power over all peoples (nations). The glory He received was, men of every language would worship Him. Jesus called Himself " the Son of Man" because He was claiming He was the fulfillment of Daniel's prophecy, plus He was identifying with His humanity.

The relationship of the Ancient of Days (God) to the various beastly nations is, He is in control. They rise and fall according to His will. What happens to these beast nations is each one is eventually conquered and destroyed. It is sometimes difficult to believe God is in charge of the world we live in because man likes to believe he is in control.

What Nebuchadnezzar's confession tells us about God is, 1] God is eternal, 2] His kingdom will never end,3] He cannot be compared to human beings, 4] He is sovereign, 5] God is "the King of heaven", and 6] He is accountable to no one. I have never given a public testimony of what I have learned about God through my trials. If I ever were to give a public testimony it would be about God's faithfulness in helping make it through some hard trials in my life..

What Nebuchadnezzar must do to demonstrate he has renounced and repented of his sins is, he has to show kindness and be willing to help the poor and needy in his kingdom.. What I must do to demonstrate that I have repented of my sins is, to turn away from the sins I have repented of. We may not be rich like Nebuchadnezzar was, but we can still help those who are poor and needy. We can donate food to local food banks and give money to ministries that help feed the hungry like Salvation Army of Feeding America.. For the past several years the church I attend has taken part on Operation Christmas Child. We collect schools supplies, hygiene items, toys, books, etc to send to kids in need in other parts of the world. God's decrees can be conditional when He has commanded us to obey them.

What it means to "acknowledge heaven rules" is, accepting that God is sovereign over the kingdoms of man. In a way this is hard for the king because, he believes he is ruler of Babylon because of his own personal qualities. Also he prides himself on his accomplishments. In a way this is hard for us because we like to think of ourselves as self sufficient. We sometimes deny by our actions that God is in charge by going ahead and doing what we think is best in a situation instead of bringing it before the Lord in prayer.

Daniel uses his experience in the lions' den to testify about God by telling the king how God had sent an angel to protect him from being eaten by the lions. If Daniel had focused on the injustice done to him, God wouldn't have received the glory and the king wouldn't have learned about the One True God. The experience in my life I might use as a testimony of God's mercy is, the times He meet my needs when I was out of work and by opening the door for me to get a new job.

What we learn about Daniel's character qualities as a government official is, he was trustworthy, plus he was neither corrupt nor negligent in his official duties. Such qualities reflect on Daniel's God because He has these same qualities. I hope that my supervisor at work sees these same qualities in me.

The effect the deliverance of Daniel's friends have on their government colleagues is, one of amazement. They can't believe the fire had no effect on the Jews. Even their clothes didn't smell like smoke. The effect it had on the king was, he addressed Daniel's three friends as, "servants of the Most High God". The kind of glory God received was, respect and honor.

The Jews answer Nebuchadnezzar by telling him they will not bow down and worship the golden image. Their attitude is that they have faith that God will deliver them. Even if He doesn't they will still refuse to worship the false image. The Jews witness about their God by telling the king He is able to deliver them from the fiery furnace. They face death with defiance because they are standing up for what the believe. Their faith can be characterized by their boldness to stand up to the king and refusing to worship the statue. They chose to obey God rather than man.

The Jews' fellow government officials report them to Nebuchadnezzar because they were jealous that Daniel's friends had received better positions then they did. The king is so angry because Daniel's friends had refused to bow down and worship his golden statue. The king's motivation to have people bow and worship the statue was to test the loyalty of his officials.

Daniel shows humility by giving God the glory for the interpretation of the king's dream. He uses this situation as an opportunity to share his faith in God by telling the king, "there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries". According to 1 Peter 5:5-6 we shouldn't try to exalt ourselves because God opposes the proud. What happens to those who try to exalt themselves is, God will knock them down to a place of humility in some way.

Daniel asks his friends to "plead for mercy" because he doesn't want them to be put to death along with the rest of the king's wisemen. According to scripture intercessory prayer is important because God wants us to stand in the gap and bring our petitions on behalf of others before Him. Intercessory is not only important, but vital. In the Old Testament Moses interceded for the rest of the Israelites after God threatened to wipe them out after they had made the golden calf. In the New Testament Peter was set free from prison by an angel because of the intercessory prayers of a group of believers. We can implement intercessory prayer in our churches by gathering together to pray corporately and by making prayer one of the important ministries of the church. The members of the church I attend gather for prayer every other Sunday evening. During the summer months, we meet for prayer on Wednesday evenings. We also get an e-mail once a week with any updated prayer requests plus any updates on previous prayer needs. We also have a few elderly ladies one can phone for any emergency prayer needs.

Daniel took a stand concerning being defiled by the king's food and wine because either the food had been offered to idols or else some of the meat came from animals that were forbidden according to the Jewish dietary laws. Eating the king's food would cause defilement to Daniel's conscience because he had been taught that eating certain foods was forbidden according to the Jewish dietary laws. What this tells me about Daniel is his willingness to stand up for what he believed and not to give in for the sake of conveyance.

The changes that Daniel and his friends experienced were, 1] being deported from Judah to Babylon, 2] being educated in the occult knowledge of Babylon, and 3] having their Hebrew names replaced with Babylonian ones. There status in Jerusalem was being members of royal families or nobility. Their status in Babylon was being servants to the king. The effect of changing their names to Babylonian names was like having their identity taken away. The Hebrews believed a person's character and future could be prefigured by the name they were given at birth. I'm sure Daniel wasn't happy about having his name changed to that of one of the Babylonian gods. The impact on them to be made eunuchs was probably devastating. They would never be able to have families of their own. They compromised in some ways like allowing their names to be changed. However, they refuse to compromise when it came to eating the king's rich food and wine.

As far as I know, I have never had to make a rapid transition to a new culture.

The role of the Scriptures in our lives should be to testify to us about Jesus. It is possible for a person to be a great student of the Bible, but so lacking in spiritual discernment and life style because, they fail to apply what the learn to their life. We can keep our churches orthodox, but not legalistic and judgmental by studying the bible, being obedient to God's word, and following the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

Accord to John's Gospel the value of miracles is, to confirm that Jesus is the Son of God. The weakness of faith that depends solely on miracles is, miraculous signs themselves aren't enough to produce a mature faith in Jesus. I believe we don't have more miracles in our day because of unbelief. Many churches believe miracles are no longer necessary because we now have the bible. Others believe that miracles and other supernatural gifts have passed away and aren't relevant to the modern age.

Jesus is so dependent on the Father for wisdom because, He and the Father are inseparable. They are working together to perform God's will. I am not really dependent upon my culture to approve my way of life or validate my wisdom. I try to live my life in a way that will please the Lord rather than trying to seek the approval of others. I try to ask the Lord for wisdom concerning any decisions I need to make. I depend on God's wisdom to guide and direct me in my Christian walk.

According to John 5:24, eternal life begins the moment we accept God's word, believing that Jesus was sent to die for our sins, then repenting and accepting Him as Savior. Our default position without Christ is death. Those without Christ die in their sins and face eternal torment in the Lake of Fire. How can people com to eternal life if they have "never heard my word?" They need someone to share the gospel with them. My friends and neighbors normally hear Jesus' word through local churches in their areas. My role in seeing them hear His word might be to invited them to a church event or give them a gospel tract.

It is possible to be blessed outwardly and not inwardly. Many are blessed with material possessions, a good paying job, a nice house, a luxury car, the latest electronic toy, etc. However they aren't blessed inwardly because they have never accepted Jesus as their personal Savior. Jesus confronted the healed man in the temple with his sin because, the man needed to repent and to stop doing the sin that had caused his condition. The man doesn't respond with faith to Jesus' rebuke. Instead he goes tattling to the Pharisees that Jesus was the one who had healed him.

I think Jesus asked the invalid if he wanted to get well because, He wanted to make sure that the invalid really wanted to be healed. It is important not to make assumptions, but to seek discernment about people's needs when we pray for them because we need to pray for them according to God's will.

I would describe the invalid's character as self centered and feeling sorry for himself. The invalid's faith is misplaced. He is placing his faith in the water to heal him. Jesus' healing of the invalid demonstrates the grace of God by showing us He was willing to heal the invalid even though he didn't deserve it. We humans find it difficult to accept grace when it is offered to us because we are so works oriented. Many think they can get to heaven by doing good works rather than placed their faith in Christ to save them from their sins. We resist the concept that God's gifts are entirely by grace because we like to think we are self sufficient and can make it to heaven on our own by doing good works.