nancyann

Daniels demeanor is one of humility. An acknowledgement of God as being all powerful. Daniel comes to plead and beg God's forgivenes of Isreals sin. He prepares himself by fasting and coming before God in Sackcloth and Ashes. He comes prayerfully. It is important that Daniel prepare for this time of Intercession as he believes that God will help and hear him. That God will answer a pray of suplication and humility. To prepare for intercession I think we need to confess to God our sin and ask forgiveness and then to fast and pray for guidence.

I think what encouraged Daniel to seek God for forgiveness and for the restoration of Isreal to its Homeland was the studing he had done of the scriptures and also the visions he had seen. He work out that the time of Isreals captivity was nearing an end and that to succeed in getting back to Isreal the people would have to ask God for forgiveness and also for help to get home. Daniel prayed everyday, he prayed at least three timesa a day so it stands to reason that this practice lead him to meditation and prayer.

This is a truth that is not only promised to God's people in Daniel but in other parts of the Bible and also in the New Testament by Jesus. It is the hope and faith that we as Christians stand on adn believe. I think the altimate fulfilment is the second coming of Jesus. This is a time when we will go to be with Jesus and God. So we believe in faith and know that God is true to His word.

Daniel spoke of Jesus as soemone who looked like the Son of Man, He would come as man to us to show us how to live and to honor God. He would have glory and power he would come riding on the clouds. The way that Jesus was led into the presence of God. He was given authorty, glory and sovereign power over all nations. Jesus called himself the Sonof Man so that there would be no blasphemy. He would show that He was great and powerful but if he had address himself as the Son of God that would have ended his ministry early and that was not God's plan.

The relationship between God and the beastly nations is the same as the between the Nations of the world today and God. the rulers of the nations rage and fight and have no thought to listen to God who has the wisdom and would help and guide nations. They, the nations, try to squah the faith of Gods people and try to ge tthem to compromise their belief. It is difficult to believe sometimes that God is in control because of the evil. We must have faith and pray continually for our world which seems to have gone mad. God is in control and will be there for us and guide us if we let him. We need to get Christianity back into our schools and lives.

As Christians we disrepect God by not allowing God to work in and through us. We put God in a box. I know I sometimes say one thing but actually do another. I also sometime do not speak out for God. I think this must be offensive ot God. People know I am a Christian and will say something that I feel is disrespectful to / about God, and I will keep quiet. I am not sure if this is classed as not acknowledging God or just not standing up as Daniel did for what is right? To change this I have tried to say in a loving and gentle way that I do not agree with the subject or that I find what the person is saying is offensive/or disrespectful to some. I also try to spend more time in pray and study.

Nebuchadnezzar tells us how wonderful God was. He confesses and admits to allhe has done wrong, he praises God and it tells us that no matter what God is always there for us and will keep us and all we have to do is reach out. I have not given my whole testemony but God has done many wonderful things in my life. All the glory to Him who has stood by me and most of the time carried me.

It shows itself in his lack of change. In the way he carried on living after he had been warned. By not always slowing down to Thank God for His blessings in my life. Just thinking how great I am There is a pride in how we look and act, this can be were we also reachout to others and lift them up without expecting anything in retrun. . Then there is the pride that lets everyone know how great we are. The arrogant Pride. As my children would say the stick your nose in the air pride. Were we think we are better than others.

To "acknowledge that Heaven rules" to me means that you accept the God is the Almight God and the only God. That He is all powerful and that He has power beyound anything that we could possible understand or imagine. All that the King had to do was acknowledge that he sinned and that he wouldask God to forgive him and he would help the people. This is extremely hard for the King as he feels he is all powerful. That what he says goes. To humble himself would be to admit that he is not as powerful as he would want the people to think. I agree with some of the previous members of this group that the king was also filled with Pride. He did not want admit that he was actually human. We to become full of pride and want to appear all powerful. If we are in positions of "power", such as a manger we want people to think that we cannot make mistakes. That what we say goes. If you put yourself int he position of power that it is hard to take a fall then be careful because like the King we can be brought back to earth with a bump. We do this so easily, we puff ourselves up, and don't ask for God's guidance and just blunder ahead and then when things go wrong we ask why.

1a Daniel is worried and perplexed. Is not sure how the King will take the interpretation. He is powerful and quite quick tempered or volitile. he is properly wondering what punishment is he in for. We are smoetimes to say what is not always popular, or the hard things to say, because we would like to be popular. We want people to like us. And our brothers and sister do not want to hear something that will make them rethink or change their lives. change can be hard. c) we need always, as Daniel did, answer or tell the hard things prayerfully and with love. We need to do things in a gentle but firm manner. We also need to listen to Gods word and not judge from our point of view but from God.

Their deliverance causes total amazment. The King and officials cannot believe that firstly they survied and also that there was a fourth person walking around in the fire, which had killed the soldiers that had thrown them into the fire. The King then declares his belief and faith in God and that no one may speak against the God of Ahdrach, Meshach and Abednego. Everyone give glory to God. The people all praise God.

The answer Nebuchadnezzar with total faith that they will not obey and bow down to a statue that is man made. They will only bow to their God. They face death with total faith that they will be saved. Their faith is huge.

They are totally disrepect of the King. Their obedience to God is absolute and no way will they comply with the instruction to bow to a statue. It is against their law. They tell the King that they will not obey and he can throw them into the fire as God will protect them. They also explain that God is all powerful and that God has given Nebuchadnezzer the authority he has. They faced the threat of punishment with resignation and I feel not defiance. It was a huge act of faith. I do not know that I would have been that brave. I have faith that God will provide and protect but to face certain death is amazing that they were so strong. Although they knew that God was in control.

It was a case as everyone has said of Jealousy and being angry because the "foreigners" were given higher positions than they were. We see it today were people try to "dig holes for others". King Nebuchadnezzar was angry because he felt that they had undermined him. Belittled him in front of his people. I think te motivation was to show haw great his was and his authority over the people.

In verse 44 it tells us that God will set up His own Kingdom, it will never be destroyed and here Daniel is talking about Jesus. It is the Kingdom of God and in Mark Jesus proclaims that right. In Daniel he does not give a time just that it will be when the kingdoms divide and are corrupt. I am fasinated by the stone that represents this Jesus. It took a "stone" to bring down a mighty nation. It is a kingdom that can never be destroyed it will last forever. It will endure through thick and thin. This was God's first warning to Nbuchadnezzar that He, God is in charge and not man.

Daniel shows humility by giving all the credit to God. He tells the king that it is his God who told him and showed him the dream. Daniel tells the King that it is God who has given all this great power and wealth. He tells that God wants him to know the dream and its meaning and that because Daniel believes in God and prays to Him, God has told him the Dream and the meaning. Danile also asks that the wise men not be put to death as he has the interpretation. According to 1Peter5 : 5-6 we always be humble as God blesses the humble and lifts them up. If we exalt ourselves God will oppose us. I like to think that he will bring us back to the ground with a bump!

Daniel asks his friends to pray and plead for mercy from God as there is this death penalty hanging over their heads. They must have been so nervous and frightened. Several times we are told to pray for others in teh Bible and so Intercessory prayer is very important. It is extremely effective as the are often great results from pray. In our school which is Christian based we have a pray group which prays for the school and for others in the community. The pray "replies" or miricles are often so wonderful that we just cannot stop the pray requests and the on going intercessory pray.

Daniel first approach was not rude it was just a request. Not to eat the food from the King. the First attempt was very frightening for his and his friends care giver. He fear for his life and rightly so as the King had given very specific instructions. I am sure Daniel understood this and then thought and I am sure prayed that God would guide him. He then says test us. So for ten days the guard does just that. I have food allergies and know what it is like to have to change how you eat. It can be hard because sometimes people think you are being difficult and I should imagine that that is how the Guard/care giver felt at first. The demeanor of the people over Daniel and friends is from the Bible reading tells us that they were kind and caring. that they were prepared to listen and try to be reasonable. I think God affects the outcome of Daniels request by making sure that they were satisfied and healthy. Also I think Daniel knew that God would look after him.

Why did Daniel take a stand? I am sure he did this because of great faith and knowing that to obey God would mean that he would have a closer relationship with God. to defile himself with food would be to him as bad as conmitting a sin. The food would not have been prepared in a way that was correct and also Daniel would not just eat any meat and it would be better to eat fruit and vegetables and know that the food would be "pure". This tells us that Daniel was a faithfully servant to God and that no matter what he would trust in God and know that he would be looked after. So although life was hard and not the same as at home he still could keep his faith.

What changes did Daniel and his friends experience? The change was that they were taken from their own country, from family and friends. Although Daniel and his three friends were very lucky that they were together. Everything was different and strange. The culture and belief system were quite different to the Jewish faith and culture. Their Status In Jerusalem was one were they came from a better "class". They were of royal families. In Babylon they are slaves. They have no say over their own lives The effect of changing their names seems to have been to totally take away anything from them. They are, I should imagine, to feel as if they are property of the King of Babylon. In everything I have read about Eunuchs, it is not only to make the person totally focused on what is expected of them but also to make them feel totally demolized. So in this instance they are now totally belonging to the King and have to be obedient to him. Their own family would properly not accept them back. I am not sure of this last statement but should imagine it would have been very difficult for them. They did not compromise at all. It is amazing how strong they were. To turn away the food and have faith that they would have enough to eat is wonderful. I hope that if I am ever tested to this degree that I will be strong.

I wanted to add to my earlier answer by saying that unfortunately is is often is our present situation that we have to be careful. I am working in a school were we are Christian based but have to reach out to people and children that often come from homes were Jesus is not the main focus. So it makes me think that I need to be strong.

I have not had to make a quick transition between cultures but have had to spend time with people who did not have the same culture or beliefs as myself. My father was a missionary so we mixed with different cultures to bring the Word of God to people. You have to be very careful what you say and do, to show love and not offend people. It made my faith much stronger and I thank God for giving me the strength to keep my faith. I have found it harder to be strong with other Christian folk.