Then the king commanded, and they brought Daniel, and cast him into the den of lions. Now the king spake and said unto Daniel, Thy God whom thou servest continually, he will deliver thee. Daniel 6:16.
Daniel was high in command. The accusing host of evil angels stirred up the presidents and princes to envy and jealousy…. These agents of Satan sought to make his faithfulness to God the cause of his destruction….
The king was ignorant of the subtle mischief purposed against Daniel. With full knowledge of the king’s decree, Daniel still bows before his God, “his windows being open.” He considers supplication to God of so great importance that he would rather sacrifice his life than relinquish it.
God did not prevent Daniel’s enemies from casting him into the lions’ den; He permitted evil angels and wicked men thus far to accomplish their purpose; but it was that He might make the deliverance of His servant more marked, and the defeat of the enemies of truth and righteousness more complete…. Through the courage of this one man who chose to follow right rather than policy, Satan was to be defeated, and the name of God was to be exalted and honored.
Early the next morning King Darius hastened to the den and “cried with a lamentable voice,” “O Daniel, servant of the living God, is thy God, whom thou servest continually, able to deliver thee from the lions?”
The voice of the prophet replied: “O king, live forever. My God hath sent his angel, and hath shut the lions’ mouths, that they have not hurt me.” …
Daniel in the lions’ den was the same Daniel who stood before the king as chief among the ministers of state and as a prophet of the Most High. A man whose heart is stayed upon God will be the same in the hour of his greatest trial as he is in prosperity, when the light and favor of God and of man beam upon him…. The power that is near to deliver from physical harm or distress is also near to save from the greater evil, making it possible for the servant of God to maintain his integrity under all circumstances, and to triumph through divine grace.
Conflict and Courage p. 255
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Prayer Requests
—–We will be driving down to Family Camp tomorrow. Please pray for safety and that we won’t have any trouble with the camper. Pray for all the others who will be coming from all over the country to attend as well. Since there will be very limited internet, there will be no devotional until after we get back. Rose
—–update—More sad news! We just got word this morning that John’s sister-in-law Sandra that was the wife of the brother that just passed away on the 2nd of this month, also died this morning. We are so sad for the family. Now they have lost their mom and dad in less than a month. Please keep the family in prayer. It will be wonderful when Christ returns and death, dying, sickness, pain, and sorrow will be no more. Come Lord Jesus! Connie
—–Prayers that my friend in Florida finds her daughter. She is missing and believed to have drugs involved. No one can get a hold of her even her husband Her name is Cody. Kim
—–Keep your thoughts and prayers as my co-worker’s sibling maybe doing his final chemo, later on today if things don’t get better! Thanks, APM!
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Dear Friends,
When I was a child, I had a very bad habit of “fiddling” with whatever was in or near my hands. It was as if my fingers had a mind of their own. Unfortunately, I never have gotten completely over that bad habit. One day when I was about 17, I was waiting for a bus on the main corners of Kalamazoo, Michigan, my home town. A postcard that I had just written was in my hand as there was no mailbox close by. I was not very happy at the moment as I had just missed my bus and had to wait for the next one. It was a long wait. Before long, my mind was deep in thought and my fingers were busy with the postcard. Rather than tearing the card, those fingers of mine were enjoying its smoothness. They rubbed and rubbed the freshly written card without my realizing it.
At last the bus arrived. I stepped aboard, paid my fare, and found a seat. It was only then that I looked at what used to be my postcard. I had rubbed it so vigorously, that it had split into three layers: the picture side, the message side, and an inner layer. I was shocked! That postcard that I had written so carefully was good for nothing but to be thrown away.
How easy it is to get so wrapped up in our own little world, that we do not realize the danger we are in, just as I didn’t realize what my fingers were doing to that postcard. How easy it is to go through a day, a week, a lifetime with very few thoughts heavenward, not realizing that we are speeding toward the end of all things, every day going faster and faster, more and more out of control. How true is David description, “The LORD looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, and seek God. They are all gone aside, they are all together become filthy: there is none that doeth good, no, not one.” Ps 14:2,3
No matter how hard we try to conform to God’s law outwardly, our efforts will “split apart” in our hands unless there is an inward change of heart. Isaiah tells us, “we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags, and we all do fade as a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.” “The whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint. From the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness in it, but wounds, and bruises, and putrefying sores: they have not been closed, neither bound up, neither mollified with ointment.” Isa 64:6, 1:5,6
Our Dear Saviour pleads, “Turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways, for why will ye die?” Eze 33:11 “there is no God else beside me, a just God and a Saviour, there is none beside me. Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else.” Isa 45:21,22 I am “mighty to save.” 63:1 “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.” Matt 11:28,29 “Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name, thou art mine. When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee, and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned, neither shall the flame kindle upon thee. For I am the LORD thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Saviour.” Isa 43:1-3
Let us realize that we cannot save ourselves any more than I could put that postcard back together so long ago. Let us run, as a trusting child, to our Loving Redeemer’s outstretched arms, that we may receive the pardon and cleansing we so desperately need. Let us pray as did David, “Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me. Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight….Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow….Hide thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from thy presence, and take not thy holy spirit from me. Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation, and uphold me with thy free spirit. Then will I teach transgressors thy ways, and sinners shall be converted unto thee. Deliver me from blood guiltiness, O God, thou God of my salvation: and my tongue shall sing aloud of thy righteousness. O Lord, open thou my lips, and my mouth shall show forth thy praise. For thou desirest not sacrifice, else would I give it: thou delightest not in burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.” Psalm 51 Let us hear, in faith, our Great Redeemer say, “I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, thy transgressions, and, as a cloud, thy sins: return unto me, for I have redeemed thee.” Isa 44:22.
Rose