September 13, 2012 … <’KOKO><

Chronological Bible Reading Plan - Day 257

 Passage of the Day: Reference of Today’s Chronological Bible Study: Daniel, Chapters 4-6 To study these chapters, go to this link - 
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Highlight Passage: Daniel 4: 1-3; 13-14; 18-19; 24-25; 27-28; 34; 37 : [NLT] … 1 King Nebuchadnezzar sent this message to the people of every race and nation and language throughout the world: “Peace and prosperity to you! 2 “I want you all to know about the miraculous signs and wonders the Most High God has performed for me. 3 How great are his signs, how powerful his wonders! His kingdom will last forever, his rule through all generations. … 
[From Nebuchadnezzar’s dream] 13 “‘Then as I lay there dreaming, I saw a messenger, a holy one, coming down from heaven. 14 The messenger shouted, “Cut down the tree; lop off its branches! Shake off its leaves, and scatter its fruit! Chase the animals from its shade and the birds from its branches. … 
18 “‘O Belteshazzar, that was the dream that I, King Nebuchadnezzar, had. Now tell me what it means, for no one else can help me. All the wisest men of my kingdom have failed me. But you can tell me because the spirit of the holy gods is in you.’ [The King continues desiring that Daniel explain the dream] … 19 “Upon hearing this, Daniel (also known as Belteshazzar) was overcome for a time, aghast at the meaning of the dream. Finally, the king said to him, ‘Belteshazzar, don’t be alarmed by the dream and what it means.’ … 
24 [Daniel’s interpretation of the King’s dream] “This is what the dream means, Your Majesty, and what the Most High has declared will happen to you. 25 You will be driven from human society, and you will live in the fields with the wild animals. You will eat grass like a cow, and you will be drenched with the dew of heaven. … 
27 “‘O King Nebuchadnezzar, please listen to me. Stop sinning and do what is right. Break from your wicked past by being merciful to the poor. Perhaps then you will continue to prosper.’ … 28“But all these things did happen to King Nebuchadnezzar. … 
34 [Nebuchadnezzar’s testimony] “After this time had passed, I, Nebuchadnezzar, looked up to heaven. My sanity returned, and I praised and worshiped the Most High and honored the one who lives forever. … 
37“Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and glorify and honor the King of heaven. All his acts are just and true, and he is able to humble those who are proud.”  
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Highlight Passage: Daniel 4: 1: 5-7; 10-11; 13-14; 17-18; 20; 22-25; 29-31 : [NLT] … 1 A number of years later, King Belshazzar gave a great feast for a thousand of his nobles and drank wine with them. … 
5At that very moment they saw the fingers of a human hand writing on the plaster wall of the king’s palace, near the lampstand. The king himself saw the hand as it wrote, 6 and his face turned pale with fear. Such terror gripped him that his knees knocked together and his legs gave way beneath him. 7 The king shouted for the enchanters, astrologers, and fortune-tellers to be brought before him. He said to these wise men of Babylon, “Whoever can read this writing and tell me what it means will be dressed in purple robes of royal honor and will wear a gold chain around his neck. He will become the third highest ruler in the kingdom!” … 
10 But when the queen mother heard what was happening, she hurried to the banquet hall. She said to Belshazzar, “Long live the king! Don’t be so pale and afraid about this. 11 There is a man in your kingdom who has within him the spirit of the holy gods. During Nebuchadnezzar’s reign, this man was found to have insight, understanding, and wisdom as though he himself were a god. Your predecessor, King Nebuchadnezzar, made him chief over all the magicians, enchanters, astrologers, and fortune-tellers of Babylon. … 
13 So Daniel was brought in before the king. The king asked him, “Are you Daniel, who was exiled from Judah by my predecessor, King Nebuchadnezzar? 14 I have heard that you have the spirit of the gods within you and that you are filled with insight, understanding, and wisdom. … 
17 Daniel answered the king, “Keep your gifts or give them to someone else, but I will tell you what the writing means. 18 Your Majesty, the Most High God gave sovereignty, majesty, glory, and honor to your predecessor, Nebuchadnezzar. … 
20 But when his heart and mind were hardened with pride, he was brought down from his royal throne and stripped of his glory. … 
22 “You are his successor, O Belshazzar, and you knew all this, yet you have not humbled yourself. … 24 So God has sent this hand to write a message. 25 “This is the message that was written: MENE, MENE, TEKEL, PARSIN. [and Daniel translates the meaning of the words – relating how the Babylonian kingdom would be taken and divided by the Medes and Persians] … 
 29 Then at Belshazzar’s command, Daniel was dressed in purple robes, a gold chain was hung around his neck, and he was proclaimed the third highest ruler in the kingdom. … 30 That very night Belshazzar, the Babylonian king, was killed. 31 And Darius, the Mede, took over the kingdom at the age of sixty-two.
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Highlight Passage: Daniel 4: 1-5; 10; 16; 21-23 : [NLT] … 1 Darius the Mede decided to divide the kingdom into 120 provinces, and he appointed a prince to rule over each province. 2The king also chose Daniel and two others as administrators to supervise the princes and to watch out for the king’s interests. 3 Daniel soon proved himself more capable than all the other administrators and princes. Because of his great ability, the king made plans to place him over the entire empire. 4 Then the other administrators and princes began searching for some fault in the way Daniel was handling his affairs, but they couldn’t find anything to criticize. He was faithful and honest and always responsible. 5 So they concluded, “Our only chance of finding grounds for accusing Daniel will be in connection with the requirements of his religion.”… 
10 But when Daniel learned that the law [connived by the jealous administrators and signed by the King forbidding prayer to anyone other that Darius] had been signed, he went home and knelt down as usual in his upstairs room, with its windows open toward Jerusalem. He prayed three times a day, just as he had always done, giving thanks to his God. … 
[After Darius’ decree when forced to throw Daniel into the Lion’s den] … 16 “So at last the king gave orders for Daniel to be arrested and thrown into the den of lions. The king said to him, “May your God, whom you worship continually, rescue you.” … 
21 Daniel answered, “Long live the king! 22 My God sent his angel to shut the lions’ mouths so that they would not hurt me, for I have been found innocent in his sight. And I have not wronged you, Your Majesty.” 23The king was overjoyed and ordered that Daniel be lifted from the den. Not a scratch was found on him because he had trusted in his God. … 

My Journal for Today: Wow, was Daniel some witness for his God, or what? !! Reading three more chapters of Daniel’s life and witness today (and I hope you have done so – at least reading my copied text above), any reader would have to be impressed with Daniel’s consistent and reliable witness, using his Spirit-anointed gifts to serve pagan king after king, being pursued by their evil ways, and yet, continually being faithful to pray to His Lord; and doing so in spite of persecutions, even to the point of being thrown into a lion’s den. Yes, Daniel was the epitome of a faithful servant of God for his many years of witness to several generations of pagan kings.

And Daniel’s consistent witness to these kings may have led two of them, the first, Nebuchadnezzar, and the last, Darius, to a saved and faith-turned relationship with God. And these were certainly hard cases of pagan pridefulness where Daniel’s courageous and forgiving witness and his faithful service to God – even to these pagan kings – paid eternally big dividends. Though it’s not recorded, many thousands in Babylon and the Medo-Persian empires may have come to faith in God when the kings to whom Daniel witnessed declared openly that Daniel’s God was the one, true God.

When I’m journaling and blogging each day as I am this morning, I often use a sign, which some of my readers may recognize as a signal to exhort myself and others to remain faithful and to move forward in their witness of faith, staying close to God and being willing, as was Daniel, to stand in the gap faithfully for The Messiah. That symbol is … “ <'KOKO>< ”; and it means “Keep On Keeping On in Christ.” You’ll recognize the fish sign of Christ surrounding the letters “KOKO”; and I often put this at the end of my blogs as a signal of encouragement and exhortation to those who might be reading along with me.

Certainly Daniel was a personification of one who – all of his life – was a witness of faith, openly and courageously using God’s anointing to declare truth to any and all of the kings he had been led to serve; and his witness paid big dividends for God’s kingdom during Daniel’s years of service.

And so, today I leave with you my sign of exhortation … to all of us … ” <'KOKO>< ”

My Prayer Today: … Oh, Lord, enable me, encourage me, and empower me to serve You faithfully all the days of my life. Amen