Then the king made Daniel a great man . . . (Daniel 2:48)
Before it got to this point, Shadrach (Hananiah), Meshech (Mishael), and Abednego (Azariah) joined Daniel in prayer ("Then Daniel went to his house, and made the thing known to Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, his companions: That they would desire mercies of the God of heaven concerning this secret; that Daniel and his fellows should not perish with the rest of the wise men of Babylon." Daniel 2:17-18). Yes, Daniel was the one given the wisdom and words, but he had the support and prayer of other believers. We may not be a Daniel, but surely we can work behind the scenes in prayer.
Thanks for sharing, Amanda! I love the image the first few chapters of Daniel gives us of godly friendships!
ReplyDelete"Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you seemeth to be wise in this world, let him become a fool, that he may be wise.
For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, He taketh the wise in their own craftiness.
And again, The Lord knoweth the thoughts of the wise, that they are vain.
Therefore let no man glory in men. For all things are your's;"
~ 1 Corinthians 3:18-21
How easily we are enchanted by the wisdom of men, especially when we count ourselves in that number. Yet God warns us not to deceive ourselves with wisdom that is really foolishness. A sure symptom of foolish wisdom is when we glory in the esteem and praise of men. May we instead seek the wisdom of God, though it be foolish to man!
~ Kenzi
Amen, Kenzi! Thanks for sharing! It is sobering to realize that we CAN deceive ourselves - that reminds me of 1 John 1:7-10.
ReplyDelete~Amanda
"Therefore, to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin." James 4:17
That was a great thought process behind that simple verse!
ReplyDeleteThe verse I want to share is John 3:14
"And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up:"
My thought process behind this was somewhat extensive as well. I really love this parallel of the serpent on the pole and Jesus Christ on the cross (from which comes the song "Look and Live" of course). But what I see here is, it was a simple command to the Israelites when they were bitten by the serpents to just look to the serpent on the pole and they would be healed. However, that involved believing and obeying. They had to believe that this simple act would heal them, and then they had to obey it. The parallel in salvation is the some. We have to look to Jesus as the only way of salvation and believe that He can take away our sins, and then we have to follow through with obeying His call to repentance and faith in Him. This is such a simple and yet powerful verse to me!
P.S. It was absolutely wonderful having you and Elizabeth here with us for a couple days. I'm so thankful to the Lord for giving us that wonderful time of refreshment and encouragement!!!
@ Janell,
ReplyDeleteWow - I just read this verse and similar thoughts in "Pursuit of God." How neat to read it twice in one day! :) But so true: belief and obedience. Thanks for sharing.
~Amanda
P.S. We had a blast as well!! :D Amen!
"Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on Thee, because he trusteth in Thee." Isaiah 26:3