Latest / Faith by annm2705 / 815. Bible Study: Daniel 6 (Power of God, Bold Faith similar to those beheaded today, God's promise!)

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815. Bible Study: Daniel 6 (Power of God, Bold Faith similar to those beheaded today, God's promise!) · Faith by annm2705

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Today is chapter 6 from the book of Daniel.
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Dear Lord, please be with us as we read through this chapter and
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give us wisdom and insight as we read.
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We ask this in Jesus name, Amen, Daniel in the den of lions.
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It pleased Darius to appoint 120 say traps to rule throughout the
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Kingdom with three administrators over them, one
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whom was Daniel. The satraps were made
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accountable to them so that the king might not suffer loss.
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Now Daniel so distinguished among the administrators and the
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satraps by his exceptional qualities that the king planned
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to set him over the whole Kingdom.
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At this, the administrators and the satraps tried to find
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grounds for charges against Daniel in his conduct of
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government. So right here we're seeing how
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jealousy starts to enter in and how being envious or jealous of
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other people, that's actually one of the 10 commandments not
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to covet another your neighbors, anything in your neighbors that
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your neighbor has anyone that somebody else has not to covet
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that want that for yourself. Be jealous of what they have.
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That's not a godly thing and God warns against it.
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And we can see that jealousy is going to bring about evil in
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here. So it continues on.
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Let's see at this the administration and the say traps
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trying to find grounds for charges against Daniel in his
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conduct of government affairs, but they were unable to do so.
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They could find no corruption in him because he was trustworthy
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and neither corrupt nor negligent.
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Finally, these men said we will never find any basis for charges
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against this man Daniel unless it has to do with the law of his
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God. This is something else to notice
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about this is that Daniel's heart was set on God and that it
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showed in his actions. That's another thing that we
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need to reflect on too. Like do if we call ourselves a
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Christian, are we reflecting the Christian way of living that
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Christ taught? To call yourself a Christian
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means that you are a follower or a disciple of Christ, and a
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disciple means a student of Christ.
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So if you are learning from Christ and you're not doing it,
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then you're not. I mean, you might know, have the
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head knowledge, but you're not living it out.
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So that's what Daniel was actually living it out like.
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He knew God and he was living it out and people recognized that
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in him. And he also was able to
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interpret dreams and he had these special qualities that no
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one else could have because of God.
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So look at how God is blessing him and protecting him
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supernaturally and giving him wisdom that no one else can get.
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But it's because he's inquiring of God and because he's close to
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God and he is living out his faith.
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It says faith without works is dead.
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That doesn't mean that what you do is getting you salvation.
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It doesn't mean that. What it means is that works are
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an evidence of your faith, just like Daniel had.
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Daniel believed in God, he trusted God, he relied on God
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and it was evident in the way that he lived.
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So Daniel, even though let's see, I don't know if he will
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have to see in the future prophecies about if there is
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something that maybe he knew, he knew God for sure.
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And so anyway, I'm getting a little off track here, but these
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are just points that I see in reading the scripture.
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So continuing in verse six. So the administrators and Say
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Traps went as a group to the king and said may King Darius
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live forever. The royal administrators,
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prefects, satraps, advisors, and governors have all agreed that
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the king should issue an edict and enforce the decree that
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anyone who prays to any God or human during the next 30 days,
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except you, Your Majesty, shall be thrown into the lion's den.
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Now, Your Majesty issued the decree and put it in writing so
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that it cannot be altered in accordance with the law of the
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Medes and the Persians, which cannot be repealed.
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So King Darius put the decree in writing.
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There's a lot here that is just like hard to really imagine,
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like the Bible summarizes it. But how could these people
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actually influence a king, you know, over something like this?
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Well, they were probably appealing to his pride.
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And we do hear from the Bible that it says pride comes before
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the fall. So whenever anybody gets too
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proud, God can humble them. And but a lot of times you can
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see that manipulation comes in with appeasing pride.
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So someone may manipulate to make someone feel greater than
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they really are, but they're just doing it out of
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manipulative purposes. Just like these people here, you
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know, who knows what they truly thought of King Darius, but
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they're just setting it up because they're jealous of
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Daniel. So they're just one They're
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using King Darius to get to Daniel essentially, and they're
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being manipulative. I mean, this just sounds like
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the enemy of God at work here. You know, the stirred up.
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I mean, we are in a spiritual battle here.
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And this is a pretty good example of that where, you know,
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jealousy is something that God speaks against coveting, you
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know, wanting somebody, something somebody else has.
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It's, you know, there's, there's evil with it.
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And these the I, I've come to think about the 10 commandments,
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not so much as just those rules of thou shalt do this.
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I mean that do that's what it says.
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But there I believe they are protection against the enemy.
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So God's saying, here's how you need to live because if you
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don't, it's going to be bad for you because the enemy is going
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to have access to you if you're breaking these things, if you're
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breaking these commands that I give you to live by.
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And I see it as God the Father being a protective father saying
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listen to me, do these things. And so it will go well with you.
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If you don't, there are consequences to it because there
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is something spiritual. And the way Jesus, I remember
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in, I think it's John chapter 3 when he was talking, I don't
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know if it was to Nicodemus or if it was to someone else about
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how can I explain heavenly things to you when you don't
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really understand the earthly things that I'm trying to
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explain. And there's so much more that
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Jesus didn't say to us about the spiritual realm.
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We have enough to live by what's in the Bible.
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We don't need more to follow it. But that doesn't mean that we
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don't have questions about why, because that's what I, I believe
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is that there's things in here that, you know, we just wonder
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like, why, why does it say this? Why is that the reality of it?
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And I believe that there are spiritual laws that we were not
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given because of how God gives Satan certain access.
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And, and I think it's all like on a legal, like our legal
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system is based on God's laws, is based on the way we read
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about it in the Bible, the way God set things up.
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If you look at the like the moral law was founded on what
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God taught people. And, and so God really started
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this whole thing like the whole court system and like two
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witnesses where God requires 2 witnesses to establish truth.
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And there's all these different requirements.
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Like there's a lot of things in the Bible that are foundational
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to the way we Live Today. And we don't even realize it
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until you start studying the Bible and seeing this for
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yourself. But anyway, let's go back to the
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book of Daniel, and I will. I'm going to read a couple of
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the questions and answers before we get too far in this.
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So what were say traps? Say traps were officials who
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ruled several provinces, each with its own governor.
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So why would Darius want advice from someone on the losing side?
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No doubt the reputation of Daniel, who had been respected
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in Babylonian government for most of his life, had preceded
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him. Darius needed Daniel's help to
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run the empire. And Daniel, probably now in his
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90s, posed little threat to Darius's position.
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Darius also may have been impressed by the fact that
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Daniel had predicted the victory of the Medes.
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Again, that's the thing that would appease somebody's pride
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where it's like, yeah, we conquered this, you know, this
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country, this nation. And that is like, and he told
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about it. So yeah, that's great.
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You know, it's, it's elevating the the Meads.
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And and so Darius the Mead is like, OK, yeah, he elevated us.
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Like he said we were going to win.
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So he, you know, maybe he's thinking he must be on our side.
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I don't know. But you can see how that
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prideful like flattery. Flattery, that's what it is.
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Flattery is so manipulative. So you have to be careful when
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someone flatters you because it may be truth, but it may also be
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manipulative for their purposes or for other purposes, which is
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what we're reading about here. So then there's another
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question. What kind of loss was the king
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trying to avoid by having the say traps officials who ruled
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several provinces, each with his own governor, report to the
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administrators? Darius was steering clear of
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political battles that would have undermined his rule.
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Daniel and other administrators had to listen to the say traps
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complaints and take the heat when those officials were
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dissatisfied. Then here's another question
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too. That's interesting.
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Why couldn't the law of the Medes and Persians be repealed?
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According to the Medo Persian way of thinking, it was
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impossible for the law to contradict itself.
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Since a reigning monarch was the law.
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Revoking a bad decree was more than personal embarrassment, it
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was like a constitutional crisis.
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This led to some carefully worded non reversals like the
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one Xerxes used to neutralize his own genocidal decree and
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that's found in Esther chapter 3 and chapter 8 if you want to
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read more about that. But this is also like something
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that affects, I mean, yeah, it affected the Medo Persian
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Empire. But think about today, like, how
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hard is it for people to admit their mistakes?
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Like they proclaim something to publicly and then they later
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find, no, there's error in that. Like that just doesn't feel good
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to say I made a mistake publicly and and just look like you don't
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really have it all together. So that requires humbling.
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God loves people who will humble themselves, who will say, yes, I
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messed up. And we're seeing that here, that
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that's a hard thing. That's like pride.
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It's like saying I don't want to admit that I'm messed up and but
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the only way that God can work in a person's life is for a
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person to acknowledge, yes, I'm messed up.
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I don't live the way God wanted me to live and I need help with
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it. That's where we have to get to.
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That's where we have to and get to that place where we're
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humbling ourselves in front of God and letting God know.
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And just if there's so much freedom from actually just, you
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know, admitting those things, like you don't know how free
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that lets you feel where you're not burdened by things that you
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might have carried along to admit those things and to ask
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for forgiveness of them and to, you know, ask God for
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forgiveness and restoration. Just like I always when I, when
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I pray, I'm like, God, just make me into the person that you
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created me to be. Like I, you know, it's like
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there's a verse in the Bible that says something about like
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my ways are not your ways and my plans are greater than your
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plans. So sometimes we just do our own
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thing and we think we're going and we try to find all these
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different directions or paths by relying on other people and
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getting advice from other people.
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But why don't we go to God for that advice?
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Don't you think that that advice would be at a much higher level,
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a greater plan, a greater purpose, something more
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phenomenal than we could ever imagine if we rely on God?
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And yet we don't do that because we don't all.
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I mean, I can't speak for everyone.
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I mean, I'm just saying like the way our world is, we rely on
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humans. We don't all rely on God, but
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there are so many blessings if and when we rely on God because
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God is our provider. Everything we have is a resource
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that God allowed us to have and he allowed this to happen in our
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life. And there is a purpose for it.
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And what we do with our resources, God's watching.
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He's paying attention to it. He's seeing what we do with it.
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And there will be blessings and there will be judgement for what
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we do with those resources. But we have to remember that God
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gave every single resource that we have, even the resources of
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our own lives. He breathed life into us.
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Any financial resources we had, he, he made those paths cross.
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He made these circumstances, you know, he allowed the
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circumstances to happen Wherever we are in life, God heads.
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He was watching it, He saw it happen.
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Sometimes there are consequences of actions that we did, but
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everything good is from God and we have to remember that and be
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thankful to God for what he's given us.
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So going back to Scripture verse 10.
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Now when Daniel learned that the decree had been published, he
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went home to his upstairs room where the windows opened toward
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Jerusalem. Three times a day he got down on
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his knees and prayed, giving thanks to his God, just as he
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had done before. Now that is showing some
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boldness, do you think? See, this is I might disagree
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with other scholars, but this is one of those things where I just
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believe like the Holy Spirit was in Daniel because first of all,
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the Holy Spirit gives courage and to have courage like this,
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this is not it's like the flesh is weak, but my spirit is
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strong. That's Scripture.
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And, and for Daniel to have this courage and to have this faith
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in God, and even though he knows this decree is you're going to
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be thrown into a lion's den. Daniel has seen God work.
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He saw his friends be thrown into a burning furnace.
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So I'm sure that, and they come out without any kind of smell of
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fire, any anything burnt on them.
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So he saw that happen. So he knew the power of God and
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when you see things like that, when you would really experience
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something like that, yes, don't you think your faith would
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really grow strong and for him to seek God?
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I, I just seem I this is just like what the Holy Spirit does
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in a person's life. The Holy Spirit gives courage.
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It it takes away fear because there isn't like it's, you know,
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there is No Fear when love is perfected and God is love.
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When we truly know God, it's not know about God.
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But when we truly know God, like when God starts interacting,
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when we start recognizing when God is communicating with us,
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when that starts happening in your life, everything changes.
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And God does speak to people in different ways and personally.
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So it's not going to be the same way that he interacts with
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people, but he does when you seek him, it's, you know, it
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says in Scripture, if we seek him, we will find him.
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And I can say that I have experienced that personally.
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So I'm not just saying this from reading about it and repeating
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what somebody else said, like I really experienced this and and
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there's just something about like with God that just gives
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you something that you don't have like that that courage and
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just that you're perfected in in Christ.
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Ultimately that we are perfected in Christ or through Christ, but
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the love of God, just having that love of God and knowing
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God, it's protection, it's guidance.
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And there's just this connection that you don't have fear, but it
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give it gave Daniel courage. So three times a day not he
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wasn't hiding in his place so nobody could see him in
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continuing the process he was doing.
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Just if he had done it before, he's going to keep on doing it
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now. How many of us would have faith
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like that? That's what we should strive for
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is to have faith like that. That even if the laws come
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against us where we are not to worship God, we should still
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continue the way we have been. And there are many countries
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that are experiencing that today where, you know, they when I say
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protection, God does protect, but then there are also
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casualties because Jesus said that, you know, in this world
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you will have troubles, but trust me that I've overcome the
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world. So there is a promise though,
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and the promise is actually revealed in the Book of
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Revelation about because we know that today there are actually
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beheadings of Christians who are being killed specifically
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because of being Christian. Like that is a very, very strong
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faith and it's happening in other countries, other countries
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where these people have tremendous faith in God.
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And so we're we're hearing about it and we're seeing that this is
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happening to people. We should pray for them,
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obviously, but they are going to rule with Christ.
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It says that in the Book of Revelation.
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I'll have to it says that those who were beheaded, it's like the
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thousand year reign of Christ. And so again, God restores and
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we don't even know like. We don't even know the full
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extent of what God has planned for his Kingdom.
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There's only a little bit in the Bible about it.
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But just God is so good and and we can see like even in the book
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of Job that he doubly blessed Job after everything was taken
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from Job and he restores people, he heals broken.
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I mean, look at just what Jesus showed us about God when he was
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present, where he healed people. He, he's, this is like literal,
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but it's also symbolic about what God does.
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He repairs, he restores. There is a new Kingdom that is
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coming When Jesus returns, everything will be made new
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Christ. I mean, this is going to be so
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amazing when Jesus actually comes back to earth and begins
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to rule from Jerusalem. And I really do hope this
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happens in our lifetime. I believe it will.
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I kind of do from a lot of different reasons, but it I
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mean, this is something that is going to be so awesome and so
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incredible like this. This is going to be a time that
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we just can't even imagine really.
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I mean, there's just so much. But anyway, Revelation chapter
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20, verse 4 says I saw Thrones. This is John's vision.
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He said I saw Thrones on which were seated those who had been
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given authority to judge. That's kind of interesting.
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So there's certain beings, I don't know what who they are who
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are going to have the authority to judge.
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Are they humans who God puts in places of judgement?
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I don't know. I do know somewhere else that
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Paul says that humans, I guess in the perfected form, will
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actually judge angels. So angels have more power than
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us because they can go to and from the heavenly realms and
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they are already like living out their eternal.
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They have those abilities, those eternal abilities that we don't
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yet have until Jesus returns and then we will have those
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abilities like that, I believe. But Revelation 20, verse 4, it
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says, and I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded
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because of their testimony about Jesus and because of the word of
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God. They had not worshipped the
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beast or its image and had not received its mark on their
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foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned
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with Christ. 1000 years reigned with Christ.
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That's like what a king does. A king reigns over land.
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So these people who are suffering today and are being
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beheaded today, there are Christians in Nigeria.
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In fact, you know, President Trump just, you know, I don't
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know, did something over in Nigeria on the 25th just
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yesterday. And I don't quite understand all
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this, all of this stuff, but I, you know, to stop the killing of
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Christians. I mean, that's I, that's
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honorable. And God, you know, we'll see
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where God is in all of this. But those people, even if they
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do lose their lives, that they, God has something wonderful for
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them in store and he's going to be doing something great.
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And someday we will see it. I don't know how soon, but
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someday we will see it. So let's get back to Daniel.
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Three times a day he got down on his knees and prayed.
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Now look at what he does. He's giving thanks to his God.
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Just you know, it's always like even when Jesus taught us the
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prayer that says, our Father, this is how I learned it.
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Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy
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Kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
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Give us this day Our Daily Bread, and forgive us our
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trespasses, as we forgive those who have sinned against us and
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lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
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For thine is the Kingdom and the power and the glory, forever and
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ever, Amen. And so right there it's like
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blessed or hallowed or sacred, be your name.
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It's like praising God is the beginning of that prayer, and
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then it's a request for Our Daily Bread, just like what we
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receive. And I, you know, that could be
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literal, that that could be symbolic for the food, the
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nourishment, the sustenance that we get every day.
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But I think it's even more so spiritually from the bread of
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life, which who is Jesus, He's symbolically the bread of life.
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And, you know, give us our daily, give us our daily dose
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of, of your word of Jesus, of the Holy Spirit, like give us
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that every day. And but it's just like
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requesting what we need. And it's just like, do not, do
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not fear, do not have anxiety because God knows what you need
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and he will give it to you. Like look at the birds.
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That's is what it says in Scripture.
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Look at the birds. God provides for them.
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And don't you think you're more important than the birds God
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will provide for you? You don't have to be anxious or
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worry when you trust in God. Just put all your trust in God
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and ask God for guidance so we can't be lazy and not do
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anything and expect God. I mean actually we probably
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could, but God doesn't want that.
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In Thessalonians it talks about like those who do not work shall
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not eat or something to that effect.
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So I actually saw that on a, a vehicle, a repairman's vehicle,
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and I was just like, wow, that's pretty bold.
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But it's true. Like we have to be accountable,
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like God, you know, God expects us to do some work to
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contribute. He'd he, you know, we're not
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here for a handout. We're here to contribute what we
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can with the resources that we have, but we're not to have
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anxiety over what we don't have. Just trust in God.
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And, and I do think that, you know, the more that a person
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does have, the more challenging it will be to keep your focus on
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God because a lot of people get wrapped up into the worldly
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things, into things rather than God.
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And that's going to have some impact.
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I mean, that's going to draw people away from Christ when we
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focus on things rather than on God, and it messes up our
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priorities when we're doing that.
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So if we keep our focus on God and we stay close to him, he
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will provide. So three times a day he got down
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on his knees and prayed, giving thanks to his God, just as he
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had done before. Then these men went as a group
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and found Daniel praying and asking God for help.
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So it doesn't say, I mean, this is, you know, additional detail.
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Daniel was asking God for help. So he was praising him and he
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was saying, God, I need you. So they went to the king and
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spoke to him about his royal decree.
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Did you not publish A decree during the next 30 days?
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Anyone who prays to any God or human being except you, Your
27:53
Majesty, would be thrown into the lion's den.
27:56
The king answered. The decree stands in accordance
27:59
with the law of the Medes and the Persians, which cannot be
28:02
repealed. Then they said to the king,
28:05
Daniel, who is one of the Exiles from Judah, pays no attention to
28:09
you your majesty, or to the decree you put in writing.
28:12
He still prays 3 times a day. When the king heard this, he was
28:16
greatly distressed. He was determined to rescue
28:19
Daniel and made every effort until sundown to save him.
28:23
That's really interesting that we see something about Darius's
28:26
character. Like he realized, oh boy, I
28:29
messed up and he had some concern about Daniel and he was
28:33
trying to rescue Daniel. And but then he made every
28:37
effort. I don't know what he did, every
28:39
effort to save him. Maybe he talked to, I don't know
28:42
what he did. I mean, you would think, but I
28:45
guess according to their law, they couldn't repeal it.
28:47
Maybe he was looking for loopholes and couldn't find any.
28:49
What was he doing? But whatever it was, the Bible
28:52
makes it clear that he was trying to do something to keep
28:55
this from happening. Then the men went as a group to
28:59
King Darius and said to him, remember, your Majesty, that
29:02
according to the law of the Medes and the Persians, no
29:04
decree or edict the king issues can be changed.
29:08
So the king gave the order, and they brought Daniel and threw
29:12
him into the lion's den. The king said to Daniel, May
29:16
your God whom you serve continually rescue you.
29:21
Now this is interesting too, because although the king knows
29:25
that God is connected and working through Daniel and he's
29:29
seen he's aware of Daniel and he respects Daniel too.
29:33
And but yet he's God is not his God.
29:38
And, and at least at this point, it isn't because he's saying may
29:42
your God, he's not just saying, you know, may my God, he's
29:46
saying your God, may your God whom you serve continually
29:51
rescue you. He knew that Daniel was only
29:53
serving one God. And OK, go.
29:58
A stone was brought and placed over the mouth of the den and
30:03
the king sealed it with his own signet ring and with the rings
30:09
of his nobles so that Daniel's situation might not be changed.
30:14
When I read about this, it also I, I don't know if it's really
30:18
significant or not, but it also just made me think about how
30:21
this is how Jesus was buried in a tomb and a stone was placed at
30:25
the opening. And you know, something
30:28
miraculous happened at that when he rose from the dead.
30:33
And it's almost like Daniel's not being harmed and living
30:39
after being placed in this den with a stone in front of it is
30:43
almost like symbolic of Jesus that you just find that a lot in
30:46
Scripture. So then the king returned to his
30:52
palate palace and spent the night without eating and without
30:57
any entertainment being brought to him, and he could not sleep.
31:02
This was obviously weighing very heavily on the king.
31:07
At the first light of dawn, the king got up and hurried to the
31:12
lion's den. When he came near the den, he
31:15
called to Daniel in an anguished voice.
31:19
Daniel, servant of the living God.
31:21
Has your God, whom you served continually been able to rescue
31:25
you from the lions? So he's, he's, I guess, hopeful
31:31
and he's probably also feeling guilty that he put him there.
31:34
But he's hoping that what he's heard before about those
31:38
probably three men, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego that came
31:42
out of the burning fire furnace was going to happen again for
31:46
Daniel. Daniel answered, May the king
31:50
live forever. My God sent his Angel.
31:55
He shut the mount. The mouths of the lions.
31:59
They have not hurt me because I was found innocent in his sight,
32:05
nor have I ever done any wrong before you.
32:08
You meant your Majesty, so I'm going to read the questions and
32:13
answers here for this part. How and why was the lion's den
32:17
sealed with a signet ring? The seal of the King's signet
32:21
ring indicated that Daniel was cast into the lion's den under
32:25
the King's authority. According to the laws of the
32:28
Medes and the Persians, no one could undo the seal and release
32:33
Daniel. Why wasn't Daniel martyred?
32:36
Daniel was protected from the lions because he was innocent of
32:40
wrongdoing and trusted in God. Yet relatively few of God's
32:47
people have been rescued from imminent martyrdom, despite
32:51
their faith. Perhaps Daniel and his three
32:54
friends were exceptions because God wanted to show their Pagan
32:58
captors as well as the discouraged family families that
33:03
He is the true God. We don't know why God chooses to
33:09
do some miracles with some people, but not everyone.
33:14
But we can trust. It could be a testing of our
33:17
faith too, to see that, OK, it happened for somebody else.
33:21
It's possible, but it may not happen to us if it's not God's
33:26
will. But we can trust that God's will
33:29
has something better. So we just trust in God and
33:33
don't lose faith. It could be a testing of our
33:35
faith to see, OK, if our miracle request isn't answered, what do
33:41
we do? Do we turn away from God or do
33:44
we stay connected to him? And God may be looking for that
33:48
within us because that's that's the most important thing is how,
33:53
how is our heart in relation to God?
33:55
How do we feel about God? What do we how do we respond to
33:59
God and, and respond to circumstances?
34:02
Do we stay faithful to him in all circumstances?
34:06
Paul says something about like praise God in all circumstances.
34:10
And we know that's what that's how Daniel was praying.
34:13
He was thanking God first and then he was asking God for help.
34:18
So the next part of verse 23, the king was overjoyed and gave
34:26
orders to lift Daniel out of the den.
34:28
And when Daniel was lifted from the den, no wound was found on
34:33
him because he had trusted in God.
34:37
So look at that. God can do the impossible and
34:41
sometimes it's this wild, you know, it's not always but just
34:46
Jesus said faith the side size of a mustard seed, which a
34:50
mustard seed is really small. But as faith grows, it gets
34:55
soup, it gets really large and strong.
34:58
And when we have a lot of times we saw Jesus when he was healing
35:04
people, he's he was like your faith has healed you.
35:08
So what we believe about God, how we respond to God, our faith
35:13
in God does make a difference. Now, again, we don't know
35:19
because these people who are beheaded for their faith in God,
35:23
that certainly shows a lot of faith that they would, they
35:28
would stay strong in their faith and God is going to reward them.
35:33
That's a promise from God that is found in the book of
35:35
Revelations. These people who were beheaded
35:39
that we're probably, you know, not significant in society.
35:44
They are going to be ruling with Christ during the 1000 years.
35:49
So we have to all remember too, that death, what we see is what
35:54
the Bible calls going to sleep. And it's just it's, we are
36:00
transitioning when when death occurs, we are transitioning to
36:06
eternal, an UN eternal being. Our souls are actually eternal.
36:13
Our body is like a vessel or a container for our soul.
36:18
And when we have the Spirit of God connecting with our spirit,
36:24
we are given spiritual life. That's when the Holy Spirit
36:30
comes into us. And we are at that point, we are
36:35
saved. So we have to know that our
36:40
souls, no matter where we end up, are eternal.
36:43
So that continues on even after our physical death.
36:47
Our soul exists. It's either is our soul going to
36:50
be with God or is our soul going to be separated from God.
36:54
And actually it says that it is eternal torment.
36:58
It's not just separated from God.
37:00
There is punishment. There is consequences of of
37:03
rejecting God because the spirit of God is available to whomever
37:08
once it whomever is ready to humble themselves and ask God, I
37:13
want you to come into my life. I want you to guide me.
37:15
I want you to change me. I want you to protect me, you
37:18
know, and I want to serve you like I'm thankful for your love.
37:22
I want to give back to you. If we are at that place and we
37:26
mean it and we say that to God, we are eternally secured.
37:30
Like if we stay within that if we don't like change our mind
37:33
and say no, I don't want to do this anymore.
37:35
I do think we can do that because God gives us free will.
37:39
But if we stay believing in God and loving God, we have nothing
37:50
to fear because there is something greater in our future,
37:53
no matter what happens to us in this little transitional phase
37:57
of our life. This phase of our life is
38:00
probably like the things that we're doing here are going to
38:04
affect our placement in God's Kingdom.
38:08
And so it is important how we live our lives and what we do
38:13
because I do think that God rewards those who do good things
38:20
with God has given them despite our circumstances.
38:24
Not everybody has the same circumstances.
38:25
Some have less and some have more.
38:28
And God looks at how do you respond to what you have.
38:32
So as Paul says, you know, be thankful in all circumstances.
38:37
OK, Going back to Scripture, at the King's command, the men who
38:40
had falsely accused Daniel. I didn't quite understand that,
38:45
honestly, to be falsely accused, because to me it sounded like
38:51
they were. Maybe the translation isn't a
38:54
good thing because maybe they were like, maybe it should have
38:58
said something like that. I should look up the group, the
39:01
Hebrew, to see if this really translates well.
39:03
Because to me, it sounds like they told the truth to the king,
39:07
but they set them up. So maybe the men who manipulated
39:11
the system would be a better translation.
39:13
But I don't know. I'm just reading what's in here.
39:17
At the King's command, the men who had falsely accused Daniel
39:21
were brought in and thrown into the lion's den along with their
39:25
wives and children, and before they reached the floor of the
39:29
den, the lions overpowered them and crushed all their bones.
39:35
This is, I think, is also symbolic of like eternal
39:37
consequences. What is going to happen to the
39:40
people who reject God? Also going to read what the
39:43
study Bible says. Why were the wives and children
39:45
of the guilty men also punished? This was a custom of the time.
39:50
Wives and children had no rights apart from their patriarchal
39:54
leader. They were regarded as property.
39:57
So when the false accusers were thrown into the lion's den,
40:00
their wives and children faced the same fate.
40:03
So this was again a Medes and Persian rule that.
40:07
They had no value on the life. We kind of see that today too,
40:12
is that there's no, no value of life in in.
40:20
Yeah, just pay attention to that.
40:22
It doesn't seem like there's a value of life.
40:24
It's more about death. And there are these promises
40:27
that about, you know, dying for your country or whatever, dying
40:34
for another entity, that there is going to be a reward.
40:40
But that's not the way God was. You know, there's a there's a
40:43
difference here between life and death.
40:46
One focuses on death and then the other focuses on life,
40:51
eternal life. Like throughout the Bible, it
40:52
says I came to bring them eternal life.
40:57
Jesus defeats death in the end. And that's when eternity, you
41:02
know, continues forever. Like once death is wiped out,
41:05
there is no more death that occurs.
41:10
OK, Verse 25 then King Darius wrote to all the nations and
41:14
peoples of every language and all the earth.
41:16
May you prosper greatly. I issue a decree that in every
41:21
part of my Kingdom people must fear and reverence the God of
41:27
Daniel, for he is the living God and he endures forever.
41:34
His Kingdom will not be destroyed.
41:36
His dominion will never end. He rescues and he saves.
41:42
He performs signs and wonders in the heavens and on earth.
41:46
He has rescued Daniel from the power of the lions.
41:50
So Daniel prospered during the reign of Darius and the reign of
41:54
Cyrus the Persian. This is the end of the verse of
41:58
the chapter 6. Did Darius make Judaism the
42:01
national religion? No like Nebuchadnezzar before
42:04
him, Darius was awestruck by the power of God.
42:07
But also like Nebuchadnezzar, Darius merely added God to a
42:11
list of gods. Darius acknowledged the living
42:14
God's immortality and strength, but not God's right to be
42:18
worshipped exclusively. So I, you know, like, I don't
42:23
know where the study Bible got that answer, I guess from
42:26
different resources. And so maybe that's true.
42:30
But boy, when he makes this proclamation about the living
42:33
God and that everybody, you know, should worship him and
42:39
give fear and worship him it you know, unless there's other
42:44
history that shows that after this point, King Darius still
42:48
continue to worship other gods, which there may be it the Bible,
42:53
what it says here in the limited information that we have does
42:56
seem like Darius may have turned to God after he saw what God
43:03
did. Now why, you know, that's kind
43:05
of a reason why God does miraculous things is to change
43:09
the hearts of people to bring people to repentance so that
43:13
when we get into repentance, changing our mind about who got
43:18
like God's ways, God's commands, not not rejecting his commands
43:21
anymore. When we say, OK, I want to live
43:24
by them and, and you know, God help me, that's repentance.
43:28
When we, when our lives are changed, when we are willing to
43:32
change our life to be obedient to Christ, that's repentance.
43:37
And it's, it's a mind, it's changing our mind that we are
43:42
not hostile to God's commands. We are in agreement with God's
43:46
commands. I mean, when we when we do that,
43:49
then God can start doing things in our lives.
43:52
And I don't know where I was going with it, but that's what
43:55
came to mind as I was reading this.
43:58
Anyway, this is the end of Chapter 6.
44:00
I hope you come back for Chapter 7.
44:02
We're going to start to get into some really interesting
44:05
prophetic things that there's lots of different viewpoints on
44:08
this that I've seen over the last since 2019 when I've been
44:12
studying this. And I will share things that
44:15
I've heard and know that are biblically supported.
44:18
And there's different opinions on things, some things in here,
44:22
but then the Bible is really clear about other things where
44:24
there is no need to interpret because the Bible says exactly
44:28
what it is. Anyway, if you found this, this
44:32
one, maybe not so much, but maybe the next one is going to
44:34
be beneficial because it's Future Prophecy and it's very
44:39
interesting. The next several chapters will
44:41
be very interesting. So I hope you come back.
44:43
If you're not subscribed, I hope you subscribe and share any of
44:47
these episodes with someone else if it's something that's
44:50
beneficial. So I hope you have a great day.