SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 3/11/2013 10:48 AM
My Worship Time Focus: A Discerning
Test
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Daniel
1:8-16
Messages of the verses: “8 But Daniel made up his mind that he would not defile himself with the king’s choice food or with the wine which he drank; so he sought permission from the commander of the officials that he might not defile himself. 9 Now God granted Daniel favor and compassion in the sight of the commander of the officials, 10 and the commander of the officials said to Daniel, "I am afraid of my lord the king, who has appointed your food and your drink; for why should he see your faces looking more haggard than the youths who are your own age? Then you would make me forfeit my head to the king." 11 But Daniel said to the overseer whom the commander of the officials had appointed over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah, 12 “Please test your servants for ten days, and let us be given some vegetables to eat and water to drink. 13 “Then let our appearance be observed in your presence and the appearance of the youths who are eating the king’s choice food; and deal with your servants according to what you see." 14 So he listened to them in this matter and tested them for ten days. 15 At the end of ten days their appearance seemed better and they were fatter than all the youths who had been eating the king’s choice food. 16 So the overseer continued to withhold their choice food and the wine they were to drink, and kept giving them vegetables.”
The Sunday school quarterly that we used when we studied
Daniel is entitled “Our God Reigns.” On
the cover is written Daniel 5:21 which states, “…till he knew that the most
high God ruled in the kingdom of men, and that he appointeth over it whomsoever
He will.” Now in each chapter there is a
theme verse for that chapter and that theme verse; for chapter one is Daniel
1:8, “But Daniel made up his mind that he would not defile himself with the
king’s choice food or with the wine which he drank; so he sought permission
from the commander of the officials that he might not defile himself.” The name of the chapter is “The Making of A
Man,” and that is a good chapter title for Daniel chapter one for we see a
young man, perhaps 15 years old being used of the Lord in an unfamiliar land,
yet knowing that it was God’s will for him to be there and to serve him from
this place. What we see in this young
man is a spirit of non-compromising, but we also see in this young man a person
who knew God’s Word and lived it out. We
see that God gives great favor to Daniel in being allowed to live out his life
without compromising his godly principles, for Daniel knew that it was against
the Law of the Lord to eat certain kinds of foods, and also knew that he should
not eat food that was sacrificed to idols, which were actually demons. God granted favor to Daniel as seen in this
section as God was preparing Daniel for a life of never compromising, a life
that others would see and learn from for thousands of years, and a life that
God chose to reveal secrets that still have not come to pass, but still many of
those secrets have come to pass. It all
begins with Daniels un-compromising spirit that is seen in these verses.
Let us begin by looking at Romans 12:1-2 to see the
difference between those who allow the world to squeeze them into their molds
and those who are transformers who do not allow this to happen. “1 Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the
mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which
is your spiritual service of worship. 2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by
the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is,
that which is good and acceptable and perfect.”
I truly love these verses for they are packed full of great meaning for
all believers. The word “therefore” is a
word that is used to cause a person to look back at what was written before and
in the case of it being in Romans 12:1 we have to go all the way back to the
beginning of the letter to the Romans and what Paul wrote in the first eleven
chapter of Romans. We will not do that
in this SD because of the length of time it would take. When we look at verse one we see that in
light of all that Paul has written in this letter to the Romans that it would
be a logical conclusions that we as believers offer ourselves as a living
sacrifice to the Lord for use as He sees fit.
I think that this is what Daniel did at this early age. Next we see that we are not to be formed into
the mold of the world system, but we are to be transformed by the renewing of
our minds. The word transformed in the
Greek is the word “metamorphoo,” in which we get the word metamorphous. This word is also used in the account of
Jesus being transformed on the mount of transfiguration that is seen in Matthew
seventeen. We know that Jesus is God and
that when He came to planet earth in the form of a baby that He set aside His
glorious appearance that He had in heaven and so when He was on the mountain
the three disciples caught a glimpse of His glory, of who He really was without
being contained in a human body. This
was a picture of what was inside of Him.
As believers we are to be transformed and this can be done by the
renewing of our minds that is having our minds renewed by Scripture. We have to believe that this is what happened
to Daniel before he was taken capture to Babylon. This is what we can read what is written in 1:8.
Another verse that describes what was going on in
Daniel’s life at this time is seen in Proverbs 4:23 “Keep your heart with all
diligence, For out of it spring the issues of life.” What was in Daniels heart caused him to live
the life that he was living, and I believe that it was the Word of God that was
in his heart that caused him to live as he lived. We know that Daniel was not perfect for Paul
wrote that “all have sinned and come short of the glory of God,” and we also
know that Daniel confessed his sins to the Lord for we can read about this in
his prayer in Daniel chapter nine, but I don’t believe that the Bible records
any sinfulness in his life, in fact we have already seen that Ezekiel wrote of
the greatness of Daniel two times in his book and puts Daniel with two other
greats of the OT, that is Job, and Noah.
Dr. Wiersbe writes “A
heart that loves the Lord, trusts the Lord, and therefore obeys the Lord has no
difficulty making the right choices and trusting God to take care of the
consequences. It has well been said that faith
is not believing in spite of evidence—that’s superstition—but obeying in spite
of consequences. When they had to choose
between God’s Word and the king’s food, they chose the Word of God (Ps.
119:103; Deut. 8:3).”
As we read these verses we see that there is a second step
that is seen here and that is being gracious towards those who had charge over
them. If they would have not been
gracious to them then they would not have gotten any place with them. I have mentioned that Joseph and Daniel were
put into similar situations by the Lord and they both acted graciously before
those who were in charge over them. It
is easy for us to read about this in the lives of Daniel and his three friends
and also in the life of Joseph, but when we are faced with similar situations
how do we act. “When a man’s ways are
pleasing to the LORD, He makes even his enemies to be at peace with him (Pr.
16:7).” It was wise for Daniel and his
friends to ask for ten days of trial to be able to show the one over him so
that he could then make a choice as to how they looked after the test. Daniel and his friends along with Joseph
fulfilled the words in Romans 12:18 (NIV), “If it is possible, as far as it
depends on you, live at peace with everyone.”
This verse does not
mean that we are to change our beliefs we have in the Lord.
I have to say something about the diet that Daniel and
his friends went on, for there has been much said about it in the past. I even have a book entitled the “Daniel Fast.”
And in that book it tells us how we can eat what Daniel ate and expect to feel
better, which may be true, but the fact remains that we are not perfectly sure
as to what Daniel ate. Dr. Wiersbe
writes the following in an endnote: “The
fact that God used a vegetarian diet to make these four young men succeed
doesn’t mean that we will succeed if we follow this example. The Bible makes it clear that all foods are
permissible for believers (Col. 2:16; Rom. 14:17; Mark 7:1-23; 1 Tim.
4:1-5). The story encourages us to follow their faith, not their
diet.” Some people may choose to
follow both, and that would be okay too.
I have to quote
the final paragraph in Dr. Wiersbe commentary on this section that began in
verse one. “When it comes to solving the
problems of life, we must ask God for the courage to face the problem humbly
and honestly, the wisdom to understand it, the strength to do what He tells us
to do, and the faith to trust Him to do the rest. Our motive must be the glory of God and not finding a way of escape. The important question isn’t, ‘How can I get
out of this?’ but, ‘What can
I get out of this?’ The Lord used
this private test to prepare Daniel and his friends for the public tests they
would face in years to come. The best
thing about this experience wasn’t that they were delivered from compromise, as
wonderful as that was, but
that they were developed in character.
No wonder God called Daniel ‘greatly beloved’ (Dan. 9:23; 10:11, 19),
for he was very much like His Beloved Son.”
Spiritual meaning
for my life today: Building true
character to the glory of God is something that we see that Daniel did and God
honored that character throughout the life of Daniel. This is surely something to follow as a great
example.
My Steps of Faith for Today:
There is a song entitled “Dare to be a
Daniel.” I want to dare to be a
Daniel.
- “Standing by a purpose true,
Heeding God’s command,
Honor them, the faithful few!
All hail to Daniel’s band! - Refrain:
Dare to be a Daniel,
Dare to stand alone!
Dare to have a purpose firm!
Dare to make it known. - Many
mighty men are lost,
Daring not to stand,
Who for God had been a host
By joining Daniel’s band. - Many
giants, great and tall,
Stalking through the land,
Headlong to the earth would fall,
If met by Daniel’s band. - Hold
the Gospel banner high!
On to vict’ry grand!
Satan and his hosts defy,
And shout for Daniel’s band.
Memory verses for the week:
Psalm 32:1-6
1 How
blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered! 2 How blessed is the man to whom the LORD
does not impute iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit! 3 When I kept silent about my sin, my body
wasted away through my groaning all day long.
4 For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me; my vitality was drained
away as with the fever heat of summer. Selah.
5 I acknowledge my sin to You, and my iniquity I did not hide; I said “I
will confess my transgressions to the LORD”;
and You forgave the guilt of my sin. Selah. 6 Therefore, let everyone who is godly pray
to You in a time when You may be found; Surely in a flood of great waters they
will not reach him.
Turning Points Wisdom for Today: “Never dig up in unbelief what you have sown
in faith.” (Gordon Lindsay) “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!” (Mark 9:24)
3/11/2013 12:34 PM
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