SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 3/13/2013 8:22 AM
My Worship Time Focus: God Gave
Daniel A Long Life & Ministry
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Daniel 1:21
Message of the
verses: “21 And Daniel continued
until the first year of Cyrus the king.”
As I read over what Warren Wiersbe wrote in his
commentary on this last verse in chapter one of Daniel I am reminded of my
friend who suddenly died a week ago today.
We go to his funeral later on this morning and some of the things that I
have read in the commentary fit my friend.
Now he was not perfect, but no one is except the Lord, but my friend
served the Lord during the time that God allowed him to serve the Lord on this
earth. We read in Psalm 139 that God
allots us so many days and some of us have more days than others. We are to use those days to bring honor and
glory to the Lord, to learn more and more about our Lord, and to tell others
about what our Lord has done for us.
Daniel was probably over 83 years old before the Lord
called him home, and he could have said what the Lord Jesus Christ said just
before He was to be crucified “I have glorified You on the earth. I have finished the work which You have given
me to do.” (John 17:4) What a fitting end to all who belong to the
Lord, however as Dr. Wiersbe writes some of us are conformers and
transformers. “Each believer is either a
conformer or a transformer. We’re either
being squeezed into the world’s mold or we’re transforming things in the world
into which God has put us. Transformers
don’t always have an easy life, but it’s an exciting one, and it gives you
great delight to know that God is using you to influence others.” I can truly say this about my friend who is
now with the Lord, for people waited for over five hours to walk by him as his
body lay in the casket. He had many
friends and influenced many to turn from their sins and turn to the Lord and
was not bashful about telling others about the Lord Jesus Christ.
As we look at the events that we have seen in chapter one
of Daniel we too can learn from the life of Daniel. Dr. Wiersbe writes “The events recorded in
this chapter should be a great encouragement to us when we experience trials
and testing’s and become discouraged; for when God is not allowed to rule, He
overrules. God is still on the throne
and will never leave us nor forsake us.”
Spiritual meaning for my life today: It is my desire to be a transformer and not a conformer in the days that the Lord has given to me. I probably won’t visit 2000 prisons and lead many people to the Lord, but I desire to do the things that God has given me to do and do them faithfully. I will miss my friend a lot, but I can truly say that I did not lose my friend for I know exactly where he is, for he is with the Lord Jesus Christ hearing Him say “well done my faithful servant, enter into your rest.”
My Steps of Faith for Today: Trust the Lord to continue to use me in the
way He desires and to give me the courage to stand up for Him so I can tell
others about Him and what He has done for me.
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 acknowledged 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.
Answer to yesterday’s
question: “God Almighty” See Exodus 6:3
Question for Today: “What was Zacharias unable to do after the
angel spoke to him?” Answer in
tomorrow’s SD.
3/13/2013 8:56 AM
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