Read the Bible in a Year (16SEP19

DAILY REMINDER – Today, September 16’s Bible reading is Daniel 4-6.

NEXT DAY REMINDER – Tomorrow, September 17’s Bible reading is Daniel 7-9. May God bless you with the reading of His WORD.

DANIEL MOMENT – (16SEP19) “You will be driven away from people and will live with the wild animals; you will eat grass like the ox and be drenched with the dew of heaven. Seven times will pass by for you until you acknowledge that the Most High is sovereign over all kingdoms on earth and gives them to anyone he wishes. The command to leave the stump of the tree with its roots means that your kingdom will be restored to you when you acknowledge that Heaven rules” (Daniel 4:24-25). King Nebuchadnezzar had been given much from the Lord. God used him as a tool to punish the various nations including the Children of Israel. Babylon had become great with wealth, power, and fame across the land where other nations feared her. Unfortunately, Nebuchadnezzar had not come to the knowledge that God was the One who enabled him to have success and not from his own doing. Therefore, the Lord gave him a dream to warn him of what would happen if he failed to humble himself. Daniel was even shaken by the interpretation of the dream himself, but he delivered the Lord’s message and begged for the king to humble himself before God. Nebuchadnezzar forgot his warning and a year later, God turned him into a beast for seven years until he acknowledged Him as the One True God.

The Lord does not delight Himself in the pride at heart. The Bible says: “The Lord detests all the proud at heart. Be sure of this: They will not go unpunished” (Proverbs 16:5). If you can recall, this was the cause of Lucifer’s fall. Pride destroys all it touches and when we allow ourselves to become prideful, we fall out of the will of God. We are to always give God the glory for everything that He does in our lives because we can do nothing without Him. It does not matter if we have great careers, education, money, family, status, etc., those things are only possible because God gave us the breath in our body to make it happen. Let us be mindful that whenever we receive a blessing from the Lord to tell others about HIS goodness and not have them to think that it was of our own doing. Something to ponder….

QUESTION OF THE DAY - (16SEP19) “This is the inscription that was written:

mene, mene, tekel, parsin  ‘Here is what these words mean:

Mene^[: God has numbered the days of your reign and brought it to an end.

Tekel: You have been weighed on the scales and found wanting.

 Peres: Your kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and Persians’” (Daniel 5:25-28).

The Lord had told His prophets of the judgment that was coming to Babylon. She was prideful and arrogant. She gave God no glory nor did she have a desire to honor Him, so when Belshazzar used the articles of the Lord for his entertainment, this angered the Lord. Unlike his father Nebuchadnezzar, he had not humbled himself before the Lord; therefore, Babylon’s destruction had finally come, and the Medes and Persians were going to give Babylon the end that she deserved that very night. The handwriting on the wall was to let Babylon know that their time was up.

America, like Babylon, is prideful and arrogant. She thinks that she will never fall as her politicians speak of her greatness and infallibility with claims of making her great again. Nevertheless, America has had the handwriting on the wall as well. She refuses to repent and end the abortions still taking place across this nation, the pedophilia, government corruption, homosexual marriage, and the other abominations that she continues to allow. God has sent her warnings through his prophets, evangelists, pastors, and watchmen about her wicked ways. Yet, she refuses to repent and turn from her wicked deeds. America’s riches will not be able to save her on the day of the Lord’s wrath. Jesus gave a parable about a man storing up material treasures on earth but neglecting the Lord. This is what Jesus told them God’s response: “But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’ ‘This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God’” (Luke 12:20-21).

America’s days are numbered and even though no one knows exactly when her destruction will take place, those who are spiritually discerning the hour in which we live know that it will one day happen as prophesied in the book of Revelation. Do you constantly pray for the lost in this nation to turn their hearts to God? Do you pray for those in other countries to know the True Living God? Let us be mindful that we need to have our houses in order, so should we witness that day of destruction in our nation, the death angel will see the blood of the Lamb over our doorpost and pass over us. Something to ponder…

DANIEL MOMENT – (16SEP19) “Now Daniel so distinguished himself among the administrators and the satraps by his exceptional qualities that the king planned to set him over the whole kingdom. At this, the administrators and the satraps tried to find grounds for charges against Daniel in his conduct of government affairs, but they were unable to do so. They could find no corruption in him, because he was trustworthy and neither corrupt nor negligent” (Daniel 6:34). Daniel had served under the Babylonian kings and now, he was serving under King Darius. God gave him favor with the former kings and this one was no different. King Darius saw that Daniel was a man of integrity and was about to make him governor of the land. This did not go well with the other administrators who were jealous of him, so they sought to find a flaw in his character. They, however, were unable to do so, which caused them to use deceitful measures involving his dedication to the Lord. Despite their ability to have him found guilty of defying the king’s order in not praying to any other gods, they were judged by the same measure they had judged him and found guilty. Things did not go so well with them because Daniel, after having been thrown in the lions’ den, was rescued by God. Unfortunately for Daniel’s enemies, their plotting made the king angry, which caused them to be the lions’ entree.  

Sometimes the very trap that others set for you will be the one that the Lord will allow your enemies to become entangled in themselves. The Bible says: “Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: ‘It is mine to avenge; I will repay,’ says the Lord” (Romans 12:17-19). When we try to take revenge on others, we become guilty of doing the Lord’s job. He wants us to focus on love, kindness, and forgiveness, so that we do not lose sight of Him. When others speak ill of us, we are to pray for them and not curse them. Let them try to find something wrong in us if they can, but do not give them ammunition to use. Our enemies are actually enemies of God, so He is the best One to deal with them as He sees fit; therefore, let’s try to love those who hate us and watch the Lord bless us in return just as He did with Daniel. Something to ponder….