SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 6/7/2013
10:35 AM
My Worship Time Focus:
Exhortation: The king’s Decision
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Daniel 4:27
Message of the
verses: “27 ’Therefore, O king, may
my advice be pleasing to you: break away now from your sins by doing
righteousness and from your iniquities by showing mercy to the poor, in case
there may be a prolonging of your prosperity.’”
As mentioned in yesterday’s SD we can see the love that
Daniel has for Nebuchadnezzar in this verse that we are looking at today. We will also see that the Lord is
longsuffering and patient with Nebuchadnezzar.
27 “So, king, take my advice: Make a clean break with
your sins and start living for others. Quit your wicked life and look after the
needs of the down-and-out. Then you will continue to have a good life.’” (The Message)
We may be able to see better from
the way the Message has this verse written, that Daniel is pleading with Nebuchadnezzar
to repent so that there would be a chance that he would not have to go through
the awful seven years that were prophesied in the dream that he had. Daniel knew of the longsuffering of God for
he even prays about it in the ninth chapter of Daniel, so he must have believed
that if the king would stop being so proud, begin to show mercy to those who
were down and out that God would not bring about the consequences of the
dream. There is another way that we can
look at what will happen to Nebuchadnezzar when this dream is fulfilled and
that is that God loved him so much that He would not leave him to be such a
proud person.
Love has to be tough at times and because of his love for
Nebuchadnezzar, Daniel exhorts him to repent and that can be seen with the
first word in verse 27 (NASB), “therefore.”
Daniel is saying that because of the consequences that could happen to
him that he must confess his wrong doing and turn to the One True God for
forgiveness. There are some and perhaps
many preachers today that would not speak this truth to their congregation, and
this would be a great sin on their part.
I have been trying to memorize verses in 2 Corinthians 5:17-21 for the
last six or seven weeks, and those verses speak of the ministry of
reconciliation, of which all true believers have been a part of, and also
should be part of it so to pass it on to others so that they too can be
reconciled with God. Daniel was telling
Nebuchadnezzar about this ministry, but part of it has to do with repentance
and confession for God hates sin so much, yet loved the world so much that He
had to send His Son to become sin for us so that we could become the
righteousness of God in Christ. “He made
Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the
righteousness of God in Him (2 Cor. 5:21).”
Now that Daniel has given the word to Nebuchadnezzar, he
was responsible to the Word that Daniel had given to him, he was without
excuse.
Dr. Wiersbe quotes William Culbertson who was the late
president of the Moody Bible Institute: “We
can speak so glibly about the coming of our Lord and about the judgment seat of
Christ. You do not truly hold the truth
of the doctrine of the return of the Lord Jesus Christ until that doctrine
holds you and influences your manner of living as the Bible says it should.” “11 Since all these things are to be destroyed in
this way, what sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness,
12 looking for and hastening the coming
of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be destroyed by burning,
and the elements will melt with intense heat! 13 But according to His promise we are looking
for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells. 14 Therefore, beloved, since you look for these
things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, spotless and blameless,
15 and regard the patience of our Lord
as salvation; just as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom
given him, wrote to you, 16 as also in
all his letters, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things
hard to understand, which the untaught and unstable distort, as they do also
the rest of the Scriptures, to their own destruction. 17 You therefore, beloved, knowing this
beforehand, be on your guard so that you are not carried away by the error of
unprincipled men and fall from your own steadfastness, 18 but grow in the grace and knowledge of our
Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory, both now and to the day of
eternity. Amen (2Peter 3:11-18).” It is
interesting that this would be the very last words that Peter would write that are
recorded in our New Testament. Peter was
speaking about the eventual destruction of not only planet earth, but the
entire universe that God had created as seen in the first chapter of
Genesis. As believers we are responsible
to tell others of what will happen in the future.
Daniel’s exhortation to Nebuchadnezzar to repent of his
sinful ways reminds me of what the prophet Nathan said to King David after his
sin with Bathsheba. I can just see
Nathan with a boney little finger pointing to David saying “You are the man.” Daniel was saying this to Nebuchadnezzar that
he was the man who treated people badly by killing those who he had no use for
and by treating the poor and downcast as if they did not deserve to live. This again is what tough love does as we
speak the truth in love.
Spiritual meaning
for my life today: When you know the
truth you need to live like you know the truth, and then share that truth with
others like Daniel did in this verse.
My Steps of Faith for Today: Trust the Lord to bring others into my life
that need to know the truth of salvation.
Memory verses for the
week: 2 Cor. 5:17-21
17 Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new
creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. 18 Now all these things are from God, who
reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of
reconciliation, 19 namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to
Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and he has committed to us
the word of reconciliation. 20
Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal
through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. 21 He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on
our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
Answer to yesterday’s Bible
Question: “The sun became dark for three
hours and there was an earthquake.”
(Matthew 27:45-51)
Today’s Bible
Question: “Who said ‘My God, my God, why
have You forsaken Me.”
Answer in tomorrow’s SD.
6/7/2013 11:22 AM
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