Give Credit to Where Credit is Do

I am getting ready to start a bible study on the book of Daniel for our church and in preparation for that my eyes fell on these verses once again. What was written centuries ago still remain true today.

After approaching the throne of God and asking for an answer to the earthly king's request this is the response Daniel gave to God.

"Praise be to the name of God for ever and ever, wisdom  and power are his. He changes times and seasons; he deposes kings and raises up others. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the discerning. He reveals deep and hidden things; he knows what lies in darkness, and light dwells in him. I thank and praise you, God of my ancestors: You have given me wisdom and power, you have made known to me what we asked of you, you have made known to us the dream of the king." ~Daniel 2:20-23 NIV

 

As tempted as I am to break this down and write a piece on all that we can get from these three verses, I will not. However, there are two things that struck me among the many.

 

1. When we ask God for things and when we seek Him, do we expect to hear from Him? Daniel needed an answer by sun up. If no answer came, they were all going to be killed. Instead of panicking about it, he went straight to the source. God Himself. Do we do that? And if we do, how do we respond. Scripture tells us after receiving the message Daniel spoke these words listed above. He then sent word to the king. In his response to the king, he gave God the credit. Do we do that? Or do we want others to think we did it on our own?

 

2. God changes the times and seasons (we are beginning Fall a great reminder God is still in control).  When He created this world he made a cycle for Nature to follow and it is still on course. But keep reading...He deposes of kings and raises up others. Now if you pick up a paper or turn on the news you see all the faces of those wanting to be our next leader. If you look deeper in the paper and watch longer on TV you see this same event is happening all over the world. Some do so peacefully and orderly while others kill one leader to have another leader serve. My point is this, God still controls who and when and how this world will be led. Like it or not. Daniel served under several kings in this lifetime. I am sure he liked some better than others. How did he do it? He served God and then the king. He had a peace and a confidence about his day to day life. He worked for an audience of One. So do you and I. Also, just as Daniel could rely on God for all his needs, so can you and I.

 

If interested in the bible study. It is at our church, Lancaster Alliance Church 210 Pitney Road, Lancaster across from Costco. We begin this Wednesday night at 7:00 p.m. till 8:30 p.m. It is the Beth Moore's Women's Study on Daniel. It runs for 12 weeks. I would appreciate your prayers as the women take this study and as I facilitate it.

 

Now just for fun to close the day. I sensed yesterday and today, two different times to take my camera out to the sunflowers. I didn't want to either time because they are starting to wilt and die. Yet the presence was strong to do so. I got my camera and to my surprise I captured the following. I should never be surprised by God, yet I still am. I am loved and so are you! He does the little things from time to time just to see you smile. This butterfly has stayed around for several days. Gold finches are very jumpy and hard to get pictures of.