So we’ve made it into the palace.  We’ve faced bitterness and resentment and moved on past them.  We’ve yielded to authority when it wasn’t easy.  We’ve started to learn how to love a king, a boss, a man who is very unlovable.  And we’ve won the prize: favor in his sight.

Now what?  Kick back and relax?  Some would say yes.  Some would say that we’ve done the hard work, we’ve gotten the promotion, and now — just sit back and do as little as possible to get by.  You’ve earned it, right?

Well, let’s keep going and see.

Tags: Daniel, doing the right thing, faithfulness, integrity, interpreting dreams, martyr, martyrdom

I’m sorry for the unreasonably long delay between parts 4 and 5.  If you want to look back on the other parts, here are the links:

Part 1 - What it Takes to Stand Before Kings

Part 2 - Do You Have What it Takes?

Part 3 - How Bad Do You Want It?

Part 4 - Waiting Won’t Kill You

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Tags: Daniel, David, do the right thing, Esther, integrity, Joseph

Do you want to hear a story that has nothing to do with anything I post on here?

Yes?

Ok, good.

Daniel can wait, right?  Hopefully tomorrow we can pick up where we left off with him.

Have you ever seen those parents at the grocery story who are hovering over their flailing toddler with a beet-red face?  All the toddler wanted was some M & M’s.  And some Skittles.  And five bouncy balls.  And Cocoa Puffs.  But Mom said no.  And the child protested.  Loudly, wildly, their screams piercing through all the hustle and bustle of the busy store and reaching me on aisle nine, where I would say things in my head like: “I would never let my child act like that!” and “Don’t they know what discipline is?”

Tags: aunt, children, difficult children, discipline, kids, nephew, parenting

Before Daniel even met King Nebuchadnezzar, he underwent three years of training.  The Bible doesn’t tell us much about what on during that time.  The Bible seems to have a habit of sparing us those details.  When Esther was brought to the palace, before she even met the king, she went through 6 months of training.  How about Joseph?  He waited in prison for years before he was brought to the palace.  Or think about David, who was anointed to be king but spent the next several years being chased through the wilderness by the reigning king who wanted him dead.  And then there’s Jesus Christ, our LORD and Savior, who spent 30 years on this earth during which time we know next to nothing of what went on.

Tags: Daniel, David, Esther, Jesus, Joseph, waiting, worth the wait

Tags: Daniel, honor, loyalty, Proverbs 3:3-4, respect

Considering the circumstances by which Daniel ended up in King Nebuchadnezzar’s palace, it’s remarkable the way he conducted himself even from the get-go.  Immediately after Daniel is taken from his noble family in Israel, given a new name (Belteshazzar) and ushered into the king’s palace, Daniel is already seen respecting those who most would consider his enemy.

Babylon (modern-day Iraq) has never been known as a God-fearing nation, and it certainly wasn’t in Daniel’s time.  After reading Daniel’s story in its entirety, that becomes crystal clear; but even at the very beginning, it’s visible.  Israel was a nation established by God for His people.  Babylon invaded, conquered and demolished that land, killing its people along the way.  Oh, and on the way out — they plundered God’s temple.  Even the most illiterate, uninformed God-fearing person would know better than to do that.

Tags: Bible, Daniel, God's Word, honor, integrity, King Nebuchadnezzar, loyalty, Obedience, respect, submit to authority

Daniel had it rough.  We hear time after time about Daniel being thrown in the lion’s den and about his friends, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, getting tossed in the fiery furnace.  But personally, I don’t know if I’ve ever heard anyone teach about how Daniel became a servant in the King’s court.  Was it promotion?  Did he try out?  Was he interviewed?

Tags: Abednego, Daniel, Daniel in the Lion's Den, excellence, fiery furnance, humility, integrity, King Nebuchadnezzar, Meshach, serve kings, Shadrach

As I mentioned before, it was T.L. Osborn’s book Healing the Sick (chapter 33) that really brought me into new revelation concerning Communion.  And when I read this excerpt nearly two weeks ago, concerning what happens (in a physical sense) as we ingest Jesus’ body (the bread) and Jesus’ blood (the wine), I about flew out of my chair:

God has installed in the human body a processing plant which we call a stomach.  The food we eat is digested there and sent out into our blood-stream.  Its chemical essence becomes flesh of our flesh, bone of our bone, skin of our skin, body of our body.  It becomes part of us (page 179, Healing the Sick).

Tags: blood of Jesus, body of Jesus, Bread, Communion, God, healing, Healing the Sick, Jesus, Juice, testimony, Wine

For years, I have been learning more and more about the significance of the blood in terms of Communion.  But it wasn’t until recently that I realized the power of the body (the bread).  And let me tell you: What I learned has changed my life.  More about that tomorrow.  First, let’s journey back to the Old Testament to remember what the body meant back then.  If you’re like me, you’re thinking — but what did it mean back then?  That was before Jesus!  I hear you, my friend.

Tags: body, body of Jesus, Bread, Communion, healing, Healing the Sick, LORD's Supper, T.L. Osborn

“This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is poured out for you.” Those were Jesus’ words as recorded in Luke 22:20.  Notice that Jesus called it a new covenant.  The old covenant we were under (outlined in the Old Testament) was the Law.  But the new covenant Jesus was introducing to His disciples was one of love, unending mercy and righteousness.  And of course, when the disciples drank the wine and ate the broken bread, they didn’t know what we know now.  Yes, Jesus had warned them of what was to come.  They had an inkling.  But they couldn’t look back and see the Cross like we can.  They couldn’t point to what that blood or that body accomplished.

Tags: blood of Jesus, Communion, God, Jesus, Jewish tradition, Juice, new covenant, redemption, wash away my sins, Wine