KJB Daily Devotion – Following Jesus Through Every Chapter
Date: Monday, September 12, 2016
Chapters: Daniel 4-6
Message: A Humble Spirit
Hello My Friend,
I have always had this thing about me that no matter what job I had my hard work would win the favor of the boss and I would end up in more authoritative roles, even if I was not trying to get promoted. What was my secret? No, it was not God, it was my spirit. I did my job, I was honest, trustworthy, and dependable. Let me tell you, I have quit jobs, lost out on clients, and even lost an amazing guy because my spirit was not right. Most of us do take pride in our our accomplishments, but we must be careful not forget that God gave us the skills and put us in the positions we are in to get us to where we are in the first place. A proud spirit will send us packing, but a humble spirit will take us to places we never knew.
“Do ye think that the scripture saith in vain, The spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy? But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble. Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.” – James 4:5-7,10.
The people of Babylon were well aware that there was only living God was among them, yet that did not keep them from turning away from their false gods. We learn of three kings who found out the hard way that there is only One Living God, and regardless of how much power they had, it was nothing compared to the power of the living God. Nebuchadnezzar loved being in power, and the fact that he was in control of practically every nation, made him pretty proud. He was well aware of God, even praised Him as being the God above all gods, what he failed to do was acknowledge that God gave him all that power and could take it away in an instant to show him just how much his pride would be his fall. Even though Nebuchadnezzar was not a believer, God spoke to him in yet another dream, he sent for Daniel to interpret the dream.
“This is the interpretation, O king, and this is the decree of the most High, which is come upon my lord the king: That they shall drive thee from men, and thy dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field, and they shall make thee to eat grass as oxen, and they shall wet thee with the dew of heaven, and seven times shall pass over thee, till thou know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will. And whereas they commanded to leave the stump of the tree roots; thy kingdom shall be sure unto thee, after that thou shalt have known that the heavens do rule. Wherefore, O king, let my counsel be acceptable unto thee, and break off thy sins by righteousness, and thine iniquities by shewing mercy to the poor; if it may be a lengthening of thy tranquillity.” – Daniel 4:24-27.
“and break off thy sins by righteousness,” All Nebuchadnezzar had to do was turn away from his false gods and turn to the one true God, but he refused and as a result spent seven years in a field as an animal before He acknowledged that fact. One would wonder why God was working so hard to get a heathen to turn to Him? The truth is, God wants all to acknowledge Him and break off their sins by righteousness, meaning turn to God, and in our case today, Jesus Christ, we must know Him as our Saviour, He is our righteousness.
“But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ, And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith: That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death; If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead.” – Philippians 3:7-11.
Now, after Nebuchadnezzar died his son Belshazzar reigned as king, after all the humility that he saw his father go through you would have thought that he would have recognized God, but he did something even worse. He took the cups and other valuables that were taken from the Temple in Jerusalem and began using them and worshiping other gods with them. This time God did not use a dream to get the kings attention, He wrote a message on a wall, the king was devastated by this and desperately searched for someone who could read the writing, the queen remembered Daniel and he was brought to interpret it.
“Now the queen, by reason of the words of the king and his lords, came into the banquet house: and the queen spake and said, O king, live for ever: let not thy thoughts trouble thee, nor let thy countenance be changed: There is a man in thy kingdom, in whom is the spirit of the holy gods; and in the days of thy father light and understanding and wisdom, like the wisdom of the gods, was found in him; whom the king Nebuchadnezzar thy father, the king, I say, thy father, made master of the magicians, astrologers, Chaldeans, and soothsayers; Forasmuch as an excellent spirit, and knowledge, and understanding, interpreting of dreams, and shewing of hard sentences, and dissolving of doubts, were found in the same Daniel, whom the king named Belteshazzar: now let Daniel be called, and he will shew the interpretation.” – Daniel 5:10-12.
“There is a man in thy kingdom,” One of the best reasons for staying faithful to God and being a godly example is that it brings others to Christ. Remember, we did not get where we are on just our own merits, God was there, which was why Daniel did not want to accept the promotion, but it was given to him anyway. When Christ shines through us, God rewards us with much more than we could ever imagine.
“Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time: Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.” – I Peter 5:6-7.
Belshazzar was killed shortly after the interpretation was given, then the Medes took control of Babylon, and a man named Darius reigned. Darius loved Daniel because he was faithful, of course, that did not go ever well with the others and they conspired to have him killed.
“It pleased Darius to set over the kingdom an hundred and twenty princes, which should be over the whole kingdom; And over these three presidents; of whom Daniel was first: that the princes might give accounts unto them, and the king should have no damage. Then this Daniel was preferred above the presidents and princes, because an excellent spirit was in him; and the king thought to set him over the whole realm. Then the presidents and princes sought to find occasion against Daniel concerning the kingdom; but they could find none occasion nor fault; forasmuch as he was faithful, neither was there any error or fault found in him. Then said these men, We shall not find any occasion against this Daniel, except we find it against him concerning the law of his God.” – Daniel 6:1-5.
“because an excellent spirit was in him;” When our spirit is right, knowing that God is the reason for our success, we are going to prosper, and that is going to create enemies. We must realize that as long as we belong to Christ we are always going to be enemies, and you cannot hide your faith, that only brings more problems. However, as long as we remain faithful to God and are not ashamed of our faith we are protected. God makes it easy for all to acknowledge and accept His Son, by putting us in the midst of them, but if they touch us they will learn from God what happens when they do.
“Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord. Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head. Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.” – Romans 12”19-21.
Today’s Prayer: God, As You bring prosperity to Your people by our simple faithfulness to You will let us be reminded that all the things we go through, whether it is easy or difficult, are used to give You honor and glory. As long as our spirit is right and we are faithful to You we will continue to prosper, and even more than we imagine. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina
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