Message
Notes
Today:
How to Set the Foundation for an Influential Life
Daniel 1 & 2
1.
Realize THAT GOD WORKS IN difficult times to use you to influence others.
1:1-1:7 In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah,
Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it. 2And the Lord delivered Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, along with
some of the articles from the temple of God. These he carried off to the temple
of his god in Babylonia and put in the treasure house of his god.
3 Then the king ordered Ashpenaz, chief of his court
officials, to bring in some of the Israelites from the royal family and the
nobility— 4 young men without any physical defect,
handsome, showing aptitude for every kind of learning, well informed, quick to
understand, and qualified to serve in the king’s palace. He was to teach them
the language and literature of the Babylonians. 5 The
king assigned them a daily amount of food and wine from the king’s table. They
were to be trained for three years, and after that they were to enter the
king’s service.
6 Among these were some from Judah: Daniel, Hananiah,
Mishael and Azariah. 7 The chief official gave them
new names: to Daniel, the name Belteshazzar; to Hananiah, Shadrach; to Mishael,
Meshach; and to Azariah, Abednego.
2.
Courageously and humbly STAND UP FOR WHAT IS RIGHT.
Vss.
8-10 But Daniel resolved not to defile himself with the royal food and wine,
and he asked the chief official for permission not to defile himself this way. 9
Now God had caused the official to show favor and sympathy to Daniel, 10
but the official told Daniel, “I am afraid of my lord the king, who has
assigned your food and drink. Why should he see you looking worse than the
other young men your age? The king would then have my head because of you.”
Daniel
6:4b-5 They could find no corruption in him, because he was
trustworthy and neither corrupt nor negligent. 5 Finally
these men said, “We will never find any basis for charges against this man
Daniel unless it has something to do with the law of his God.”
3.
Make a CONSCIOUS EFFORT to bring people along with you
Vss.
11-16 Daniel then said to the guard whom the chief official had appointed over
Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah, 12 “Please
test your servants for ten days: Give us nothing but vegetables to eat and
water to drink. 13 Then compare our appearance with
that of the young men who eat the royal food, and treat your servants in
accordance with what you see.” 14 So he agreed to
this and tested them for ten days.
15 At the end of the ten days they looked healthier and
better nourished than any of the young men who ate the royal food. 16
So the guard took away their choice food and the wine they were to drink
and gave them vegetables instead.
4.
WALK CLOSELY with God and deeply trust Him
Chapter 2:1-27, 46-49 In the second year of his reign, Nebuchadnezzar had
dreams; his mind was troubled and he could not sleep. 2 So
the king summoned the magicians, enchanters, sorcerers and astrologers to tell
him what he had dreamed. When they came in and stood before the king, 3
he said to them, “I have had a dream that troubles me and I want to know
what it means.”
4 Then the astrologers answered the king in Aramaic,
“O king, live forever! Tell your servants the dream, and we will interpret it.”
5 The king replied to the astrologers, “This is what I
have firmly decided: If you do not tell me what my dream was and interpret it,
I will have you cut into pieces and your houses turned into piles of rubble. 6
But if you tell me the dream and explain it, you will receive from me
gifts and rewards and great honor. So tell me the dream and interpret it for
me.”
7
Once more they replied, “Let the king tell his
servants the dream, and we will interpret it.”
8 Then the king answered, “I am certain that you are
trying to gain time, because you realize that this is what I have firmly
decided: 9 If you do not tell me the dream, there is
just one penalty for you. You have conspired to tell me misleading and wicked
things, hoping the situation will change. So then, tell me the dream, and I
will know that you can interpret it for me.”
10 The astrologers answered the king, “There is not a
man on earth who can do what the king asks! No king, however great and mighty,
has ever asked such a thing of any magician or enchanter or astrologer. 11
What the king asks is too difficult. No one can reveal it to the king
except the gods, and they do not live among men.”
12 This made the king so angry and furious that he
ordered the execution of all the wise men of Babylon. 13 So
the decree was issued to put the wise men to death, and men were sent to look
for Daniel and his friends to put them to death.
14 When Arioch, the commander of the king’s guard, had
gone out to put to death the wise men of Babylon, Daniel spoke to him with
wisdom and tact. 15 He asked the king’s officer,
“Why did the king issue such a harsh decree?” Arioch then explained the matter
to Daniel. 16 At this, Daniel went in to the king
and asked for time, so that he might interpret the dream for him.
17 Then Daniel returned to his house and explained the
matter to his friends Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah. 18 He
urged them to plead for mercy from the God of heaven concerning this mystery,
so that he and his friends might not be executed with the rest of the wise men
of Babylon. 19 During the night the mystery was
revealed to Daniel in a vision. Then Daniel praised the God of heaven 20
and said:
“Praise
be to the name of God for ever and ever;
wisdom
and power are his.
21
He changes times and seasons;
he
sets up kings and deposes them.
He
gives wisdom to the wise
and
knowledge to the discerning.
22He reveals deep and hidden things;
he
knows what lies in darkness,
and
light dwells with him.
23I thank and praise you, O God of my fathers:
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.”
24Then Daniel
went to Arioch, whom the king had appointed to execute the wise men of Babylon,
and said to him, “Do not execute the wise men of Babylon. Take me to the king,
and I will interpret his dream for him.”
25 Arioch took Daniel to the king at once and said, “I
have found a man among the exiles from Judah who can tell the king what his
dream means.”
26 The king asked Daniel (also called Belteshazzar),
“Are you able to tell me what I saw in my dream and interpret it?”
27Daniel replied, “No wise man, enchanter, magician or
diviner can explain to the king the mystery he has asked about, 28but there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries. He has shown King
Nebuchadnezzar what will happen in days to come. Your dream and the visions
that passed through your mind as you lay on your bed are these…
46 Then King Nebuchadnezzar fell prostrate before
Daniel and paid him honor and ordered that an offering and incense be presented
to him. 47 The king said to Daniel, “Surely your God
is the God of gods and the Lord of kings and a revealer of mysteries, for you
were able to reveal this mystery.”
48 Then the king placed Daniel in a high position and
lavished many gifts on him. He made him ruler over the entire province of
Babylon and placed him in charge of all its wise men. 49Moreover,
at Daniel’s request the king appointed Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego
administrators over the province of Babylon, while Daniel himself remained at
the royal court.
John 1:12 Yet to all who
received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become
children of God…
Romans
6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is
eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
A prayer to begin a relationship with Christ: “Dear Jesus, I
realize that I need You in my life. I want to have a real relationship with
You. Today, I have realized that you created me to know you. I also realize
today that I have sinned against you. Please forgive me. I turn to you and ask
you to be the leader of my life. I give you my heart, my soul, my life, my
past, and my future. Thank you for dying for me. Help me to live for you, now and forever. Amen.