Category: Devotions

Daniel 9

So what are the seventy sevens? The seven sevens? the sixty two sevens?
What happens in the middle of the seven?
It actually is all quite simple …
We have 490 years, 49 years, 434 years and 3 and 1/2 years to fit into the history of the world from the commencement of this vision of Daniel.
It actually is all quite simple …
Once you have decided on whether you will use lunar years (354 days) or calendar years (360 days) or solar years (365 and 1/4 years),
It actually is all quite simple …
Once you have decided whether this is related to the abomination of desolation when Antiochus Epiphanes slaughtered a pig on the altar in Jerusalem in 168BC or whether this refers to the last and final antichrist on earth,
It actually is all quite simple …
Once you have decided whether you are a dispensational pre-millennialist, a classical premillennialism or a-millennialist,
It actually is all quite simple …
Once you have decided that the years are definitely chronological or symbolical,
It actually is all quite simple …
The whole Bible is about Jesus coming, His death, resurrection and ascension, the power of the church and the return of Jesus before the final end of the world as we know it.
Look at verse 24…
Jesus has come to finish transgression … It is finished he cried.
Jesus has come to put an end to sin … He came to die for them.
Jesus came to atone for wickedness … With His blood.
Jesus came to bring everlasting righteousness … We are now righteous in God.
Jesus came to seal up vision and prophecy … He is God’s first and last Word.
Jesus came to anoint the most holy … He is the most holy presence of God.
It is all about Jesus.
It is all quite simple.
He has come and He is coming again!

Daniel 8

Greatness and power are important words in this chapter, they are repeated often.
v4 the ram becomes great, no one could stand against him and his power.
v8 the goat becomes very great.
v9 the little horn grew in power and set itself up as great, it prospered in everything, v12.
Satan will always move against God’s people with greatness and power.
Whether through the empires of the Medes and Persians of Daniels era or the spirit of antichrist found in Antiochus Epiphanes who gave himself the title “Theos Antiochus” meaning “The illustrious God” or the many ‘Hitlers’ of the modern world, all have attacked and still attack the church.
However, what we know today from this chapter is that the spirit of the antichrist will be destroyed, v25.
Whatever generation God’s people find themselves in, whatever empire they live under, they can speak boldly and loudly to the darkness and confusion of the circumstances.
We may not know everything, but we do know something, God always destroys the antichrist.
Even if what we face is great and has power, we are servants of God who is the Prince of Princes!
Join together along with Daniel and declare today:

GOD IS GREAT!

Daniel 7

Daniel is disturbed and depressed. What he saw and heard and wrote about shocked him to the core.
We too are at times taken into a visual image through media stories or personal experiences which leave us speechless.
However, in the middle and central to his vision is one of the most beautiful, powerful images of God in the Bible … He is the Ancient of Days!

v1 this is before chapter 5 where there is a change of government, of style, outlook, the future of Babylon is changing. Daniel was living in an environment of expectation and apprehension.
In times of change, the Ancient of Days is on the throne.

v2 at these times the sea was a powerful symbol of evil and chaos.
In times of chaos, the Ancient of Days is on the throne.

v4-7 these beasts are perversions of what God intended. The beasts are corrupted, they are hybrid beasts. There are many who love under corrupt leadership regimes.
In times of corruption, the Ancient of Days is on the throne.

v8,11 throughout all history evil kings/dictators have stood on podiums of arrogance boasting of their abilities.
In times of conceit, the Ancient of Days is on the throne.

v13,22 this is a vision not a time-line. Jesus would speak of his second coming by referring to this chapter in Mark 14:62.
In times of Christ’s appearing, the Ancient of Days is on the throne.

Whatever season you go through, no matter how bleak, there is always One who is on the throne, the Ancient of Days is on the throne.

Daniel 6

Have you been judged, condemned and sentenced?
Has a stone been rolled over you sealing your fate?
Does your situation now look like it cannot be changed?
Never worry about the set of circumstances you find yourself in.
It’s behind the stone that counts.
Behind the stone is God who saves.
Behind the stone is God who sends the angel.
Behind the stone is God who shuts down the power of the enemy.

You may have been thrown down (v16) but you will be lifted up (v23).
God is always behind the stone. He specialises in coming out of those dark places. Trust Him.

Daniel 5

King Belshazzar makes a sudden appearance without any warning.
The enemy springing onto the scene.
However, the hand of God suddenly appears also.
The Bible is full of outpourings, revelations, salvations, Godly interventions, freedoms, broken chains, all happening suddenly.
I don’t have to fear the enemies suddenly’s, the writing is on the wall for my enemy.
Numbered, weighed and divided.
Mene = God has numbered the days of your enemy’s reign, it will soon be over.
Tekel = God has decided on the outcome. He has weighed it all up.
Parsin = God will bring judgment to your enemy.
And how do we move from a belittled place of being “one of the exiles” v13 to that of power, value and status, v29?
The answer is the Spirit, v10-12.
The Spirit who can surprisingly make one chapter of our life end so differently to how it began.
Suddenly …

Daniel 4

I have built …
My mighty power …
My majesty…

I and My.

It’s all about me. (v30)

But my voice is lower than the heavenly voice. It always will be. (v31)

That was the testimony of Nebuchadnezzar.
If only we had more stories like that. Even in the Church!

Daniel 3

I have a few questions today:

1. Will the performances of man outshine God’s performance? v1
2. Will God’s image (ourselves) bow to man’s image? v1-11
3. Will God be displaced from the throne of your life? v12
4. Is there anything impossible for God? v15
5. Do we always have to defend and explain ourselves? v16
6. Should we be afraid of death? v18
7. Is anger against God foolishness? v19
8. Is God still with us even when it goes wrong? v25

God will not be defeated. He always wins.
Which question do you want to answer today?

Daniel 2

Nebuchadnezzar was the most powerful man in the Babylonian empire. He could take anyone’s life, but he had feet of clay.
We use this phrase of organisations and people who may look big and impressive but who have vulnerable weak spots which means they can fall quite easily.

In the dream the rock smashes against the feet of the statue. The great figure is reduced to nothing and the rock becomes a mountain filling the whole world. The rock is Jesus.

Whether speaking to God’s people in exile or to us today in a shaking angry world, the message is God can be trusted, His kingdom is a rock.
It is an indestructible kingdom.
It is an all-victorious kingdom.
It is an eternal kingdom.

Nebuchadnezzar is found at the feet of Daniel.
Christ the rock has put all his enemies under his feet.
For those of you facing an enemy attack today … Where do these attacks belong? Under your feet! What is the response to satanic attack? Get under my feet!
God can be trusted!

Daniel 1

The book opens with the city of Jerusalem taken. This is devastation, humiliation, that the people of God are overruled by the people of the world.
On the surface it looked like Nebuchadnezzar had all the power.
BUT God was and is always in control.
Daniel knew it. God’s Word told him so.
He was a student of Jeremiah the prophet (chapter 9 will show this).
They began to build houses and settle down just as Jeremiah had prophesied.
Wherever you are and whatever has happened God can cause you to flourish again.
They learnt how to sing the Lord’s song in a foreign land (Psalm 137:1-4).
God is behind our lives. He is in control.
We can know what Paul knew, “I want you to know that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel.” (Phil 1:12)
Daniel knew this. The evidences of God told him so.
Nebuchadnezzar took articles from God’s temple and placed them in his own temple. He could have destroyed them but they were preserved.
If you look at your story you will be able to say “it could be worse”. God is in control.

Ezekiel 48

We call Him down but He is already there, so why do we do it?
Why do we worship as if He’s not there when He is?
We get so anxious about tomorrow as if we face it alone, why?
Having no evidence for His presence, does this mean He is not present?

It was a new name, a new revelation.
They hadn’t known God by this name.
Everything suggested God had left them. He was a departing God.
They had proof, no city, no temple, nothing.

But this is Jehovah Shammah: The Lord is there.
Do you know this name?