Daily Bible Reading with DragoNate #153

Abandoning God

2 Kings 24

I pray blessings on you as you read.

(v. 13) "He also took away all the treasures in the LORD's temple and the royal palace. As the LORD had predicted, Nebuchadnezzar stripped the gold off all the furnishings that King Solomon of Israel had made for he LORD's temple." (v. 20) "The LORD became angry with Jerusalem and Judah and threw the people out of his sight. Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon."

My Thoughts

God's people had abandoned Him again and after so doing, there were many evil kings for such a long period of time. As a result of the people abandoning God, God did what He said He would do and Judah and Jerusalem were attacked and taken captive and all the treasures that Solomon had made for God's temple were taken.

Many times God had warned His people of what would happen if they abandoned Him and did not turn from their evil ways. They provoked God to anger, which is actually quite difficult to do. We know that what God says is true, but the people back then, and a lot of people now, do not believe that.

Obviously they didn't care much about what God had been saying to them, or they would have at least tried to turn from their ways. Don't be like them. When we disobey God, which is also known as sin, we can't enjoy the good things that God has in mind for us and our lives.

Like I have said before, God does not promise us a good life or an easy life. What He does promise is eternal life. When we live in God's presence, we experience all the good things that God has planned for us. If we abandon Him, we cannot experience or receive any of that at all.

Learn from the mistakes of God's people in the Bible and don't make the same ones. Don't abandon God and pass up everything He has for you. Even through hard times, if you stay faithful to God, He can, and He will, bring good out of it somehow.

Prayer Time

Now you talk to God about what you read, and you can even read this chapter of the Bible for yourself before you do.

Let me know your thoughts on this reading as well.

Thank you for taking the time to read, I pray that what you have read blesses and inspires you! Godbless!

Daily Bible Reading with DragoNate #145

Using Your Gifts Faithfully

Daniel 2

I pray blessings on you as you read.

(v. 46-48) "King Nebuchadnezzar immediately bowed down on the ground in front of Daniel. He ordered that gifts and offerings be given to Daniel. The king said to Daniel, 'Your God is truly the greatest of gods, the Lord over kings. He can reveal secrets because you were able to reveal this secret.' Then the king promoted Daniel and gave him many wonderful gifts. Nebuchadnezzar made Daniel governor of the whole province of Babylon and head of all Babylon's wise advisers.' "

My Thoughts

Daniel had a special gift, given to him by God, that he could interpret dreams and visions. So when Nebuchadnezzar had a dream, he wanted to know what it meant. None of his magicians or enchanters or anyone else was able to interpret it, which of course made Nebuchadnezzar angry. So angry that he ordered all wise men be executed!

Daniel and his friends were included among those wise men and were to have been executed as well. They were probably terrified! They prayed though, and Daniel asked to be given time so that he could reveal the mystery of the king's dream. So Daniel prayed about that as well and God revealed its meaning to him.

When Daniel had finished interpreting Nebuchadnezzar's dream, he promoted Daniel, praised his God about this and gave gifts and offerings to Daniel. Not that that's really what Daniel wanted, he was just using the gift that God gave him faithfully. Daniel was also wanting not to die.

Daniel had a gift given by God to interpret and understand dreams and visions of all kinds. He used that gift faithfully because he relied on God with it and trusted that God would not leave Him. Daniel was greatly blessed and rewarded for doing so. Not just in terms of what he got, which I don't think Daniel cared that much about, but in terms of his relationship with God.

All of us have something that we're good at or some kind of gift. If you know what yours is, that's great! Use it faithfully and use it selflessly. If you don't know what yours is yet, that's alright. You will find out. When you do, use it to help others and not solely for yourself.

Prayer Time

Now you talk to God about what you read, and you can even read this chapter of the Bible for yourself before you do.

Let me know your thoughts on this reading as well.

Thank you for taking the time to read, I pray that what you have read blesses and inspires you! Godbless!

Daily Bible Reading with DragoNate #83

Don't Give up on Others

Daniel 4

I pray blessings on you as you read.

(v. 27) "Therefore, O king, be pleased to accept my advice: Renounce your sins by doing what is right, and your wickedness by being kind to the oppressed. It may be that then your prosperity will continue.' " (v. 37) "Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and exalt and glorify the King of heaven, because everything he does is right and all his ways are just. And those who walk in pride he is able to humble."

My Thoughts

Nebuchadnezzar had a dream about a tree and he called on Daniel to interpret it. What the dream meant was that Nebuchadnezzar would become big and powerful, but then he would be cut down. Daniel didn't give up on Nebuchadnezzar and he stayed faithful to God through everything that happened. Nebuchadnezzar even knew that Daniel had the Spirit of God in him.

Even though the king knew this about Daniel, he did not himself fully, if at all, believe in God. It took a long time for Nebuchadnezzar to get to that point where he praised God. This dream of his became real and was fulfilled before then though. God doesn't always answer prayer immediately, and not always with a yes either.

Never give up on others. If you have been praying for a long time for someone, a family member or a friend or whoever, to come to know God, and they still haven't, even if it has been years, still do not stop. Keep praying and give that person to God. Sometimes other events need to take place before they will accept Christ.

One of my cousins recently came to know God. My aunt, her sons, my mom and myself have been praying about the rest of our family for a long time. My cousin called my aunt and they talked for a bit, and after a day or so, he called again and accepted Christ! It is amazing because we have been praying for so long about this, and finally, even though it was only one person, God answered our prayers!

This is what happens when you stay faithful to God and you don't give up on others. See, you can't force anyone to believe in God and to accept Christ. That is a choice only the individual can make. What you can do to aid in this is pray and keep showing them Christ in you. You lead as an example, they may follow. If they don't, you did all you could.

Pray constantly for those you love to come to know Jesus. Eventually, it may just happen.

Prayer Time

Now you talk to God about what you read, and you can even read this chapter of the Bible for yourself before you do.

Let me know your thoughts on this reading as well.

Thank you for taking the time to read, I pray that what you have read blesses and inspires you! Godbless!

Daily Bible Reading with DragoNate #35

God's Plan in Hard Times

Daniel 1

I pray blessings on you as you read.

(v. 8) "But Daniel resolved not to defile himself with the royal food and wine..." (v. 12) " 'Please test your servants for ten days: Give us nothing but vegetables to eat and water to drink." (v. 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." (v. 17) "To these four young men God gave knowledge and understanding of all kinds of literature and learning. And Daniel could understand visions and dreams of all kinds." (v. 19) "The king talked with them and found none equal to Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah; so they entered the king's service."

My Thoughts

Well that's a lot of verses for today, huh? They all make perfect sense together though. So the main thing from today's reading, the main point that we should take away from today is that we should eat our vegetables and not drink wine. If we do this, God will give us huge blessings. The end. Okay no, that's just a joke! Eating your vegetables is important as they are good for you, but that's not the point of this reading!

The point of this reading is that Daniel and his people were exiles from Judah after Nebuchadnezzar attacked it. Nebuchadnezzar wanted some young men that had no physical defect, were handsome, well informed, quick to understand, and had great potential for learning. He wanted them to be taught and trained so that they could enter the king's service. Among the men chosen for this purpose were Daniel and his friends, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah. They were all given a daily amount of food and wine from the king's table. As the verses say, Daniel did not want to defile himself that way, so he and his friends elected to have only vegetables to eat and water to drink.

Daniel and his friend's were obedient to God and relied on Him for everything. Their city had been attacked and taken over and now they were being put into training to serve their new king. I'd say they went through a pretty tough time. God has a plan, and even when we are going through a hard time, God's plan does not change. It is easy to lose sight of Him in those situations, but we need to always remember that God knows what He is doing. Even through this hard time that Daniel and his friends went through, God gave them knowledge and understanding and they rose up in Babylon. Daniel kept being promoted more and more. You'll see as you continue to read the book of Daniel.

When you are going through a hard time, a loss of job or a loved one, or maybe you or a loved one falls ill, divorce, bullying or whatever it is that's happening. Don't lose hope in God and don't doubt Him. Remember that, even though what you're going through is hard right now, it will get better if you let it and God will bring some good out of it. There will always be something that, if you look hard enough, you'll see is good that couldn't have happened otherwise. God does not like it when He sees our suffering and He doesn't want us to, so He is always there with us through it all. Always try to look for the positives in any negative.

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Prayer Time

Now you talk to God about what you read, and you can even read this chapter of the Bible for yourself before you do.

Thank you for taking the time to read, I pray that what you have read blesses and inspires you! Godbless!