Warriors Arise: February 25, 2021
Daniel 5:30 (NKJV) That very night Belshazzar, king of the Chaldeans, was slain.
The only one who knows the number of your days is the One who dreamed of you and knew you before He knitted you together in your mother's womb. Even if you have done all kinds of evil to me, my husband or my kids, I am not one would curse you, wish your life would be terrible nor would I condemning you to hell. I will be hurt and angry for what you did to my family, but I will not wish ill of you and your's.
We have studied this passage on Belshazzar the past couple of weeks. It clearly reveals God's heart for Belshazzar. The final straw for judgement to be rendered came when Belshazzar brought the vessel that had been crafted, dedicated, and given to God for the use of His priest in the temple in Jerusalem. Belshazzar, with all disregard, brought them out and worshipped the elements of gold, silver, bronze, iron, wood, and stone. These are all things God created here on earth. No matter how beautiful the article, we do not worship "it". We worship God. God created all these things for our pleasure within the realm of honoring God and enjoying what He gave us.
Exodus 20:1-6 (NKJV) And God spoke all these words, saying: 2 “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. 3 “You shall have no other gods before Me. 4 “You shall not make for yourself a carved image—any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; 5 you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, 6 but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.
I do not believe Belshazzar would have died that night had he repented for his sin and called the kingdom to repentance. The judgement of God can be put off and even eliminated if we will surrender our pride and humble ourselves before Him. God did it for the Nineveh in the book of Jonah.
Jonah 3:1-10 (NKJV) Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the second time, saying, 2 “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and preach to it the message that I tell you.” 3 So Jonah arose and went to Nineveh, according to the word of the Lord. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly great city, a three-day journey in extent. 4 And Jonah began to enter the city on the first day's walk. Then he cried out and said, “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!” 5 So the people of Nineveh believed God, proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest to the least of them. 6 Then word came to the king of Nineveh; and he arose from his throne and laid aside his robe, covered himself with sackcloth and sat in ashes. 7 And he caused it to be proclaimed and published throughout Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying, Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste anything; do not let them eat, or drink water. 8 But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily to God; yes, let every one turn from his evil way and from the violence that is in his hands. 9 Who can tell if God will turn and relent, and turn away from His fierce anger, so that we may not perish? 10 Then God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God relented from the disaster that He had said He would bring upon them, and He did not do it.
The king of Nineveh was warned by Jonah like the king of Babylon was warned by Daniel. The king of Babylon even had the finger of God write the warning! God personally got involved. This would be Belshazzar's final warning. The king of Nineveh acted first in repentance. Word reached the king and he followed suite. Did you read verse 9?
Who can tell if God will turn and relent, and turn away from His fierce anger, so that we may not perish?
The king of Nineveh responded as soon as he heard the proclamation from God's prophet and he immediately responded with humbling himself and repenting. Jonah, the prophet of God, had said "in 40 days." They had 37 more days to continue repenting, thinking upon their sinful ways and repenting for those. They were seeking God's forgiveness, mercy and grace. Which is so odd because we do not see in Scripture where they even know of God nor of any movement of God in Nineveh. But when this prophet, heralds out God's decree, these non-believers, non-worshippers of God quickly identify who is God and His authority.
Both kings sinned greatly against God. Both kings were given a judgement. Both kings responded differently. Both kings had a different ending.
God is not without heart. He reveals to us our sin, and when He does we have a choice. We can be like Belshazzar, reward the messenger and continue in our arrogance and blasphemous ways or we can be like the king of Nineveh and call for everyone in our authority, including ourselves to a soul-searching, repentance of sin to God as we embrace a new life, walking in the fullness of what God has for us.
When people join forces with the devil, living in their sin and blasphemous ways God eventually has to render judgement on them. However, I believe in every case God speaks to them, sends word through someone He thinks they will listen to, or He reveals Himself. The problem is not God's judgment, it is our arrogance to dismiss our sin and the opportunity to repent, humbling ourselves before a loving God who gave us a chance.
Do you see it? God gave Belshazzar a chance just like He did the king of Nineveh. God's love is amazing! He desires to offer us forgiveness and erase our sin from existence if we will acknowledge our sin, confess our sin and change our ways. His love is amazing!
Don't get me wrong, the arrogant rub me wrong every time but I still pray they will see their sin and repent. Hell was not created for people. Hell was created for the angels who rebelled, in a revolt against God because of Lucifer's pride. Pride is a wicked deceptive prison that eventually leads to our own destruction.
Father, I ask for You to come and reveal to me any area in which I have pride. I pray I would be open to receiving what You say and not making excuses for my arrogance. I ask for You to speak to me and when You do I want to respond quickly to Your word. I ask for You to forgive me for any way I have been blasphemous toward You. I want to live my life to honor You in what I say and do. I am not perfect but Your forgiveness is. I do not have to remain in my sin but can confess my sin and You remove it from me as far as the east is from the west. You are holy and righteous. Your love covers my sins as if I had never sinned. But I know I have and I am humbled by Your love, as I receive Your forgiveness. I pray for You to send Your Word out across our land. I pray for people everywhere to humble their hearts and repent of their arrogant ways. I pray for people to worship You in all they do. I pray for people to return to Your presence and seek You daily. I pray their ears would open and they would listen to Your voice and make decisions based on Your wisdom. I pray we would have leaders in place who would humble themselves so they do not lead us into a takeover by another foreign country. I pray You would protect Your people and America. I ask for You to come and speak to each one in authority over our nation. I pray they would listen and follow You in Jesus' name amen.
A Warrior in the Lord’s Army,
Veridee Joy Hand
My hope is for Believers in Jesus Christ to join together each day to pray, to push back the enemy as we release God’s power here on earth against the coronavirus, riots, and lies. The prayers will be listed each day as Warriors Arise. I will put a date with it so we can keep them straight. If you have any questions please feel free to make a comment or private message me. If you would like this to come to your email directly please go to verideehand.com and subscribe.
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