Warriors Arise: February 10, 2021
Daniel 5:22-23 (NKJV) “But you his son, Belshazzar, have not humbled your heart, although you knew all this. 23 And you have lifted yourself up against the Lord of heaven. They have brought the vessels of His house before you, and you and your lords, your wives and your concubines, have drunk wine from them. And you have praised the gods of silver and gold, bronze and iron, wood and stone, which do not see or hear or know; and the God who holds your breath in His hand and owns all your ways, you have not glorified.
Daniel really tries to break through Belshazzar's arrogance in a number of ways. However, Belshazzar will not be cracked. Belshazzar doesn't want to to know how the writing on the wall came to be. He wants to know what it says and what it means.
Knowing what is happening in our present isn't enough for us to recognize we got ourselves to that moment by something we did or didn't do before "it" happened. It can lead to us moaning, "Why is this happening to meeee?" We really don't want to know why, we just want someone to feel sorry for us. Sometimes we like the attention so much we don't even want them to get us out of the situation.
When we really want to know why we are going through what we are going through, we position ourselves to seize an opportunity rather than struggle through the misery. I do not delight in the difficult times in life but I also do not believe in rolling over and wallowing in them. I do not intend to stay in them any longer than necessary.
Several years ago my husband was so relieved that a difficult situation was over he wanted to close that chapter and move on. I said, "Let's look back and see how this started." He was speechless. For those of you who know my husband that is a pretty momumental occasion.
When words came to him he nearly gasped, "Why would I want to do that?"
"Because if we knew how this mess started then we can avoid it next time." I responded matter-of-factly. He was not convinced we needed to go back to how it all got started and even a little reluctant.
"This is an opportunity," I continued.
"An opportunity!"
"We are not going back to feel the pain of it again. We are going to see if God will show us how this started. If He tried to warn us, then there must have been a way to avoid it."
When God warns us we have the choice to drop everything and follow Him immediately. Sometimes there will still be some repercussions, but not the intense causalities if we continue to remain. God cares for us that much. He doesn't want to see us to suffer. When we hurt, He hurts for us. He hurts even more because He knows if we had listened to Him we would not be in the pain, trauma or confusion we are in now. He also knows that in times when He has to discipline, if we will repent the discipline is not as severe.
We implemented this concept with our kids at an early age. If they will confess their sin they might not get disciplined at all. Generally, there is something but it is not as severe of a punishment. However, if they remain in their sin, then...well...the hammer falls. Do I want to let the hammer fall? Not a chance! I would like them to recognize their sin, confess their sin and apologize. But if they won't then it is my responsibility, as their parent, to administer the discipline.
God doesn't want to disciple either but in order to be the just judge, He has to. He can only wait so long in the judges chamber for us to confess our sin and repent. Belshazzar has the opportunity as Daniel has pointed out how he knew of God's authority with Belshazzar's grandfather was removed and then later restored as king of Babylon. Now, Daniel reveals the arrogance of Belshazzar to defile the articles of gold and silver from the temple of God from Jerusalem.
Daniel 5:23 And you have lifted yourself up against the Lord of heaven. They have brought the vessels of His house before you, and you and your lords, your wives and your concubines, have drunk wine from them. And you have praised the gods of silver and gold, bronze and iron, wood and stone, which do not see or hear or know; and the God who holds your breath in His hand and owns all your ways, you have not glorified.
Instead of worshipping God who holds in His hand the very breath you breathe, Belshazzar led them to worship the gods of gold and silver, bronze and iron, wood and stone. Even if Belshazzar didn't awaken to his sin by not knowing his Babylonian history there was no way for him to ignore this blasphemous behavior at the feast earlier that evening.
What would get you to listen to what God is telling you? Daniel was thorough, even sharing how Belshazzar should react and lead. What would it take for God to get through to you if you were leading those around you to reject the very God who gives you breath to breathe?
Father, as I read this, I am holding my breath. What Belshazzar did was not so far from what we see today. I ask for You to strengthen Your people to know God and His ways. I pray for Your people to pray for our leaders to turn their ear to You, to let You guide them in the decisions they make for Americans. I pray they would honor and value people, unborn babies, jobs, and dreams. I pray they would not allow our country to be destroyed through their arrogance and blasphemous words. We are Your people and we pray for America to be protected by Your love. We pray for treachery to be found out and treason to be exposed. We pray for the truth to be made known. We pray for the innocent to be free, honored and valued. We pray for Your wisdom to be valued and followed. We will position You as our God and no other. We look to You to bring freedom to Your people. We look to You to protect us from lies, jobs being given away and the unborn babies from being murdered. Come and restore our country. I pray we would value people and honor 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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