Month: March 2018

king nebuchadnezzar sent this message to the people of every race and nation and language throughout the world : ” peace and prosperity to you. I want you all to know about the miraculous signs and wonders the most high God has performed for me. how great are HIs signs? how powerful HIs wonders? His kingdom will last forever, His rule through all generations.

I nebuchadnezzar was living in my palace in comfort and prosperity but one night I had a dream that frightened me. I saw visions that terrified me as I lay in my bed so I issued an order calling in all the wise men of Babylon so they could tell me what my dream meant . when all the magicians enchanters fortune tellers and astrologers came in I told them the dream but they could not tell me what it meant. at last daniel came in before me and I told him the dream ( he was named belteshazzar after my god and the spirit of the holy gods is in him..)

I said to him ” belteshazzar chief of the magicians I know the spirit of the holy gods is in you and that no mystery is too great for you to solve . now tell me what my dream means.

while I was lying in bed this is what I dreamed. I saw a large tree in the middle of the earth . the tree grew very tall and strong reaching high into the heavens for all the world to see. it had fresh green leaves and it was loaded with fruit for all to eat. wild animals lived in its shade and birds nested in its branches . all the world was fed from this tree.

then as I lay there dreaming I saw a messenger a holy one coming down from heaven. the messenger shouted ” cut down the tree and lop off its branches shake off its leaves and scatter its fruit , chase the wild animals from its shade and the birds from its branches but leave the stump and the roots in the ground , bound with a band of iron and bronze and surrounded by tender grass . now let him be drenched with the dew of heaven and let him live with the wild animals among the plants of the field . for 7 periods of time let him have the mind of a wild animal instead of a human for this has been decreed by the messengers it is commanded by the holy ones so that everyone may know that the most high rules over the kingdoms of the world

He gives them to anyone He chooses even to the lowliest of people .

belteshazzar that was the dream that I king nebuchadnezzar had now tell me what it means for none of the wise men from my kingdom can do so but you can tell me because the spirit of the holy gods is in you.”

upon hearing this daniel also known as belteshazzar was overcome for a time frightened by the meaning of the dream, then the king said to him ” belteshazzar don’t be alarmed by the dream and what it means”

belteshazzar replied ” I wish the events foreshadowed in this dream would happen to your enemies my lord and not to you. the tree you saw was growing very tall and strong reaching high into the heavens for all the world to see . it had fresh green leaves and was loaded with fruit for all to eat. wild animals lived in its shade and birds nested in its branches . that tree your majesty is you , for you have grown strong and great your greatness reaches up to heaven and your rule to the ends of the earth, then you saw a messenger a holy one coming down from heaven and saying ‘ cut down the tree and destroy it but leave the stump and the roots in the ground bound with a band of iron and bronze and and surrounded by tender grass. let him be drenched with the dew of heaven. let him live with the animals of the field for seven periods of time.’

this is what the dream means your majesty and what the most high has declared will happen to my lord the king. you will be driven from human society and you will live in the fields with the wild animals. you will eat grass like a cow and you will be drenched with the dew of heaven. seven periods of time will pass while you live this way until you learn that the most high rules over the kingdoms of this world and gives them to  anyone He chooses, but the stump and roots of the tree were left in the ground . this means that you will receive your kingdom back again when you have learned that heaven rules.

king nebuchadnezzar please accept my advice. stop sinning and do what is right. break from your wicked past and be merciful to the poor perhaps then you will continue to prosper.”

but all these things did happen to king nebuchadnezzar . 12 months later he was taking a walk on the flat roof of the royal. palace in Babylon . as he looked out across the city he said ” look at this great city of Babylon . by my own mighty power I have built this beautiful city as my royal residence to display my majestic splendour.”

while these words were still in his mouth a voice called down from heaven ” oh king nebuchadnezzar this message is for you . you are no longer ruler of this kingdom. you will be driven from human society. you will live in the fields with the wild animals and you will eat grass like a cow. 7 periods of time will pass while you live this way until you learn that the most high rules over the kingdoms of this w0rld and gives them to anyone He chooses.’

that same hour the judgment was fulfilled and nebuchadnezzar was driven from human society . he ate grass like a cow and he was drenched with the dew of heaven. he lived this way until his hair was as long as eagle feathers and his nails were like birds claws.

after this time had passed I nebuchadnezzar looked up to heaven . my sanity returned and I praised and worshipped the most high and honoured the one who lives forever. His rule is everlasting and HIs kingdom is eternal . all the people of the earth are nothing compared to HIm. He does as He pleases among the angels of heaven and among the people of the earth. no one cAN STOP hiM OR say to HIm ‘ what do you mean by doing these things?’

when my sanity returned to me so did my honor and glory and kingdom . my advisers and nobles sought me out and I was restored as head of my kingdom with even greater honor than before.

now I nebuchadnezzar praise and glorify and honour the king of heaven . all His acts are just and true and He is able to humble the proud.

selah 🙂

this chapter begins with the heartening news that nebuchadnezzar has had a turnaround and decided to worship the one true God.

it’s true that God will never be deposed from HIs throne.

at this point nebuchadnezzar had not yet worked out his feelings regarding Elohim.

he was still holding onto the worship of baal and he still believed in multiple gods even though he recognized the power of the one true God he saw evident in Daniel’s life.

I am not sure if we are meant to assume that king nebuchadnezzar woke from his dream and was interrupted by an angel from heaven or that he saw an angel wake him up from one dream while he was still trapped inside another dream.

daniel might have been terrified that if king nebuchadnezzar heard that his dream meant bad news for his future he might become furious with him and prematurely end his life.

God showed grace to king nebuchadnezzar.

what amazing love bestowed on one who killed His chosen people.

it would have been an extremely humbling experience to be in king nebuchadnezzars shoes and eat food off the ground like an animal sleeping on the ground and being forced to fight in order to grab every tiny morsel thrown in his direction. you would think king nebuchadnezzar would have been smart and heeded the warnings fom his own dreams but he gradually forgot about the fact that all the success he gained was only brought about because Elohim permitted it to be so.

according to jewishencyclopedia.com evil merodach was looking after his father king nebuchadnezzars throne during his 7 years of absence . hE MAY have been the one who coerced his dad into leaving but i have no solid evidence to back up this theory so a theory is all it will ever be. Gods existence is eternal. all our greatness pales into insignificance compared to toe myriad of activities God is constantly involved with making sure its never possible for us to claim the excuse that we never had an opportunity to avail ourselves to the master’s hands. it is not wrong for us to question why God operates the way He does merely to deny HIs existence or to give up communicating with HIm cos choosing to do so puts us straight into the danger zone and increases our vulnerability to temptation.

God is always just and right even when we think His way of running the universe isnt fair.

we must remind ourselves that if we were to get what we deserve we would all be burning in hell right now so its just as well God chooses to be kind to us and help us to walk in HIs footsteps . God resists the proud but He listens to the humble . if we want God to bless our lives we have to tune into His frequency. reading His word and listening out for HIs guiding voice enables us to overcome all the obstacles the world places across our path trying to block us from accessing heaven.

paoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

king nebuchadnezzar made a gold statue 90 feet tall and 9 feet wide and set it up on the plain of dura in the province of Babylon.

then he sent messengers to the high officers , officials, governors, advisers , treasurers, judges, magistrates and all the provincial officials to come to the dedication of the statue he had set up so all these officials came and stood before the statue king nebuchadnezzar had set up then a herald shouted out ” people of all races and nations and languages listen to the king’s command. when you hear the sound of the horn flute zither lyre harp pipes and other musical instruments bow to the ground to worship king nebuchadnezzar’s gold statue. anyone who refuses to obey will be immediately thrown into a blazing furnace” so at the sound of the musical instruments all the people whatever their race or nation or language bowed to the ground and worshipped the gold statue that king nebuchadnezzar had set up, but some of the astrologers went to the king and informed on the jews . they said to king nebuchadnezzar ” long live the king. you issued a royal decree requiring all the people to bow down and worship the gold statue when they heard the sound of the horn flute zither lyre harp pipes and other musical instruments. that decree also states that those who refuse to obey must be thrown into a blazing furnace but there are some jews shadrach Meshach and Abednego whom you have put in charge of the province of Babylon. they pay no attention to you your majesty . they refuse to serve your gods and do not worship the gold statue you have set up.”

then king nebuchadnezzar flew into a rage and ordered that shadrach Meshach and Abednego be brought before him. when they were brought in nebuchadnezzar said to them ” is it true shadrach Meshach and Abednego that you refuse to serve my gods or worship the gold statue I have set up? I will give you one more chance to bow down and worship the statue I have made when you hear the sound of the musical instruments but if you refuse you will be thrown immediately into the blazing furnace and then what God will be able to rescue you from my power?”

shadrach Meshach and Abednego replied ” O nebuchadnezzar we do not need to defend ourselves before you . if we are thrown into the blazing furnace God whom we serve is able to save us . He will rescue us from your power O Majesty but even if He doesn’t we want to make it clear to you your majesty that we will never serve your gods or worship the gold statue you have set up.”

nebuchadnezzar was so furious with shadrach Meshach and Abednego that his face became distorted with rage. he commanded that the furnace be heated 7 times hotter than usual then he ordered some of the strongest men of his army to bind up shadach Meshach and Abednego and throw them into the burning furnace. so they tied them up and threw them into the furnace fully dressed in their pants turbans robes and other garments and because the king in his anger had demanded such a hot fire in the furnace the flames killed the soldiers as they threw the 3 men in, so shadrach Meshach and Abednego securely tied fell into the roaring flames but suddenly nebuchadnezzar jumped up with amazement and exclaimed to his advisers ” didn’t we tie up 3 men and throw them into the furnace?”

”yes your majesty we certainly did” they replied

” look” nebuchadnezzar shouted ” I see 4 men unbound walking around in the fire unharmed and the 4th looks like a god then nebuchadnezzar came as close as he could to the door of the flaming furnace and shouted ” shadrach Meshach and Abednego servants of the most high God come out come here”.

so shadrach Meshach and Abednego stepped out of the fire then the high officers officials governors and advisers crowded around them and saw that the fire had not touched them. not a hair on their heads was singed and their clothing was not scorched. they didn’t even smell of smoke, then nebuchadnezzar said” praise to the God of shadrach Meshach and Abednego . He sent HIs angel to rescue HIs servants who trusted in HIm . they defied the king’s command and were willing to die rather than serve or worship any god except their own God. therefore I make this decree if any people whatever their race or nation or language speak a word against the God of shadrach Meshach and Abednego they will be torn limb from limb and their houses will be turned into heaps of rubble. there is no other god who can rescue like this.

then the king promoted shadrach Meshach and Abednego to even higher positions in the province of Babylon.

selah 😉

anyone else think nebuchadnezzar had an ego the  size of a giant?

he was certainly making sure his eyesore of a statue wouldn’t be missed by anybody.

in those days you sent messengers to people by painstakingly getting a scribe to chisel your message on a tablet then they carried it by elephants camels or horses to wherever your missives destination happened to be.

none of the officials wanted to be mistaken for a traitor cos they know nebuchadnezzars reputation preceded him for being in possession of a furious temper.

nebuchadnezzars empire stretched all across Europe and asia.

imagine if someone intended to worship the idol but they got the pins and needles so they got thrown in the fire cos of their stubborn legs.

its incredible how many people just worshipped the statue without even thinking what they were doing.

essentially they were engaging in demon worship cos that’s exactly what we are doing when we exalt ourselves to the position of a god.

its terrible that the very same astrologers whose asses were saved by the quick thinking and divinely guided discernment of daniel repaid the kindness of him and his friends with cruelty by attempting to get them killed.

they didn’t actually care if daniel and his friends worshipped the idols or not they were just jealous of their exalted positions of authority in the empire and wanted to nab them for themselves.

notice how they cloud the issue by bringing in a side issue irrelevant to the case- nebuchadnezzar didn’t have a problem with diversity of religions normally just in this instance he wanted all his people to worship him as god.

the worship of other religions wasn’t the reason they were standing trial it was their refusal to participate in the worship of king nebuchadnezzar that they were unashamedly guilty of.

of course in his hot temper king nebuchadnezzars judgment was clouded and he was all too hasty to speak of the jews behaviour in an accusatory manner as if he hadn’t previously permitted their freedom of religion to flourish in exile as well it should.

king nebuchadnezzar should have known from experience that daniel and co wouldn’t obey his orders cos they had previously refused to eat food sacrificed to idols.

perhaps he was a heavy drinker so he forgot crucial details like who was known for worshipping his false gods and who worshipped the one true Elohim.

its funny that he thought he was more powerful than God when clearly it was God who had shown him the truth about himself and his future on that previous occasion when God gave daniel both the precise events of his dream and its interpretation.

we can learn from shadrach Meshach and Abednego not to waste our time with fruitless arguing with those who refuse to listen to the truth.

if they are hungry for the truth God will cause them to ask questions and seek a deeper intimacy with HIm.

I love the confidence shadrach Meshach and Abednego had in Gods ability to rescue them. I also love their passionate unwavering faith. they had their priorities in order. they knew it didn’t matter if someone takes your life so long as your life is in the right place with God.

it was a really stupid move on the part of king nebuchadnezzar to accidentally incinerate the strongest men in his army in his haste to demolish all traces of the Israelites who dared to stand up to his bullying ways.

the fourth man in the fire was a preincarnate version of Jesus standing with HIs creations shadrach Meshach and Abednego and comforting them with His holy presence in which there is fullness of joy.

it is funny that king nebuchadnezzar had never seen God yet the instant he laid eyes upon HIs son he knew exactly what he was looking at and he could only stare flabbergasted in wonder as we all would had we been privileged enough to spend a second in his sandals.

it is funny how he went from calling himself a god to acknowledging Elohim as the God above all Gods.

its incredible that not one bit of them got burned and they had not one lingering trace of smoke which as anyone who has ever camped out in the bush and toasted marshmallows knows it is virtually impossible to make any kind of contact with a fire without you smelling even a tiny little bit like what you have been hanging around for hours on end.

nebuchadnezzar seems to be in two minds about whether he was looking at an angel or the author of life.

this is probably the only time in king nebuchadnezzars life when he was singing the praises of someone who refused to obey his instructions 🙂

maybe the atheists agnostics and those  who believe in false religions in our world would think twice about attacking Christians with their words and fists and weapons of warfare if they knew their houses were going to be torn down and their bodies were going to be torn to shreds.

in truth unless they quit it with their wicked ways and ask forgiveness for their sins they will endure far worse torture than they could ever possibly imagine in the fires of hell where the pain never ceases.

its true that Adonai is the only one who can rescue us but not that there are any other gods.

all other gods are just demons playing a game of lets fool the earthling.

its funny how the astrologers intended to punish the jews and they ended up inadvertently triggering a situation that brought about even greater blessings for Gods chosen people. 🙂 ❤

I love the way God is able to take situations where people intend to harm us and damage our reputation and turn them around so instead of suffering we get to flourish instead and bring glory to HIm cos every blessing coming our way just makes HIm look better and it just makes more souls fall head over heels in love with HIm.

 

 

one night during the second year of his reign nebuchadnezzar had such disturbing dreams that he couldn’t sleep.

he called in his magicians enchanters sorcerers and astrologers and he demanded that they tell him what he had dreamed.

as they stood before the king he said ” I have had a dream that deeply troubles me and I must know what it means” but the king said to the astrologers ” I am serious about this. if you don’t tell me what my dream was and what it means you will be torn limb from limb and your houses will be turned into heaps of rubble but if you tell me what I dreamed and what the dream means I will give you many wonderful gifts and honors . just tell me the dream and what it means.”

they said again ” please your majesty . tell us the dream and we will tell you what it means.”

the king replied” I know what you are doing . you’re stalling for time because you know I am serious when I say ‘ if you don’t tell me the dream you are doomed’ so you have conspired to tell me lies hoping I will change my mind but tell me the dream and then i’ll know that you can tell me what it means.”

the astrologers replied to the king ” no one on earth can tell the king his dream and no king however great and powerful has ever asked such a thing of any magician enchanter or astrologer . the king’s demand is impossible. no one except the gods can tell you your dream and they do not live here among people.”

the king was furious when he heard this and he ordered that all the wise men of Babylon be executed and because of the king’s decree they were sent to find and kill daniel and his friends.

when Arioch the commander of the king’s guard came to kill them daniel handled the situation with wisdom and discretion .

he asked Arioch ” why has the king issued such a harsh decree?” so Arioch told him all that had happened.

daniel went at once to see the king and requested more time to tell the king what the dream meant then daniel went home and told his friends hananiah , mishael and azariah what had happened .

he urged them to ask the God of heaven to show them HIs mercy by telling them the secret so they would not be executed along with the other wise men of Babylon.

that night the secret was revealed to daniel in a vision.

then daniel praised the God of heaven.

He said ” praise the name of God forever and ever for He has all wisdom and power

He controls the course of world events , He removes kings and sets up other kings

He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the scholars

He   reveals deep and mysterious things and knows what lies hidden in darkness though He is surrounded by light

I thank and praise you God of my ancestors for you have given me wisdom and strength

you have told me what we asked of you and revealed to us what the king demanded.”

then daniel went in to see Arioch whom the king   had ordered to execute the wise men of Babylon.

daniel said to him ” don’t kill the wise men. take me to the king and I will tell him the meaning of his dream.”

Arioch quickly took daniel to the king and said ” I have found one of the captives from Judah who will tell the king the meaning of his dream.”

the king said to daniel ( also known as belteshazzar) ” is this true? can you tell me what my dream was and what it means?”

daniel replied” there are no wise men enchanters magicians or fortunetellers that can reveal the king’s secrets but there is a God in heaven who reveals secrets and He has shown king nebuchadnezzar what will happen in the future. now I will tell you your dream and the visions you saw as you lay on your bed. while your majesty was sleeping you dreamed about coming events. He who reveals secrets has shown you what is going to happen and it is not because I am wiser than anyone else that I know the secret of your dream but because God wanted you to understand what was in your heart. in your vision your majesty you saw standing before you a huge shining statue of a man. it was frightening to behold. the head of the statue was made of fine gold. its chest and arms were silver its belly and thighs were bronze its legs were iron and its feet were a combination of iron and baked clay. as you watched a rock was cut from the mountain but not by human hands. it struck the feet of iron and clay smashing them to bits. the whole statue was crushed into small pieces of iron clay bronze silver and gold then the wind blew them away without a trace like chaff on a threshing floor but the rock that knocked the statue down became a great mountain that covered the whole earth. that was the dream. now we will tell the king what it means. your majesty you are  the greatest of kings. the God of heaven has given you sovereignty power strength and honour. He has made you the ruler over all the inhabited world and has put even the wild animals and birds under your control . you are the head of gold but after your kingdom comes to an end another kingdom inferior to yours will rise to take your place. after that kingdom has fallen yet a 3rd kingdom represented by bronze will rise to rule the world. following that kingdom there will be a 4th one as strong as iron . that kingdom will smash and crush all previous empires just as iron smashes and crushes everything it strikes . the feet and toes you saw were a combination of iron and baked clay showing that this kingdom will be divided . like iron mixed with clay it will have some of the strength of the iron but while some parts of it will be strong as iron other parts will be as weak as clay. this mixture of iron and clay also shows that these kingdoms will try to strengthen themselves by forming alliances with each other through intermarriage but they will not hold together just as iron and  clay do not mix.

during the reigns of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed or conquered. it will crush all these kingdoms into nothingness and it will stand forever. that is the meaning of the rock cut from the mountain though not by human hands that crushed to pieces the statue of iron bronze clay silver and gold . the great God was showing the king what will happen in the future . the dream is true and it’s meaning is certain.”

then king nebuchadnezzar threw himself down before daniel and worshipped him and he commanded his people to burn sacrifices and offer sweet incense before him.

the king said to daniel ” truly your God is the greatest of gods the Lord over kings a revealer of mysteries for you have been able to reveal this secret” then the king appointed daniel to a high position and gave him many valuable gifts .

he made daniel ruler over the whole province of Babylon as well as chief over all his wise men.

at Daniel’s request the king appointed shadrach Meshach and Abednego to be in  charge of all the affairs of the province of Babylon while daniel remained in the king’s court.

selah ❤ 🙂

I am sure all of us have had times in our lives when our dreams freaked us out and made us restless robbing us from that minimum 5 hours undisturbed rest each of us requires to replenish our batteries once a day which makes us more fresh faced and bearable for the rest of the world when they are forced to interact with us.

I bet when the magicians came to king nebuchadnezzar that morning they never expected it would be their last day on earth due to their incompetence at guessing precisely what constituted his dreams.

it is normal procedure to interpret a dream after the contents have been divulged.

it is far more evidential and obviously a miracle where a dream is both discussed without the need for the one experiencing it to bring it up and explained subsequently by the same person.

no one wants to be homeless or experience their body being wrenched til their arms and legs came loose from their sockets.

any vizier with half a brain would make up something on the spot rather than risking the loss of their head due to their incompetence .

the promise of untold riches wasn’t enough to lure the magicians to obey their king and risk him finding out later about their misdeeds.

it was wrong for king nebuchadnezzar to malign the reputation of his clumsy wizards and claim they were intentionally conspiring against him.

it is interesting that king nebuchadnezzar was the first to break with royal tradition.

its also noteworthy that in the Babylonian belief system God cannot assume human flesh but that’s exactly what He did when He sent HIs son Jesus to come and be born in the belly of a woman and live amongst others with intent to stay true and be faithful to the cause of  being used in the process of winning souls for HIm.

the viziers didn’t live very long to regret their decision to die honest instead of compromising due to their desire to live to a ripe old age.

I am sure daniel was terrified and thought he would get his head turned into a platter for nebuchadnezzar’s cook’s amusement but even in the middle of that fear He was focussing His energy on God  instead of his circumstances.

it took a lot of guts for daniel to attempt direct confrontation with king nebuchadnezzar and its a miracle of God that he proceeded.

its interesting how daniel encouraged his friends to seek God for an answer to king nebucadnezzar’s dream interpretation debacle.

we can never be more knowledgeable or powerful than God cos He contains all the wisdom of the universe and all power strength and energy finds its origins in HIm.

if  we wonder why parliamentary cabinets get reshuffled or why politicians have by elections and lose their seat momentarily the simplest explanation is that God has a purpose behind every event that takes place in the history of mankind including the possibilities present within the seed of faith fuelled by experiencing HIs joy in all its brilliance.

God has more knowledge within His head than all the libraries in the world and more than all the books ever published since Egyptians started writing with papyrus or Gutenberg printed out the holy timeless word of God.

there are some things God will never reveal to us in our lifetime cos we don’t need to know them .

all we need to know is He shed HIs blood for our redemption and He wants to have a relationship with us and be the intimate lover of our souls as well as the boss of our decision making.

I want God to be God of my descendants not just my ancestors.

the subtext to daniel saying God told him what he needed to know was the sigh of relief daniel and co must have breathed knowing they weren’t dead ducks cos God intervened and gave daniel both the details of king nebuchadnezzars dream as well as its interpretation.

it was Arioch’s disobedience to the earthly king and the allegiance he showed to the king of kings that spared both daniels hide and his homies.

it took a lot of courage for daniel to beg the king for mercy .

he may have felt like the odds were stacked against him and he was gonna die anyway so he may as well have gone out in a blaze of glory and be the reason for others to source motivation to keep on going no matter what .

I love how daniel straight away takes the focus off him and puts it straight on God making sure king nebuchadnezzar knows that we have no power within ourselves and no wisdom save for that which God plants within us on the day of our new/rebirth .

I have a love hate relationship with the fact that God can reveal my secrets to people.

at the end of the day it doesn’t matter what they think about me i’d just prefer to be the first to talk to others about my life rather than meeting strangers who are absolute experts on it more than the protagonist forced to endure it with each new set of twenty four hours.

we must learn from the wisdom of daniel and never think we are more intelligent than anyone else.

just because a person is illiterate it doesn’t mean they can’t communicate in an intelligent way ditto for those who never owned a television. there are better things to fill you mind with than a concise inventory of every item you ever owned from your childhood until now.

 

user862 posted on stackhermeneutics.com this interpretation of the meaning of the various body parts in king nebuchadnezzar’s dream of the statue:

 

Daniyy’el describes the image as follows (Dan. 2:32-33),

³² The head of that image is of fine gold, its breast and its arms of silver, its belly and its thighs of brass,* ³³ its legs of iron, and its feet, part of iron and part of clay.

הוּא צַלְמָא רֵאשֵׁהּ דִּי־דְהַב טָב חֲדֹוהִי וּדְרָעֹוהִי דִּי כְסַף מְעֹוהִי וְיַרְכָתֵהּ דִּי נְחָשׁ שָׁקֹוהִי דִּי פַרְזֶל רַגְלֹוהִי מנהון דִּי פַרְזֶל ומנהון דִּי חֲסַף

• or “copper”

Daniyy’el then tells Nevukhadnetzar (נְבֻכַדְנֶצַּר), to whom he was speaking (cp. Dan. 2:1), אנתה־הוּא רֵאשָׁה דִּי דַהֲבָא׃, that is, “You are that head of gold.”

Nevukhadnetzar was the king of the Babylonian kingdom.

After the Babylonian empire came the Mede/ Persian empire (cp. Dan. 5:31). The Mede/ Persian empire is “its breast and its arms of silver.”

After the Mede/ Persian empire came the Greek empire (cp. 1 Mac. 1:1). The Greek empire is “its belly and its thighs of brass.”

After the Greek empire came the Roman empire (the NT was written during the reign of the Roman empire). The Roman empire is “its legs of iron.”

As for the mixed feet, part iron and part clay, this is a bit more mysterious.

I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that the “clay” mixed in with the iron refers to the Arab/ Islamic empire that began after the birth of Islam and Muhammad.

Admittedly, I’m not absolutely certain about this interpretation, but I’m quite certain about the interpretation of the kingdom of Babylon, Mede/ Persia, Greece, and Rome.

If you look in Dan. 2:41 and 2:43, you’ll find the word “mixed” in English. If you look at the actual Aramaic word, it’s derived from the verb עֲרַב (arav). It’s based on the root ע-ר-ב. While this root signifies the meaning of “to mix,” it is also the same root used in the Hebrew word עֲרָבִי (aravi), meaning “Arab.” This is a cognate of the Arabic word عربي (ʿarabiyy), also meaning “Arab.”

I’m going to say that it’s a play-on-words. Daniyy’el was prophesying long into the future when the Arab empire would feud with the Roman empire. The “clay” (Arabs) would mix with the “iron” (Romans), but they would not cleave to one another (cp. Dan. 2:43). As you know, both the Roman empire and the Arab empire still exist today, albeit not in their original form.

Final note: Again, this is a theory, not something I’m absolutely certain of. Prophecy is notoriously difficult to understand, but one thing I am certain on is the identity of the Babylonian, Mede/ Persian, Greek, and Roman empires in Daniyy’el’s image. The clay is the unknown variable.

As you know, there are many commentaries on Daniyy’el’s prophecies, but allow me to suggest one for examination. It’s a tafsīr (commentary) from the Karaite scholar יפת בן עלי הלוי (Yafet ben Ali ha-Levi). See p. 12-14.

it’s crazy how daniel told king nebuchadnezzar that only God  could interpret dreams never humans and he still went and jumped to the worst possible false conclusion imagine-able  and immediately began worshipping daniel – stealing the glory and praise for a victorious conclusion that  should only ever belong to God alone.

of course we may be led to believe that king nebuchadnezzar immediately saw the error of his ways as he observes to daniel that his God is superior to all other gods.

of course we know there is no other God but God.

we don’t know whether some of the wise men were killed prior to king nebuchadnezzar’s change of heart.

its awesome that when daniel obtained his greatest moment of success he wanted to share it with his best friends so he made sure that he obtained jobs for them as well as his own God honouring self . 🙂

 

 

during the 3rd year of king jehoiakims reign in Judah king nebuchadnezzar of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it.

the Lord gave him victory over king jehoiakim of Judah and permitted him to take some of the sacred objects from the temple of God.

so nebuchadnezzar took them back to the land of babylonia and placed them in the treasure house of his god then the king ordered ashpenaz his chief of staff to bring to the palace some of the young men of Judah’s royal family and other noble families who had been brought to Babylon as captives.

”select only strong healthy and good looking young men ” he said ” make sure they are well versed in every branch of learning , are gifted with knowledge and good judgment and are suited to serve in the royal palace.

train these young men in the language and literature of Babylon.”

the king assigned them a daily ration of food and wine from his own kitchens.

they were to be trained for 3 years and then they would enter the royal service.

daniel hananiah mishael and azariah were  4 of the young men chosen all from the tribe of Judah.

the chief of staff renamed them with these Babylonian names:

daniel was called belteshazzar , hananiah was called shadrach, mishael was called Meshach & azariah was called Abednego.

but daniel was determined not to defile himself by eating the food and wine given to them by the king.

he asked the chief of staff for permission not to eat these unacceptable foods.

now God had given the chief of staff both respect and affection for daniel but he responded” I am afraid of my lord the king who has ordered that you eat this food and  wine.

if you become thin and pale compared with the other youth your age I am afraid the king will have me beheaded”.

daniel spoke with the attendant who had been appointed by the chief of  staff to look after daniel hananiah mishael and azariah ” please test us for 10 days on a diet of vegetables and water ” daniel said ” at the end of the 10 days see how we look compared to the other young men who are eating the king’s food then make your decision in light of what you see”.

the attendant agreed to Daniel’s suggestion and tested them for 10 days.

at the end of the 10 days daniel and his 3 friends looked healthier and better nourished than the young men who had been eating the food assigned by the king so after that the attendant fed them only vegetables instead of the food and wine provided for the others.

God gave these 4 young men an unusual aptitude for understanding every aspect of literature and wisdom and God gave daniel the special ability to interpret the meanings of visions and dreams.

when the training period ordered by the king was completed the chief of staff brought all the young men to king nebuchadnezzar .

the king talked with them and no one impressed him as much as daniel hananiah mishael and azariah so they entered the royal service.

whenever the king consulted them in any matter requiring wisdom and balanced judgment he found them 10 times more capable than any of the magicians and enchanters in his entire kingdom.

daniel remained in the royal service until the 1st year of the reign of king cyrus.

selah 🙂

imagine being in king jehoiakim’s shoes.

it would be pretty horrible just going about your business eating your motzah bread when suddenly an evil king comes along and burns your city to the ground.

talk about a bad day at the office.

its interesting that God permitted nebuchadnezzar to take some of the objects from the temple but not all of them.

its terrible that nebuchadnezzar took objects that were used to worship the one true God and used them to worship a demon.

it is unclear exactly what purpose nebuchadnezzar had in transferring the allegiance of jehoiakim’s royal family from Israel to Babylon other than to have one over his vassals inadvertently telling them that not only had he taken over their land he had absorbed the spirits of their influencers by bringing them under his dominion.

its possible that he just wanted good looking young men cos he wanted Babylonian ladies to breed with them .

it was not just the Babylonian language they learned but also their pagan religion.

I can only presume that royal service involved participating in warfare as well as solving domestic disputes and joining in worship to demons.

it is significant that the four men mentioned in this book as standing out from the crowd and refusing to compromise are connected with the bloodline of Jesus’s earthly form.

Daniel’s name means servant of belial or baal ( an alternate name meaning from behindthename.com reads baal protect the king in other words the kings of Babylon sought help from demons for protection – a very foolish move seeing as it is always a demons intent to destroy rather than to preserve life.

shadrach means command of aku ( the demon moon god of Babylon).

this literally meant he was under this specific demon’s command.

Abednego means servant of nebo.

nebo was a demon worshipped falsely as a god of wisdom ironically a very foolish activity to take part in.

at first the others were reluctant to step up and show courage and refuse to have anything to do with consuming foods sacrificed to idols but daniel was brave and bold and lead the way for the rest of his homies to follow.

we do not know what the respect and admiration the chief of staff had for daniel looked like but we know he found favour in his eyes.

beheading was a common occurrence in Babylonian life and indeed in the ancient world.

if you were working for royalty you would be especially careful not to fray their tempers.

its interesting that daniel apparently spoke up on behalf of his friends without consulting them over whether they wanted to eat meat or join his vegetarian diet.

you may say this was rude but this was no time to have a meeting about what was appropriate for eating before making a joint declaration.

this situation demanded a clear decision from a level headed leader to be the brave echo of his family’s thoughts.

I don’t think daniel would have started eating meat after 10 days if he had been proven wrong but God intervened so we will never know if he would go on hunger strike if he wasn’t permitted to continue on with his healthy diet in perpetuity.

can you imagine during those 10 days h0w much david was longing for the delicious beef, lamb and chickens of home?

can you imagine his hunger pangs and his grumbling spirit how at times he almost felt like packing it in and wondering if it was all worth it?

yet God permitted him to persist despite life’s difficulties and He does exactly the same thing for us and wants us to press deeper into Him during those times when life seems impossible for us to endure one minute longer.

I cant imagine 10 days solid drinking would do anyone any good.

God provided a way so daniel never needed to compromise and go back on his vow to only eat things which pleased God.

I wonder if sometimes daniel saw being given dreams and their interpretations as too much of a burden or too heavy of a responsibility.

God may have shown him others dirty , scary and dull as dishwater dreams so often that he might have begged him to stop.

we don’t know what caused daniel and his friends to stand out from the rest of the pack apart from their willingness to risk death and defy orders.

maybe king nebuchadnezzar admired their pluckiness and thought they’d be useful members of his military.

it is not surprising to hear that those who devote every beat of their heart to loving Elohim are often found to be more intelligent than those who choose to ignore HIs wisdom.

nebuchadnezzar’s kingdom was eventually taken over by king cyrus of iran/pesia.

 

I am taking a break from busking until I have enough songs to share with everyone that stumbles across my path.
I used to be able to freestyle for hours but that is the old me.
That isn’t who I am anymore.
I can still freestyle but im not as fast as I used to be.
I cant think as fast as I used to.
I have never been that good at looking people in the eyes when I am speaking to them in a normal conversation yet alone when I am performing for them.
I know its important to do this in order to establish an emotional connection with your audience.
I wish there was a church out there that appreciates my rapping enough to put me on stage other than my homies in germany western Australia America and my friends the moli aumuas church breakthrough.
I guess id better start earning my frequent flyer mileage points. 😊 lol
I don’t know if it’s a good or bad thing that its almost impossible to get a decent paying job if you haven’t completed at least a minimum of ten years education in this country.
In new Zealand you have to go to school for thirteen years.
At least we don’t have to suffer that much.
Its not really suffering if you are enjoying the learning experience I know.
I benefitted from my smart friend being permitted to take philosophy classes at a university in twelth grade cos he shared his textbook with me.
Obviously my mind was filled with more questions than answers.
The problem with philosophy is once you start to ask questions it just leads to more questions it doesn’t lead to the answers.
Its like you open up one door and then there is another door waiting for you behind that door and this process keeps repeating in an infinite loop.
It’s like my friends son when he ordered something from overseas and he kept on getting boxes inside boxes.
He opened up one box and there was another box inside that box waiting for him.
It’s like pass the parcel at mc donalds.
Ordinary pass the parcel is different but at mc donalds birthday parties you get a present every time the music stops so everybody winds up feeling like a winner.
Of course you could argue that this cheapens the value you would gain if you were the sole winner.
You don’t feel as special if everybody is made to feel they are on a level playing field.
This is the purpose of the education system to make us all equally knowledgeable so we can achieve whatever we want in life but it doesn’t always work out that way cos all of us have different learning styles and some of us have mental disabilities which effects our ability to retain information and process it properly.
Some of us have speech defects which cannot easily be trained out of us.
Like they say it’s hard to teach an old dog new tricks.
Of course change of the positive variety is always possible inside our minds and hearts with the divine assistance of Jesus.
I don’t know what causes kids to be resentful about going to school.
I do know that kids these days are expected to know so much more than back when I was a kid.
They have more information pushed into their brains at an earlier age.
Some may find this experience difficult to handle.
I know I would.
In some countries kids are educated in difficult subjects from the age of infancy.
There are always child prodigies but the average kid can only retain so much information before their head blows up.
And they wonder why they have kids wanting to kill themselves and suffering from depression.
Obviously their home environment and the way their fellow students treat them has a lot to do with it.
On the news today they were saying that some parents are having difficulty assisting their children with their homework.
If this is a genuine area of struggle I think every school should provide some kind of free tutorial service.
This could be bankrolled by corporate sponsorship on school uniforms and at school events such as sporting carnivals and school camps.
I think it’s a little ridiculous that some kids now have to pay for the hire of their textbooks and stationary items in government run schools.
There is discriminatory policy at work when it comes to school funding.
The catholic and Christian schools are always the last to get a piece of the pie if they are even given a seat at the table when it comes to the distribution of allowances sourced from the taxes of all citizens of the country – church going and secularist alike.
I define the concept of going to church different to some people.
I see it as two or three gathered together in Gods name where He is in their midst.
It is not necessary to enter a building with a cross on it every Sunday.
It’s enough to simply keep your conversations and thoughts centred upon God and make every effort to spend your life serving His kingdom.
I may have a new friend in my writers group if she remembers what I told her about it.
Im not like my best friend.
I don’t always enjoy the process of life.
I am always wanting to rush ahead from one thing to the next.
Im just like my dad in that respect.
I think I appreciate my sister more now that she is not living in the same country as me.
I feel sorry for her having a husband who is an invalid.
It helps me maintain an attitude of gratitude when I think of all the tragic things that could have happened to me but didn’t cos God prevented that horrific event from occurring.
I don’t know what it is about me that causes girls to want to push themselves away from me.
I understand it perfectly if they have hung out with me long enough to know about my terrible habits and my lack of commitment but not if they have only just started getting to know me and are not well acquainted enough with me to judge me with even the paltriest degree of accuracy.
I guess I should see it as a blessing when a woman rejects me cos God has someone better for me waiting around the corner and even if He doesn’t I still love Him relentlessly like He does me.
❤
I feel sorry for a guy if he feels like he has to hire beautiful woman to keep him company to feel good inside and fulfilled in himself.
I don’t gain my self worth by behaving that way.
Im not like other guys.
I don’t get my jollies talking about cars and boats or planes or fishing for hours on end.
I like it when my female friends talk about all the beautiful clothes they like to wear.
I like it when they talk about their relationship dramas cos I learn from their problems what to avoid in my own relationships or devastating lack thereof.
Sometimes I fool myself that I am completely healed then I have a little cry cos my horrible issue that floods my spirit with self disgust rears its ugly head back up again and attempts to crucify my future.
Its funny how my journey has come full circle.
I am considering the possibility of rediscovering my humble beginnings.
I started out stacking chairs in church then graduated to rapping in front of everyone cheering and clapping and urging me on and now im probably gonna go back to stacking chairs cos in my new church no one wants to make room for a rapper on stage when theres a whole bunch of worship songs to be sung despite the fact that what I do would slot perfectly into one of the five minute dance breaks they seem to take every week or one of those moments of breathing space where they just allow God to flow an original song through the bones of His people and let His Spirit take over them and burst out their mouths like a joyful waterfall.
Right now im only going to this one church cos my homie goes there plus theres a girl at church I have a crush on.
If I find out she doesn’t like me I am not sure if I will go elsewhere cos there are plenty more cuties at church but im not sure I have the patience to wait forever for something to happen between me and dream bae when it never ever does.
I know patience is one of the ways true love is expressed.
If we are not patient with each other we cannot truly say we love our sister or brother.
We expect others to show tolerance towards us so we should show them the same courtesy and kindness when they test our willingness to maintain a positive mental attitude when they keep us waiting for them.
My mum was always skilled at pressing flowers together between the pages of a book.
I gave it a go once with minimal success.
The same thing happened when mum tried to make ice cream.
She was always better at making frozen fruit juice pops and freezing bananas for us to suck on later.
We used to get slices of buttered bread mush banana onto them and sprinkle sugar in heaped spoonfulls over the top.
I am always scared of saying the wrong thing whenever im hanging out with people regardless of how long ive known them within the confines of my computer or out there in the scary real world.
If kids today think life sucks cos they have to do heaps of maths on their calculators they should thank God they are not living in the days of my dad where you had no calculators and you had to do all the calculation of long complicated sums in your head.
I know for sure that would drive me barmy in a heartbeat.
I wonder how my pastors daughter is doing refraining from using her social media accounts.
I don’t know how I would be able to handle that.
I find the internet way too addictive.
I used to be way more addicted to watching video clips on the internet than I am now.
I used to watch a lot more television than I do these days.
It is sweet to see when a wife is prompting her husband and helping him complete a song onstage.
Some people can speak with such patronizing tones towards people with mental health issues.
It makes me sick.
They talk to them really slow as if they are little kids or they go into hyperactive mode as if everything is exciting and larger than life but its all fake and plastic.
I don’t care if my pastors think im disgusting cos I am not a sunny little beam round the clock.
They should try living in my shoes for one second.
See how they handle it.
I bet they couldn’t.
Even though my pastor grew up on the streets.
Yeah he probably got beat up.
He probably suffered a lot worse than I ever did in my life.
But he had an end to his suffering.
I don’t.
Every breath I take is agony for me.
Yet I still love Jesus and I know He loves me.
Dying on the cross should be enough motivation to encourage me to never say think or do anything sinful again but sadly it isn’t cos my human nature is sinful and I can always feel it tugging on me pulling me under the waves.
I used to be happy when I was a little kid but I never used to smile.
I was always jealous of my sister.
I used to bite her and try to suffocate her in her cot.
Yet still shes convinced that I love her.
I do but its certainly a strange kind of love.
It’s a keep your distance from me and I’ll love you better that way kind of love.
I never wanted her to come along and replace me.
I know a parent has to share their love around when they have more than one kid.
I don’t think I never got over the need for the necessity of that.
I have spent most of my life in my own self contained little world where I don’t need anybody to entertain me or make me happy.
As long as ive got books ive always been happy in the past but then along came this dreaded ailment I am currently suffering from and smack bang it hit me like a ton of bricks.
At least I can currently say I am able to read books without ripping them even though I still lift them up over my head occasionally for no apparent reason.
If I ever find a woman to love me enough to tolerate my weirdness it will definitely be a miracle.
I still have to work on not yelling at mum.
I know my gratitude for her allowing me to gestate inside her womb should make me more amicable towards her.
I hate it when she gives me jobs.
I will never get used to being told what to do no matter how long I live.
I know I should get used to it cos part of being married is learning to obey your wife’s orders.
At least that’s the way it works in our household although mum may beg to differ.
Both mum and dad are secretly convinced that the other half of their partnership is the one who has always dominated our lives since my sister and I first popped out into the world like a walrus cracking through an ice sheet.
I used to read books a lot faster in the old days than I do now.
My friend is afraid she is using her vocabulary.
I find myself skipping words.
That freaks me out.
Sometimes I randomly fall asleep in the middle of conversations.
I do it in the middle of concerts too.
I think my ex would like me better if I fell asleep in movies instead of yakking her ears off.
I know its gonna take aeons to redeem my reputation at church.
I hope that some girls who think im disgusting don’t share their opinion with every lady at church.
I hate it when a friend turns into an enemy.
I hate it when I weird out my friends and make them disappear from me.
I know I have this terrible problem of developing romantic feelings for every woman who bothers to take the time to open me up like a can of sardines with her sweet lips uttering compliments or simply sharing her heart and spilling it out in my lap.
I hate it when im getting along like a house on fire with a girl and then my best mate likes her so I have to give her up to save the friendship.
I love those girls who you can just tell absolutely everything to and gush your heart out without fear of consequences.
I like it when women are problem solvers but I love them just as much if they just want to talk about their lives and help me forget about the sludge like drudgery of mine.
I hope I didn’t scare away that woman who made a beautiful book full of photos from her trip to Botswana cos I want to buy a copy off her to give to my homegirl.
Sometimes im ok with being permanently relegated to the friendzone.
At other times it drives me bonkers and I feel like a caged tiger at the zoo desperate to escape this going nowhere dog running round in circles chasing its tail like situation.
I hate myself for having my phone off when my homegirl wanted to chill with me.
Then when I finally turned my phone on and thought id get off at her nearest railway station and hang out with her she was busy at work cos she talked about hanging out that afternoon but she meant the afternoon when she wrote it not when I was ready for her which was way too late ☹
I hate it how people use emo for the emotion of sadness as if sadness is the only emotion and so therefore you can’t be a happy little emo. 8)
I love my friends who send me tee shirts.
Im still waiting to get them so I wont promote them until they come good for me.
I do want to say that I am proud to have a friend who wants to do something to help the kids in his local community though.
I thought about asking him to send a tee to my friends the moli aumuas but I didn’t because I want him to bless me first.
Maybe I will bug him to be slightly more generous later down the track.
Im not a manipulative machivellian like personality who uses and abuses his friends.
I don’t just keep people in my life for what I can get out of them, chewing them up then spitting them out again when their usefulness to me has expired.
I heard a really inspirational song today about the conflict in Lebanon between the state government and some rebels.
The author of the song was comparing the situation of the Lebanese to the situation of the people in Ireland which has also been torn apart by war and democracy/ royal decree/ religious differences.
It was a message of protest against terrorism.
The words were hard hitting talking about parents sacrificing their children.
In times of war some parents do this by choice others are forced into it.
I feel worst of all for the kids in Uganda sudan and congo who were forced to kill their own parents or taste the bullet meant for their destruction inside the confines of their own mouth.

praise the Lord

praise God in His sanctuary

praise Him in His mighty heaven

praise HIm for His mighty works

praise His unequalled greatness

praise Him with a blast of the ram’s horn

praise Him with the lyre and harp

praise Him with the tambourine and dancing

praise HIm with strings and flutes

praise Him with a clash of cymbals

praise Him with loud clanging cymbals

let everything that breathes sing praises to the Lord

praise the Lord 🙂

selah ❤

you are God’s sanctuary if you believe in Jesus.

your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit.

your heart is a storage facility for the ark of the covenant.

you are a carrier of God’s presence into the world around you.

God made the world with HIs hands and breath.

let that sink in.

all we do when we breathe is contribute towards the problem of carbon dioxide.

we are killing the world simply by breathing yet His breath gives us life twice- both in body form and spirit form if we are willing to ask HIs forgiveness for our sins and receive HIs free gift of eternal glorying in HIs home and presence.

nobody is bigger than God.

no one can defeat God in battle.

you cannot kill God.

you can numb your conscience but you can’t stop Him from whispering His truth into your spirit.

we do not know if God speaks to those in hell or if He remains silent.

we do know in heaven channels of communication are continually flowing back and forth like rivers of love between God and HIs creation who have chosen to make HIm Lord as well as life breather.

the rams horn is significant cos it is the sacrificial animal of choice when Abraham made the ultimate selfless choice echoing through the ages foretelling of a future decision made by our father in heaven to sacrifice His most precious only son to save the world. ❤

few of us would allow ourselves to be killed to spare the lives of our friends yet alone strangers and enemies and even fewer of us would allow our children – the legacy we leave behind when we die in human form the one who will  carry on our name and represent us when we’re gone to be offered up and bled to death for those who hate our guts and refuse to listen to a single word of our good advice.

never let it be said that any instrument or music style is inappropriate for usage in worship of our most wonderful Lord and saviour Jesus Christ.

even things that cant breathe like flowers fruits and vegetables praise the Lord with their growth and how they rejuvenate the earth and fertilize the next generation with their death.

the birds praise the Lord with their beautiful song, even in their mating they are bringing God delight to see His creation flourishing .

all things done in the right way bring Him glory not shame.

He wants us to be free from our shame and fear.

He wants to turn our tears of sorrow into tears of joy.

the more we remind ourselves of what He did for us in the past the more we will be able to focus our energy away from fruitless negativity towards useful positivity.

God doesn’t just want us to feel good about ourselves He wants us to be grateful for His sacrifice and let that motivate us to broadcast the only message of hope worth hearing that HIs blood can save all souls.

without HIs sacrifice attached to it any offer of hope is falsehood.

peace and joy is impossible to obtain outside a relationship with HIm.

praise the Lord

sing to the Lord a new song

sing HIs praises in the assembly of the faithful

o Israel rejoice in your maker

O people of Jerusalem exult in your king

praise HIs name with dancing accompanied by tambourine and harp for  the Lord delights in His people He crowns the humble with victory

let the faithful rejoice that He honours them

let them sing for joy as they lie on their beds

let the praises of God be in their mouths and a sharp sword in their hands to execute vengeance on the nations and punishment on the peoples to bind their kings with shackles and their leaders with iron chains to execute the judgment written against them , this is the glorious privilege of His faithful ones

praise the Lord 🙂

selah ❤

wherever people are meeting together praising the Lord that is the assembly of the faithful.

it doesn’t have to be a church building.

it can be your local burger king or the park down the street so long as you centre your conversations and actions around acknowledging the presence of God and bringing HIm glory.

gentiles are not exempt from joining in the jews as they celebrate our soon coming messiah.

all of us should take every opportunity to give God props for all the things He has done in our lives all He is doing in the present and all He will continue to do for us and in us in the future.

physical movements of the body may get a bad rap cos they are used to glorify satan but they can also be used to bring praise to our creator and saviour and that is the only purpose we should use them for.

dancing can tell a story or it can simply be a physical response to a beat such as clapping your hands and stomping your feet.

any physical movement even nodding your head and technically even blinking your eyes can be considered dancing although that’s possibly stretching it too far . 🙂

there are some physical movements that are considered overtly sexual in nature.

any kind of movement that involves touching your body can have satanic connotations but it doesn’t have to be the case.

shaking your butt or cleavage is only evil if you are doing it for the purpose of attracting a mate and you already have one.

it is not the movement of the body that is evil but the lust of the flesh that attaches itself to us when we watch somebody dancing that is evil.

I find it impossible to watch a woman gyrating her hips and dancing without becoming sexually stimulated.

maybe it is different for other guys.

for this reason once I’m married I probably wont be watching too many dance performances cos I want to keep my eyes and heart focussed on just one woman.

how beautiful to think that God takes delight in us.

it is easy to be puffed up full of pride but we must remember that thinking too highly of ourselves is not the key to success .

the key to success is found in putting God and others above yourself.

this is what makes you a winner in God’s eyes.

it is a wonderful thing to be honoured by the Lord.

it is so incredible to have HIs favour on our lives that words just cant describe how awesome it is.

I don’t often sing for joy when I lie on my bed but I’m gonna make a habit of doing so.

it must be the best feeling to drift off peacefully into dreams giving glory to God at the top of your lungs til you finally exhaust your supply of energy.

what a wonderful thing to use that time of relaxation actively meditating upon God’s goodness.

I am not sure I agree with the philosophy that those who love God are called to take their enemies prisoner but I can see the necessity for such an action in the history of Israel when they faced strong opposition from outside forces and at times had to use brute force to get the job done of maintaining peace.

it is Gods will to punish not our own.

I think what we should focus on in the trailending verses of this psalm is the unction that praise for God should always be on our lips even when we are forced to endure difficult circumstances.

I personally think our glorious privilege is to partake of our inheritance of God’s kingdom with our fellow saints who have departed us and gone on to be with the Lord.

praise the Lord

praise the Lord from the heavens

praise Him from the skies

praise Him all His angels

praise Him all the armies of heaven

praise HIm sun and moon

praise Him all you twinkling stars

praise Him skies above

praise Him vapors high above the clouds

let every created thing give praise to the Lord for He issued His command and they came into being

He set them in place forever and ever

His decree will never be revoked

praise the Lord from the earth you creatures of the ocean depths, fire and hail snow and clouds , wind and weather that obey HIm , mountains and all hills fruit trees and all cedars , wild animals and all livestock , small scurrying animals and birds , kings of the earth and all people , rulers and judges of the earth, young men and young women, old men and children

let them all praise the name of the Lord for His name is very great His glory towers over the earth and heaven

He has made His people strong honouring His faithful ones the people of Israel who are close to Him

praise the Lord

selah 🙂

people in planes and birds can praise the Lord but I think the psalmist is referring to the angels in heaven praising the Lord or those who have already joined Him in heaven when he refers to praising the Lord from the skies.

when we accept Jesus in our hearts we become soldiers of Christ , just like the angels we become recruited by the armies of heaven.

all creation bows down in worship before the Lord.

every created being or object or element must submit to the authority of Christ.

the skies praise the Lord with the way they are used by Him as a beautiful canvas for a continually kaleidoscope like shifting arrangement of clouds and light providing constellations and divinely assembled torches.

none of us would exist without the assistance of the breath of God assembling us and everything else out of nothing but His genius mind.

its not true that the sun moon and stars will last forever cos there will come a day where God recreates the heaven and the earth but it is true that what God wills to happen shall never be reversed.

we may wonder how the octopus and dolphin praise the Lord but when they wiggle their tentacles and shoot their flumes up in the sky they are testifying to His glory in their own language.

the movements of our bodies and all living creatures can be a dance of praise to our creator saviour and Lord.

its easy to adopt the mindset that floods and hailstones cyclones and storms are the responsibility of satan but we have to see the way God works all  things together for the purpose of bringing glory to Himself.

in times of peril we tend to rely on God more.

we need to be continually aware of our dependence on HIm in every waking moment.

we may not understand why God allows our fruit to get rotten or eaten by possums but in that moment He just wants us to dig deeper into our relationship with HIm and find refreshing in the peace He brings us when we focus on what truly matters which is our relationship with HIm.

rats rulers judges and people of all ages are only ever able to operate or do anything because God permits it to be so.

I pray that we will always remain faithful to God when we are young and more dependent on our parents and more willing to obey them and take their word as fact and law and also when we grow older and become more stubborn in our ways with less malleable minds harder to budge from our beliefs whether they be false and true and more resistant to those who are trying to change us or the way we think or behave.

we all have to challenge ourselves to live in a place where we have so much respect reverence and honour for God that we are constantly aware of our need to bring HIm glory through our deeds, thoughts and actions.

we must constantly keep in mind how fragile and weak we are and how much we are dependent upon God for the survival of the universe.

without HIm we are nothing but with HIm the sky is the limit to what we can accomplish.

if we want to be elevated to positions of respectability we have to walk in obedience before the Lord.

we have to own our sin and call it what it is and be responsible for our actions.

it is by listening to Gods voice and trusting in HIs guidance that we remain secure and free from the weight of the world on our shoulders.

like the rest of creation we are dependent on God for everything we have.

its hard to see why we should praise Him when He gives the go ahead for something to be taken away from us but we have to remind ourselves that everything He green lights is ultimately for our benefit.

praise the Lord

how good to sing praises to our God

how delightful and how fitting

the Lord is rebuilding Jerusalem and bringing the exiles back to israel

He heals the brokenhearted and bandages their wounds

He counts the stars and calls them all by name

how great is our God His power is absolute

His understanding is beyond comprehension

the Lord supports the humble but He brings the wicked down into the dust

sing out your thanks to the Lord sing praises to our God with a harp

He covers the heavens with clouds provides rain for the earth and makes the grass grow in mountain pastures

He gives food to the wild animals and feeds the young ravens when they cry

He takes no pleasure in the strength of a horse or in human might

no the Lord’s delight is in those who fear Him those who put their hope in His unfailing love

glorify the Lord  O Jerusalem praise your God O zion

for He has strengthened the bars of your gates and blessed your children within your walls

He sends peace across your nation and satisfies your hunger with the finest wheat

He sends His orders to the world how swiftly His word flies

He sends the snow like white wool He scatters frost upon the ground like ashes

He hurls the hail like stones who can stand against His freezing cold?

then at His command it all melts

He sends His winds and the ice thaws

He has revealed His words to Jacob , His decrees and regulations to Israel

He has not done this for any other nation , they do not know His regulations

praise the Lord

selah 😉

it is important that we take every opportunity to praise the Lord even and especially when we don’t feel like doing so cos we are beset by arduous circumstances.

parts of Jerusalem are yet to be rebuilt but it is habitable as a city .

this psalm is also prophetic for the return of the jewish diaspora to Israel.

it had occurred to some degree before Jesus came to the world but it started to happen to a greater degree when Israel was established as an independent nation once more in 1948.

there are wounds God heals in the physical realm as well as those He seals up and binds in the spiritual realm, reforming us back to His intended design for us.

if you are struggling with sorrow right now cos of something someone has done to you, something God didn’t do for you or harm you brought upon yourself please know that Jesus can comfort you with words of wisdom from His word and also if you stay in tune to the whispers of His Spirit.

it blows my mind to think of the billions of stars that have twinkled in the heavens during the thousands of years of human history on planet earth and to consider that God has named every single one of them, even those that have fallen to earth in meteorite showers.

God is all powerful.

its hard to wrap our heads around His limitless abilities cos we’ve never experienced them in fullest measure dwelling within ourselves.

God is all knowing.

you could take every book that has ever been published, chiselled in stone tablets or scribbled on bark or papyrus leaves in human history and it still would not be equal to even one drop in the ocean of Gods knowledge.

its impossible to keep secrets from Him cos He knows all the potential pathways we may take and all the consequences of every action we choose to participate in between birth and death.

if you want God to be on your side and you want to be the recipient of His mercy , prosperity and favour you have to trust His guidance even when everything around you seems to be set against you and blowing up in smoke.

if you want to be tortured for all eternity just keep acting wicked and see where a sinful callous attitude towards God leads you- let me assure you it’s not a pretty or pleasant place.

often we come to God with our shopping list of things we want HIm to do for us but we forget to adopt an attitude of gratitude and thank HIm for all the things He has done for us already in the distant and recent past.

we don’t know what it is to be thankful to God for the rain til we have lived in a country where there has been drought for a long time or if we have dwelt in a place that has sparse bodies of water or easy access to irrigation resources.

we must  remember to thank God for the simple necessities like rain as much as we do for the big things He does for us like providing cars for transportation or favour so we get out of prison or a spouse to keep us warm and happy and focussed on HIs glory.

there are some wild animals like lions and tigers and wild sea creatures like snakes and octopuses that some of us would prefer to see starve to death cos they are a nuisance to us but God loves them and takes care of them making sure they have enough food to eat.

it is not the strength of the horse that impresses God so much as the way that in its beauty and galloping ability it brings Him glory and reflects HIs power.

He is the source of all our power and strength.

God isn’t impressed by the worlds strongest man or woman.

their strength is the size of a pea compared to His majesty.

He could crush them like bugs but He chooses to let them live while they remain outside HIs will and He remains patient with  them for a season.

when we fear God it means to respect or revere HIm.

yes it does mean to have holy terror to be aware of the fact that God permits both our death and life so we have to be careful to make sure all our steps are a reflection of HIs glory and not ones that bring HIm shame.

its important to note that Gods love endures beyond the limit of our mortal lives.

it is significant that God is specifically urging His chosen people to praise Him.

when we believe in Jesus we become part of both Israel and zion.

God protected His children from attack and made the Israelis prosperous.

He has blessed them with plenty of oil and fertile land.

God had to make HIs chosen people more prosperous than those around them so they would know that He is the one and only true and wise God and none of the demons posing as His competition were ever or will ever be worth following.

Gods word travels faster than the speed of sound or light.

as soon as you can think of HIm raising the dead to life He is already making it happen in an eye blink.

I love the way God spreads snow on the ground in a beautiful blanket.

I have fond memories of building snow men.

I was never any good at building snow angels or making ice fortresses.

there are some people who freeze to death in the cold.

I’m not saying those people lack faith in God but it is possible that had they prayed they might not have suffered in this way.

I didn’t know wind could melt ice.

it must have been an unusually warm breeze working in conjunction with the power of the sun.

God told Abraham Isaac and Jacob that He would bless the fruit of their womb and specifically with Abraham that his descendants would be as numerous as the amount of stars in the sky.

God prescribed a code of conduct for the jews in the old covenant so that they might distinguish themselves from the ways of the world so they might be a living witness of how humanity benefits from being obedient to our maker and saviour.

God has revealed His truth to all nations its just that He chose to first use the jews as an example to the world of what He can do in our lives if we decide to put Him first ❤

praise the Lord

let all that I am praise the Lord

I will praise the Lord as long as I live

I will sing praises to my God with my dying breath

don’t put your confidence in powerful people there is no help for you there

when they breathe their last they return to the earth and all their plans die with them

but joyful are those who have the God of Israel as their helper whose hope is in the Lord their God

He made heaven and earth the sea and everything in them He keeps every promise forever

He gives justice to the oppressed and food to the hungry

the Lord frees the prisoners

the Lord opens the eyes of the blind

the Lord lifts up those who are weighed down

the Lord loves the godly

the Lord protects the foreigners among us

He cares for the orphans and widows

but He frustrates the plans of the wicked

the Lord will reign forever

He will be your God O Jerusalem throughout the generations

praise the Lord

selah 🙂

I don’t always praise God with all I am but I know unless I praise God whole heartedly with every area of my life, with my words and actions, with how I treat others, with the way I do my work with a spirit of excellence with how I demonstrate compassion to those in need I may as well not bother worshipping at all.

I want my life to be a sweet smelling incense of worship to Gods nostrils.

I want to spend  every waking moment praising and worshipping the Lord.

I want HIm to be pleased with me and proud to call me HIs child.

I don’t want to bring HIm shame or cause HIm to cry with my disrespectful attitude towards HIs authority , knowing the consequences of our rebellion lead to death and eternal punishment.

often we think the world will be better if only we have the right person in charge of our country but that isn’t necessarily true.

all human leaders are capable of corruption except Jesus when He adopted human form.

some people are powerful not because of their financial prosperity but because of all the people who they have the ear of ( in other words all the people who listen to them and take advice from them).

unless we listen to people who trust God for guidance we may as well stick our fingers in our ears when they are giving advice and instructions to us.

some people may plan to make the world a better place and they make a difference to this world but their bright ideas are only as good as the people who put them to good use and those people are only enabled to put them to good use by the hands of God.

we must always put our hope in God.

any other being that claims to be a source of help to us is lying to us.

God made everything that ever is was or will be.

we can always trust HIm cos its against His nature to let us down and leave us disappointed.

He always comes through for us and helps us out in our daily struggles to overcome both sin and the world.

when somebody is raped or molested or their money is thieved God can make sure that justice gets done in the courts.

He is the one guiding the process of the justice system to make sure that HIs precious creation doesn’t get mistreated.

He can work best with those judges and lawyers that have submitted themselves to His authority.

all of our food comes from God.

we may have to go hungry for a time and we may have to endure injustice but we will always have God present with us helping us to keep our eyes on HIm and reminding us that if we keep trusting in HIm and obeying hiM WE WILL have a beautiful future waiting for us in HIs heavenly kingdom where there will be no more pain sorrow or ability to sin or be bothered by anyone who annoys us.

God is the one who is changing the laws of nations so Christianity is no longer illegal and those who believe in Jesus get let out of prison.

He is the one who spat upon HIs dirty fingers and stuck them in the eyes of a blind man giving HIm sight.

He works through laser eye surgery but all He really needs is His divine omnipotent breath to work a miracle in our lives.

depression can weigh us down.

debt can press itself upon our shoulders.

God is the one who removes all our burdens if we just allow HIm to fill us with His joy and peace.

sometimes we are prideful and stubborn and want to carry our burdens around on our own.

often we make life far more difficult for ourselves than it ever needs to be.

God loves you if you are ungodly as well as godly but He will give you a home in HIs house where you can never grow old or sick or waste a minute of your time ( so need for regret then) if you are His obedient servant all the days of your life.

God protects both locals and foreigners.

He doesn’t discriminate based on colour or country of origin.

He loves all nations  cos He made them all in HIs image.

He can keep xenophobic hateful types away from the visitors to our country so we don’t look bad on the international scene.

He provides orphanages for those who have no parents .

He has inspired many of my friends to get involved in the pleasurable business of enriching the lives of little impoverished children giving them a hope and a future and helping them find their identity in Christ.

He is a father and a mother to those who have none.

He is a husband or a wife for those who have no spouse.

it is the worst thing imaginable to grow up without the guidance of both mother and father or to be devastated by the loss of a spouse you thought you would enter the grave holding the hands of.

we have often seen in history how those that tried to exterminate masses of people eventually find themselves getting into trouble further down the road.

although some have managed to evade punishment for their crimes for most of their natural lives in the far greater supernatural portion of their existence they will be punished with eternal torture in hell unless they repent and get right with God.

God always reigns over the universe regardless of how much of the earths population decides to put HIm on the throne of their hearts in this present moment.

there will  come a day when all of us will worship the Lord either by force or by choice.

those who worship by choice will avoid waking up in a pit of flames when they perish.

God has always maintained an unbroken covenant with the children of Israel.

these days we are seeing many jews and gentiles come into a relationship with Jesus.

He is close to the broken hearted and also to those who feel like theyre sitting on top of the world 🙂