►END TIME SERIES---Part Two► THE BOOK OF DANIEL
Message One: DANIEL CHAPTER 1 & LESSONS THEREIN
-->Just as Daniel & his 3 Friends DENIED themselves royal food given them in Physical Babylon for Ten Days (verses-14)& yet were found healthier & Ten Times Better than those who ENJOYED themselves with the royal food (Verses 15-17,20); those of us living in these end times must also DENY ourselves the 'Polluted food' served by Spiritual Babylon--EVEN if we'll lose friends, become unpopular, be persecuted, be imprisoned for ten days and even be killed (Rev 2:10).
-->Let's dare to be different. We can be either Daniel (who took bold step and dared to be different among the crowd) or his three friends (who were motivated by Daniel's decision). In these End Times, God needs, and indeed He's raising, the Daniels, Shadrachs, Meshachs & Abednegos (the chosen few/Minority) to Distinguish Themselves from the crowd (the many called/Majority). Would U be among the many who are called, Or the few who are chosen?
**************************
THE MESSAGE (Daniel 1:1-21)
God gave the people of Judah to Nebuchadnezzar (King of world's super power at the time, Babylon. The Lord delivered Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand so he took the king and his subjects who were alive & some of the articles from God's Temple to the temple of his god in Babylonia and put in the treasure house of his god.
Importantly, out of the MANY people carried into exile, ONLY FOUR STOOD OUT; They were God-fearing in SPEECH and in DEED. They were: Daniel (given a Babylonian name Belteshazzar), Hananiah (Shadrach), Mishael (Meshach) & Azariah (Abednego)
Daniel RESOLVED NOT TO DEFILE himself with the royal food &wine. I believe IT WAS THE POSITION DANIEL TOOK THAT MOTIVATED HIS THREE FRIENDS TO FOLLOW HIS FOOTSTEP. God had caused the official to show favor and compassion to Daniel, so the official told Daniel, “I am afraid of my lord the king, who has assigned your food and drink. Why should he see you looking worse than the other young men your age? The king would then have my head because of you.”
This was what Daniel said in response to the chief official appointed over Daniel and his three friends: “Please test your servants for TEN days: Give us nothing but vegetables to eat and water to drink. Then compare our appearance with that of the young men who eat the royal food, and treat your servants according to what you see.” So he agreed to this & tested them for TEN days.
After the TEN days, they looked healthier and better nourished than any of the young men who ate the royal food. Also, God gave these four young men knowledge & understanding of all kinds of literature & learning and they were TEN TIME better than all the magicians & enchanters in the whole kingdom. Daniel could understand visions and dreams of all kinds. Then, after the three years of training, they were ready to enter the king’s service. WHAT LESSONS, ASIDE THE AFORE-STATED ONES, HAVE U GOTTEN FROM THE MESSAGE? SHARE WITH US.
---Samuel Kwasi Forkuo
ALL THE GLORY TO THE LORD MOST HIGH
http://goo.gl/j47iNx