ABF 19.38 LN

October 15, 2023

Good Morning!
As God’s people, we have many similarities to Daniel and his battle against sin and those who are slaves to it
Daniel 4
Nebuchadnezzar, choose to force people to bow and worship the idol of himself. Daniel’s 3 friends chose to be consistently faithful before God, to His glory
This even resulted in God being glorified publicly before the entire nation
Even in this, we see signs of the King’s traces of his unredeemed nature in how he glorifies God and promotes Him before the people
Nebuchadnezzar ultimately succumbed to Satan’s wisdom only a short time later, instead of being consistent like Daniel and his friend’s examples
Daniel interprets the king’s dream about the tree, and predicts the future lessons the king will learn
Daniel warns the king and challenges him to repent and move in a faithful direction–but this wisdom is ultimately not taken seriously
Daniel 4:28-30
Genesis 11:1-9
Babylon old (Tower of Babel) and New Babylon (current city and kingdom) are essentially the same sinful story. And God acts on both
If we are motivated by selfish ambition, we will fall into the same pattern
But we also have those around us to offer biblical counsel so we can make consistently faithful choices
Daniel 4:31-33
Nebuchadnezzar suffered 7 years of a lesson before he was ready to take a different path and accept the grace of God, and give Him praise and honor
Ephesians 6:18
When the king failed to recognize God’s rule, he put on a heavy crown instead of the armor of God
Don’t leave yourself vulnerable to attack from temptation and those who have been successfully tempted by demonic wisdom. Put on the armor
be in prayer, be in the Word, be ready to change to stick with God
2 Corinthians 12:6-10
Worldly weakness is not weakness before God. Relying on God brings a deep strength and His blessing
Worldly fruit is utterly worthless, so we should leave it behind and think about the fruit which is borne from the cross of Christ