Walking the Way: A daily devotional

  Daniel 7:9 I watched till thrones were put in place, And the Ancient of Days was seated; His garment was white as snow, And the hair of His head was like pure wool. His throne was a fiery flame, Its wheels a burning fire;   Thought for the day – Ancient of days In our chapter today, Daniel has this amazing vision of four beasts, they are the kingdoms of the world that are to follow. It's an image that we see again in the book of Revelation, and a reminder to us that when John wrote the book of Revelation, he was relying on texts from the Old Testament. But our focus today, and the verse that caught my mind, is verse 9. That sense that we are back in the throne room of God, where thrones are set in place, and the Ancient One or the Ancient of Days, as our verse says today, has taken his place and is ready to bring judgment on the world. That description of God is awe-inspiring. His clothing was white as snow. The hair on his head was like pure wool. These are amazing images o...

  Daniel 6:14 And the king, when he heard these words, was greatly displeased with himself, and set his heart on Daniel to deliver him; and he laboured till the going down of the sun to deliver him.  Thought for the day – Powerless to act Have you ever signed something and immediately regretted it? I have. Last year I sent a letter to someone that landed me in a whole lot of trouble. How about you? Maybe it was a contract, a hasty email, or a promise made in a moment of pride. Darius knew that feeling better than most of us ever will. And it must have been a very strange feeling for him. A trap had been set for Daniel and in verse 13 that trap has snapped shut. Flattered into signing a decree that made him sound divine, Darius now watches his own words close in around the one man in his kingdom he actually trusted. And here's the detail that makes this so challenging: under Persian law, not even the king could reverse his own edict. The "law of the Medes and Persians" w...

  Daniel 5:25 And this is the writing that was inscribed: Mene, Mene, Tekel, and Parsin.   Thought for the day – Mene, Mene, Tekel and Parsin Nebuchadnezzar has died. According to historical records he was replaced by Nabonidus. Nabonidus had possibly married Nebuchadnezzar’s daughter. His eldest son was Belshazzar, the king in our chapter today. Nabonidus went into exile and entrusted Belshazzar with the throne and it was during this time that the Babylonian Empire fell to Media as we read in our chapter today.   Belshazzar's story stands as a striking reminder that God remains sovereign over every nation and every human life. His fall shows us, in vivid terms, what happens when pride sets itself against God: judgment inevitably follows. But there's more here than a warning. The story also testifies to God's faithfulness to His own word; We shouldn’t be surprised that Babylon has fallen. Isaiah and Jeremiah had spoken of it generations ear...

Daniel 4:1   Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and extol and honour the King of heaven, for all his works are right and his ways are just; and those who walk in pride he is able to humble.   Thought for the day – Examining yourself Today's story is possibly one of my favourite stories in the Old Testament, it's the story of Nebuchadnezzar and how he was driven mad as a result of his arrogance, then restored to his place, and in the process wrote this amazing letter explaining what happened to him and giving praise to God. It's a story how the most powerful man in the world came to understand that actually he wasn't the most powerful being in the world, that he was under the authority of Yahweh, the King of heaven. And one of the things that strikes me about this story is that Nebuchadnezzar was warned, he'd had a dream that he would be cast out, the dream was a tree being cut down, a magnificent tree being cut down to size, we are not kings, I think that's blatantly...

Daniel 3:1 King Nebuchadnezzar made an image of gold, whose height was sixty cubits and its breadth six cubits. He set it up on the plain of Dura, in the province of Babylon.  Thought for the day – Images of folly London is famous for it’s football clubs, and for those in America that’s soccer. Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur, Quens Park Rangers, Millwall, Chelsea and Fulham. All of them have statues out front of famous players or owners but in 2011, Fulham FC made the headlines because it’s owner Mohammed Al-Fayed unveiled a 7.5-foot-high statue of Michael Jackson who had died 2 years previously. It was meant to be a tribute to Michael Jackson but was universally lampooned. It only stood for 2 years. Before it was moved to the Football museum in Manchester. And it got me thinking about the idols we build and how we fight tooth and nail to keep them up. In our chapter today, Nebuchanezzar builds himself a 27.5m high statue of gold and commands everyone to bow down to it. The passage doe...

Daniel 2:14 Then Daniel replied with prudence and discretion to Arioch, the captain of the king's guard, who had gone out to kill the wise men of Babylon.  Thought for the day – Rational faith One of my favourite kid’s programs is the Muppets. I’m a huge Kermit fan. And one of the things I love about the program is the chaos. I think it’s avery good reflection of my own life at times. Chaotic but amazing. But I digress. The reason I mention it is because as I was reading today’s chapter about Nebuchadnezzar’s completely irrational request to his advisors and how God intervened with Daniel, I had an image in my head of all the royal advisors and sorcerers running around panicking, just like an episode of the muppets. And yet in the midst of the chaos and panic Daniel is calm and measured. We read that he replies with prudence and discretion. Cool as a cucumber under pressure. How many of us can claim the same? Granted we’re not all given the gift of interpretation of dreams, but it ...

Daniel 1:8 But Daniel resolved that he would not defile himself with the king's food, or with the wine that he drank. Therefore he asked the chief of the eunuchs to allow him not to defile himself.   Thought for the day – Where God is Many years ago I was invited to join some Muslim friends for Iftar, the breaking of the fast during Ramadan. I was honoured to be asked, but found myself wondering about whether or not the food that I would be eating would be clean. I’m not Jewish, but it was the only way I could think about it. In the back of my head was the challenge the Corinthian Church faced in 1 Corinthians about food offered to idols. In the end I went for the meal and had a great time. The reason I felt okay joining my Muslim friends for Iftar was because I was well aware of what I was doing. I was also reminded of Paul’s words in 1 Corinthians 10:27 : ‘ If an unbeliever invites you to a meal and you want to go, eat anything set before you without raising questions ...