Daniel 1

Hey,
Finally the long-awaited Daniel devo! lol! Just a couple of things before we get started:
1-I am not perfect nor am I the final authority on scripture so feel free to add to, disagree with, discuss, or whatever, just please be loving and do not argue if you can help it. We all understand that tone is almost impossible to discern from typed word so please try to use as loving a tone as you can and if you can't find a loving way to type it, don't type it until you can.
2-The discussions are not all going to happen within a certain time limit and some may take days so please do always expect immediate responses but keep check for response during the day(s) between devotional. If a dicussion from a day last into the next devo that is fine, just make sure that you comment on the day in question so we can keep dicussions straight.
3-I am not the best typer in the world(J-Rawk's cat distracts me too much) nor the best speller so please forgive me.
4-Some words and names are too long for my fat fingers to type in full each time so I will abbreviate, such as King Nebuchadnezzar will from this point on be refered to as King Neb or just Neb.
Here we go: Go ahead and read Daniel 1 right now, we may not do the whole chapter today, but read it all anyway. Go ahead and read, I'll wait.....................Go ahead and read.............................its okay keep reading.......................done?, Good. Also, try to read ahead, it is good to have a day or two to process a chapter before you try to discuss it.

In chapter one we are introed to King Neb (see it is a long name, what was his mom thinking!), and four totally awesome teenager,Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego (I'll use the names that most are familar with). These teens are proof that God loves to accomplish His will through the youth of a nation or at least a youthful attitude.

vv. 1-2: In about 605 B.C. God gave King Neb a victory over Israel, but that does not mean that He favored Neb over His chosen children or that He was blessing the evil empire. He simply used Neb to accomplish His will. People who don't follow God yet seem to have good fortune aren't always being blessed by God, they may just be a part of God's bigger plan. Make a mental note of the stuff Neb stole from God. You know the stuff from the Temple, cause God resided in the Temple in those days. This suff will play huge when we get to Neb's son in chapter 5.

vv.3-5: The Babylonians (henceforth Babs) are like most pagan thinkers in that outward appearance means everything to them. They only know what they can see. They only wanted the best Jews to try to assimilate (nice Star Trek term) into Babs. The only problem is that there is a reason some of these kids are the best, their extreme devotion to God! A strategic mistake by Neb, but a perfect fit for God's plan. They forced this Bab diet and regement on them because they thought it was the best, but is really all that they know. They don't know nor care to know that there is a better way. Sounds like most lost people today, huh?

v. 6: Dan, Shad, Mesh, & Abed were all from the tribe of Judah. Why does this matter you say? I am glad you asked, Judah is the tribe that God ordained would be the preist and spiritual leaders of the nation of Israel. It is no coincidence that the four who would stand the strongest for God were from this tribe. Judah means praise which is what they did through everything they endure, they praised God and much of the 'trouble' they get into is because they are praising God unashamedly.
v. 7: They all 4 were renamed by King Neb and for some reason the new name given to Daniel didn't really stick with the writer, but the new names did stick with the other three, I do not know why. Ask a deeper theologian than me about that sometime, maybe it was because the new names for the other three were easier to remember for our sunday school teachers since they were more poetic than there original names. I really don't know.

vv. 8-14: Back to the diet and regement, Daniel and his boys knew that there was a better way. They were determined to follow God's way. Then when their captors couldn't see what they saw, they didn't just give up, crumble under pressure, and take the easy way out by doing things the Bab way. They in essence (v. 12) they said, "Here, let us show you the better way and its results so you can see it and understand." They stayed true to what they knew was right from the very beginning, no matter what they faced for it. It was a big risk. All this other food guaranteed that they would gain weight and make them look healthy, but what it would do their insides was destable to them. So they opted for the original Atkins diet. This could have made them look thinner and weaker than the others, but they risked it all for God.
In our lives we deal with lost people all the time. They have their way they think is best and we have our way, God's. Their way looks good on the outside and it seems to work for them. It looks so good in fact that they can't see out of it to see ours. Our job is to not give up on them when they don't see it our way nor is our job to just take the easy way out by going along with and doing their way. We are to come along beside them and lovingly say, "Here, let me show you my way so you can see for yourself and then you can understand." Be paitent and kind until they see it. Satan has them blinded. Let God open their eyes and you be there to be the true example of God's way they see when their eyes open. Their way may look good on the outside and it may help us to fit in if we join in. But, what it will do to our insides will be detestable. Also note that Daniel did not say, "Hey, I'll do a little of yours, but I am doing mostly God's then everyone will be happy!"He went all, God all-the-time! Just dabbling in the ways of the lost will help us blend in, but helps because it keeps us lost! Of course the lost blend with the lost, you can't 'blend-in' with the lost if you aren't lost.
So, even though God's way stands to make you stand out from the crowd in 'bad' way according to them, it is worth all the risk. Risk it all for God, all or nothing!
Next time we will discuss how this risk worked out for our 'Four Amigos' (I know the movie title is actually Three Amigos, but we have four heros in this story so deal with it)
Tell me what you think, comments(any), additions, reiterate, contradictions, disagreements, etc.

PD