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Tuesday – 26 November 2013
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Verses:
Daniel 2:31-45
Daniel 3:57-61
Luke 21:5-11
Daniel 2:31-45
31 “Your Majesty looked, and there before
you stood a large statue—an enormous, dazzling statue, awesome in appearance.
32 The head of the statue was made of pure
gold, its chest and arms of silver, its belly and thighs of bronze, 33 its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and
partly of baked clay. 34 While you were
watching, a rock was cut out, but not by human hands. It struck the statue on
its feet of iron and clay and smashed them. 35 Then
the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver and the gold were all broken to
pieces and became like chaff on a threshing floor in the summer. The wind swept
them away without leaving a trace. But the rock that struck the statue became a
huge mountain and filled the whole earth.
36 “This was the dream, and now we will
interpret it to the king. 37 Your
Majesty, you are the king of kings. The God of heaven has given you dominion
and power and might and glory; 38 in
your hands he has placed all mankind and the beasts of the field and the birds
in the sky. Wherever they live, he has made you ruler over them all. You are
that head of gold.
39 “After you, another kingdom will arise,
inferior to yours. Next, a third kingdom, one of bronze, will rule over the
whole earth. 40 Finally, there will be
a fourth kingdom, strong as iron—for iron breaks and smashes everything—and as
iron breaks things to pieces, so it will crush and break all the others.
41 Just as you saw that the feet and toes were
partly of baked clay and partly of iron, so this will be a divided kingdom; yet
it will have some of the strength of iron in it, even as you saw iron mixed
with clay. 42 As the toes were partly
iron and partly clay, so this kingdom will be partly strong and partly brittle.
43 And just as you saw the iron mixed with
baked clay, so the people will be a mixture and will not remain united, any
more than iron mixes with clay.
44 “In the time of those kings, the God of heaven
will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will it be left to
another people. It will crush all those kingdoms and bring them to an end, but
it will itself endure forever. 45 This
is the meaning of the vision of the rock cut out of a mountain, but not by
human hands—a rock that broke the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver and
the gold to pieces.
“The great God has shown the king what will take place in
the future. The dream is true and its interpretation is trustworthy.”
Daniel 3:57-61
57 All ye works of
the Lord, bless the Lord: praise and exalt him above all for ever.
58 O ye angels of
the Lord, bless the Lord: praise and exalt him above all for ever.
59 O ye heavens,
bless the Lord: praise and exalt him above all for ever.
60 O all ye waters
that are above the heavens, bless the Lord; praise and exalt him above all for
ever.
61 O all ye powers
of the Lord, bless the Lord: praise and exalt him above all for ever.
Luke 21:5-11
The Destruction of the Temple and Signs of the End Times
5 Some of his disciples were remarking
about how the temple was adorned with beautiful stones and with gifts dedicated
to God. But Jesus said, 6 “As for what
you see here, the time will come when not one stone will be left on another;
every one of them will be thrown down.”
7 “Teacher,” they asked, “when will these
things happen? And what will be the sign that they are about to take place?”
8 He replied: “Watch
out that you are not deceived. For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am
he,’ and, ‘The time is near.’ Do not follow them. 9 When
you hear of wars and uprisings, do not be frightened. These things must happen
first, but the end will not come right away.”
10 Then he said to them: “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.
11 There will be great earthquakes, famines and
pestilences in various places, and fearful events and great signs from heaven.
INSIGHTFUL
WISDOM
PARTNERSHIP
“The great God has informed the king what shall be hereafter.” – Daniel
2:45
God loves us so much that whenever He sees one of us going astray
from His ways, He lets us know. He informs us in various ways. Sometimes, He
speaks directly into our hearts, sometimes through signs, sometimes through
other people.
There have been times when I felt God wanted me to speak to somebody
to share the Good News, but I’d shy away. Instead of thinking about God’s
concern for that person, I’d think about how embarrassing it might be for me.
I’d miss out on the opportunity God was giving me to be part of His master plan
of salvation.
God desires everyone to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the
truth (1 Timothy 2:4). He is calling on His children to partner with Him in
this. If we are only aware at all times of how awesome God is and His plans
are, we’d always be on the lookout for such opportunities to reach out or
witness to others.
The fields are ripe for harvest but there are not enough workers
(Matthew 9:37). Let’s partner with Him and bring in the harvest! – Mark
Prayer:
Lord, may You always find
me willing and ready to follow Your lead. Amen.
Wise Words:
“The Lord intends us to be powerful people – mighty in optimism and
hopeful of spirit, powerful in evangelistic zeal, potent in influence, sturdy
in moral fiber and purity. We can be powerhouses in prayer and preaching.” –
David Jeremiah
Source:
New
International Version (NIV)
Douay-Rheims
1899 American Edition (DRA)
Living Water 2013
