EQUIPPED

Can I pray for you in any way? Send any prayer requests to OurChristianWalk@aol.com.

In Christ, Mark

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk

** Like posts and send friend requests to the author of The Christian Walk, Mark Cummings on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/mark.cummings.733?ref=tn_tnmn

** Become a Follower of The Christian Walk at http://the-christian-walk.blogspot.com

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

To these four young men God gave knowledge and understanding of all kinds of literature and learning. And Daniel could understand visions and dreams of all kinds.

At the end of the time set by the king to bring them into his service, the chief official presented them to Nebuchadnezzar. The king talked with them, and he found none equal to Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah; so they entered the king’s service. In every matter of wisdom and understanding about which the king questioned them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and enchanters in his whole kingdom.

And Daniel remained there until the first year of King Cyrus.

Daniel 1:17-21

This ends today’s reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Here’s a statement I believe I can make with absolute confidence:

“The Lord will equip us with whatever we need to achieve His purposes.”

Can I get a witness?

It’s true, isn’t it? And it makes perfect sense.

The Lord has a will for all of us and He will provide us with whatever we need for that will to be done.

Need an example?

Look again at the closing verses of Daniel, Chapter 1 and see what God does for Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah:

To these four young men God gave knowledge and understanding of all kinds of literature and learning. And Daniel could understand visions and dreams of all kinds.

At the end of the time set by the king to bring them into his service, the chief official presented them to Nebuchadnezzar. The king talked with them, and he found none equal to Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah; so they entered the king’s service. In every matter of wisdom and understanding about which the king questioned them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and enchanters in his whole kingdom.

And Daniel remained there until the first year of King Cyrus.  Daniel 1:17-21

Now we know from yesterday’s devotion that Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah were among a group of young men recruited from the ranks of the captive Israelites to be trained to serve King Nebuchadnezzar. We also know that these young men were devout in their obedience to God, so much so that they refused to defile themselves by eating the food and drinking the wine of the royal table. Daniel in particular negotiated terms of a test with the chief official assigned to watch over him and the other three. The test involved the chief official giving the men vegetables and water for ten days and then assessing their health compared with the others who had dined off the royal table. The scriptures told us that David, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah were healthier than any of their counterparts and the chief official continued to honor their desire to eat only vegetables.

What would happen next?

As we see in today’s passage, we find God equipping the “four young men” to carry out His purposes as they were brought into Nebuchadnezzar’s service.

What did God give the men?

Each received “knowledge and understanding of all kinds of literature and learning” but Daniel received a bonus gift, the gift of being able to “understand visions and dreams of all kinds”. Later in this book, we find this talent move to center stage but in the meantime, look how the other skills served the young men well:

At the end of the time set by the king to bring them into his service, the chief official presented them to Nebuchadnezzar. The king talked with them, and he found none equal to Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah; so they entered the king’s service. In every matter of wisdom and understanding about which the king questioned them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and enchanters in his whole kingdom.

God wanted His people to be in a position to advise and influence Babylon’s king instead of a magician or enchanter. And so He imparted knowledge and understanding on the four men so that Nebuchadnezzar found them unrivaled by anyone else. This distinguishing resulted in Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah entering the king’s service, right where He wanted them to be.

Today, God still equips His people, instilling skills and abilities into them so they can carry out His desires and accomplish His kingdom goals. And like the four young men, He will give us exactly what He wants us to have to do what He wants us to do. All we need to do is to put those capabilities to good use with the end goal being to glorify and magnify the Lord’s precious and holy name.

With all this, I’ll end with one quick question:

How has God equipped you to fulfill His calling?

To answer this, first identify your gifts, then give thanks to God for them, and finally be proactive in putting them to use to carry out what He wants done.

I will tell you this, there’s no more fulfilling life than a life that is consistently and persistently invested in doing the Lord’s will, a life equipped to achieve the Lord’s divine intentions.

Amen

In Christ,

Mark
PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.
Send any prayer requests to OurChristianWalk@aol.com