May you prosper greatly! Daniel 4:1
It is my pleasure to tell you about the miraculous signs and wonders that the Most High God has performed for me. How great are his signs, how mighty his wonders! His kingdom is an eternal kingdom; His dominion endures from generation to generation. Daniel 4:2,3
I, Nebuchadnezzar, was at home in my palace, contented and prosperous. Daniel 4:4
It was a dark and stormy night….The fourth chapter of Daniel reads like a best selling novel. In the end, the main character ends up with character….and he wants to share with us how to prosper and how to be content. I think it would be good to read this scripture not as a how to novel, but a how NOT to novel.
Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and exalt and glorify the King of heaven, because everything he does is right and all his ways are just. And those who walk in pride he is able to humble. Daniel 4:37
Nebuchadnezzar is proclaiming to the peoples, nations and men of every language, who live in all the world (Daniel 4:1) his testimony. They all saw the fall of the king, the chopping down of the great tree. God rid Nebuchadnezzar of his other gods and turned his eyes toward heaven.
At the end of that time, I, Nebuchadnezzar, raised my eyes toward heaven…Daniel 4:34
I was recently going over this portion of the scripture in the Beth Moore study of Daniel. I want to glean from this all that I can. I want to have a teachable spirit. I can see in this story that God loved Nebuchadnezzar so much that He would do anything to get his attention…to make him look toward heaven. I do not want to be so contented that I do not testify to others about the greatness of God in my life. I do not want to be cut down to a stump, to remove the dead wood in my life, the wood that is not glorifying God.
Lord it is my prayer that you will send people like Daniel in my life to encourage me to look toward heaven, to be content and prosperous in my relationship with You. Lord I want to keep my roots buried deeply in you and to be watered by your word. Please show me any dead wood that I have in my life that does not glorify you. Lord thank you for the bible studies that we have in our church. I pray that you would continue to bless the Daniel study and the ladies that have come to learn more about You.