There’s a saying, “No one likes change except a baby with a dirty diaper, and even then the baby will cry about it!” Embracing change involves three attitudes: acknowledgement, adjustment, and acceptance.
Puritans used to speak of “following hard after God” and “setting our faces like a flint toward God.”—Strange-sounding phrases in today’s fast-paced world! But these words need to be remembered, especially in our generation.
Christ didn’t arrive with the flare of trumpets or with flags flying. He didn’t demand an announcement for whole the world to hear, though He deserved it. Jesus just walked in. Take some time to reflect on the nature of Jesus Christ’s Incarnation—born to peasant a girl in a smelly barn in an obscure town and worshipped by a few people. This humble story reveals the character of our Messiah, who humbled Himself to save the people He loved.
Courage is a foundation virtue, because it assures the validity of all other virtues. Without courage, convictions become corrupt. But with courage, convictions are honoured. Courage is that quality of controlling and directing fear into positive action. And though Daniel had already proved himself a man of courage, new reserves of valour were needed to stand up to a profane king and deliver a message of destruction.
If someone went over your life with a fine-tooth comb, what would he find? As Chuck says, the rewards of a life well-lived never end. They continue from generation to generation.
One of Chuck Swindoll’s favourite Bible stories is Daniel in the lions’ den, although he thinks it should be called the lions in Daniel’s den.
Just a quick glance at the daily news reveals a world filled with compromise, scandal, and dark secrets. One thing lacking in so many of our would-be heroes and media-made mentors is integrity.
The world needs a return to integrity, not sinless perfection but absolute honesty and an absence of duplicity. Impossible? Let's let Daniel's life answer that for us.
Few character qualities are more important than integrity. Courage is perhaps the only one to precede it, since it stiffens our spines and sets our feet.
Whatever the eye perceives, it doesn't see it all. This is true not only in seeing but also in understanding what God is doing in the lives of His children. Our limited perspective leads us to the false assumption that the godly should not suffer, that God should prevent them from enduring trials. But what we do not see from our vantage point is how God uses the patient endurance of His suffering servants to bring others to Christ.
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