Have you ever sensed God leading you toward something but had no idea how He planned to get you there? That is where Joseph's story begins in Genesis 37. As a teenager, Joseph received dreams that pointed toward a remarkable future. God was giving him a glimpse of...
Over the past twelve years, I have had the privilege of serving in Christian education, including the last seven years as a principal. During that time, my appreciation for Christian education has only deepened. I have watched students grow academically, but I have...
I have long loved Methodist history. Over the years, I have spent a great deal of time reading about the early Methodist movement, but most of what I read and studied took place in the northeast. In recent years, I have spent a great deal of time reading about early...
In the middle of describing these conflicts, Daniel 11 includes a powerful statement about God’s people: “The people who know their God shall be strong.”
When we pray, we often measure God’s response by visible change. If circumstances remain the same, we assume nothing is happening. Yet Daniel’s experience reminds us that God may already be working beyond our awareness, orchestrating events and preparing outcomes that only become visible later.
Daniel 9 reminds us that when we pray, God hears. But it also reminds us that God’s answers are often greater than our requests. He sees further than we see. He works beyond what we ask. He accomplishes more than we imagine.
Because of Jesus Christ, we know that God’s greatest answer has already been given. Redemption has been secured. Reconciliation has been made possible. The God who heard Daniel still hears His people today.
Daniel 8 invites us to live without illusion, but also without despair. It does not promise that evil will disappear quickly. It does not suggest that truth will never be challenged. It does not guarantee that worship will always be protected by cultural approval.
Instead, it calls us to endurance.
Daniel 7 reminds us that while kingdoms rise and fall, God remains. While beasts rage, heaven is steady. And while faithfulness may be costly in the present, it is never wasted.
Daniel 6 is often remembered for the lions’ den, but the heart of the chapter is not about surviving a dramatic trial. It is about living faithfully over a long stretch of ordinary, unseen days. The lions’ den was not the beginning of Daniel’s faithfulness. It was the...