Does your music help you grow in Christ? Christian pop and many worship songs emphasize our intimate friendship with God. He is our loving, intimate friend. Those who scorn such music have called it “God-is-my-Girlfriend Music.” But I don’t scorn it—it beats regular-girlfriend music. We are the Bride of Christ; intimate friendship is His desire.Continue reading “GOD-IS-MY-GIRLFRIEND MUSIC. Daniel 7:9-10.”
Author Archives: Steven Wales
ANCESTOR WORSHIP. Ezekiel 43:7,9.
There is an interesting line in Alex Haley’s novel ROOTS. When the author travels to West Africa, he discovers that the tribe of his ancestors requires children to be able to recite their ancestry to ten generations. But ten generations would include over a thousand people. It’s understood that children were memorizing only one branchContinue reading “ANCESTOR WORSHIP. Ezekiel 43:7,9.”
DANIEL NEVER FAILED. Daniel 6:10-11.
Daniel is one of few Bible heroes who never failed. There’s “Daniel in the Lions’ Den.” There’s Daniel interpreting dreams. Daniel insisting on a diet of vegetables in order to avoid breaking God’s law by eating unclean meats. There’s even a VeggieTales version in which, while being thrown to the lions, Daniel (played by LarryContinue reading “DANIEL NEVER FAILED. Daniel 6:10-11.”
CONSISTENCY. Daniel 6:5-16.
What do you do consistently? Do you run every day? Eat potato chips every day? Pray every day? People notice the things you do consistently. Three kings rewarded Daniel for his consistency. When others became jealous, they hatched a plan that would land Daniel in a pit filled with starving lions. They wanted to trapContinue reading “CONSISTENCY. Daniel 6:5-16.”
Who Holds Your Lifeblood in His Hand? Daniel 5:23,30
Want to get in trouble with the Lord? To be on His bad list? Do like Belshazzar the king of Babylon: ‘You have not glorified the God who holds your lifeblood in His hand and who controls the whole course of your life.’ –That very night Belshazzar the king was killed” Daniel 5:23,30. Gotta stayContinue reading “Who Holds Your Lifeblood in His Hand? Daniel 5:23,30”
PRIDE GOETH. Daniel 4:37.
I dreamed I walked alone in a green valley, distant brown hills all around me. Suddenly I heard an eerie howl. I froze. Was it a wolf? A jackal? No, it was worse: it was a man—a wild man, the most dangerous of all wild things. I ducked behind a scrubby bush. The hairy manContinue reading “PRIDE GOETH. Daniel 4:37.”
THE FERAL KING. Daniel 4:34-37; James 4:10.
Have you ever gotten cocky? It’s easy to do. As king of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar ruled the world. One day while telling himself how great his kingdom was, Nebuchadnezzar was struck with the mind of an animal and driven into the wilderness. His hair grew “like eagles feathers,” and his nails “like birds’ claws.” He ateContinue reading “THE FERAL KING. Daniel 4:34-37; James 4:10.”
Names. Daniel 3:28-29.
People are funny about names. When I was a kid, I had a way of yelling the names of all my friends when they were almost beyond earshot. Sometimes I would lengthen the first syllable, sometimes the second. If it was a one syllable name like Chris or Paul, I would convert it to aContinue reading “Names. Daniel 3:28-29.”
DON’T SANITIZE THE BRUTALITY. Daniel 3:29.
I’m all for telling Bible stories to little ears. Children should hear about Adam and Eve, Noah’s Ark, the life of Moses, and more. But if G-Rated versions are all you know, the stories do not make sense. If you never grasp the evil of Noah’s day, you will think God was mean to punishContinue reading “DON’T SANITIZE THE BRUTALITY. Daniel 3:29.”
THE REVEALER OF MYSTERIES. Daniel 2:27-28.
God took Nebuchadnezzar to school. He let the King of Babylon take Israelites captive, but God immediately began to reveal things about Himself to the pagan king. The first thing God showed him was that He was a different kind of God from Babylon’s idols. The king had a bad dream and woke up lookingContinue reading “THE REVEALER OF MYSTERIES. Daniel 2:27-28.”