Lord, as we come this morning, how grateful we are for Calvary, Lord. It seems that the history of man lay in the balance at Calvary, and You overcame.
Lord, You loved us, and You overcame on our behalf. But You also overcame for the glory of the Father, that all of His plans and purposes might be fulfilled. And, Lord Jesus, all things could be restored to the Father in purity, love, and righteousness. Lord, we are a part of all of that. We are part of that magnificent work, and we are grateful.
I pray, Lord, that in these days that lie ahead, You would give us a deeper appreciation for the work of Calvary and for Who You are. Lord, it will take us an eternity to grasp even a little of the magnificence of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
Lord, today we ask for that unique and special anointing to be able to share Your Word, because flesh and blood is incapable. Lord, we need Your anointing. It is impossible to hear, or to receive anything other than knowledge, unless Your Holy Spirit touches our hearts.
So, Lord, this morning we are open to Your Spirit, and we pray that He will be able to move upon the speaker and hearer as well. In Jesus’ name, we ask for a revelation of our Lord. Amen.
Well, it is twenty past, so we will just have to see how the Lord takes us this morning.
In recent months, I have been sharing a series entitled Sonship. I wanted to share on this matter because I had a burden for the young people—those who are going to Toronto and those who are in our midst this morning.
There comes a point in our growth, in our spiritual growth, when God calls us to sonship. Sonship is illustrated in the life of our Lord Jesus Christ. When He was twelve years old, His parents had gone to Jerusalem. On the way back, they realized that He was missing, so they went back to find Him.
When they found Him, He was in the temple. The scribes were amazed at what this young man was sharing, discussing, and asking. When His parents approached Him about why He had done this, He said:
“Knew ye not that I must be in My Father’s house?”
—Luke 2:49
That is sonship. Sonship is the point in our spiritual life at which we realize that, yes, our Lord has taken care of us. As children, we all begin as children. The Lord takes care of us in His mercy, grace, and truth, and we are thankful for that.
But there comes a point when we realize, “Hey, I am responsible. I am accountable, and I need to be about my Father’s business.”
One thing that was on my heart this morning is that being about the Father’s business is indeed our true vocation in life. Often, particularly for young people getting out of school or college and entering the workforce, we think that our vocation is our job.
We may be lawyers, engineers, truck drivers, involved in computer technology, housewives, fathers, or mothers. It runs the gamut of the different professions out there. We think of these things as our vocation, as our job.
But for the Christian, God has called and desired that many sons come to glory. Notice that He does not say many children come to glory, but many sons come to glory. We are called to sonship, and that is our business. That is our vocation: to be about the Father’s business.
You may still be a lawyer, a doctor, a computer technician, a housewife, or involved in one of the many professions we know today. But really, your vocation is to be about the Father’s business. All these other things are a part of being about the Father’s business.
We should not separate our profession from our vocation. If I am a lawyer, a doctor, a housewife, or whatever, then within the profession I am carrying out, it is part of my vocation to be about the Father’s business. We should not separate the two.
What that means is that when we are on our job, we are about the Father’s business. We should never separate the two in that sense. So, being about the Father’s business—sonship—is critical.
I began this series with the life of Joshua because I wanted us to see what sonship is about. Coming into sonship is what happens when one day we are awakened and realize, “Hey, I am responsible to the Lord. I am accountable before the Lord.”
One day, at the judgment seat of Christ, I will be judged by my Lord based on my works. Those works, of course, are done by grace and love, so I do not want to get sidetracked on that.
But when the call comes to sonship, that is just the beginning. You become sons, and that means you become responsible for the Father’s business. You should have that spirit with you for the rest of your life.
Joshua and Caleb were responsible not only as young men, but when they were in their eighties. When the spies were sent into the land, those two stood firm and said, “Look, the Lord has said this land is ours, and we need to go in and take it. They will be food for us.”
The rest of the responsible men at that time did not go in. So the point I want to make is that this matter of sonship is with us all our lives. Basically, it means coming into maturity and responsibility in our lives.
This matter of sonship is something that remains with us all our lives, not merely when the Lord first touches our heart and says, “You are no longer a child. You need to be about My Father’s business.”
I started the series with Joshua, and then we talked about Samuel. I wanted to present young men from the Bible because I thought that was important. Most of these men, as you realize, were in their teens when the Lord called them.
Samuel was four years old when his mother brought him to the house of God. He served before the Lord, and it says that he ministered to the Lord in the Lord’s house at four years old. His main function at that time was getting up before sunrise and opening the doors.
That may not seem like too great a task or too important, but think of a small boy who has that responsibility. Just waking up before sunrise is a tough thing for all of us, I think—except for those who have young children or babies. You wake up at all times of the night; I understand that.
But this young man was responsible. What is critical about Samuel’s life, and what the Holy Spirit illustrates through his life, is consecration: giving your life to the Lord.
When He calls you to sonship, you have to give your life to Him—not the old life, but the new life that He has put within you. You have to say, “Lord, You put Your life into me to serve You, to love You, and to respond to Your grace and love. That life I lay on the altar. It is all Yours. Increase it. Make me a mature son.”
Then we come to the life of David. David challenged Goliath at the age of fifteen years old—a man who really knew the Lord. One of the outstanding features of David’s life was communion with the Lord. We see it throughout the Psalms.
He constantly communed with the Lord. Communion and fellowship with the Lord daily were critical to his life. Without these spiritual elements being part of our lives, we will never grow as sons.
There has to be consecration, and that is not a once-in-a-lifetime situation. A lamb was offered both in the morning and in the evening—a constant lamb of consecration. It is something we should do daily. The same is true of communion: there should be daily communion and fellowship with the Lord.
We come to the life of Daniel. Daniel has a unique part of his life that the Lord illustrates. We need to read some Scriptures, or you are not going to understand what I am saying.
Daniel 1 records the beginning of Daniel’s captivity under Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon.
“And the Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, with part of the vessels of the house of God: and he carried them into the land of Shinar to the house of his god.”
—Daniel 1:2
The king commanded Ashpenaz, the chief of his eunuchs, to bring certain children of Israel, both of the royal seed and of the nobles—young men without blemish, skillful in wisdom, acquainted with knowledge, and able to stand in the king’s palace—so that they might be taught the learning and language of the Chaldeans.
Daniel 1:8 is the key verse:
“But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the king’s dainties, nor with the wine which he drank.”
—Daniel 1:8
And then, concerning Daniel and his three friends:
“And as for these four children, God gave them knowledge and skill in all learning and wisdom: and Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams.”
—Daniel 1:17
When the king examined them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and enchanters in his realm. In other words, these four young men had ten times the knowledge and wisdom of anyone else in the kingdom.
In Daniel 2:47, the king said to Daniel:
“Of a truth, your God is a God of gods, and a Lord of kings, and a revealer of secrets.”
—Daniel 2:47
Then the king made Daniel great, gave him many great gifts, and made him ruler over the whole province of Babylon and chief governor over all the wise men of Babylon. Daniel requested that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego be appointed over the administration of the province.
Daniel 5:21 tells us that the Most High God rules in the kingdom of men and appoints over it whomever He will.
“The Most High God ruleth in the kingdom of men, and that He setteth up over it whomsoever He will.”
—Daniel 5:21
In Daniel 6:4, the presidents and satraps sought to find occasion against Daniel concerning the kingdom, but they could find no occasion or fault because he was faithful. Neither was there any error or fault found in him.
In Daniel 9, Gabriel said to Daniel:
“At the beginning of thy supplications the commandment went forth, and I am come to tell thee; for thou art greatly beloved.”
—Daniel 9:23
Again, Daniel 10:19 says:
“O man greatly beloved, fear not: peace be unto thee, be strong, yea, be strong.”
—Daniel 10:19
And in Ezekiel 14:14, when God was about to pronounce judgment upon the land and the people, He said:
“Though these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, they should deliver but their own souls by their righteousness, saith the Lord God.”
—Ezekiel 14:14
In other words, if those three men had been there at that time, they would only have been able to deliver their own souls by their righteousness. They would not even have been able to appeal to God for the rest.
Daniel is quite an interesting young man. When Daniel was born, it was during the reign of Josiah, who was a good king. As he grew up in his teen years, the king of Egypt defeated King Josiah and eventually set up the evil king Jehoiakim to rule over Judah.
So Daniel went from living under a king who was faithful to the Lord to living under one who was a pawn of the king of Egypt and was very evil. Then Nebuchadnezzar came in and captured Jerusalem.
Nebuchadnezzar decided, “I want to take the best young minds of the nobility from Jerusalem and Israel. I want you to train them for three years in science, mathematics, and languages, and at the end of those three years I will choose the best of the best.”
Think for a minute about being twenty years old and suddenly being captured and taken away from your home and family to another land that served another god. That is what happened to Daniel at age twenty.
If you really consider it, you would have to say, “Wow, what a depressing way to go.” This promising young man was taken hostage away from his home and family. It was a very traumatic and depressing time for Daniel, particularly for one so young.
It could have led to tragedy in his life. He could have become bitter or angry, a young man whose life was possibly headed down the wrong path.
Yet very soon he found out that he had been selected, along with his three friends, to be trained by the trainers in Nebuchadnezzar’s government, possibly to become part of that government.
He went in a very short time from being a captive with no hope to finding that he was going to be trained. This became a critical point in Daniel’s life. Was he going to lay hold of this opportunity for himself?
Would he forget his family and his home, take advantage of the opportunity given to him, and live for himself? Would he think, “I was really torn up, but somehow God has moved, and now I may become part of the government in this foreign land. What an opportunity for me. I can go on into greatness here.”
Would he forget Who his God was? Would he forget his family? That was a real possibility for Daniel.
Young people, as you go out on your own, that is the real danger. Are you going to forget what your family has taught you through the years? Are you going to forget your God and become more interested in living for yourself—having the big house, having the new cars, and all these things that draw your heart away from the living God?
Are you going to take advantage of the college education provided for you and use it for yourself? Are you going to go out into the business world and try to achieve the best you can for yourself so that you can accumulate more worldly goods?
Most of us would probably say, “No, I will not do that.” But we do it. Let me tell you, as one who has experience in this: you do it. It is very subtle.
It is not quite as in-your-face as I am making it this morning. It creeps in subtly. Suddenly, you are not quite as interested in being with the brothers and sisters as you used to be. You have your family now. You have your home. You have all these things. You have other things on your mind.
Yes, you still love the Lord, and occasionally you may pray—particularly if you get into a crisis situation. But your daily fellowship is gone. The relationship is distant at best. It is very subtle, and this could have happened to Daniel very easily.
But thank the Lord, very early on Daniel was challenged. Brothers and sisters, we often look at life as circumstances and events that happen to us. A tragic thing happened in Daniel’s life.
But thank God, that tragic thing did not overcome Daniel or his desire to be about the Lord’s business—to be a son. It is very subtle, and this distancing from the Lord can happen very easily.
We need to remember something: God wants to bring many sons to glory. That is His purpose. That is what drives everything in your life. Behind the tragedies, behind the circumstances, behind all that you go through in life—whether good or bad—God is working in your life to bring you to sonship, mature sonship.
Often, in the circumstances we go through, we have no idea what the Lord is doing. We say, “Lord, why am I going through this? It seems pointless. As a matter of fact, it is agonizing. I do not seem to be getting any spiritual value out of this.”
It may seem as though the Lord is at a distance and you cannot reach Him. Brothers and sisters, this is part of God’s great plan for your life, part of His training program. He is bringing you to glory.
What does that mean? It means that He is trying to work out in your life His own character and nature. We have that life within us, but that life has to mature and grow. Most of the time, that life grows through conflict.
We look at conflict as being bad. God uses conflict to cause you to grow and mature. Often we get discouraged, and I am sure Daniel was probably discouraged at the beginning. I do not think he could have helped being discouraged.
But God was working in this young man’s life, and He is working in all our lives in various ways—ways that we cannot fathom at times. Do not become discouraged, even though you may be discouraged. God is working to bring you into full sonship, many sons to glory.
He is never going to give up on that. He is never going to give up on that. So be encouraged: in these difficult situations in our lives, the Lord is working.
We can miss what God is doing if we become bitter, rebellious, and turn from the Lord. Or, because the Lord is gracious, He may take another forty years to get us back around to that place, as He did with the nation of Israel.
All that time in the wilderness was not necessary, but because of their failure, it became necessary. Do you see what I am saying?
We need to yield to the work of the Lord in our lives, to His hand in our lives. That is the work of the cross. Brothers and sisters, the cross is when the Lord’s will crosses our will. That is the essence of the cross as we apply it to our lives.
We have to yield to the Lord. I do not mean that we yield passively to the things in our lives: “Oh well, it is the Lord. I just have to suffer through this thing.” That is not God. That is not His way.
God intends for us to actively go through all these circumstances with Him. “Lord, I do not understand what You are doing.” Like Job, we wrestle with the Lord. Job was very active with the Lord, and in the end the Lord revealed Himself to Job.
We cannot live a passive life of acceptance. It should be an active life of acceptance: “Lord, this is Your hand, and I do not understand it. But I am praying, Lord, by Your grace, that I will make it through and that You will gain something in my life and in the lives of those affected by this circumstance—for Yourself, for Your glory—that You will bring many sons to glory.”
That is what the Lord is after. We should not forget that. We see it illustrated so well in the life of Daniel.
Daniel did not take the way of the world in this situation. He could have said, “You want to train me? No, I do not want any part of this.” But he was a prisoner. He knew better, and he could not take that route.
He could have said, “This is a great opportunity. I am going to take advantage of it and get all I can get out of it. I am going to try to make it to the top. I am going to give it all I have.”
But Daniel, thank God, apparently had parents who had really worked something of the life of Christ into this young man.
Parents, I have to say that we pour out our hearts for our children in prayer, and it helps. None of us are perfect as parents. But the Word of God says that if we bring our children up in the admonition of the Lord, they will not depart from it.
I think we have to believe that. If we do not believe it, I do not know what hope we have for our children, because they are no different than we are. They will go down the wrong paths except by the grace of God.
So we really need to stand. Apparently Daniel’s parents were really standing for Daniel. I am sure they were in agony over these circumstances as well.
When Daniel was challenged, the official responsible for Daniel and the other three young men came to them and said, “You need to start eating good food. We are going to feed you food from the king’s table, and that way you will be strong and healthy.”
Daniel said, “I cannot do that. I cannot do it.” The Word says that he purposed in his heart not to defile himself.
What was the issue? Before the king ate food, it was offered to the gods—not the true God, but other gods and idols. It was placed before idols and then eaten. In Daniel’s day, and in his heart, for him to eat of that food would have been the same thing as worshiping idols, and he could not do it.
He determined, or purposed, in his heart to keep himself pure. This becomes another critical crossroads in the lives of all of us saints.
Some of us do not come to that crossroads until much later in life. It is the decision to purpose in our hearts not to defile ourselves—not to defile ourselves with sin, not to defile ourselves with the ways of the world, and not to defile ourselves by living for ourselves.
Living for ourselves is defiling. Actually, when we live for ourselves, we are living for another god: ourselves.
Daniel said, “I am not going to defile myself.” The eunuch was terribly upset because he was responsible, and if he did not do his job, his head would be cut off.
Daniel said, “Let us test it. Give us ten days. We will eat vegetables, and then check us out.” They went through the test, and God honored it. They looked healthier, so they were not forced to eat the king’s food. In other words, Daniel was not forced to defile himself.
It says that Daniel purposed in his heart. Brothers and sisters, when we talked about Samuel, David, and Joshua, it always came back to the heart. Here with Daniel, it comes to the heart: he purposed in his heart.
He did not sit down and reason through it merely as a matter of knowledge: “This has been given to idols. I am not supposed to do that, so I will not do it.” It was not like that at all.
Daniel had a heart for the Lord, for God. He knew that taking this action would be offensive to his God, and he did not want to offend God. It was that simple.
He determined to keep himself pure. It says he purposed it in his heart. The point I want to make is that it was a heart action, not a head action. It was not simply the knowledge of good and evil. It was a heart action because he loved the Lord.
He purposed in his heart not to defile himself and not to dishonor God before men. The three young men with him did also.
In doing so, God honored Daniel and his friends. When they stood before the king to be judged and analyzed according to their knowledge and wisdom, it says that among all the scribes, wise men, and magicians in the land, they had ten times the wisdom of anyone else.
God honored it. Young people, sometimes you think that you do not have wisdom, and you do not. But if we will honor God in our lives, He will honor us.
He gave them wisdom beyond their age. They were in their twenties, yet He gave them wisdom normally learned through many years of life and living. But He honored them, and He gave them wisdom.
The Word of God says to ask for wisdom, and the Lord will give it to you if you do not falter in your faith. We need to learn to believe God.
Do you all remember the movie Chariots of Fire? Some of us old-timers do. What was the young man’s name, the runner in that? Eric Liddell.
Eric Liddell was a runner, and he was a Christian. He loved the Lord, shared the gospel, and was a missionary. But he was fast on his feet too—really fast. He was going to the Olympics.
The race in which he was best, I believe the 100-meter race, was scheduled for a Sunday. He said, “I cannot race on Sunday.”
There is a lot of thought about that today—that we honor the Lord every day and so on. But what you need to know is that in his heart, he wanted to remain pure for God.
To him, it was an offense if he were to run the race for his own glory. He wanted to glorify God. He went to that race not for himself but to glorify God, and he said, “This will not glorify God if I race on Sunday.” So he refused to race on Sunday.
Eventually, the committee arranged for him to run in other races. I think it was the 400-meter race and the relay. Britain wanted him there because they wanted more gold medals.
I will never forget that in the story there was another young American runner who was in the 400-meter race. He was a Christian as well. The following Monday, Eric ran in the 400-meter race.
The young Christian athlete next to him looked at him and said, “Eric, he who honors God, God will honor.” Eric won the race.
The point is that honoring God in our lives, determining and purposing in our hearts to remain pure for Him, and not going the way of the world—God honors that.
He honored these young men with special wisdom, wisdom obviously not gained through years of living. God gave them tremendous wisdom, and He honored their honoring of the Lord.
In Daniel 9:23, it refers to him as a man greatly beloved of God. A number of times in Daniel, it says, “A man greatly beloved of God.” Think of that. Would that not be something that all of us would love to hear?
“You are greatly beloved of God.” Now, we are loved by God; do not misread what I am saying. We are all loved by God. God gave His Son on the cross of Calvary because He loves you.
But because of Daniel’s true purpose in his heart—not to defile himself and to live for God—God honored that, and God loved him for that. Greatly beloved.
Ezekiel 14:14 says that though Noah, Daniel, and Job were in that situation, they would only be able to deliver their own souls by their righteousness. Daniel was one of those three. Such a righteous man.
Daniel was made head of the government under the king. If you read the book of Daniel, you find that they tried to remove him from his position. The other leaders were against him and the three young men with him. They were political giants of their day, and they wanted his position.
They tried to catch Daniel in a trap. They looked through his life, and they could not find any unrighteous deed. I doubt any of our presidents could stand up under that light, but they could not find anything of which to accuse this man.
Finally, they went to the king and said, “We want you to make an edict. We honor you so much, king, that for the next thirty days no one can bow down to anyone but you, and no one can ask counsel of any other god but you.”
The king signed the decree. Of course, they knew Daniel opened his window three times a day and prayed to God. They knew they had him.
Daniel was thrown into the lions’ den, and God delivered him. The three young men were thrown into the fiery furnace, and God tried them there, but they came out. Daniel was such a righteous young man.
God refers to Himself as the God of Daniel. We know that God refers to Himself as the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, but He also refers to Himself as the God of Daniel. Man, it all came from this young man purposing in his heart not to defile himself but to honor the Lord.
I think that in acknowledging Himself as the God of Daniel, God is saying something. He is saying that Daniel carried a special testimony to the world at that time.
God’s people were in total disarray. There was no real testimony on the earth to the Lord. But Daniel’s testimony was this: God is sovereign, and He rules over the earth and the affairs of men.
Daniel brought the king even to believe that. The Gentile king, Nebuchadnezzar, said, “The God of Daniel is the God of gods, the living God.”
Brothers and sisters, when others look at us, do they recognize that God is sovereign? Somehow, in our lives—either individually or corporately—can they say, “God is sovereign. God rules over the affairs of this earth. He rules over the affairs of men”?
That was a testimony God wanted to bring to this earth, and He used Daniel to do it. God lived that life through him to do it.
Daniel’s name means, “God is my judge.” We like to say, “God is my Savior,” and the Lord is indeed our Savior. But how often do we go around and say, “God is my judge”?
I do not think that is something we especially invite God to do in our lives—to judge us. But Daniel was such a pure man before the Lord that he could say, “God is not only my Savior, but God is my judge.”
In other words, God was able to judge Daniel’s life daily, and Daniel kept himself right with the Lord daily. What a testimony.
Daniel’s conscience was clear. Daniel had a clear conscience before God. He lived such a disciplined life.
God honored Daniel. Remember how he interpreted the dreams? Remember Nebuchadnezzar’s great statue—the head of gold, the breast and arms, the legs, and the toes of iron mixed with clay?
That was God’s revelation of all that was going to happen from that time, from the time of their captivity, until the second coming of the Lord. He gave Daniel that revelation to share with the people, to share with us.
Daniel received such revelation from the Lord. I want to say again that it all began simply from his action to purpose in his heart not to defile himself.
That simple action before the Lord led to Daniel and his friends becoming rulers over the land, serving God faithfully, and receiving revelations of things that would happen in the future—even to the second coming of Jesus Christ. What a man. What a God.
Let me stop here today. God is looking for Samuels. Well, let me go back. God is looking for Joshuas: young men who take up sonship and maintain that responsibility all their lives.
He is looking for Samuels: young men and women who will consecrate their lives to the Lord—not the old flesh, not, “Lord, I am going to do everything for You,” but, “Lord, by Your grace, because of the life You have given within me, the life of Christ is within. I am going to live my life for You.”
He is looking for those like young David, who, in communion and fellowship with God, receive revelation. Through communion, it was revealed to David where God was going to put His name.
When they left Egypt, the Lord said, “I am going to take you to a place where I will put My name.” He did not reveal that place even after they entered the land, until He revealed it to David. That place was Jerusalem.
How was it revealed to David? There is no record of any great vision David had. It was simply through communion with the Lord and his relationship with the Lord that the Lord was able to share with David what was on His heart.
David was a man after God’s heart. God desired a place to put His name.
For forty years, the ark had been set aside. No one had sought for the ark. When David came to the throne, he immediately sought for the ark of God. The ark is the presence of the Lord. Think of that: the people of God not really desiring the presence of the Lord anymore.
David understood, because he was in communion with the Lord, that it was the Lord’s heart to have a place where His presence could be. It came to David’s heart that he was to build the house of God.
The Lord challenged David in that discussion. He said that all that time He had never shared with anyone that He desired a permanent place, a house. But He told David to go ahead—though David himself would not build it; his son would build it.
That was because David was in communion with the Lord. No other reason. Well, he loved the Lord, obviously. We remember from last time that David had faults—serious, serious sin—but he loved the Lord.
The Lord loved David, and the Lord greatly disciplined David for his sin. Even his own son Absalom rebelled against him and tried to take the kingdom from him. It was serious. The Lord had to discipline David severely.
But David loved the Lord, and he had a heart for God and for God’s heart. “Lord, it is not what I want to get out of being king. What are You after?” The Lord said, “A place to put My name. I am after My presence in the midst of the people. I want a house.”
David responded to all those requests of the Lord. Then we come to Daniel: a man who determined in his heart not to defile himself, to keep himself pure for the Lord.
Purity for the Lord—not for himself, not to become some great saint, but because he did not want to offend God. He did not want to offend the Lord. He said, “I am going to do this,” and the Lord honored that so greatly.
As we share next time, I want to point out some matters concerning the inward anointing—following the inward anointing and keeping a conscience clear before the Lord.
Daniel had a clear conscience. He was such a righteous man. Though he did not have the inward anointing in the same way we do, he had the outward anointing. We not only need to be consecrated and in communion, but we need to learn to follow the inward anointing and keep a clean conscience before the Lord.
We will get into that next time, if the Lord tarries—and maybe He will not. We will see what the Lord does.
But for today, may we all be challenged in this matter of sonship and present ourselves to the Lord, saying, “Lord, I want to remain pure for You. I will not enter into defiling things because I want to remain pure for You.”
Lord, we come today before You because this is really a challenge that we cannot take up except by Your grace and mercy and by the life of Christ within.
Lord, to maintain a life that is not defiled—to maintain ourselves so that we will refuse to be defiled for Your sake—that is an impossible challenge except by the life of Christ within and the power of our God in His mercy and love.
But, Lord Jesus, obviously it is possible. You honored Daniel and his three friends greatly. We ask, Lord Jesus, that You would honor us as well—not because we deserve it, but because, Lord, You deserve it. In Jesus’ name. Amen.