home / devotionals / daily reading plan / lions and visions / king of the jungle

365 Devotionals: Lions and Visions

Memory Verse: “He rescues and saves and performs signs and wonders
In heaven and on earth – He who has rescued Daniel from the power of the lions.” Daniel 6:27 AMP

Song of The Day

Listen to “King of The Jungle” by Steven Curtis Chapman.

Bible Basis

September	Book	Read From	Read To	Devotional
15^th	Daniel	Chapter 4	Chapter 6	Healing Water

We’re skipping ahead to chapter 4. We’ll come back to chapters 1-3.

Key People

Here is a list of key people – the who’s who of overcomers, found in today’s reading (in order of appearance) with bios from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Daniel. Saved from the lions by the God of Israel because he was found blameless before God. (Daniel 6:22).

Today’s Devotional Reading: Daniel 4-6

Daniel 4 Amplified Version (AMP)
Daniel 5 Amplified Version (AMP)
Daniel 6 Amplified Version (AMP)

Reflection

The adversary has been “making a living” persecuting Christians since the beginning of humankind. It is no surprise that over thousands of years, he seems to be at the top of his game. Thankfully, God is not playing with eternity. To wait upon the Lord is to renew strength and secure the victory (Isaiah 40:31). The Psalmist David wrote, “They looked unto him, and were lightened: and their faces were not ashamed.” Psalm 34:5 KJV

You can be sure that whatever sufferings the children of God endure are not out of God’s control. When bad things happen to good people, it is easy to look for a place to lay blame. Sometimes, the only malfactor at work is the cunning of Satan, who has had a talk with the Almighty God and stated that you only serve Him because He does not allow you any harm. The same situation came upon Job.

1 Again there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan came also among them to present himself before the LORD. 2 And the LORD said unto Satan, From whence comest thou? And Satan answered the LORD, and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it. 3 And the LORD said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil? and still he holdeth fast his integrity, although thou movedst me against him, to destroy him without cause. 4 And Satan answered the LORD, and said, Skin for skin, yea, all that a man hath will he give for his life. 5 But put forth thine hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse thee to thy face. 6 And the LORD said unto Satan, Behold, he is in thine hand; but save his life.
Job 2:1-6 KJV

Job’s “friends” suggested that it was sin that caused his calamity, so he should accept his punishment and thank God for calling him, “Son” (Job 5:17). Yet, God said that Job was a perfect man (Job 2:3). Through the physical and emotional pains, losing family and wealth, the Bible says that Job never sinned with his lips (Job 2:10). This is one of the hallmarks of those who wait upon the Lord: temperance. Not only did Job not renounce His allegiance to God, he also rebuked others for suggesting that he do so. And, it was only after hearing the negative input of others, that he began to ask if God knew of his suffering.

The world often mistakes temperance for weakness. We do well in the body of Christ to recall that Jesus may have been a tentmaker, but He commands the Heavenly Host – these are not angelic caterers. They are warriors. God is a deliverer. His power is not confined to the legendary accounts of “saints of old” who were led from prison by the Angel of The Lord. God is able to deliver from all manner of oppression – be it mental, physical, financial, or anything else – and He is able to do it in the present day. If you believe that God is powerful, you must go one step further.

You must believe that He has power in your personal experience. God is not just a good concept that did well centuries ago. He is a real solution to real problems today. God understands that people are looking for answers. When you truly know God, you know that His peace passes all understanding (Philippians 4:7). It is no coincidence that many people would not be looking for answers if they believed they had “evidence” of God’s power. No wonder the Scriptures clearly state that faith itself is evidence (Hebrews 11:1).

Message: King of The Jungle

How many times have you heard the account of Daniel in the lions’ den? Twice? Too many to count? Well, no matter how many times you many have heard it, the application of Daniel’s faith-full speech is never ending. Although the Bible was written long before you started reading this message, there are yet lions’ dens in the world today because the enemy is seeking whom he may devour (I Peter 5:8).

16 Then the king commanded, and they brought Daniel, and cast him into the den of lions. Now the king spake and said unto Daniel, Thy God whom thou servest continually, he will deliver thee. 17 And a stone was brought, and laid upon the mouth of the den; and the king sealed it with his own signet, and with the signet of his lords; that the purpose might not be changed concerning Daniel. 18 Then the king went to his palace, and passed the night fasting: neither were instruments of musick brought before him: and his sleep went from him. 19
Then the king arose very early in the morning, and went in haste unto the den of lions. 20 And when he came to the den, he cried with a lamentable voice unto Daniel: and the king spake and said to Daniel, O Daniel, servant of the living God, is thy God, whom thou servest continually, able to deliver thee from the lions? 21 Then said Daniel unto the king, O king, live for ever. 22 My God hath sent his angel, and hath shut the lions’ mouths, that they have not hurt me: forasmuch as before him innocency was found in me; and also before thee, O king, have I done no hurt.
Daniel 6:16-22 KJV

From Matthew Henry’s Commentary on Daniel 6:16

The king himself, with the utmost reluctance, and against his conscience, signs the warrant for his execution; and Daniel, that venerable grave man, who carried such a mixture of majesty and sweetness in his countenance, who had so often looked great upon the bench, and at the council-board, and greater upon his knees, who had power with God and man, and had prevailed, is brought, purely for worshipping his God, as if he had been one of the vilest of malefactors, and thrown into the den of lions, to be devoured by them, Dan. 6:16.

One cannot think of it without the utmost compassion to the gracious sufferer and the utmost indignation at the malicious prosecutors. To make sure work, the stone laid upon the mouth of the den is sealed, and the king (an over-easy man) is persuaded to seal it with his own signet (Dan. 6:17), that unhappy signet with which he had confirmed the law that Daniel falls by. But his lords cannot trust him, unless they add their signets too. Thus, when Christ was buried, his adversaries sealed the stone that was rolled to the door of his sepulchre.

6. The encouragement which Darius gave to Daniel to trust in God: Thy God whom thou servest continually, he will deliver thee, Dan. 6:16. Here (1.) He justifies Daniel from guilt, owning all his crime to be serving his God continually, and continuing to do so even when it was made a crime. (2.) He leaves it to God to free him from punishment, since he could not prevail to do it: He will deliver thee. He is sure that his God can deliver him, for he believes him to be an almighty God, and he has reason to think he will do it, having heard of his delivering Daniel’s companions in a like case from the fiery furnace, and concluding him to be always faithful to those who approve themselves faithful to him. Note, Those who serve God continually he will continually preserve, and will bear them out in his service.

In other words, the devil thought he had me… but I got away! Why? Because greater is He who is in me, than he who is in the world. The den may have lions, but…