Daniel 3:1 - King Nebuchadnezzar made an image of gold, ninety feet high and nine feet wide, and set it up on the plain of Dura in the province of Babylon. 2 He then summoned the satraps, prefects, governors, advisors, treasurers, judges, magistrates, and all the other provincial officials to come to the dedication of the image he had set up. 3 So the satraps, prefects, governors, advisors, treasurers, judges, magistrates, and all the other provincial officials assembled for the dedication of the image that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up. (NIV)
Good Monday morning, my dear brothers and sisters. It is a beautiful morning here at the Southern Location of the North Pole, and the snow is all melted! The weather folks say the heat wave is over and the sticky is about to go away for awhile, but folks, it is summer, so enjoy the break and get ready for some more. Thanks to all who braved the heat and came to the picnic along the creek. We had about 75 come and go over the course of the event. Singer Tim Beitzel did a great job getting the message out as he sang to the folks. A bus from the Bridges was parked on the lot if people wanted to get into the AC to avoid the high heat and fans were running full blast at the ends of the tables to move the air. The food was good. I want to thank all who came, and thank Grant and Wanda, part of our ministry team for their hard, hard work in setting up, and also Grant and Wanda, LeAnne and Brian, Sam and Karen, and "Me-Me" for staying after the event to help pack up. While our numbers were down, those who came had a good time, and most had departed by 2:00 PM. The bus from the Bridges departed at 12:45 to take the seniors home. Mark that first Saturday in July on your calendar for next year for our Ministry's annual picnic.
Monday, and the day we pray for our leaders, for President Obama, and all those in Washington, for all those in our state houses, and for those in our local governments and those running the schools. It is also the day we pray for veterans, active military, reserve units, police, firefighters, and all those who work to keep us safe and healthy.
Please pray for Vicki, who has her plate very full with health problems. Please also pray for a new grandchild who is "on the way", that the mother and child will be healthy and dad will have a great job to support them.
Prayers for Sally Snyder who has a lot of health issues including kidney failure. For Paul Deibler, who looks great, but does have some health issues. For Pat Spahr who has had some joints replaced, Thelma Beshore who also had joints replaced and for Debby Spiker as she studies for her nurse's degree. Prayi for Burt Emig and his family, and also Patsy Emig who is recovering from surgery and is doing well. Also pray for Carol Harris who is in Manor Care. Prayers for Sterling and Luella Faunk and William Sanders. A praise report from Mary, she HAD cancer, a recent operation got it all, no chemo is needed ... THANK YOU, JESUS!
Please keep praying for Helen and others who have cancer. And our ministry partner, Pam, as she is having severe back problems, and MRI's show slippage in discs. Let me get to the message.
Hot Fire (Day One): Daniel 3:1 - King Nebuchadnezzar made an image of gold, ninety feet high and nine feet wide, and set it up on the plain of Dura in the province of Babylon. 2 He then summoned the satraps, prefects, governors, advisors, treasurers, judges, magistrates, and all the other provincial officials to come to the dedication of the image he had set up. 3 So the satraps, prefects, governors, advisors, treasurers, judges, magistrates, and all the other provincial officials assembled for the dedication of the image that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up. (NIV)
Daniel = God is my Judge!! Yes, it is the first time I have written from the book of Daniel, and while I was named after my dad, I am a junior, this is where my name came from and the meaning of my name and all you other Daniels. My middle name is "Webster" after the statesman, surely not the dictionary, for I indeed cannot spell, as all of you know. Okay, let me get moving on this message which will be about a week long.
As we see in the scripture, King Nebuchadnezzar made an image and it was made of gold. Let me go to Exodus 20:3 - You shall have no other gods before me. (NIV) That, folks, is the second commandment of what is known as the Ten Commandments. As we go on in the week you will see why I am already calling it an other god. Tomorrow we will look deeper into this Hot Fire, and also the Third Commandment. As for all those names, the satraps, prefects, governors, advisors, treasurers, judges, magistrates, and all the other provincial officials, these were the seven classifications of government officials, and they were to pledge full allegiance to King Nebuchadnezzar and his empire. The image of gold was more than likely plated gold, and not full gold bars, but I am not sure of that, just going by a footnote.
Maybe we could say this today ... Those seven classifications of government ... President, Senate, House, Supreme Court, Governors, state houses, and the locals. Of course I could expand on that, for it seems our government is growing daily. Maybe I should have put in the Internal Revenue Service, known as the mighty IRS.
Let me stick in a few notes here that God is handing me. Did you ever hear of "fool's gold"? My daddy would take me down to the Cornwall Iron Ore mines in Cornwall, Pa. when I was a child and we would pick up stones with gold in them along the road. It was said that enough gold was mined out of that quarry to pay the expense of the operation at one time. My dad said that laying along the road was "fool's gold" or fake stuff, so to speak. Now, what my dear Lord is telling me right now is that any gold that people save up and then worship is "fool's gold" as we are not to worship anything other than our Lord Jesus who is God.
Now in closing up for today if you have trouble keeping Jesus as God, please go to John 1 and read from John 1:1 through John 1:14 and you will get that answer.
Okay, a big day so we will end here today ... Let's pray.
Dear Father in Heaven, first let me thank You for all of what You do for us daily, thanks for helping people through the heat. Please look over our prayer requests and those prayers in our hearts and honor them according to your will. Thanks to You for the computer up and running on this day. In the name of Jesus, I pray. Amen.
Now go forth sharing your blessings, loving your neighbors and forgiving all who you are holding things against ... Love ya, Pastor Dan.
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