Dare To Be A Daniel
(LESSONS FROM THE LIFE AND MINISTRY OF DANIEL: A MODEL FOR YOUTHS AND ADULTS)
by
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THE BACKGROUND
The Person of Daniel
Daniel means “God is my Judge”. Daniel and his three friends, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah were born into noble Judean families and were teenagers when they were carried out of their land as captives in the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim, King of Judah (Daniel 1:1). Daniel’s life and ministry spread through the seventy years of Babylonian captivity. In the whole realm of the kingdom of Babylon, Daniel and his three friends were among the carefully and specially selected young men by King Nebuchadnezzar’s decree (young men in whom was found no blemish) who could be taught the language and literature of the Chaldeans. They were good looking, gifted in all wisdom, possessing knowledge and quick to understand. They had the potentials to serve in the king’s palace (Daniel 1:3-4). These young men were to be exposed to three years of intensive training, with the best of nourishment and welfare so that they might serve as the king’s ministers, governors or representatives both in the king’s palace and other realms of the kingdom (Daniel 1:5). For Daniel and his three friends to have been among those selected for this specialized training programme (in spite of their being foreigners and captives) tells us that they were not mediocres, instead they must have been very diligent and serious-minded young men who stood up to distinguish themselves among their mates in the society.
Through the divinely endowed gifts of wisdom, prophetic revelations manifested through dreams, visions, and interpretation of dreams, Daniel became God’s mouthpiece, not only to his fellow Jews but also to six reigning kings in Babylon in whose administrations he served. Indeed, these gifts enabled him to provide solutions to sensitive, critical and provocative issues as well as divine guidance for the respective leaders then, and the gift also brought him into limelight and prominence during the reigns of these kings (Chapters 2-6 of the Book of Daniel). Daniel was one of the few Biblical characters who had no account of negative reports. His life epitomized courage, faith, prayer, consistency, lack of compromise, selflessness, humility, righteousness and sacrifice. God Himself testified of him as ‘being righteous’ (Ezekiel 14:14), the Lord Jesus Christ referred to him as a Prophet (Matthew 24:15) while the Angel of God called him ‘the man who was greatly beloved’ (Daniel 9:23; Daniel 10:11, 19).
Daniel and his three friends, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah, had absolute trust in God , hence like Paul the Apostle, we can perceive them echoing this statement: “For this reason, I also suffered these things; nevertheless, I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed and I am persuaded that He is able to keep what I have committed to him until that Day.” (2 Timothy 1:12). No wonder, they served God fearlessly and were unshakeable by the threats of death by King Nebuchadnezzar (Daniel 3:8-18), and refused to bow to a golden brazen image set up by the king. Likewise, Daniel prayed three times daily to the Almighty God as he was accustomed to since his youth, instead of praying to an earthly king (Daniel 6:4-12), and was undisturbed by the danger of being thrown into a den of lions based on a royal decree.
Furthermore, Daniel acknowledged the Almighty God as the One who granted him the enablement and the gifts through which he was able to achieve great things and thus in genuine humility returned all the glory and praise to God. He was very careful not to have made the fatal error of sharing in the glory that belongs to God alone (Daniel 2:19-23). And because he was humble before the Lord, being grateful to God for all his achievements in life and ministry, God endowed him with more grace to do greater exploits for Him with deeper and more futuristic prophetic revelations and visions (Daniel 7-11).
According to James 4:6, “But He gives more grace. Therefore, He says, God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” Daniel and his three friends enjoyed great promotions during the reigns of different kings in whose cabinet they served because of their unwavering commitment to serve God faithfully and fearlessly. This was coupled with a determination to please God alone, above all others, even at the cost of their lives. Through their commitment and faithfulness plus sacrifices in serving God, the Name of the Lord God Almighty was highly revered and glorified by the gentile kings. If you and I can dare to be like Daniel and his three friends then our lives shall bring glory and honour to God’s Name. God being the same faithful and unchanging God (Hebrews 13:8), will also prove Himself as the great and mighty God in our lives. He will promote us and endow us with more grace to do greater and higher exploits for Him in all areas of our lives and ministries in Jesus’ name. Now, dare you and I to be a Daniel?
PRAYER BOX
Lord God Almighty, I am making a fresh commitment to serve you faithfully, wholeheartedly and humbly for the rest of my life. Please, grant me the abundant grace to do so. Help me Lord so that through my life and ministry, your Name shall be greatly exalted and many souls drawn to the kingdom of God in Jesus’ Name.
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About the Book
An awakening call to all Christians to prove the omnipotence of our God to the world as we manifest excellent wisdom, provide solutions to teething national and international problems and carry out spectacular exploits that would compel unbelievers to fear God, acknowledge His sovereignty, bow down to worship His majesty and come to the realization that the Most High God rules in the kingdom and affairs of men. This is the challenge that the life and ministry of Daniel pose to Christians today.
Imagine a scenario where the king of the most powerful and dreadful nation of that time fell down prostrate, before the young captive Daniel. The king literally idolized him, ordered that an offering of incense be made to Daniel, and exclaimed reverently; “Truly, your God is the God of gods, the Lord of kings and the Revealer of Secrets”. All these happened because to the utter dismay of king Nebuchadnezzar, Daniel, through prayer and God’s gifts revealed and interpreted the king’s untold dream. By this feat, Daniel and his friends were greatly promoted while God’s name was highly glorified and honoured. God made them to excel far above their colleagues.
This book further makes us to appreciate that with an adequate knowledge of our God, a readiness to please Him by keeping ourselves pure, a rugged faith, and an unwavering loyalty to Him, there is no limit to which God can use our lives and ministries to prove His majesty, just as He did through Daniel and his companions. By manifesting these traits, the burning furnace was turned to an air-conditioner and the mouths of dreadful lions were locked.
This book encourages Christians from all walks of life to prayerfully demonstrate these traits as Daniel did, so that we can impact the world around us positively for God. This book is an expository on how Christians can receive divine guidance regularly and specifically as it carefully unveils the requisite processes, e.g. through God’s Word, by Spirit-filled Counsellors, and overwhelmingly by the Holy Spirit. The author shares his own practical experiences in these regards. It reveals how parents can develop intimacy with their children that would enhance winning them for Christ and help them to fulfil destiny. This is an inevitable book for all who desire excellence in life and ministry as it systematically details the divine steps for the attainment and maintenance of excellence in these respects. The book should be a hot-cake for genuine result-oriented intercessors, as it uses Daniel’s life to expound on how to become an excellent intercessor. Through rugged faith in God, coupled with unrelenting prayers, a Christian can always emerge victorious over fierce trials and enemy gang-ups, to bring glory to God’s Name.
This book can be rightly described as a handbook for Christian youths as well as an important guidebook for all Christians. Through the help of the Holy Spirit, it offers in-depth details on: how Christian youths can positively use their energy without manifesting youthful exuberance, conduct themselves wisely in the fear of God, do exercises towards righteousness, be on fire for the Lord and yet be humble and obedient. It shows how they can choose godly companions, become responsible and respectable in the community and in the Church, soar into prominence, and fulfill their God ordained destinies in life. A reviewer described it as a ‘book that is conceived from the womb of the Holy Spirit, timely, apt, and heart-warming.’ Another reviewer referred to it as, ‘an exquisite treasure, a compendium of sorts, from being a Bible study material, a book replete with life cum personal experiences, a prayer manual, and a visibly recognized Holy Spirit inspired Ministry Instruction Manual.
The prayer box at the end of each chapter provides a set of prayers, which if thoroughly applied would surely transform the reader into a Daniel in his or her operational base, be it at home, school, work place, church or the society at large.
About the Author
Pastor Amos Olutola Fadiran holds a Ph. D degree in Chemistry from Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria. His love for God and passion for youth ministry made him to work tremendously with the Scripture Unions Pilgrims Fellowship both in Nigeria and Swaziland. During his nineteen and a half years full-time lecturing engagement with the University of Swaziland, he served simultaneously as the National Chairman of the Scripture Union for two and a half years and as the National Coordinator of the Redeemed Christian Church of God for fourteen years. He is currently a Chaplain in the Redeemer’s University, Ede, Nigeria. He is married to Abiodun Dolapo and they are blessed with children.