Nebuchadnezzar Restored

 

                                                                  ​                                                                                                                                         Daniel 4:34-37

 

March 18, 2024

 

Nebuchadnezzar Restored

At the end of the days I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted my eyes to heaven, and my reason returned to me, and I blessed the Most High, and praised and honored him who lives forever, for his dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom endures from generation to generation; all the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing.
And he does according to his will among the host of heaven  and among the inhabitants of the earth; and none can stay his hand or say to him, “What have you done?”

At the same time, my reason returned to me, and for the glory of my kingdom, my majesty and splendor returned to me. My counselors and my lords sought me, and I was established in my kingdom, and still more greatness was added to me.  Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and extol and honor the King of heaven, for all his works are right and his ways are just; and those who walk in pride he is able to humble.

This morning was cloudy day. It was early morning, and Jan and I once more were amazed at the Majesty of our God as the beauty of the sunrise.  Jan was overcome with how God had blessed us to have such a view of His handiwork.  

I asked her if she could go back in her mind to a time when a young couple was living in a 12X60 trailer in Oden, Texas, on 5.5 acres.  And I ask, did you dream of someday living in a home like this with the resources God has provided?  Her answer was no.

I went on to say that we never planned on this, but we did plan on being used by God in our understanding of a servant-to-master relationship.  We planned to keep the very nice home we lived in, in Spring, Texas, and go to volunteer at the Billy Graham Training Center, The Cove, in Asheville, NC.  Did I say that was our plan, but it was not God’s?

A friend whom I had gone to High School with and had not seen for 40 years worked for a very large oil company as a Vice President, and I called on him to try to get more of their business.  He invited Jan and me to come to his open house, where he said I would see many people from our time in Corpus Christi.  And that was all God’s doing; the call did not get me more business, but it did change our plans to God’s.  It reminded me once more that my ways or not His way, and that His thoughts are higher than mine by billions.

As His servants, we have been provided a beautiful home, resources, friends, and neighbors we love, but the greatest gift is a personal relationship with Jesus. 

When we lived in Spring, Texas, for a period, I became proud of all that I had accomplished. I did not have to eat grass like the king, but I came to a very clear understanding, like Nebuchadnezzar, of this truth.

“. . . my reason returned to me, and I blessed the Most High, and praised and honored him who lives forever, for his dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom endures from generation to generation; all the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, and he does according to his will among the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth; and none can stay his hand or say to him, “What have you done?”  Let me close with this: God loves you, and He desires that you know His Son, not just about Him, but seek Him, for He is not far from you.

 

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

 

Note: Few men can acquire the power and wealth of Nebuchadnezzar and not become full of themselves.  Power and wealth often bring about pride, and that puts a man in the camp with the enemy.

 

Nebuchadnezzar's Humiliation

 

Daniel 4:28-33

 

March 16, 2024

 

Nebuchadnezzar's Humiliation

All this came upon King Nebuchadnezzar.  At the end of twelve months, he was walking on the roof of the royal palace of Babylon, and the king answered and said, “Is not this great Babylon, which I have built by my mighty power as a royal residence and for the glory of my majesty?”  While the words were still in the king's mouth, there fell a voice from heaven, “O King Nebuchadnezzar, to you it is spoken: The kingdom has departed from you, and you shall be driven from among men, and your dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field. And you shall be made to eat grass like an ox, and seven periods of time shall pass over you until you know that the Most High rules the kingdom of men and gives it to whom he will.”  Immediately the word was fulfilled against Nebuchadnezzar. He was driven from among men and ate grass like an ox, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven till his hair grew as long as eagles' feathers, and his nails were like birds' claws.

 

Pride is a five-letter word, it is very different from grateful, it is a long way from humble, but often we the followers of Christ, will encounter it in our lives.  It is a form of worship of one’s self, and we find God's thoughts on the proud in many places in Scripture.  James 4:5-6, ^“Or do you suppose it is to no purpose that the Scripture says, “He yearns jealously over the spirit that he has made to dwell in us”?  But he gives more grace. Therefore, it says, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”  In Luke gospel chapter 1, and verses 51-53 “He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts; he has brought down the mighty from their thrones and exalted those of humble estate; he has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent away empty.”

 

God loves you too much to allow you to be arrogant and proud, so get ready for some time with eating grass.  King Nebuchadnezzar, spent seven years learning it was God who gave him all the power and riches, what will it require God to do to you before you humble yourself?

 

From the Back Porch,

 

Bob Rice

Daniel Interprets the Second Dream

 

Daniel 4: 19-27

 

March 15, 2024

 

Daniel Interprets the Second Dream

Then Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, was dismayed for a while, and his thoughts alarmed him. The king answered and said, “Belteshazzar, let not the dream or the interpretation alarm you.” Belteshazzar answered and said, “My lord, may the dream be for those who hate you and its interpretation for your enemies!  The tree you saw, which grew and became strong, so that its top reached to heaven, and it was visible to the end of the whole earth, whose leaves were beautiful and its fruit abundant, and in which was food for all, under which beasts of the field found shade, and in whose branches the birds of the heavens lived—it is you, O king, who have grown and become strong. Your greatness has grown and reaches to heaven, and your dominion to the ends of the earth.  And because the king saw a watcher, a holy one, coming down from heaven and saying, ‘Chop down the tree and destroy it, but leave the stump of its roots in the earth, bound with a band of iron and bronze, in the tender grass of the field, and let him be wet with the dew of heaven, and let his portion be with the beasts of the field, till seven periods of time pass over him,’ this is the interpretation, O king: It is a decree of the Most High, which has come upon my lord the king,  that you shall be driven from among men, and your dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field. You shall be made to eat grass like an ox, and you shall be wet with the dew of heaven, and seven periods of time shall pass over you, till you know that the Most High rules the kingdom of men and gives it to whom he will.  And as it was commanded to leave the stump of the roots of the tree, your kingdom shall be confirmed for you from the time that you know that Heaven rules.  Therefore, O king, let my counsel be acceptable to you: break off your sins by practicing righteousness, and your iniquities by showing mercy to the oppressed, that there may perhaps be a lengthening of your prosperity.”

 

Many of us who go by the name Christian need to grasp this truth; till you know that the Most High rules the kingdom of men and gives it to whom he will.    The Church is not a denomination, not a building, it the body of Christ coming together to worship the Lord, Jesus Christ.  It consists of many different personality, skin colors, and conviction.  But our identity should never be found in anything but being a follower of Jesus Christ.  If you put a political party as you identity and not that you’re an alien and earth is not home.  Many spend more time identifying with a political party, but never share what Jesus has done for them.

I would be willing to bet the farm that the king was not a nice man, but God called him a servant, and it is God that put men and women in the office they hold, and often it about judgement, but sometimes it a guy like President Trump that comes across as bully and yet keeps his promises and the country prospers under one we do not like his personally.

Let me end with a great quote: 

“Instead of saying Lord I Don’t know How I am Going to Do this

                                             Say

Lord, Can’t wait to See How You Do This.

From our Back Porch,

Bob Rice

Nebuchadnezzar's Second Dream

 

 

Daniel 4:4-18

 

March 14, 2024

 

Nebuchadnezzar's Second Dream

 I, Nebuchadnezzar, was at ease in my house and prospering in my palace.  I saw a dream that made me afraid. As I lay in bed, the fancies and the visions of my head alarmed me.  So, I made a decree that all the wise men of Babylon should be brought before me, that they might make known to me the interpretation of the dream.  Then the magicians, the enchanters, the Chaldeans, and the astrologers came in, and I told them the dream, but they could not make known to me its interpretation.  At last, Daniel came in before me—he who was named Belteshazzar after the name of my god, and in whom is the spirit of the holy gods—and I told him the dream, saying, “O Belteshazzar, chief of the magicians, because I know that the spirit of the holy gods is in you and that no mystery is too difficult for you, tell me the visions of my dream that I saw and their interpretation.  The visions of my head as I lay in bed were these: I saw, and behold, a tree in the midst of the earth, and its height was great.  The tree grew and became strong, and its top reached to heaven, and it was visible to the end of the whole earth.  Its leaves were beautiful and its fruit abundant, and in it was food for all. The beasts of the field found shade under it, and the birds of the heavens lived in its branches, and all flesh was fed from it.

“I saw in the visions of my head as I lay in bed, and behold, a watcher, a holy one, came down from heaven.  He proclaimed aloud and said thus: ‘Chop down the tree and lop off its branches, strip off its leaves and scatter its fruit. Let the beasts flee from under it and the birds from its branches.  But leave the stump of its roots in the earth, bound with a band of iron and bronze, amid the tender grass of the field. Let him be wet with the dew of heaven. Let his portion be with the beasts in the grass of the earth.  Let his mind be changed from a man, and let a beast's mind be given to him, and let seven periods of time pass over him.  The sentence is by the decree of the watchers, the decision by the word of the holy ones, to the end that the living may know that the Most High rules the kingdom of men and gives it to whom he will and sets over it the lowliest of men.’^, This dream I, King Nebuchadnezzar, saw. And you, O Belteshazzar, tell me the interpretation, because all the wise men of my kingdom are not able to make known to me the interpretation, but you are able, for the spirit of the holy gods is in you.

 

The magicians, the enchanters, the Chaldeans, and the astrologers came in, and he told them the dream, but they could not make known to him its interpretation.   These men are a metaphor for a world system filled with educated, ignorant people who have no understanding of the ways of God.

 

Daniel feared, trusted, and listened to the voice of God, and that was the man the King needed to be calling on for wise counsel.  Our world will always run to the men who are well-educated and wise in business or other fields.  Our current president, who holds the title, has a lot of very ignorant educated people around him, and he or someone is listening to them, as they attempt to destroy the foundation our nation was built on.

 

We, the Church, were called to let others see Jesus in us, to talk with God, to listen to God's Spirit that lives in us, and to go and tell about all that Jesus has done for us.

 

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

Nebuchadnezzar Praises God

  

Daniel 4:1-2

 

March 13, 2026

 

Nebuchadnezzar Praises God

King Nebuchadnezzar to all peoples, nations, and languages that dwell in all the earth: Peace be multiplied to you! It has seemed good to me to show the signs and wonders that the Highest God has done for me.  How great are his signs, how mighty his wonders! His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and his dominion endures from generation to generation.

 

A pagan king to whom the Highest God calls His servant, and is it necessary to define servant? A servant is someone who carries out the will of the master.  We do understand that King Nebuchadnezzar had no understanding that it was God who was allowing him to be so successful.  

 

The king put three men in a burning fiery furnace; a heat seven times hotter than normal, and yet he witnessed 4 men, and the fourth looked like a son of the gods, his words.  He called the three young Jewish men who refused to bow to serve his god, and they came out untouched.

 

He had witnessed God's power that was unknown to him, and like him, many who go by the name Christian are in that same place.

 

Jan and I have been blessed to know Bob & Carmen Pate.  Jan volunteered as a counselor at the Pregnancy Assistance Center, where Carmen was the director.  They also went to the same church as us, and Bob is a very quiet and godly businessman with a degree in theology.  Carmen has been a voice on Christian radio for a number of years and is currently the Host for Saving Grace, a broadcast ministry for Grace School of Theology.  

 

Carmen was diagnosed with leukemia, and she battled it for six years. We saw both her faith and trust in God grow, even down to the wire of just weeks to live without a bone marrow transplant.  What Jan and I witnessed was just like that fiery furnace of King Nebuchadnezzar when God showed up. Carmen and Bob witnessed a young man from somewhere in the world giving his bone marrow that was a perfect match, and he, like the king, did not know why he did so.

 

When you witness something like this, it changes your understanding of how mighty our God is.  It also humbles you to better understand your role as a servant and His as a Master.

 

From our Back Porch,

 

Bob Rice

Acknowledgment is not Worship

 

Daniel 3:18-30

 

March 12, 2024

 

 Acknowledgment is not Worship 

 

Then Nebuchadnezzar was filled with fury, and the expression of his face was changed against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. He ordered the furnace heated seven times more than it was usually heated.  And he ordered some of the mighty men of his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and to cast them into the burning fiery furnace. Then these men were bound in their cloaks, their tunics, their hats, and their other garments, and they were thrown into the burning fiery furnace.  Because the king's order was urgent and the furnace overheated, the flame of the fire killed those men who took up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, fell bound into the burning fiery furnace.

 

One must wonder if Nebuchadnezzar, in his rage at the Jewish young men telling him they would not worship or bow down to his god, made him think that a hotter furnace would be too much for God.

 

Then King Nebuchadnezzar was astonished and rose up in haste. He declared to his counselors, “Did we not cast three men bound into the fire?” They answered and said to the king, “True, O king.” He answered and said, “But I see four men unbound, walking in the midst of the fire, and they are not hurt; and the appearance of the fourth is like a son of the gods.”

 

I can only imagine what is going on in the king’s head as he thinks he is going to see a barbecue of these three men, and instead, he witnesses four, and his words are, the fourth looks like a son of the gods.  We do not know if it was Michael, the Prince of Israel, or some other angel; the important thing is that God showed up, and a fire that killed the ones who threw them in the furnace did not have power over them.  It is never the question God can, but is it His will to do so?  And like these three, knowing our God is mighty to save.

 

Then Nebuchadnezzar came near to the door of the burning fiery furnace; he declared, “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, servants of the Most High God, come out, and come here!” Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego came out from the fire. And the satraps, the prefects, the governors, and the king's counselors gathered together and saw that the fire had not had any power over the bodies of those men. The hair of their heads was not singed, their cloaks were not harmed, and no smell of fire had come upon them.  Nebuchadnezzar answered and said, “Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who has sent his angel and delivered his servants, who trusted in him and set aside the king's command, and yielded up their bodies rather than serve and worship any god except their own God. Therefore, I make a decree: Any people, nation, or language that speaks anything against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego shall be torn limb from limb, and their houses laid in ruins, for there is no other god who is able to rescue in this way.”  Then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the province of Babylon.

 

They were moved by what their eyes saw, and they acknowledged the Most High God of these three men, but nowhere do we read that at this moment the king bowed a knee to God.  Many who go by the name of Christian also have gone through the religious steps of walking down an aisle in a church building, getting baptized, acknowledging the need for Jesus, but are not willing to have Him be the authority over them.

 

From the Back Porch,

 

Bob Rice 

`Who am I

 

 

 

 

 

`Who am I

 

As I explored my Identity, I had to begin with who I was and why I am the person I am today.  I was a liar, a thief, a person of little value to the community.  Something changed all of that; it happened long before I was born, and I am not unique, no, not extraordinary; it has happened to millions of people since that one event took place.

 

Often, as I look into the mirror of my true identity, I understand how blessed I am, for who I am today is a gift that cost me nothing; I could not acquire it, it was not for sale, and it could not be earned, and I did not earn or deserve the gift.

 

It was a gift designed in heaven before the foundation of the world came into being.  God saw before creation, and the Creator saw me long before I was.  As I said, I’m not unique, but this is my story, and it must be told.

 

Before I was, God the Father saw me and loved me, and His Son, His only Son, was asked to come to earth and die on the cross and shed His blood to cover my sins that were many.  On that day in history, Jesus Christ not only conquered sin but death and the grave!  In three days, the Godman arose in victory, and the gift was mine for the taking.  At the age of 27, in a hotel room in Victoria, Texas, I bowed my knee to a Holy God and asked for His forgiveness for wanting to be in control of my life.  That night, around 10:30 p.m. I received my new identity.

 

I am free from the control of sin; it has no hold on me, no authority over my choices.  Am I sinless? No, but it is a choice, and each time I choose to sin, I break fellowship with my Father, but I never break our relationship.  I’ve been sealed, I’ve been adopted into the family of God, I am His, and He is mine. ​ To restore our fellowship, I must confess my sin with a broken and contrite heart.

 

As I stated, I’m not exceptional, just forgiven, and it is a grace gift that has eternal value.  My friend Bill worked up a list of Scriptures; this is just one of many, Gal. 4:7, “So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.”

 

What does that verse mean to me?

WOW!  I’m family

 

 

From our Back Porch,

 

Bob Rice

http://fromourbackporch.blogspot.com/