[Membersandfriends] Sunday, November 14, 2004

Sat Nov 13 22:01:29 PST 2004

The Upper Room Daily Devotional -- E-mail Edition
Brought to You by Upper Room Ministries
Sunday, November 14, 2004

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SET FREE
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Daniel 6:10-23 (NRSV)

Although Daniel knew that the document had been signed, he continued to go to his house, which had windows in its upper room open toward Jerusalem, and to get down on his knees three times a day to pray to his God and praise him, just as he had done previously. The conspirators came and found Daniel praying and seeking mercy before his God. Then they approached the king and said concerning the interdict, "O king! Did you not sign an interdict, that anyone who prays to anyone, divine or human, within thirty days except to you, O king, shall be thrown into a den of lions?" The king answered, "The thing stands fast, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which cannot be revoked." Then they responded to the king, "Daniel, one of the exiles from Judah, pays no attention to you, O king, or to the interdict you have signed, but he is saying his prayers three times a day." 

When the king heard the charge, he was very much distressed. He was determined to save Daniel, and until the sun went down he made every effort to rescue him. Then the conspirators came to the king and said to him, "Know, O king, that it is a law of the Medes and Persians that no interdict or ordinance that the king establishes can be changed." 

Then the king gave the command, and Daniel was brought and thrown into the den of lions. The king said to Daniel, "May your God, whom you faithfully serve, deliver you!" A stone was brought and laid on the mouth of the den, and the king sealed it with his own signet and with the signet of his lords, so that nothing might be changed concerning Daniel. Then the king went to his palace and spent the night fasting; no food was brought to him, and sleep fled from him. 

Then, at break of day, the king got up and hurried to the den of lions. When he came near the den where Daniel was, he cried out anxiously to Daniel, "O Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God whom you faithfully serve been able to deliver you from the lions?" Daniel then said to the king, "O king, live forever! My God sent his angel and shut the lions' mouths so that they would not hurt me, because I was found blameless before him; and also before you, O king, I have done no wrong." Then the king was exceedingly glad and commanded that Daniel be taken up out of the den. So Daniel was taken up out of the den, and no kind of harm was found on him, because he had trusted in his God.

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You will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.
- John 8:32 (NRSV)
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BECAUSE I am a Christian I was arrested on false charges and imprisoned in 1966.  The jailer knew that I was innocent and tried his best to get me released, but he failed.  One year had passed when the jailer came to tell me he had failed to convince the authorities to release me on bail.

The next morning, the high command of the intelligence service forced the jailer to prepare me for transfer from my hometown jail to a distant regional jail.  The jailer then said, "Lunkim, I cannot help you any more.  May your God help you."  His words reminded me of the king of Medes and Persians saying to Daniel, "May your God, whom you serve continually, rescue you" (Dan. 6:16, NIV).  I prayed, "Lord Jesus, fulfill your promise now for your name's sake by rescuing me from this pit.  Amen."  Four days later I was released and set free.

>From this experience I learned that the word of God, the scripture, is living.  It is being fulfilled daily in the life of God's people, whether or not non-believers accept it.

Prayer:  Dear God, thank you for all those who have proclaimed and nurtured the faith through difficult times so all the world can come to know you.  Amen.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:
Where have I seen the words of the Bible being fulfilled in my life?

-- T. Lunkim (Manipur, India)

PRAYER FOCUS: People in prison for their faith

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RELATED READING ...

Discover a world of saints whose faith, hope, and action will inspire and encourage you.  SERVANTS, MISFITS, AND MARTYRS looks at saints you know, saints you don't, and some you might not recognize as saints.  Howell offers vignettes of figures he calls teachers, Pray-ers, Preachers, Singers, Prisoners, Servants, Misfits, and Martyrs.  Meet misfits Francis of Assisi and Clarence Jordan, the creator of The Cotton Patch Bible.  Experience the stories of Billy Graham and Sojourner Truth.  Hear the stories of singing saints Charles Wesley, Isaac Watts, and John Newton.  Read the accounts of Thomas More and Dietrich Bonhoeffer, both saints who were imprisoned for their beliefs and needs.
http://www.upperroom.org/bookstore/desc.asp?ep_id=30&item_id=12673

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The scripture quotation is from the NEW REVISED STANDARD VERSION of the Bible, copyright (c) 1989, by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the U.S.A.  Used by permission.  All rights reserved.