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Daily Recharge
Mal Fletcher
Increasing Influence
25 April 2024
Daniel 1:1-6 'Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it. And the Lord delivered … Judah into his hand … Then the king ordered Ashpenaz, chief of his court officials, to bring in some of the Israelites from the royal family and the nobility -- young men without any physical defect, handsome, showing aptitude for every kind of learning, well informed, quick to understand, and qualified to serve in the king's palace … Among these [was] Daniel …'
God is constantly calling us to stretch and get ready for even greater influence. Daniel had influence as a member of Israel's royal house. Yet, he was stripped of this and carried away to Babylon. He started life there as a captive with very few rights. In the end, though, because of his unfailing faithfulness to God's word, he was raised up to influence not one but five kings of the world's greatest nation-state. Before that, Moses had enjoyed a certain degree of influence as a member of Egypt's royal house. But he was stripped of it all when he was tending sheep in the lonely deserts of Midian. Because he dared to give himself to God's purposes, though, he was elevated to have influence over Pharaoh, Israel and the world. He gave us the Ten Commandments, and three major world religions today recognize him as a prophet of God.
Prayer: 'Father, I know you often work in ways I don't understand, but help me to be patient so that I am found faithful and ready for increasing influence.'
© Mal Fletcher 2003-2004
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