TODAY’S DEVOTION (Wednesday 4th June 2025)
“So Daniel went in and asked the king to give him time, that he might tell the king the interpretation.
Then Daniel went to his house, and made the decision known to Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, his companions, that they might seek mercies from the God of heaven concerning this secret, so that Daniel and his companions might not perish with the rest of the wise men of Babylon.
Then the secret was revealed to Daniel in a night vision. So Daniel blessed the God of heaven.” Daniel 2:16-19 NKJV
WELCOME TO THE 155TH DAY OF OUR YEAR OF VICTORY
We slept and woke up because the LORD kept us. Happy are the people whose God is Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God. They will not lack God’s mercy, forgiveness, miracles, blessings, peace, rebukes, corrections, truths and all that the kingdom of God offers.
One of the major things such people will be awake to is the responsibility of the LORD place for their generation. They will be aware of the things GOD wants to accomplish through them. No one meets the LORD and keeps living life their way. He will disrupt your programs and show you His own.
Then you will become prophetic purpose driven. You will be passionate of fulfilling God’s plan for your age and times. Your eyes will always be on aspects of your prophetic destiny that you are yet to realize. You will be consumed with what the LORD wants you to do next.
You will not be consumed with the next car to buy, the next house to build, the next child to give birth to, the next pleasure trip to take, or the next earthly vision to accomplish. You will be concerned about the next thing the LORD wants you to do with your life.
If you look at those who met the pre incarnate Christ and those who met Him as the resurrection and life, you will see similar hallmarks. The Bible says they all divorced themselves from the things of men and got married permanently to the things of God.
For instance, Abraham was concerned about his barrenness until the LORD granted him an encounter that transformed his earthly desire for a child to an eternal desire, for a city which has foundation, whose maker and builder is God.
FOR DANIEL, IT WAS ANOTHER UNIQUE TURN.
He stepped into a foreign land as a captive, but separated himself into the LORD, and when the LORD lifted him up above all in the land, he never used the opportunity and began to amas wealth and become a deity, so to speak to all. He rather used the lifting to do only what He was sure was God’s will.
Our devotional text spoke about Daniel because of how he served his generation. He served it according to the will of God – the same way Jesus will make you serve when He meets you. You will move from serving yourself to serving your generation according to His will.
Another thing the LORD will teach you when you meet Him is how to rely on his mercies every day or years of your life. He will teach you how to be in good standing with Him and how to rely on His mercies for everything. You will know that the race is not to the swift nor the battle to the strong.
Yes, He will quickly let you understand that it’s not of he who wills or he who runs. It is of the LORD who shows mercy. He will pass you through life challenges that will help you understand that unless God shows you mercy, you will mess your life up trying to get things done.
You will learn that His mercies are all you need and all you should always ask for in a wicked and perverse generation. You will grow to learn that men in good standing with GOD are always on their knees seeking mercies from God to grant them things in the Spirit. It is men who have fallen from God that approach Him with “it’s my right” mentality like the hypocrite in Luke 18.
He will use amazing scriptures that you are studying to guide you through paths of mercy and truth. He will show you that when the enemy moves against you and try to kill, steal or destroy you or something about you, His mercies is where to run to.
The metaphor is called “the horn of the altar.”
Yes, the horn of the altar is what to hold unto when the enemy want to kill you before your time. The horn of the altar is what to hold unto when he comes against you like a flood. The horn of the altar is what to run and hold unto, when life seems blink and all hope seems lost.
THAT WAS WHAT PAUL HELD UNTO IN PRAYER WHEN HIS LIFE WAS ABOUT BEING SNATCHED AWAY PREMATURELY.
The journey he embarked on was not by his will. People in charge of the ship embarked on the journey against his wish. The enemy just wanted him dead. But the horns of the altar he held unto during the crises saved his life. That is what we are to be doing in the days of adversity. The Bible says:
On the third day we threw the ship’s tackle overboard with our own hands.
Now when neither sun nor stars appeared for many days, and no small tempest beat on us, all hope that we would be saved was finally given up.
But after long abstinence from food, then Paul stood in the midst of them and said, “Men, you should have listened to me, and not have sailed from Crete and incurred this disaster and loss.
And now I urge you to take heart, for there will be no loss of life among you, but only of the ship.
For there stood by me this night an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I serve, saying, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul; you must be brought before Caesar; and indeed God has granted you all those who sail with you.’
Therefore take heart, men, for I believe God that it will be just as it was told me. Acts 27:19-25 NKJV
From this scripture, we can see that Paul and the entire passengers and crew were heading for obliteration, or death. But the horns of the altar Paul held up for 14 days changed the course of things for them. God’s mercies were secured, and it paralyzed what the enemy had intended.
It’s important sometimes that we visit some Bible stories to see how our fathers escaped the very challenges we also face in our time so that we follow the paths they followed for their deliverance to come. Today we have seen the path of the horns of the altars as a great path to follow. Now, let’s all embrace it.
LET US MAKE THE HORNS OF THE ALTAR THE PLACE TO RUN TO WHEN THE ENEMY COMES.
Our devotional text holds a revelation of how Daniel and his group held on to the horn of the altar, God’s mercies, in the day of a life-threatening crisis. The Bible says the king had a dream and woke up without remembering it. Then he called his wise men, sorcerers, magician etc. to help him out. But they could not!
Then he became fierce and issued an order that if they cannot tell him the dream and its interpretation, he will consider it an exposure of a hidden but now known conspiracy against him. To him that will mean they have been telling him lies all along by the interpretations they have been giving to the previous dreams he had been having and sharing with them for interpretation.
If they were truly true, they should vindicate themselves by telling him the dream he just had and its interpretation. At least, that was his persuasion.
But the Bible says still they could not, and then he issued a command in response that they should all be executed. That was how the life of Daniel, who was working then as one of the wise men of Babylon came under threat.
The Bible made it clear that the execution began. I believe it began with those the king called to the palace to remind him of his dream and give the interpretation. Then, the executioners started looking for others to kill! Finally, they found Daniel and his friends also! But the Bible says Daniel answered the Chief executioner with Wisdom and requested that he see the King to seek for time. The request was granted.
Our devotional text says,
“So Daniel went in and asked the king to give him time, that he might tell the king the interpretation.
Then Daniel went to his house, and made the decision known to Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, his companions, that they might seek mercies from the God of heaven concerning this secret, so that Daniel and his companions might not perish with the rest of the wise men of Babylon. Then the secret was revealed to Daniel in a night vision. So Daniel blessed the God of heaven.”
If you look at this scripture, you will discover that Daniel and his friends ran to the horns of the altar of God to escape the sword of the king. In other words, they sought mercies of the LORD. That is the horns of the altar there. The result was a powerful intervention.
What the king was looking for was revealed to Daniel in a night vision. Hallelujah! You are the next on God’s list for such interventions.
If you seek mercies of the LORD to watch over you this month, take care of your family, protect your investments, make way for you where there is no way, protect you as you embark on any business trip, put food on your table, and roof over your head, or help you serve your generation according to God’s will, you will get the same results.
The message of today’s devotional has been passed. Join the generation of those who seek the mercies of the LORD to help them in life, especially when the power, or penalty of sin is about snubbing their life away.
LET THIS SCRIPTURE BE AN ADDITIONAL MEDITATION FOR YOU TODAY.
“God, you are my God; early will I seek you; My soul thirsts for You; My flesh longs for You In a dry and thirsty land where there is no water.
So I have looked for you in the sanctuary, to see your power and your glory. Because your lovingkindness is better than life, my lips shall praise you. Thus I will bless you while I live; I will lift up my hands in your name.
My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness, and my mouth shall praise you with joyful lips. When I remember you on my bed, I meditate on you in the night watches. Because you have been my help, therefore in the shadow of your wings I will rejoice.
My soul follows close behind you; your right hand upholds me.” Psalms 63:1-8 NKJV
