During summer, when Bible studies at church or BSF have ended for the year (typically running from September to May), I tend to pick up studies I have around the house and study a book of the Bible myself, using that study to go along with it. My husband previously worked for a Christian publisher who published a number of excellent women’s Bible studies, and I have copies of most of them to pull from. This summer, I’ve been looking at Habakkuk with Dannah Gresh.
After I posted my last post on Daniel, the day’s lesson in my Habakkuk study was about Daniel! Dannah Gresh wrote about similar themes, and I thought I’d quote some of what she said which might reinforce my last post:
“It seems the plan of Nebuchadnezzar was to bring all the influencers to his capital so he could indoctrinate them. Rather than the back-breaking slavery the Egyptians used to put the Israelites into bondage, Babylon would use education, opportunity, and good food as seduction. That doesn’t sound like captivity. (It sounds like college.) It was what you might call friendly captivity. There’s nothing more dangerous! The king of Babylon sought to keep his captives living and breathing, but very dead to who they were in God.”
Dannah goes on to write about the change of Daniel’s, Shadrach’s, Meshach’s, and Abednego’s Hebrew names:
“These four golden exiles had Hebrew names that identified them with God. Daniel’s name meant ‘God is my judge.’ Hannah meant ‘God is gracious.’ Michael meant ‘Who is like God?’ And Azariah meant ‘God has helped.’
One of the first things the king’s eunuch did was change their names. Belteshazzar meant ‘protector of the king.’ Shadrach meant ‘commander of the Moon God.’ Meshach meant ‘What is what Aku is?’ Abednego meant ‘Servant of Nabu.'”
She concludes:
“My friend, we live in a proverbial Babylon. Oh, the names of the gods are different but be sure of this: the city that claimed our captives is a word picture and lesson for us…. The enemy has a plan for your time in Babylon, surely as God does. His is to steal, destroy, and ultimately to kill you (John 10:10). But he seems to always start with renaming you.
“The enemy does not just want you to forget who God is. He seeks to create so much amnesia in your life that you aren’t even sure who you are.”
Dannah goes on to share some of the ways Satan has tried to change her name and identity, encouraging the reader to do the same: ask God to show you any names the enemy has given you and begin to replace them with God’s truth.
The enemy really does strike at our identities, using all that culture offers, to try to rename us, remake us, and attempt to keep us from knowing who we are in Christ. Let’s stand on God’s Word and truth.
Have you heard the new Brandon Lake / Nick Jonas song, The Author? They ask, “Who am I. Who am I…” Don’t we all need to know who we really are? In Christ, it’s something beautiful! (See Ephesians 1-3.)
When life is going well, it’s not hard to live lives of faith. Everything is happy! It’s not hard to believe in a good God.
But when life is hard, when suffering enters, when hardship comes, when challenges emerge (as we are assured they will this side of heaven) — this is when our faith is really lived, when “the rubber meets the road” of our faith. In the testing, in the suffering, God refines us, shows us where our faith lacks, and if we trust Him, makes us stronger in Him and in faith through it. This is when the journey walked with Christ becomes real and exciting! This is opportunity.
And here’s the clincher: the outcome of these trials and hardships, though important, do not matter as much as the faithfulness of God to us in them and our seeking to be faithful to Him in response. In these moments, we can declare that God IS good, no matter what comes to us, because He is in fact good and is faithful.
We have an example of this in Daniel 3. You may know the familiar story. The pagan king Nebuchadnezzar builds a golden statue and commands that all worship it. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego refuse. (Cue the children’s song in many of our minds!)
Note: their real names were Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah (Daniel 1:6-7). When taken into captivity in Babylon by King Nebuchadnezzar, they, along with Daniel, were given names intended to honor the false gods of Babylon. The intent was to change their identities, to have these men assimilate into this Babylonian culture. They were trained for three years in the Chaldean language and literature to serve in King Nebuchadnezzar’s palace. They were chosen as ones for these roles of serving in the king’s palace because they were “some of the Israelites from the royal family and from the nobility….”
Let that sink in for a minute. They were selected for these roles, targeted if you will, because of their royalty. The enemy, the Babylonians, were looking for the best of the Israelites to bring under their tutelage and instruction, to assimilate them into their ways. Does this sound familiar?
As Christians, we are royalty, a royal priesthood, a chosen people of God’s own possession (1 Peter 2:9). There is an enemy who will target us (John 10:10; 1 Peter 5:8). Ephesians 6:10-20 reminds us that our enemy is not against flesh and blood, but “against the rulers, the powers, the world forces of this darkness, the spiritual powers of wickedness in the heavenly places.” And the enemy today seeks to bring people under his delusions and control, using all kind of forces for training them up, from media to worldly ideology. We must be aware of these schemes if we are to stand against them.
Let’s also take a moment to be thankful for faithful preachers and teachers who not only teach God’s Word, but live it, who have not capitulated to the demands of our culture, but who stand firm on the Word of God. Encourage and pray for them.
Right from the start of their captivity, Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah refused to be like the culture around them (Daniel 1). And the Lord blessed them. God gave these four young men knowledge and understanding and wisdom. (Daniel 1:17)
Back to Daniel 3, King Nebuchadnezzar made this 90-foot gold statue to which the people were to fall down and worship when music played. Some took the occasion to maliciously accuse Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego who would not worship the statue. They were brought before the ungodly king Nebuchadnezzar and told they would be thrown into the furnace of blazing fire if they did not worship it.
Maliciously accused. Brought before an unjust king. Thrown into the fire. Things weren’t looking good.
King Nebuchadnezzar asked, “Who is the god who can rescue you from my power?”
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego give this beautiful reply:
“O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter.If this be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king.But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up” (Daniel 3:16-18).
In his fury, Nebuchadnezzar charged that they would be thrown into the fiery furnace, set 7 times hotter. The strongest soldiers who threw them in died from the flames. When Nebuchadnezzar looked into the flames, he saw four men walking in the fire unharmed. When they were brought out of the furnace, “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” (4:27). Nebuchadnezzar ends up blessing God who had delivered them!
These godly young men stood strong in the Lord and in their faith in Him. They didn’t waver, even when circumstances looked bleak. They were able to do this because they had earlier resolved in their hearts (see Daniel 1) to follow and serve the only true God. When the moment of testing came, they were ready. They didn’t decide He wasn’t worthy of trusting when these bad times came. Instead, they knew He was absolutely worthy and declared that even if this didn’t turn out like they would hope, they nevertheless would serve no other gods or bow to them.
I hope none of us are ever maliciously accused, brought before an unjust ruler, or thrown into a fire! But it’s actually quite possible when there is an enemy after our faith, our souls, the “accuser of the brethren” (Revelation 12:10), who deceives and seeks our harm, our callings, and our influence for Christ in the world. This is not flesh and blood, but the world forces of wickedness. We must learn to stand up. To believe. To trust. For Christ Himself will stand with us, as He stood in the fire with them, and fight our battles. Think of the story they had to tell when they emerged from the fire! A story we are still telling today.
Let this encourage you, no matter what you are walking through, to trust your worthy Savior. To praise Him in and for the opportunities, the testing of your faith, to prove His worth and faithfulness, to give glory to His name.
“Consider it all joy, my brothers and sisters, when you encounter various trials,knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.” James 1:2-4 (NASB)
This past year (2025-2026) in Bible Study Fellowship (BSF), in the “Exile and Return” study, we studied 8 books of the Bible, including Daniel (Lessons 3-8 in Fall 2025). I’m going back to record some of my observations from the study. If you are interested in studying the Bible with others in BSF, go to bsfinternational.org to find a group for next year (2026-2027). They will be studying Romans. There are in-person and online options available, and registration is now open.
Psalm 23 is a passage the Lord keeps bringing me to in this season of life. It’s everywhere. Its truth and beauty have taken on new depth and meaning.
After journaling to capture all the places it was showing up, I went to church, and a soloist sang a beautiful hymn “Shepherd Me, O God” (based on Psalm 23).
It was announced Chuck Swindoll is retiring. I’ll never forget his exposition on Psalm 23 at our senior retreat at Dallas Theological Seminary. What a generous man to invest in us during no doubt a busy time as president of the seminary and having a much broader ministry beyond.
Dallas Seminary Graduation Luncheon 1997 with Chuck and Cynthia Swindoll
There are numerous songs on the radio right now about Psalm 23. I was listening to Leanna Crawford’s Psalm 23, marveling at its timing. As I started an order in the Chick-fil-A curbside parking, I was singing the next song on the radio without even realizing what I was saying. But then I heard what I was singing:
“The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want; He makes me lie down in green pastures. The Lord is my Shepherd, leads me to still waters, and He restores my soul.”
This is the bridge in “Come What May,” a song not primarily about Psalm 23.
You get the idea… it’s been everywhere. It’s an encouragement to pay attention to what the Lord is speaking through His Word as we study the Bible and live our daily lives.
During this time, I woke up one morning with these words being repeated in my mind over and over: “all the days of my life, all the days of my life, all the days of my life.” Over and over. What is that? Well, it should have been obvious to me, but it took me a minute to remember it’s from Psalm 23:6, “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life…” Okay, so?
Well, I went to do my daily Bible study. I’m doing Bible Study Fellowship International online this year, which has been another amazing blessing meeting women from all over the world! We are studying Revelation. In this lesson about the letter to the church at Ephesus (Rev. 2:1-7), the questions took us back to Genesis 3 to read alongside Rev. 2:7 about the Tree of Life.
As I read about the curse of the serpent and the curse of the ground (note: Adam and Eve were not cursed, though there were consequences to their sin), the LORD God told the serpent “you shall eat dust all the days of your life” (Gen. 3:14). And the LORD told Adam…, “Cursed is the ground for your sake; in toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life…. In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for dust you are, and to dust you shall return” (Gen. 3:17-19).
Contrast that to Psalm 23: “Surely goodness and lovingkindness shall follow me all the days of my life.” Look how God reverses these curses for His people. Rather than being in the dust, “He makes us lie down in green pastures”! “He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul.” What the enemy strives to take, God restores. Picture God’s goodness and lovingkindness following us, closely behind, even chasing us down as our Good Shepherd all the days of our lives!
Once you hear the themes of Psalm 23, you’ll see it everywhere.
My husband and I went to a wedding last weekend where they sang The Goodness of God: “All my life you have been faithful, all my life you have been so, so good… your goodness is running after me.” I could hear the echoes of Psalm 23 as the breeze blew through the beautiful arboretum setting. The pastor came up after the song and also pointed out it included Psalm 23.
Remember John 10:10-11, the passage where Jesus tells us He is the Good Shepherd. There’s the contrast: “The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly. I am the good shepherd…”
Do you see where Satan tries to destroy and kill, God instead gives life and abundance! He leads us out, He follows us behind. In fact, Galatians 3:13 tells us, “Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree.’)” He is the good Shepherd, but He is also the Lamb slain in our place for our sins to give us salvation! What an amazing reversal! What a grand exchange!
Not a day goes by without our Shepherd’s care and presence, His leading and following us, the sheep in need of our saving Shepherd. May His goodness and lovingkindness follow us all the days of our lives, that we may dwell in the house of the Lord forever.
“I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” Philippians 4:13 (NKJV)
Most mornings, I wake up with a song in my head. It’s surprising how often the song is exactly what I need. A little bit of manna to start the day!
This morning, Katy Nichole’s Song “My God Can” was ringing in my mind. It reminded me of Philippians 4:13 at this part of the song:
I can do all things, all things, through Christ who gives me strength. I can do all things, all things, cause His Spirit lives in me.
I came down for my coffee and came across this mug (pictured at the top of this post) that I had pulled forward from the back of the cabinet a day or two ago. On April 25, 2012, I spoke at the Women’s Bible Study brunch that wraps up our yearlong Bible study at church. It was my testimony of Christ as our strength, my Rock! That same day was “Administrative Professionals Day,” which I didn’t even know existed! But my boss and his wife had a gift on my desk that morning that included this mug with Philippians 4:13 on it! As my friend would say, it was a “God wink”! Christ my strength, the focus of my talk, now highlighted on the mug, encouraging me for the talk I was about to give.
Walking with my coffee then to get my Bible and read this morning, singing the song, holding the mug, I found myself out of the blue repeating the five statement pledge of faith from Beth Moore’s Bible study Believing God that I did back in 2005. I haven’t thought about those words in a very long time, but they say, “God is who He says He is, God can do what He says He can do, I am who God says I am, I can do all things through Christ, God’s Word is alive and active in me, I’m believing God.” I wondered why I was saying that. And I realized “I can do all things through Christ” is the verse from Philippians 4:13!
I always loved that pledge of faith because it first tells me who God is and what He can do, then who I am and what I can do through Him, then gives a reminder that His Word is alive and active in me as I study it, and concludes that based on those things, I can trust and believe God. I will believe God because He is trustworthy and able to be believed. It strengthens my faith to believe Him more.
Whatever we are going through in life today, we can believe God for those situations, every single one of them: “I’m believing God.” Based on that testimony of faith, I can bring Him all my needs and trust that, as Katy Nichole sang, my God can! And I can do all things through Him who gives me strength. Rest in this truth today!
It’s been a little over a year now since we moved 734 miles away to a new home. It’s taken about that much time to get adjusted to a new home, community, church, job for my husband, and the gift of having my mom live with us. All of these are grace gifts from the Lord for which I give thanks, especially today.
We’ve traveled back to our former community for Thanksgiving to be with family that remains there. Longtime friends welcomed us to stay in their home for the week. I’m always stunned by others’ hospitality to us when we travel back, their willingness to open their beautiful homes to us so graciously and without any obligation. It’s like a retreat to stay there. More grace gifts.
I was thinking this morning about that surprising gift of someone sharing their home. What enables me to have access to such a lovely place, free of charge, without any debt owed, being able to partake of their generous gift and be so blessed? Relationship, friendship. If I didn’t know them, they likely wouldn’t open their home to me! But it’s out of that friendship that this gift is offered.
And how is it accepted? By saying yes, receiving it, realizing I don’t have a way to repay them for this abundant generosity with anything other than thanks and maybe a small gift which can’t begin to measure up to what I’ve been given! It seems almost feeble to leave a small gift and note of thanks.
The Bible is full of parables, stories, analogies, metaphors that give us a glimpse of a greater truth. This sharing of home is a picture to me of a greater truth. Jesus has a home prepared in heaven for us that is beyond comprehension and beyond what I could afford. It’s a home which I could never earn and never repay Him for bringing me into. In that home, the true King Jesus reigns and rules, and we will be set free from all that we struggle with on earth. He invites us to come.
How do I gain access to this heavenly home? Through relationship, friendship. By knowing Christ and receiving His invitation of saving grace. The ultimate grace gift.
John 15:12-17 is a beautiful passage about friendship with God. Jesus says in verse 14 that those who do what He commands are His friends. I want to be His friend; do you? Verses 12-13 tell us what his command is: “Love each other as I have loved you.Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” Verse 17 emphasizes it again: “This is my command: Love each other.“
How do we know how to love? We follow Jesus’ own example of love. He laid down His life for us. Why? So that we could know Him, have relationship with Him, and be saved from our sin by faith in Him. In that love and relationship, He will one day welcome us into His perfect and eternal home. I want to be with Him where He is, in an eternal home; do you?
It’s interesting today that in our society, oftentimes, Christians are depicted as hateful. But true Christians will be known by their love. That’s the hallmark of Christianity. A loving God who rescues us, who laid down His very life in love. And He calls us with the two great commandments to love Him and love others. Love.
If people fail to show love, Christ is not to blame. We are. We are sinners in need of His grace gift of salvation.
I myself have failed in this measure of love this past week. When I travel and leave my routine, I find myself often stressed and easily irritated, putting this stress on to those around me. Isn’t that lovely to admit during this beautiful holiday season? I have failed to love as Christ has loved me.
But as I awoke this morning, tempted to wallow in the shame and frustration at my own sin and self and shortcomings, eyes on me, I instead was drawn to worship. Don’t wallow; worship. Don’t look down and around; look up. Don’t remain in the sin; repent and turn again to Christ. For His love for us is so great, He gave His life, a sufficient sacrifice, for sinners like me.
This Thanksgiving, I rejoice in that salvation, in Jesus Christ who saves and loves, who will one day welcome me into His home, not because of what I’ve done, but because of who He is and what He has done. I want to receive this free gift of grace through faith and enjoy all the benefits of knowing Christ as my Savior. I want to turn again for forgiveness in the daily wear and tear of life, not wallowing there, but looking up to worship. On this Thanksgiving, I want to thank the One who is worthy of all my worship.
I pray you have a joyous Thanksgiving, too, giving thanks for gifts such as these today with people you love, in the presence of the King of love.
Praise Proclaimer 