The Grands Letter

Dear Grands,

Daniel 1:8, “But Daniel made up his mind that he would not defile himself with the king’s choice food or with the wine which he drank; so he sought permission from the commander of the officials that he might not defile himself.

Daniel 5:17, “Then Daniel answered and said before the king, ‘Keep your gifts for yourself, or give your rewards to someone else; however, I will read the inscription to the king and make the interpretation known to him.’”

Daniel was somewhere in his early teens (12-15) when Nebuchadnezzar conquered Judah and took him and his three friends captive. As a young Hebrew, he took quick charge of his own mind and life and determined that he would not bow to the gods of the Babylonians or anyone else. To do so would be to defile himself before his God. His three friends also determined the same for their lives.

Daniel’s experience in relating Nebuchadnezzar’s dream and its interpretation was his first recorded miracle. Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were delivered alive after being thrown into the overlly heated firey furnace. At the same time, Nebuchadnezzar saw a fourth person in the midst of the fire, one he himself identified as a “son of the gods.”

Later on, Daniel was cast into the lions’ den overnight and delivered alive the next morning. All of these experiences allowed him the boldness in addressing Belshazzar for his sin against Almighty God, even saying, “Keep your gifts for yourself, or give your rewards to somone else…” This biting response could quite easily be understood as Daniel’s

spiritual frustration. When will you people ever learn that you cannot sin against Almighty God and get away with it? That very night Belshazzar was slain, and his kingdom was given to another.

The thrust of my intention in all of this is to demonstrate that when we start out humbly, but in faith, and stick faithfully with the LORD, we build boldness within ourselves over time. I can say things now that I would never have dared to say when I was in my early teens. You can build this in your life as well. Be humble before the LORD, but be bold when speaking of Him to others. Daniel is a model we would all do well to follow. God bless you as you follow Him.

Heartily in Christ Jesus,

(Dado III)

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.

Springdale, Arkansas 72764

United States of America

“We never know that God is all we need

until He becomes all that we have.”