But Daniel puposed in his heart that he would not defile himself…

Daniel made a promise to God that he wouldn’t take part in the things offered by the world.  As we go back to school this year (2010-2011), Please “pupose in [your] heart that you might not defile [yourself].” Make a concious effort to avoid the temptations and trials of this world.  Sure, they’ll come along anyway.  But you can keep from putting yourself right in the middle of more of them.

Your Jerusalem is your immediate surroundings.  Family, friends, co-workers.

Judea is a little bit farther.  Your community.

Samaria is our state or nation.

Finally, “the uttermost”, is exactly what it sounds like.  Everywhere.  Every tribe, and every tongue.

Missions starts here.  And it starts with you!

All throughout scripture we find instances of people “expecting miracles”.  People that knew God was going to do something great. 

What happened?  How did we get from that, to just ‘hoping’ God is going to do something through us, our families, our church, and our communities?  How have we lost that belief and confidence in an all powerful God, that now we simply ‘hope’ He can work something through our situations?

When the blind man called out, he didn’t say “if you’ve got a minute”.  He cried earnestly.  “Son of David, have mercy on me.”  He KNEW, the power of God could dramatically change his life. 

When the woman pushed through the crowd, she KNEW, that just a touch of his robe would make an incomprable change in her life. 

We need to get back to Expecting Miracles from God.  He never stopped doing them.  We’ve just stopped believing He can.