...."for there is no other God who is able to rescue in this way."

Hart and I are determined to wake up early, spend time with Jesus, and exercise daily. We have had our alarms set for 6 am and this week & last week we have really been making an effort not to be lazy and to get our mornings going right. It was a double conviction on both of our parts to do this, and we have been trying to hold ourselves accountable. It is easy to sleep until 7, or 7:15 and not do any of those things in our house.

We decided to stop being lazy and try to get up. Now, we get up and Hart heads for the living room to exercise and I grab my coffee and Bible and groggily head outside to our screened porch. When I read the ebook, Maximize your Mornings, I didn't really believe that I could actually covet that quiet time on my porch like the lady that wrote the book declares, especially not being a morning person. BUT...two weeks later, of trying to be faithful to the One that is always faithful to me, I have discovered now I am more groggy and grumpy when I don't get that peaceful time alone with Jesus. I'm sad when I don't get that time and don't like that my day doesn't "feel" right when I don't get to sit on my porch for awhile and meditate on God's Word and what he has to say to me.

Somehow I had become a believer that too often than naught let my Bible reading go to the wayside. I don't know where you are in this life. If you love God or not, but I am learning that my God is an AWESOME God. He is always true, always faithful, always loving and caring towards me, even though I do NOT deserve his love.

This morning I was in Daniel reading and three verses stood out to me that I want to memorize and learn. I am trying to memorize one or two verses a week and I write them down in a little ruled index cards like this:

Each week, a friend of mine and I will tell them to each other over the phone or in person if we can get together. It's a great accountability!

Anyways, this week I am focusing on THREE from Daniel. Here they are:

1. The King answered and said to Daniel, "Truly, your God is God of gods and Lord of kings, and a revealer of mysteries, for you have been able to reveal this mystery." Daniel 2:47
2. "Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who has sent his angel and delivered his servants, who trusted in him, and set aside the King's command, and yielded up their bodies rather than serve and worship any god except their own God." Daniel 3:28
3. ..."for there is no other God who is able to rescue in this way." 3:29c 

Why I love these three this week:

1.  This real-life king didn't have any clue who God was, but he could see that God was not only God of gods, but he ruled over all. He was the one and only God and all others were false. All Daniel did was tell the King what his dream meant. That's it. No amazing miracle, but he was able to see the truth despite that. BUT, it wasn't enough for him. He continued to live his life not being changed by the God of gods, Lord of kings. UNTIL...
2. He issued some crazy decree that made everyone worship this huge golden image. The only ones that didn't bow down and worship were the Jews, even though they would be issued the death penalty if they didn't obey the king. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were 3 Jewish rulers in Babylon and they got singled out, because they didn't do what everyone else was doing. They didn't bow down to the other gods, they continued, NO MATTER WHAT THE CIRCUMSTANCE, because they KNEW who their mighty God was, and what he could do, and they wouldn't stop serving ONLY HIM!
3. They got thrown into a fire that was seven times hotter than normal (and this is the amazing part) they came out not even smelling like smoke, no hair singed, not being burned. The Bible says that the fire was SO hot that it killed the men that opened the door, but God being rich in mercy, spared them and kept them safe. After this, the King couldn't help but see that their God was able to do abundantly beyond all he could think or imagine. So much so, that he made EVERYONE in his kingdom worship the God of gods and Lord of kings, for there is NO other God who is able to rescue in this way. 

There really isn't another rescuer. There is only Jesus. I'm praying that you will know that in your heart of hearts and that you will be changed to know HIM the way that I do. He is mighty! He is amazing! He is loving! He is faithful! He is good.