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Take It

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7As John's disciples were leaving, Jesus began to speak to the crowd about John: "What did you go out into the desert to see? A reed swayed by the wind? 8If not, what did you go out to see? A man dressed in fine clothes? No, those who wear fine clothes are in kings' palaces. 9Then what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. 10This is the one about whom it is written:
" 'I will send my messenger ahead of you,
who will prepare your way before you.'[c] 11I tell you the truth: Among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist; yet he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. 12From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has been forcefully advancing, and forceful men lay hold of it.

16"To what can I compare this generation? They are like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling out to others:
17" 'We played the flute for you,
and you did not dance;
we sang a dirge
and you did not mourn.' 18For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, 'He has a demon.' 19The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, 'Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and "sinners." ' But wisdom is proved right by her actions."


This passage if filled with all sorts of revelation but iam only going to talk about a few things in this passage.

The first thing that i am gonna look at is Verses 7-10

I find it very intersting that Jesus addresses these people in this manner, This harsh tone is not seen many times in all of his teachings.

I find it interesting that he asks the crowd "What did you go out to the desert to SEE"

What did you come into 2008 to see?

did you come into this year thinking about someone, something,???

What was your GAZE ON IN 2008

I find it very interesting that Jesus and John have a large crowd in the middle of the DESERT!!!

These people went to the middle of freakin nowhere to here this crazy dude who smelled like camel booty and hadn't eaten a descent meal in years!

I think that there was a reason for the people to have to take their gaze off of there everyday surroundings and come to a place where all they could see and experience was the teachings of John and the power that was in Johns baptism.

What are you looking for in 2009?


The second thing that iam gonna talk about is verse 11 the key part of this text is

"I tell you the truth: Among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist; yet he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he."

This is a very interseting and confusing portion of text because it tells u how great john is but then it says who john is now the least in the kingdom of heaven

The key to this portion of scripture is the 2 Covenants

the 1st being the old testament (everyting before jesus)

the 2nd is the new testament (everything during and after Jesus)

The key is that John was apart of the old covenant and we are apart of the new covenant and the new covenant is better than the old covenant

The next portion of text that iam gonna focus on is verse 12

"From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has been forcefully advancing, and forceful men lay hold of it."

I think that often times Christ has given us the victory but we don't "Lay hold of it"

The KJV says "And the Violent TAKE IT BY FORCE"

I think that often times we don't take it by force

we often times don't use force in prayer and worship

we don't demand that demons flee. We don't fully access the the power granted to us

I encourage you as we enter in a new year

TAKE IT!

Take the victory in every aspect of your life

don't be afraid to get forceful in the prayer room

"The only power that God yields to is that of Prayer" -Leonard Ravenhill


Learning to LOVE

Living under HIS Waterfalls

Ben,





For the Life Of Me

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This song by This Beautiful Republic has really been making me think

Was I worth the pain?
You had nothing left to gain
I know I'm the only one to blame
I'm broken on the floor
Staring at the door
Waiting on a Savior to walk in

For the life of me, why'd You bear my chains?
For the life of me why'd You walk to Calvary?
For the life of me I can't explain
The reason You died and the reason You came was for the life of me

What do You see in me?
I'm a leper not a king
A mess that’s undeserving of Your name
I've disappointed You
Like a rose that never blooms
Failing to display my heart to You

Lord, let me be so bright
I escape every shadow using Your light
Are You waiting to see
That I will show?
Your Life in Me


Have you ever thought about the things Christ gave up to become our savior?
Have you ever thought that he could have said NO??
He asked God if "This cup could pass from me"
but God told him NO!!
so he endured the most gruesome punishment known to man

He was beaten and tortured beyond recondition
it wasn't is this jesus or john it was is that even a person

with organs hanging out of his rib cage he cried out Dad where are you... You said you'd never leave me!

He was left all alone hanging on a cross with organs hanging out of his rib cage bleading to death with a crown of thorns digging into his scalp

For the life of me I can't figure out why he laid his life down for people who had spit in his face and beaten and tortured him!


He Will Be Called

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Isaiah 9:6

6 For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given,
and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called
Wonderful Counselor, [a] Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

I've heard this verse hundreds of time but not until this past month have i really studied it
There is some much stuff in here about who God is and how he operates in his kingdom
so iam gonna share a few thoughts

The First name is "Wonderful Counselor"
The Hebrew words here are Pele and Yaats
Pele: Beyond Understanding, Too Wonderful for Words
Yaats: To advise to consult, To Guide

The Word for Wonderful here is pele which to me describes his holiness and his glory
When we tell Yeshuah (Jesus) that he is our wonderful counselor we are also telling him that he is glorious us and worthy and holy
The word for Counselor here is Yaat's this word means to consult advise and Guide
I don't know about you but I like having someone to guide me in life that is too wonderful for words
Saying that Yeshuah is our wonderful counselor is saying that your the person that I can go to
you are my guide, your my consultant on everything

Is he really your guide, consultant, adviser?

The Second name of Yeshuah (Jesus) is Mighty God
to me the name mighty god doesn't need hebrew for a good explanation so i wont bore u with the theology
Basically Yeshuah being our mighty god is basically saying no matter what i come up against ur bigger and better
I can never loose a battle if your fighting for me
I think that the reason that most people have problems in their lives is becasue they have a misconseption on how big and "Mighty" there God truely is

The Third Name is Everlasting Father
I find it very interesting that the word Father is used here
The Job of a father is to raise up sons and daughter to continue the family lineage
often time I think we relegate things to god by saying that's ur job not mine

Do you resembly your Everlasting Father?
Do you talk like he did?
did you love like he did?
Did you Live like he did?
Did you Listen like he did?

The Final name that is given to Christ is "Prince of Peace"
This name shows me a simple yet very profound truth
That wherever you are you can have peace
The Hebrew here means "The one in charge who contains everything"
Everything you need you can find right here in my presence
No matter where you are at in your life you can be whole through his presence

I encourage you this christmas to Look listen love and talke like HE did

Learning To LOVE
Living under HIS Waterfalls
Ben,

Do You Hear What I hear?

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Today I heard this CHRISTmas Carol and it really got me thinking

Do You Hear What I Hear?
Said the night wind to the little lamb,
Do you see what I see
Way up in the sky, little lamb,
Do you see what I see
A star, a star, dancing in the night
With a tail as big as a kite
With a tail as big as a kite

Said the little lamb to the shepherd boy,
Do you hear what I hear
Ringing through the sky, shepherd boy,
Do you hear what I hear
A song, a song, high above the trees
With a voice as big as the sea
With a voice as big as the sea

Said the shepherd boy to the mighty king,
Do you know what I know
In your palace warm, mighty king,
Do you know what I know
A Child, a Child shivers in the cold
Let us bring Him silver and gold
Let us bring Him silver and gold

Said the king to the people everywhere,
Listen to what I say
Pray for peace, people everywhere!
Listen to what I say
The Child, the Child, sleeping in the night
He will bring us goodness and light
He will bring us goodness and light

I ask you on this Christmas eve
Do you hear what I hear?
Do you hear what they heard?
The Shepherds heard angels telling them to go to Bethlehem and find a baby in an out house!
Mary Heard gabriel tell her that she was gonna have a baby without having sex with a man!

What are YOU hearing tonight
christmas carols, kids acting like their asleep, reindeer on the rooftop,??

Have a merry CHRISTmas

Learning to LOVE
Living under HIS Waterfalls
Ben,

Chillin With Sheep

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Luke 2:8-18
8-12There were sheepherders camping in the neighborhood. They had set night watches over their sheep. Suddenly, God's angel stood among them and God's glory blazed around them. They were terrified. The angel said, "Don't be afraid. I'm here to announce a great and joyful event that is meant for everybody, worldwide: A Savior has just been born in David's town, a Savior who is Messiah and Master. This is what you're to look for: a baby wrapped in a blanket and lying in a manger."
13-14At once the angel was joined by a huge angelic choir singing God's praises:
Glory to God in the heavenly height.
Peace to all men and women on earth who please him.
15-18
As the angel choir withdrew into heaven, the sheepherders talked it over. "Let's get over to Bethlehem as fast as we can and see for ourselves what God has revealed to us." They left, running, and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in the manger. Seeing was believing. They told everyone they met what the angels had said about this child. All who heard the sheepherders were impressed.

I've heard this story many times but today when I read it some things stood out to me that i hadn't seen or realized before

The first thing I saw was WHO the birth of jesus was revealed to
Jesus's birth wasn't revealed to some priest, or rich person his birth was revealed to some teenage shepherds who were chillin with their sheep in the field at night
God didn't want to use some highly educated and rich person he used some teenagers working in the fields
God wants to reveal his beauty and glory not to a people who are highly educated and rich and have great jobs he want some people who are like the shepherds that he knows will do what his says

The Second thing that caught my attention was WHAT the shepherds were doing
they were working in the fields with their sheep
Jesus said "the harvest is many but the workers are few"
God revealed the birth of his son to some men who were working in the fields
God will reveal his joy and glory to those who are found working the fields
Tilling the grounds in prayer gathering the harvest of souls

The Third and final thing that god pointed out to me is that the Shepherds had to LOOK at the angels
Lately God has been showing me something through several different revelations he told me
"I will reveal my beauty to those who will let my steal there gaze"
The Shepherds let the Angels steal their gaze
They had to take their eyes off of their land and look at the heavens
I think that many times we need to stop looking at our situation and start looking at our GOD
Yahweh is much bigger and stronger that anything in this world
Yeshuah (Jesus) is our "Mighty God"
In order for God to heal our land we need to get a proper perspective of how BIG our GOD really is

So I encourage you this CHRISTmas season to let God steal your gaze away from your situation and on to him and his glory

Heal Our Land

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I was listening to a sermon by one of my favorite preachers Damon Thompson and one of his verses really messed me up!!

2 Chronicles 7:13-15
13
"When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command locusts to devour the land or send a plague among my people, 14 if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land. 15 Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayers offered in this place.

I believe that right now in America we are at a time where there is no rain, I firmly believe that right now God has "Shut the Heavens"
and God is looking for his Bride to "Humble themselves and fast and Pray"

Last night I was in a "Midnight Hour" time of intercession and My hearts cry was
"Yahweh come be Yahweh and Heal Our Land"
And God responded to me by saying "Humble Yourselves and Pray"

Another thing in Damon's Sermon that caught my attention was in Mark Chapter 4

Mark 4:5-6
5
Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. 6But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root.

The part of this passage that I am gonna focus on is v. 6
the word "Roots" here is a very bad translation of the Greek
the Greek word here is "
rhiza" which means "Origin, Lineage,"
Damon talked about how many times the seed does not take root because the person had on "Roots"
They aren't apart of a Family they haven't got inside of the body of christ and gotten woven into the threads of the family of christ

So many times people come into our churches and get saved but they don't have any Roots
we don't reach out to them and invite them into our "Family"
We don't say you can build some roots here
we don't welcome them into our family so oftten times they die out because they had no "Rhiza"

So I encourage you in this time in America where it seems like the heavens have been shut let's "Humble ourselves and Pray" that Yahweh will come and Heal our Land
I also encourage you to make sure that not ONE person comes into your church and gets saved without you bringing them into your family. Giving them "Rhiza"!!

Learning to LOVE
Living under HIS Waterfalls
Ben,

Words

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Today I was doing my daily reading and some verses really jumped out at me

Proverbs 18:8,12-13,19-21,24
8 Listening to gossip is like eating cheap candy;
do you really want junk like that in your belly?

12 Pride first, then the crash,
but humility is precursor to honor.

13 Answering before listening
is both stupid and rude.

19 Do a favor and win a friend forever;
nothing can untie that bond.

20 Words satisfy the mind as much as fruit does the stomach;
good talk is as gratifying as a good harvest.

21 Words kill, words give life;
they're either poison or fruit—you choose.

24 Friends come and friends go,
but a true friend sticks by you like family.



Living Love

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Pleasant words are a honeycomb
sweet to the soul and healing to the bones
Proverbs 16:24

I am amazed by the affect of words
I've found that the best tool for evangalism isn't a deep understanding of theology or apologetics it's showing the REAL LOVE of God to them.
I've watched as conversations have completely changed through words like "Because I care about YOU" and "Bro I am here for you"!
Words of kindness and love are by far the most effective way to reach people
Showing people the REAL LOVE and GRACE of God is the most effective way to reach people.
Jesus said "The Greatest of these is LOVE"

Our words of love can heal someones soul
Words of Love can give someone HOPE
I am amazed by what can happen when you tell someone that you care
that you are there for them no matter what.

Let us live out this LOVE let us show HIS LOVE to everybody we meet!

Learning to LOVE
Living under HIS Waterfalls
Ben,

Let it Out Now

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The song "Let it out Now" by Leeland has really been my anthem today

It's like you got to walk like him
Got to talk like her
Got to be like them
Everybody knows you follow the crowd
Or get singled out
But God says who you are
Not the world or movie stars
Don't you know He holds the answers in His hands?

We're stuck in a system
Is there anybody different?
Is anybody listening?
Is anybody listening?

Everyone has their own sound
Let it out now, let it out now
There's nothing wrong with living loud
Let it out now, let it out now

I'm drawing the line between
Being them or being me
I'm not ashamed
To call myself one of Yours, Lord
But it's a narrow path
I've got to break from the pack
No turning back
No turning back

Yes, God's looking for a people
With a passion in their hearts
We're God's children
We need to shine bright
We need to shine bright

Everyone has their own sound
Don't you know all God's children have their sound?

RAM (1)

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Today I was reading in proverbs chapter 11 and these verse really stood out to me

4 A thick bankroll is no help when life falls apart,
but a principled life can stand up to the worst.

5 Moral character makes for smooth traveling;
an evil life is a hard life.

6 Good character is the best insurance;
crooks get trapped in their sinful lust.

7 When the wicked die, that's it—
the story's over, end of hope.

8 A good person is saved from much trouble;
a bad person runs straight into it.

9 The loose tongue of the godless spreads destruction;
the common sense of the godly preserves them.

HoHoHo Syndrome

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I was listening to some Eddie James
and this line has really been messing me up!

"Holy, worthy, righteous, and lovely,

Jehovah, Yeshuah, Messiah,
Creator, Redeemer, Restore, my Healer"

When I hear this song It makes me think of this verse

Revelation 1:12-17

12 When I turned to see who was speaking to me, I saw seven gold lampstands. 13 And standing in the middle of the lampstands was someone like the Son of Man.[a] He was wearing a long robe with a gold sash across his chest. 14 His head and his hair were white like wool, as white as snow. And his eyes were like flames of fire. 15 His feet were like polished bronze refined in a furnace, and his voice thundered like mighty ocean waves. 16 He held seven stars in his right hand, and a sharp two-edged sword came from his mouth. And his face was like the sun in all its brilliance.

17 When I saw him, I fell at his feet as if I were dead. But he laid his right hand on me and said, “Don’t be afraid! I am the First and the Last.

I hope that this Christmas season we live our lives for God instead of having what I like to call HoHoHo syndrome

When the Wise men came to Jesus they GAVE yet in the church of america December is lowest tithe and offering month of the entire year!

The Magi got nothing from Jesus except for the opputunity to worship JESUS CHRIST!!

They GAVE to him everything and in return they got the chance to worship him!

They got a chance to worship him who's eyes are like a blazing fire who's hair is white like wool!

Let us embrace the LOVE of God this CHRISTmas season!

Let us GIVE not just gifts let us give the REAL LOVE of a REAL GOD!


After a long day of work at the church (AM service, finearts, set up sound, set up more sound) and now the evening service is sat down in the Sanctuary and listened to the Sen. Associate Pastor Hal and he shared a very interesting word on a piece of text that I've been thinking about and after his second point I started to just read this passage and God began to point out somethings in this text that i think that we often times skip over

Mathew 2:1-11

1After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi[a] from the east came to Jerusalem 2and asked, "Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east[b] and have come to worship him."

3When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. 4When he had called together all the people's chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Christ[c] was to be born. 5"In Bethlehem in Judea," they replied, "for this is what the prophet has written:
6" 'But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
for out of you will come a ruler
who will be the shepherd of my people Israel.'[d]"

7Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. 8He sent them to Bethlehem and said, "Go and make a careful search for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him."

9After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen in the east[e] went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. 10When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. 11On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh.

This is a text that most of us have heard many times and very often it is used during the CHRISTmas season. But as I read this text today there were somethings that stood out to me


The first thing that stood out to me was in verse 3 where King Herod gets angry because there is a new "king of the Jews"
I believe that any Generation that is attacked in there infancy is going to do something increadable in there maturity!
Look at Moses Pharoh tried to kill moses as a child!
David was attacked several times a young boy by lions and tigers and bears!

The Devil will go after students in there infancy because he is afraid of what they will do in there maturity!
I believe that now more than ever God is going after students in there infancy because he is afraid of what they are going to do in maturity!

The Second thing that really caught my attention was what the Magi did when they finally got to Jesus
This scene is not what we typically think of because we think of jesus still being in manger and Bethlehem and being this little 4 week yr. old baby with a piece of white cloth around him
in all reality he is a two year old boy
I wonder what we Jesus like as a "Terrible Two"??
But anyways these "Magi" "Three Kings" "Astrologers" "Scientist" whatever you want to call them where chillin outside one day and saw a star!
Then they decided to GO AND FOLLOW THIS RANDOM STAR THAT THEY BELIEVED TO LEAD TO SOMETHING!!
I don't know about you but that sounds kinda crazy to me!
These dudes just decided that they were going to follow this star and for TWO YEARS they followed this star!!
I wonder what was going through they're heads during those two years?
and after those two years of following this star they finally get to the middle of the desert and they loose track of it!!
so they ask for directions from a king who was no help somehow they find Jesus chillin at his house with his momma and daddy!
and after two years of traveling to see him they do something very profound they GIVE
They come to him and give him some extravagent gifts and worship him!
After two years of searching and believing they came and GAVE two years all just to GIVE!

I ask you will u give like the Magi?
This CHRISTmas season will you give not only your money will you give ur time ur LOVE?

I'm coming your way

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Today I was in my devo prayer time at school and this song really became my anthem

With all of my breath with this heart in my chest
Every look in my eye You know why

I'm coming Your way.
I'm coming Your way.
I'm coming Your way.

I really began to think about these lyrics

I'm coming your way
I began to ask myself am I really coming his way?
or did I start running his way and as soon as crap got in the way did I slow down?

One of my favorite songs is Running by Christ For The Nations Music and the chorus is
"Iam running, running after you,
You've become my souls delight"

I ask you are we really running after him?

Is he the only thing that were running after?
Would we rather chase a relationship or a grade point average of a sports career other than run and chase after his heart?

Let us run the race with perseverance!

Muddy Water

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Today I heard a Song That Really got me thinking

Eighteen wheeler dropped me off at that city limits sign
Sunday morning sunlight hurt my eyes
It?s a long way from where I been back to my home town
But there?s a man in me I need to drown

Baptize me in that muddy water
Wash me clean in amazing grace
I ain?t been living like I ?aughta
Baptize me in that muddy water

Made my way to the church at the end of the dirt road

Dragging what was left of my soul
I could see the saints out back on the river bank
And I could hear forgiveness calling out my name

Baptize me in that muddy water
Wash me clean in amazing grace
I ain?t been living like I ?aughta, no
So baptize me in that muddy water

Baptize me in that muddy water
Wash me clean in amazing grace
I ain?t been living like I ?aughta, no
Baptize me in that muddy water

Baptize me in that muddy water
Yeah, wash me clean in that muddy water, water
In that muddy water
Baptize me

This Song "Muddy Water" By Trace Adkins
Really got me thinking about Grace and Baptism
I found this very similar to the story of Johns Baptism
John would tell people to come and be baptized, The Baptism that they went through was not like the one we went through
I think that the Baptism that they went through was literally a time where they would drown out everything else in their life!

I don't know about you but I could use a baptism in some muddy water!
There's some stuff in my life like pride that i need to drown out!

I encourage you as we enter into this CHRISTmas season lets make sure that when people see us that the LOVE of Christ is shown through us!
Let us radiate with joy and happiness
Let people see the difference in us!
Lets Go dunk ourselves in the Muddy Water

Humility

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Today I've been thinking a lot about Humility

It's been a reoccurring theme throughout my studying in the word today

Today during my prayer time God brought to my attention mark 10:17-
17As Jesus started on his way, a man ran up to him and fell on his knees before him. "Good teacher," he asked, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?"

18"Why do you call me good?" Jesus answered. "No one is good—except God alone. 19You know the commandments: 'Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, do not defraud, honor your father and mother.'[d]"

20"Teacher," he declared, "all these I have kept since I was a boy."

21Jesus looked at him and loved him. "One thing you lack," he said. "Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me."

22At this the man's face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth.

I find that many times christians are like this man in mark 10
We wanna go and follow God
We go to him and say that we wanna be apart of his kingdom
and we then go on to tell him that we've gone to sunday school
we've lived a good life and that we have lived by his rules!
Then he says "One thing you lack" is that u refuse to GIVE!!!
"Give to the Poor" is something that we refuse to do!
I am not talking about your typical giving to the homeless I am talking about Giving LOVE to people in the hallways who are alone!
We stand like the rich man and keep ourselves far away from that as we possibly can!

Peter did this at Jesus's Trial
He was close enough to be there
but not close enough to be identified with Christ!!
I think this is the life that we live!
Close enought to God to say we are christians but far enough away from God to be labeled as a freak or Radical!

Today I was also reading in Daniel and something really jumped out at me

22 “You are his successor,[c] O Belshazzar, and you knew all this, yet you have not humbled yourself. 23 For you have proudly defied the Lord of heaven and have had these cups from his Temple brought before you. You and your nobles and your wives and concubines have been drinking wine from them while praising gods of silver, gold, bronze, iron, wood, and stone—gods that neither see nor hear nor know anything at all. But you have not honored the God who gives you the breath of life and controls your destiny!

In this story Daniel is talking to King Belshazzar

Daniel is telling Belshazzar what the writing on the walls meant
Daniel is telling Belshazzar that his father king Nebuchadnezzar had submitted to God
Belshazzar's Father had decided that God was in control of all of his land
God controlled his mighty nation
and because of his submission God gave Nebuchadnezzar large amounts of land
But Belshazzar had defiled God!!
I find it very interesting that the main thing that Daniel says about Belshazzar is that he is not Humble!
Out of all of the things that Belshazzar had done Daniel was most concerned about his Humility and Humbleness!!
Let us not be people who aren't humble
Let us embrace Gods grace and Love

This Holiday Season let us not just give gifts lets Give LOVE!!
Not in a gift but lets show people the real LOVE of a real God