In Touch Daily Devotional 17th March 2023 By Dr. Charles Stanley, Friday Inspirational Message

Read In Touch Daily Devotional 17th March 2023 and be blessed

TOPIC: Obeying God

SCRIPTURE FOR TODAY: Daniel 1:1-8

1. In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it.

2. The Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, along with some of the vessels of the house of God; and he brought them to the land of Shinar, to the house of his god, and he brought the vessels into the treasury of his god.

3. Then the king ordered Ashpenaz, the chief of his officials, to bring in some of the sons of Israel, including some of the royal family and of the nobles,

4. youths in whom was no defect, who were good-looking, showing intelligence in every branch of wisdom, endowed with understanding and discerning knowledge, and who had ability for serving in the king’s court; and he ordered him to teach them the literature and language of the Chaldeans.

5. The king appointed for them a daily ration from the king’s choice food and from the wine which he drank, and appointed that they should be educated three years, at the end of which they were to enter the king’s personal service.

6. Now among them from the sons of Judah were Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah.

7. Then the commander of the officials assigned new names to them; and to Daniel he assigned the name Belteshazzar, to Hananiah Shadrach, to Mishael Meshach and to Azariah Abed-nego.

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.

In Touch Daily Devotional 17th March 2023 MESSAGE

The story of Daniel illustrates some key elements of obedience. The young man knew that God’s law had dietary restrictions prohibiting food that had been offered to idols, yet now he was in foreign land with no such limitations. When King Nebuchadnezzar ordered that food from his table be given to Daniel, that posed a dilemma: Was it better to obey the Lord and risk angering the king or to disobey God and please the ruler?

The underlying issue was allegiance to God. Daniel could have rationalized breaking the divine command by telling himself he was a servant and had no choice. Instead, he resolved not to eat the royal food and sought a solution that would honor the Lord and keep His law.

Today, many things that our world finds acceptable are outside God’s will for His children. The struggle comes down to this: Our desire as Christians is to obey the Lord, whereas our fleshly side wants to please ourselves. However, obeying God is always the right choice.

To become like Daniel, we must consistently apply Scripture to our decision-making. Then, when challenges come, we’ll have the courage to obey God’s commands.

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Judges 13-15

REFLECT: Make it a daily habit to spend time with God in the Word, and you’ll be ready for the inevitable challenges of life.

In Touch Daily Devotional 17th March 2023. Charles Stanley is the senior pastor of First Baptist Church Atlanta and founder of In Touch Ministries, both located in Atlanta, Georgia. Dr. Stanley’s heart’s desire is to get the gospel to “as many people as possible, as quickly as possible, as clearly as possible, as irresistibly as possible, through the power of the Holy Spirit to the glory of God.