Daniel 1:8-9

God is the one who works everything out according to His plan. Everything that God has done, has been done according to his purpose and intention, ever since the creation of the world; and not merely from a whim. No-one can avoid His plan, not the good nor the evil, for He uses the good for good; and the bad for bad (Prov. 16:4). God’s intention is for those who want to live, to receive His life, and to give mercy and grace to those who ask Him. He takes responsibility for those who decide to live according to His will; but not for those who are out of His will. All the Word of God reveals how much He loves us and longs to give us His life. God will curse to the third or fourth generation those who have departed from Him. “You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me” (Deut. 5:7-9). In Rev 21:8 He told us, “But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars - their place will be in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death." On the contrary, He will bless to a thousand generation those who believe and serve God (see Deut. 5:10). Once He decides to do something for us, he never changes His intention and will. For this reason He has become our faith. Daniel resolved not to defile himself with the royal food and wine that had been offered to idols and had decided to live only by the will of God. He did not change what he had decided before the Lord. He was a prime minister filled with wisdom, so some of royal officials were jealous of him, so they issued a royal decree to kill Daniel. Daniel had resolved to serve only God and he prayed three times a day toward Jerusalem. He resolved not to bow down to any other gods nor to worship and serve the image of gold the king had set up as asked for by his royal officials. In the end Daniel was thrown into a den of hungry lions but they did not eat him, for whoever has the same will as God will never be destroyed eternally. Daniel’s three friends, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego also had the same will as God. That’s why the furnace could not hurt them at all. Those who use their lives for the will of God, will surely be helped by Him forever. The Israelites were in the desert after the exodus from Egypt and their leader, Moses, was slow to come down from mount Sinai. They were getting impatient and asked Aaron to make them an image of the god that had led them out of slavery, so Aaron made a golden calf for them to worship (see Ex. 32:27-28). In Bible history, God has never overlooked those who worship other gods, not even once. If you worship your dead ancestors on the Chinese New Year, the fierce wrath of God - curses, destruction and death will wait for you. But those who have determined to serve only God, blessings to a thousand generations and the great salvation of your soul will be waiting for you. Those who have the same will as God will live eternally, but those who oppose his will, will perish forever. Dear brothers and sisters! Let us worship and serve only God and be blessed by our resolution!