Is God Your God?

Daniel 2:46-47 Then King Nebuchadnezzar fell prostrate before Daniel and paid him honor and ordered that an offering and incense be presented to him. 47 The king said to Daniel, “Surely your God is the God of gods and the Lord of kings and a revealer of mysteries, for you were able to reveal this mystery.”  
 
I don’t think we can fully understand the king’s face-down response to Daniel. Consider how powerful the man was. He could casually order anyone’s death. At his command cities were burned, people were enslaved and cultures destroyed. Nebuchadnezzar could order the construction of marvelous architectural wonders. His power is absolute; yet, he bows before this captive Hebrew slave from Judah.
    This is what happens when God’s power is faithfully declared to the world. Countless Christians who have faithfully served God while suffering persecution testify to God’s power transforming their persecutors to call on Jesus. Daniel truly told the message to his captor. He didn’t back down or compromise what God had given him to see and say. His faith is real and active. His heart is living for God.
    Through the centuries, the LORD God has used his prophets’ words, Jesus’ miracles, the Spirit’s power and the Christian’s testimony to awaken people to God’s salvation. See this example: Acts 14:8 In Lystra there sat a man crippled in his feet, who was lame from birth and had never walked. 9 He listened to Paul as he was speaking. Paul looked directly at him, saw that he had faith to be healed 10 and called out, “Stand up on your feet!” At that, the man jumped up and began to walk. 11 When the crowd saw what Paul had done, they shouted in the Lycaonian language, “The gods have come down to us in human form!” Sinful pride in people such as Paul became relentless faith. Unbelievers believed and told of Jesus.
    Today, too, countless stories detail God’s miraculous work among the faithful. We all know of God’s healing, regenerating lost souls (including our own!) and watching over our everyday lives.
    One point to note here is that the king does not become a true believer in God’s power. He still sees the LORD God as one of many. His confession, “your God is the God of gods” is evidence he still believes in the idols of Babylon. He does not fully commit to God’s commands: Exodus 20:3-5 “You shall have no other gods before me. 4 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. 5 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.”
    How’s your faith? Do you believe in God’s transforming power? How do you live into that? Are there “gods” to remove from your life?
 
Matthew 4:10 Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’”