My early childhood was spent in Florida, surrounded by palm trees, sunny beaches, and yes, the occasional suburban alligator sighting. No, I don\u2019t mean those crazy Florida Gator football fans, though they are equally as unappealing (Go Dawgs!). For us, being aware of an alligator out and about in a neighborhood pond or waterway was as normal as watching out for bees or spiders\u2014just add a rather large reptile to that list! I think it\u2019s having this background alligator radar that\u2019s led to a recurring nightmare I\u2019ve had since childhood; in the dream, I\u2019m in a dark, foggy forest, and I\u2019m chased by a larger-than-life alligator. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
So like our friend King Nebuchadnezzar, you could say I know a thing or two about bad dreams.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While I\u2019m glad Nebuchadnezzar didn\u2019t have to race a reptile in his dream, his vision is nonetheless a terrifying and foreboding one. Daniel\u2019s interpretation doesn\u2019t exactly help mitigate all the doom and gloom, as he sees earthly kingdoms completely crushing one another, brittle kingdoms that can\u2019t be trusted, and devastating division among the people living in those kingdoms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s actually what we learn about God\u2019s kingdom through Nebuchadnezzar\u2019s dream that stood out to me. Daniel says, \u201cThe God of the heavens has given you sovereignty, power, strength, and glory. Wherever people live\u2014or wild animals, or birds of the sky\u2014he has handed them over to you\u201d (Daniel 2:37\u201338). Standing before the ruler that had conquered and oppressed Daniel\u2019s own people, Daniel reminded Nebuchadnezzar who, ultimately, placed the crown on Nebuchadnezzar\u2019s head. God is the one who gave all of this to Nebuchadnezzar, and even if Nebuchadnezzar never acknowledged or gave glory to God, His authority remains the same. And if God gave those things to an earthly king to steward, how much more true are they of God\u2019s own kingdom\u2014that sovereignty, power, strength, and glory are defining attributes of the kingdom God Himself reigns over. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
In verse 44, we read just how God\u2019s kingdom will come to be: \u201cIn the days of those kings, the God of the heavens will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, and this kingdom will not be left to another people.\u201d Little did Daniel or Nebuchadnezzar know, that kingdom would come hundreds of years later through the birth of a little baby boy in a humble stable. I love the second half of that verse specifically\u2014\u201cthis kingdom will not be left to another people\u201d\u2014because it reminds me of how complete and secure our belonging is in God\u2019s kingdom. I will never swear allegiance to another God or to another kingdom because the One to whom my heart belongs will reign forever (Revelation 11:15). <\/p>\n\n\n\n
This is how I will rejoice in Jesus coming today: I will celebrate and thank Him for the kind of kingdom He brought with His life and ministry. It is a kingdom that is powerful, and it uses that power to lift up the brokenhearted. It is strong, and it leverages its strength for the weak. It provides an open-invitation to whoever wants to belong, and each citizen is relentlessly committed to the praise and glory of the one true God. What a joy to celebrate a Savior such as this!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
My early childhood was spent in Florida, surrounded by palm trees, sunny beaches, and yes, the occasional suburban alligator sighting. No, I don\u2019t mean those crazy Florida Gator football fans, though they are equally as unappealing (Go Dawgs!). For us, being aware of an alligator out and about in a neighborhood pond or waterway was […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":129,"featured_media":71564,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[292],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-71945","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-advent2024"],"acf":{"hero_background_image":false,"related_plans":[71574],"weekly_truth":false,"grace_day":false,"share_text":"She Reads Truth","devotional_text":"WE REJOICE IN GOD'S KINGDOM<\/b>
\r\nby Kayla De La Torre<\/i>
\r\n
My early childhood was spent in Florida, surrounded by palm trees, sunny beaches, and yes, the occasional suburban alligator sighting. No, I don\u2019t mean those crazy Florida Gator football fans, though they are equally as unappealing (Go Dawgs!). For us, being aware of an alligator out and about in a neighborhood pond or waterway was as normal as watching out for bees or spiders\u2014just add a rather large reptile to that list! I think it\u2019s having this background alligator radar that\u2019s led to a recurring nightmare I\u2019ve had since childhood; in the dream, I\u2019m in a dark, foggy forest, and I\u2019m chased by a larger-than-life alligator.<\/p>
\r\n
So like our friend King Nebuchadnezzar, you could say I know a thing or two about bad dreams.<\/p>
\r\n
While I\u2019m glad Nebuchadnezzar didn\u2019t have to race a reptile in his dream, his vision is nonetheless a terrifying and foreboding one. Daniel\u2019s interpretation doesn\u2019t exactly help mitigate all the doom and gloom, as he sees earthly kingdoms completely crushing one another, brittle kingdoms that can\u2019t be trusted, and devastating division among the people living in those kingdoms.<\/p>
\r\n
It\u2019s actually what we learn about God\u2019s kingdom through Nebuchadnezzar\u2019s dream that stood out to me. Daniel says, \u201cThe God of the heavens has given you sovereignty, power, strength, and glory. Wherever people live\u2014or wild animals, or birds of the sky\u2014he has handed them over to you\u201d (Daniel 2:37\u201338). Standing before the ruler that had conquered and oppressed Daniel\u2019s own people, Daniel reminded Nebuchadnezzar who, ultimately, placed the crown on Nebuchadnezzar\u2019s head. God is the one who gave all of this to Nebuchadnezzar, and even if Nebuchadnezzar never acknowledged or gave glory to God, His authority remains the same. And if God gave those things to an earthly king to steward, how much more true are they of God\u2019s own kingdom\u2014that sovereignty, power, strength, and glory are defining attributes of the kingdom God Himself reigns over.<\/p>
\r\n
In verse 44, we read just how God\u2019s kingdom will come to be: \u201cIn the days of those kings, the God of the heavens will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, and this kingdom will not be left to another people.\u201d Little did Daniel or Nebuchadnezzar know, that kingdom would come hundreds of years later through the birth of a little baby boy in a humble stable. I love the second half of that verse specifically\u2014\u201cthis kingdom will not be left to another people\u201d\u2014because it reminds me of how complete and secure our belonging is in God\u2019s kingdom. I will never swear allegiance to another God or to another kingdom because the One to whom my heart belongs will reign forever (Revelation 11:15).<\/p>
\r\n
This is how I will rejoice in Jesus coming today: I will celebrate and thank Him for the kind of kingdom He brought with His life and ministry. It is a kingdom that is powerful, and it uses that power to lift up the brokenhearted. It is strong, and it leverages its strength for the weak. It provides an open-invitation to whoever wants to belong, and each citizen is relentlessly committed to the praise and glory of the one true God. What a joy to celebrate a Savior such as this!<\/p>","share_image_height":"640","day_number":"30","scripture":"Daniel 2:27-45, Daniel 7:13-14, Mark 1:14-15, John 18:36, Hebrews 1:3-4, Revelation 11:15","available":true,"ad_banner_name":"","ad_banner_image":false,"ad_banner_url":"","songs":"","key_verse":"","key_verse_reference":"","background_image":false,"background_color":"#FBF7F3","scripture_references":false,"share_image":false,"author_name":"","author_bio":"","guest_social_media":false,"show_ad":true,"ad_override":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71945","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/129"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=71945"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71945\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/71564"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=71945"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=71945"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=71945"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}