Smile of God

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Daniel made up his mind to eat and drink only what God had approved for his people to eat. And he asked the king's chief official for permission not to eat the food and wine served in the royal palace.  God had made the official friendly and kind to Daniel.  But the man still told him, "The king has decided what you must eat and drink. And I am afraid he will kill me, if you eat something else and end up looking worse than the other young men."  The king's official had put a guard in charge of Daniel and his three friends. So Daniel said to the guard, "For the next ten days, let us have only vegetables and water at mealtime.  When the ten days are up, compare how we look with the other young men, and decide what to do with us."  The guard agreed to do what Daniel had asked.  Ten days later, Daniel and his friends looked healthier and better than the young men who had been served food from the royal palace.

Daniel 1: 8 - 15

Daniel determined to eat and drink only what God had approved and when he did, he looked healthier and better than everyone else!

When you apply that standard to your life and only do those things that God approves you will be blessed by God in every way!  Does that mean that you will not suffer as a human being?  Of course not.  Suffering is an essential part of belonging to Jesus.

But when you look for God’s approval before you take a step one way or the other, you will find that the smile of God is on His face when He looks at you!

There are some who believe that you can make demands of God and He will do what you tell Him to do.  I do not find that in the Bible.  But there are two things you can “make” God do.  You can "make God happy" by obeying Him and you can "make God sad" when you disobey!  

We often pay lots of attention to what other men think of our lives.  That though is really not important, but what God thinks of your life means everything!  Be like Daniel and decide to do only what God approves as you walk through this day!

“Lord Jesus, thank You for giving us Your Word and Your Holy Spirit to let us know when You approve of things that we want to do in this life.  Praise Your Holy Name now and forever.  Amen.”