Discovering Destiny (Part 80): It Is Never Too Late To Humble Yourself
Today, we continue our focus on THE YEAR OF DISCOVERY, as we learn to maintain our posture of faith after God has revealed His plans for our future. Yesterday, God warned the king and gave him a way out. Today, we see what happened when he ignored it, and what happened when he finally looked up.
Key scriptures for this year:
2 Peter 3:18 GNT
"But continue to grow in the grace and in the knowledge of our Savior, Jesus Christ. To Him be glory now and forever."
Luke 10:20 Mirror
"It's time for you to rediscover who you are from Heaven's perspective."
1 John 3:10 Mirror
"There is a very visible and vast difference between living one's life from your God identity or from a fallen man's mindset."
Proverbs 25:2 NKJV
"It is the glory of God to conceal a matter, but the glory of kings is to search out a matter."
Jeremiah 29:13 NIV
"You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart."
Scripture(s) we will study today:
Daniel 4:29-30 NLT
"Twelve months later he was taking a walk on the flat roof of the royal palace in Babylon. As he looked out across the city, he said, 'Look at this great city of Babylon! By my own mighty power, I have built this beautiful city as my royal residence to display my majestic splendor.'"
Daniel 4:33 NLT
"That same hour the judgment was fulfilled, and Nebuchadnezzar was driven from human society. He ate grass like a cow, and he was drenched with the dew of heaven. He lived this way until his hair was as long as eagles' feathers and his nails were like birds' claws."
Daniel 4:34 NLT
"After this time had passed, I, Nebuchadnezzar, looked up to heaven. My sanity returned, and I praised and worshiped the Most High and honored the one who lives forever. His rule is everlasting, and his kingdom is eternal."
Daniel 4:36 TPT
"At the moment I began to praise him, I was restored to my right mind. The Most High gave me back the majesty and splendor of my kingdom. My advisers and noblemen came looking for me. I was restored to my throne, and still more greatness was added to me."
Daniel 4:37 AMPC
"Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and extol and honor the King of heaven, Whose works are all faithful and right and Whose ways are just. And those who walk in pride He is able to abase and humble."
Supporting scriptures:
Proverbs 16:18 TPT
"Your boast becomes a prophecy of a future failure. The higher you lift yourself up in pride, the harder you'll fall in disgrace."
Luke 15:17 NLT
"When he finally came to his senses, he said to himself, 'At home even the hired servants have food enough to spare, and here I am dying of hunger!'"
Psalm 121:1-2 NLT
"I look up to the mountains, does my help come from there? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth!"
Joel 2:25 NLT
"The Lord says, 'I will give you back what you lost to the swarming locusts, the hopping locusts, the stripping locusts, and the cutting locusts. It was I who sent this great destroying army against you.'"
Isaiah 55:7 TPT
"The wicked need to abandon their ways, and sinful ones need to banish every evil thought. Let them return to Yahweh, and they will experience his compassionate mercy. Yes, let them return to God, for he will lavish forgiveness upon them."
James 4:6 NLT
"And he gives grace generously. As the Scriptures say, 'God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.'"
1 Peter 5:6 NLT
"So humble yourselves under the mighty power of God, and at the right time he will lift you up in honor."
Setting the Stage:
Daniel had given the king the warning and the way out. Then God did something we should never take for granted. He waited. Twelve months went by. For a whole year, the king had time to stop sinning, do what was right, and show mercy to the poor. That year was grace.
One evening, the king was walking on the roof of his palace, looking out over Babylon. The great walls, the palaces, the temples, the gates. And instead of thanking God, he took all the credit: "By my own mighty power." The words were still in his mouth when a voice came from heaven: "You are no longer ruler of this kingdom."
That same hour, the most powerful man on earth lost his mind. He was driven out of the palace; he ate grass like a cow, and he slept outside in the dew until his hair looked like eagle feathers and his nails looked like bird claws. For seven years, the king of Babylon lived like an animal in a field.
But remember the stump. God had left the roots in the ground. At the end of that time, Nebuchadnezzar did one thing: he looked up to heaven. His mind came back, his kingdom came back, and God added even more greatness than he had before.
So, what does this mean for you today? A few things.
1. Pride Will Always Cost You More Than You Want To Pay.
Look at what the king said on that roof: "Look at this great city of Babylon! By my own mighty power, I have built this beautiful city as my royal residence to display my majestic splendor." Notice how many times he talked about himself. My power. My residence. My splendor. God had given him twelve months of grace, and he used it to admire himself. The Bible says, "That same hour the judgment was fulfilled."
How this applies to you:
-- Yesterday we learned not to mistake God's tolerance for acceptance. The king did. God's patience is not His approval; it is your opportunity to repent.
-- 12 months of grace went by, and the king did nothing with it. Don't waste the time God gives you to change.
-- Pride does not happen overnight. It grows every time you take credit for what God did.
-- The proverb says it plainly: "The higher you lift yourself up in pride, the harder you'll fall in disgrace" (Prov 16:18 TPT).
-- What pride builds in a lifetime, it can lose in a single hour.
-- When you say "my power," you are telling God you don't need His. Be careful! Your strength is a gift, not a trophy.
-- Keep yourself humble under the mighty hand of God and never take credit for what He is doing in your life!
2. You Are Never Too Far Gone To Humble Yourself.
The king hit bottom. He was out in the field, eating grass, soaked with dew, looking more like an animal than a man. But listen to what he wrote: "After this time had passed, I, Nebuchadnezzar, looked up to heaven. My sanity returned, and I praised and worshiped the Most High." He did not climb back to the palace first. He did not fix himself first. He just looked up. Jesus told a story about a son who ended up feeding pigs, and the Bible says, "When he finally came to his senses." Every comeback starts the same way.
How this applies to you:
-- The king's comeback did not start in the palace, it started in the field.
-- You don't have to clean yourself up to come to God. Just look up.
-- The same eyes that looked down on Babylon with pride had to look up to heaven in humility.
-- The psalmist said, "My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth!"
-- The enemy wants you to keep staring at the grass. Meaning: he wants you to meditate on all the mistakes you have made. But God just wants you to humble yourself and look UP at Him. The moment you repent, you can be restored!
-- No matter how low you have fallen, you are never out of God's reach.
-- God planned your destiny before you were born. It is true that destined men/women often go astray. However, it is also true that their destiny is still waiting for them the moment they look up to God and repent.
3. When You Turn To God, He Restores MORE Than You Lost.
Look at what happened next: "At the moment I began to praise him, I was restored to my right mind. The Most High gave me back the majesty and splendor of my kingdom." And then this: "still more greatness was added to me." God did not just give the king back what he lost. He gave him MORE than before. Remember the stump. God left the roots in the ground because He had already planned the restoration. God promised Israel, "I will give you back what you lost."
How this applies to you:
-- Restoration is not something you earn. It is something you receive by grace. Grace is a gift!
-- The king's advisers came looking for him. When God restores you, doors will open again.
-- God did not restore him to the old level. He restored him with even GREATER honor.
-- I have taught you this before: God does not just restore; He restores with interest!
-- Isaiah said, "Let them return to God, for he will lavish forgiveness upon them." God does not ration His mercy, He lavishes it.
-- Your mistakes are real, but so is God's grace.
-- God planned your destiny before you were born, and no mistake can cancel what He planned.
-- Job lost everything, but the Bible says, "When Job prayed for his friends, the Lord restored his fortunes. In fact, the Lord gave him twice as much as before!" Job got double.
-- Joseph lost his coat, his family, and his freedom. God did not send him back to his father's field. He made him second in command over all of Egypt.
-- God even restores lost time. He promised, "I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten, the cankerworm, and the caterpiller, and the palmerworm." I love this about God! Every time He restores, He takes you to another level.
4. When You Humble Yourself, God Will Lift You Up.
The man who once said, "By my own mighty power," ended his letter with these words: "Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and extol and honor the King of heaven, Whose works are all faithful and right and Whose ways are just. And those who walk in pride He is able to abase and humble." The king who would not bow to God finally did. And when he bowed, God lifted him.
How this applies to you:
-- James said, "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble." Peter said, "Humble yourselves under the mighty power of God, and at the right time he will lift you up in honor."
-- You can humble yourself, or God will humble you. Choose the first one.
-- Humility is not thinking less of yourself, it is thinking more of God.
-- The proud get resistance, but the humble get grace.
-- The king's last chapter was not about his power, it was about God's glory. Let God have the final word in your story.
-- When you bow low, God lifts you high.
-- Nebuchadnezzar's greatest testimony was not the city he built, it was the God who rebuilt him. Your testimony will always be bigger than your trophies.
That's enough for today.
Declaration of Faith:
Father, I thank You that everything I have comes from You!
I will never take credit for what You have done in my life!
I will not waste the time and grace You give me!
No matter where I am, I will look up to You!
My help comes from You, the Maker of heaven and earth!
I am never too far gone for Your grace!
You restore me, and You give me more than I lost!
I humble myself before You, and You lift me up!
My destiny is still waiting for me, and I am walking into it!
My story will end with Your glory!
In THE YEAR OF DISCOVERY, GREATER IS COMING FOR ME!
I declare this by faith. In Jesus' name. Amen!
This is Today's Word. Apply it and prosper!
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