When Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego refuse to bow down to Nebuchadnezzar’s idol, they are thrown into a fiery furnace. However, God joins them in the flames and protects them.

All human kingdoms and empires are intrinsically insecure but the kingdom of God is everlasting and indestructible.

Daniel chooses not to eat the king’s food or drink the king’s wine in order to maintain his identity and God graciously gives him what he needs.

As exiles, we need a particular perspective and a particular posture—namely, we should have the perspective that we are where we are because God has sovereignly placed us here and we should have a countercultural posture that is both fully engaged with the larger culture and utterly distinct from it.

Though Paul is well aware that God is sovereign in all of life, Paul continues to pray asking God to give the Ephesians the Spirit of Wisdom and revelation. Paul also prayed that the eyes of the Ephesians’ hearts would be opened.