Weekly Devotional: Gems From Pastor Jim 10/5/2020

by Jim Hughes

Dan. 6:4 The other administrators and princes began searching for some fault in the way Daniel was handling his affairs, but they couldn’t find anything to criticize. He was faithful and honest and always responsible.

It should be our goal to be like Daniel. Daniel was so righteous that others could find nothing in him to criticize. He was faithful and honest and always responsible. Being that kind of a person is not an easy task. First of all, it requires an unshakable devotion to God. Daniel was not caught up in the world, nor did he have worldly aspirations. He just wanted to live a life that was pleasing to God.

Faithfulness is a great quality to find in people. Faithful people are trustworthy. You can always count on them to be who they really are. They can be counted on to act within their character. There are no surprises when you are dealing with faithful people; what you see is what you get. When a faithful person is right with God, it is a pleasure to be around them. When a faithful person is not right with God, you can expect from them sinful acts, attitudes, and talk.

One of the things that set Daniel apart from others was his honesty. He could always be counted on to treat others fairly. If he was wrong, he did not try to hide it. He admitted it when he messed up and took full responsibility for his actions. He was not too proud to admit his shortcomings to himself or others. He was a good man; no one could find fault with him.

Do you dare to be a Daniel? It should be our goal to live such lives of integrity that no one can find fault with us. Now, no one can be perfect. No one can be so good that others will never find fault with us. But, we can strive to be the best Christ-like person we can be. When we are living in Christ, others should be able to count on us to do what is right, they should always be able to say that we are honest in our dealings, and they should be able to know that we take responsibility for our behavior and attitudes.

About the Author:

Spending his formative years in Ft. Wayne, IN, Jim followed the love of his life to southeast Iowa where they married and have spent the majority of their lives. Jim has pastored several churches throughout his life and has worked many years in local factories to help support his family. The father of two married adult children and one son still at home, Jim is a first-time author.

C Through Marriage came into being through many years of pastoral and life experiences. The book first took on a life of its own over 20 years ago when I sought to address the much publicized moral failures of prominent leaders in the church. In the chapter on Chasity, I include the guideliness that I developed then to protect one's self from such failures.

I am a firm believer in order to make sense out of life you have to use much common sense. We need to get back to the basics of what has worked for many, many generations. If is isn't broke, why try to fix it? I strive to return to the basics of what really works in all my writings.