July 30, 2026

Hey guys, 

Today, I want to share something a little bit different with you. Usually, I pick a verse or two to share with you, but today’s Thought focuses on a theme that shows up in Daniel 3 & 4.  In verse 26 of chapter 3, we see Nebuchadnezzar call Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego “servants of the Most High God.” If you skip down to verse 28, Nebuchadnezzar says, "Praise to the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.” Then in verse 29, after they get out of the fiery furnace, Nebuchadnezzar said, "There is no other God who can rescue like this.” 

If you skip over to chapter 4, we see Nebuchadnezzar say this to Daniel in vere 9, "I know that the spirit of the holy gods is in you.” Holy godsis  obviously not true because it is THE holy God residing in Daniel. Nebuchadnezzar doesn't know any different, but he does know that there is something different about Daniel. Then skip down to verse 18. There, he says again, "Because the Spirit of the holy gods live in you.” Again, a little bit incorrect, but Nebuchadnezzar recognizes something special about Daniel.

We just returned from East Asia, a place where we can't openly share the Gospel. We had to rely on high fives, smiles, pats on the back, and a few broken words in their language just to carry a conversation or build a relationship with folks. Our prayer all week was that they would be able to look at us and see something different. As I was reading through Daniel while there, I kept noticing these passages. “I know that the Spirit of the Holy Gods lives in you,” or “there is no god that can save like the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.” Nebuchadnezzar didn't know God at the time, that would come a few chapters later, but he did recognize something different in those four. 

It got me thinking… I wonder if people, whether we're in East Asia or right here at home, look at me and think whether I am speaking to them or not, There's something different about that guy? Whatever God that guy serves, He is the only true God. It's a tough question to ask and probably a tougher question to answer, but I want to leave that with you today: Do people look at you and see you in your day to day and say “the Holy Spirit of God lives in that man or that woman?”

Love you guys,

John