KEYS TO GOOD CONDUCT

“Then I set my face toward the Lord God to make request by prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes” (Dan. 9:3 NKJV).

Daniel’s conduct in his life was always commendable. Three words from our verse give us some keys to good conduct that we should emulate – set, supplications, and sackcloth.

Set – “I set my face toward the Lord God.” The word translated “set” means to place something. Here it means that Daniel turned his face towards God. Turning towards God and making Him our focus is the first thing that we need to do in order to have good conduct. Too many folks today have their faces turned towards other things instead of having their face turned towards the holy God. This explains why their conduct is not good. There are so many things in this world that will try take our eyes off of the Lord. However, we need to keep our eyes turned towards God, it will make our conduct good.

Supplications – “Make request by prayer and supplications.” Prayer was a vital part of Daniel’s life. Our conduct is greatly affected by our prayer life. A delinquent prayer life will lead to defilement in conduct. How is your prayer life? It is not easy to pray - Daniel was thrown into a den of lions for praying. Nevertheless, prayer is a most profitable thing to do. When we cultivate a good prayer life, it will cultivate good conduct in our lives.

Sackcloth – “With fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes.” Sackcloth was a coarse and uncomfortable material which people wore in Bible days to show that they were sorry for their sin. Daniel humbled himself in sackcloth and ashes; he fasted; and he directed his heart and mind to the Lord. A holy and contrite attitude towards sin is a prerequisite to good conduct. If we want to improve our conduct, we must confess and forsake our sins.

(Adapted from Analytical Biblical Expositor)

Soli Deo Gloria (To God Alone Be The Glory)

Quotation of the Week

“Repentance is more than just sorrow for the past; repentance is a change of mind and heart, a new life of denying self and serving the Savior as king in self's place!”

James Innell Packer (1926 – 2020)

Canadian Evangelical Theologian and Author

Word Study

Endeavor

In 2 Peter 1:15 we read, “Moreover I will endeavor that ye may be able after my decease to have these things always in remembrance!” (KJV).

Endeavor is the Greek word spoudázō (σπουδάζω =spoo-dad'-zo). It means to hasten, do one’s best, be eager or diligent. It is marked by careful attention or persistent application. In classic Greek spoudázō also means to make haste. In the Septuagint spoudázō means to hurry. In the New Testament, spoudázō means to hasten, make haste, to exert one’s self, give diligence. The idea is give maximum effort, do your best, spare no effort, hurry on, be eager! It means not only to be willing to do with eagerness, but to follow through and make diligent effort. Give your utmost for His highest!

“Fear Nots” Found in the Bible

“And the LORD said unto Joshua, be not afraid because of them: for tomorrow about this time will I deliver them up all slain before Israel: thou shalt hough their horses, and burn their chariots with fire” (Josh. 11:16 KJV).

Did You Know…

Ruth lived in the time of the judges. She was a Moabite but was genetically linked to Israel through Lot, the nephew of Abraham (Ruth 1:4; Gen. 19:30-38).

Bible Quiz

According to the apostle Paul, what kept him from being conceited?

**Answer to last week’s Bible Quiz: How long was Moses on Mount Sinai with God to get the Ten Commandments? 40 days and 40 nights (Deut. 9:9).

Names For God Found in the Bible

“SONG”

"The LORD is my strength and song, and He has become my salvation; He is my God, and I will praise Him; My father’s God, and I will exalt Him” (Exodus 15:2 NKJV).

1. Meaning – SONG speaks of celebrating God who has triumphed so gloriously.

2. Insights – With their enemies drowned and their freedom secure, the people of Israel burst into song and praised the Lord. Praise is the natural response from those who have experienced God’s deliverance, mercy and grace. Every believer should sing to the Lord, not because they have a good voice, but because of what God has done for them! Singing and praising is what saved people do. Songs help us remember. It is a good model for reminding ourselves of God’s redeeming grace.

Did You Know...Christian History

Peter Cameron Scott was born in 1867 in Glasgow, Scotland. He was a was a Scottish-American missionary and founder of Africa Inland Mission.

Scott’s family was very poor and when his sister died, they moved to America and settled in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Scott wanted to pursue an Opera singing career but his Christian parents would not let him. At the age of twenty-two in 1889, he joined the Christian Alliance Training Institute in New York, run by Albert Benjamin Simpson who was the founder of the Christian and Missionary Alliance denomination.

Scott did not finish school because he felt an urgency to preach. Africans were dying without knowledge of Christ. Consequently, in 1890, he was ordained and commissioned by A. B. Simpson to go to Congo. He gathered seven eager young men and they sailed for the Congo. His brother joined him a few months later, only to die and be buried by Scott.

It was evident to Peter that he would have to leave Africa himself or die, he was so sick with malaria. He went to England to recover. There he read about the mission work of others. Weak and depressed, he did not see how he could return to Africa. Kneeling before the tomb of David Livingstone in Westminster Abbey, he read these words: “Other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring.”

With renewed determination and hope, Scott returned to America and founded the Pennsylvania Bible Institute, the Central American Industrial Mission, and the Africa Inland Mission. When he went back to Africa, it was with a new team. On October 17, 1895, the men landed at Mombasa, Kenya. Peter did not know it, but he had less than fourteen months left to live.

He pressed inland to plant missions and share the gospel. His efforts were heroic. However, few Africans turned to Christ. Peter contracted deadly blackwater fever. He died on December 8, 1896 at the age of 29. After his death, his teammates also died one by one. Others came to replace them, some carrying their supplies in coffins! Such dedication eventually opened the hearts of the Africans. In time, several African nations became largely Christian. Kenya is one of those. With less than 1% Christians in 1900, it is 79% Christian today. Peter Cameron Scott helped plant the seeds for that church growth.

Scott never married. Later on, his whole family went to Africa to do mission work, although they could not keep up with the rigors of missionary life and eventually resorted to other vocations.

Scott is remembered for his diligence and single-mindedness, having walked 2,600 miles in one year and having installed missionaries in four locations in his one year of missionary work in Kenya.

A Little Humor

People are funny: they want the front of the bus, the middle of the road, and the back of the church.

Thought Provoking Church Sign

“If you want to have a heart for God, you must let God have your heart!”