The Birth of the King
Matthew 1 & 2

The Story Continues
 
"A record of the genealogy of Jesus Christ the son of David, the son of Abraham: Abraham was the father of Isaac, Isaac the father of Jacob, Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers, Judah the father  . . . . of Boaz, whose mother was Rahab, Boaz the father of Obed, whose mother was Ruth, Obed the father of Jesse, and Jesse the father of King David.

David was the father of Solomon, whose mother had been Uriah's wife, Solomon the father of Rehoboam, Rehoboam  . . . .  Asa, . . . . Jehoshaphat . . . . Jehoram, . . . Uzziah . . . . Jotham . . . . Ahaz . . . . Hezekiah, Hezekiah . . . . Manasseh, Manasseh . . . . Amon, . . . . Josiah . . . . . . Jeconiah and his brothers at the time of the exile to Babylon.

After the exile to Babylon: Jeconiah  . . . . Shealtiel,  . . . Zerubbabel the father . . . . . of  Jacob, and Jacob the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ.

Thus there were fourteen generations in all from Abraham to David, fourteen from David to the exile to Babylon, and fourteen from the exile to the Christ."   Matthew 1:1-17(NIV)

3 + 14

The first book of the New Testament is Matthew, which, not surprisingly, references the Hebrew Bible (the Old Testament) more than the other three gospels.
 
He starts by remembering all the people out of whom God created a nation which He would use to bring all people on earth back “home”, back to himself, the Father of us all.  

Beginning with Abraham there are three groupings of names (Before the Monarchy, between David and the Exile, and after the exile) each grouping with 14 names each. Matthew did not list every name (“mother/father of” also means ancestor of ) but puts the genealogy together in an orderly way for the purpose of showing that God has a plan and that plan will hold and come to completion. The orderly plan also implies to readers that the birth of Jesus is culmination of that plan just at the right time and just at the right place. (Luke’s genealogy differs, it is thought, in that it traces Jesus back through Mary’s ancestors) 

Do you notice that people we would consider unworthy or embarrassments to one’s ancestry are included? Judah, Reheboam, Manasseh, Jeconiah are not the role models you would roll out for your children. Yet they are there. . . . . just like you and I are there, part of God’s family tree through Jesus. And I suspect God is not ashamed to call you or me his beloved daughter or son. 

Prayer

“Lord, it is astonishing, astonishing, astonishing that you would choose to enter the mess of humanity and the mess that is me and choose to adopt me as your own. Yet, this you have done. Please help to accept your acceptance of me and then to pass that acceptance on to others. In Jesus’ name. Amen”

Malachi - Preparation for What's to Come

What does God have planned for those who love him and are called according to his purpose?
 
“But for you who fear my name, the Sun of Righteousness will rise with healing in his wings. And you will go free, leaping with joy like calves let out to pasture”  Malachi 4:2 (NLT)

Can you imagine Malachi 4:2 describing you?
 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g1geyYbp7Ck&feature=related

Prayer

“Lord, I LOVE THIS PICTURE of vitality, joy, and exuberation! Regardless of how feel at the moment, I do believe that this is the future you have for those who love you. Thank you for your prophets who can see your salvation when we cannot. And thank you that you give us brief foretastes of your salvation today. Amen”
 
“The rain and snow come down from the heavens and stay on the ground to water the earth.
They cause the grain to grow, producing seed for the farmer and bread for the hungry.
It is the same with my word. I send it out, and it always produces fruit.
It will accomplish all I want it to, and it will prosper everywhere I send it.
You will live in joy and peace. The mountains and hills will burst into song, and the trees of the field will clap their hands!
Where once there were thorns, cypress trees will grow. Where nettles grew, myrtles will sprout up.
These events will bring great honor to the LORD’s name; they will be an everlasting sign of his power and love.” Isaiah 55:10-13(NLT)            

Malachi 1-4
The Return Home

God speaks through Malachi to 21st century complainers
 
““You say to God, ‘how have you loved me’”? (1:2)
(God says) “I am a Father, how do you honor me?” (1:6)
“You ask ‘why is God ignoring me at the same time you are breaking faith with the wife of your youth. I hate divorce’” (2:14, 16)
“you call evil good” (2:17)
“you defraud workers of their wages, oppress the poor, and deprive aliens of justice” (3:5)
“you rob me . . . of tithes and offerings” (3:8)
“you have said it ‘is useless to serve the Lord’” (3:14) "Surely the day is coming; it will burn like a furnace. All the arrogant and every evildoers will be stubble, and that day that is coming will set them on fire," says the LORD Almighty. "Not a root or a branch will be left to them."
 "But for you who revere my name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings. And you will go out and leap like calves released from the stall”   Malachi 4:1-3

Judgment for the Arrogant. Grace for the Repentant.

How does God deal with us? 
2,000 years ago on the cross (foreshadowed by Passsover) God forgave all sin. That was God’s action in love for all of humanity. He did it. Historical fact. Done deal. Competed and recorded in history. 
So, do all get saved and go to heaven? No. 
In Genesis 3 pride entered the scene and pride led each of us to go our own way. Each of us pushes God out. You do , I do. We are little rebels. Yes, that includes you. Mother Theresa famously said that she had a “little Hitler” insider of her.
So how does God get us back? He forgives us. He then tells us to repent of all the ways we live for ourselves. Malachi lists some of those ways. Each of us has our own “signature way” of playing out our sin.
So how do I get saved? I repent. I turn to God.  I admit my pride and apologize to God for it.   I accept God’s  costly forgiveness. I put him in the driver’s seat. I swallow my pride. I “get it” that he must lead and not me.
Notice Malachi 4:3 above. Pride will be burned away, but the repentant, those who receive their forgiveness will leap like a calf released from a stall.  

Would you like to leap like that? Repent. 

Prayer

Lord, my pride is awful. Please open my eyes to my “signature” method of playing out my independence from you, my prideful arrogance, which I’ve learned all too easily to display as false humility. Lord forgive me and lead me in the way that is everlasting. Amen”

Nehemiah 6-8
The Return Home

We did it!
 
“Nehemiah said, 'Go and enjoy choice food and sweet drinks, and send some to those who have nothing prepared. This day is sacred to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the LORD is your strength.'" Nehemiah 8:10

It's not enough to embark on a noble task

Nehemiah and the people got the wall built and, against all odds they did it. Done! Completed! They celebrated. They had a party. “from the days of Joshua son of Nun until that day, the Israelites had not celebrated (the scriptures) like this. And their joy was very great. (Nehemiah 8:17 )

Recently a mom of grown children told me in reference to having raised her children, “we did it”. A college student works hard on a paper and gets it done, having given it her best shot. A dad sends his son off into a new marriage thinking “I did it. I passed the baton as best I know how”. It is at those moments that we can sigh and say, “thank you Lord for giving me the right focus, the motivation, the sacrifice and love to have crossed the finish line”. It is then that we experience the “joy of the Lord”. 

In what area of life is calling you to “finish”. The finish line (for this life) is the day you die, which means you’re not yet there. As long as you have breath you are not done yet. The joy comes in (however imperfectly) “finishing". 

Prayer

“Lord, there is unfinished business in my life. Show me what it is from your perspective. And then lead me to get (back) in the race that you put you put and with your help Lord, I choose to finish.   Amen”

Nehemiah 4
The Return Home

Have you ever been insulted and ridiculed publicly for acting on your faith?
 
“When Sanballat (a local province leader whose power was being threatened by the returnees from Persia) heard that we were rebuilding the wall, he became . . incensed. He ridiculed the Jews, and in the presence of his associates and the army of Samaria, he said, 'What are those feeble Jews doing? Will they restore their wall? Will they offer sacrifices? Will they finish in a day? Can they bring the stones back to life from those heaps of rubble--burned as they are?' " Nehemiah 4:1-2

Are you more prone to discouragement or to being motivated?

As you read the remainder of Chapter 4 you will see that opposition caused Nehemiah to redouble his efforts and those of his people. But he didn’t do so simply through words and pep talks.

First, he set the example. People follow people who are following the Lord no matter the cost. Second he organized. Some are good at some things and not others. If each person, even one prone to discouragement, can be given a task that’s doable and confined, even the most weak kneed among us can find his way to stand and take courage. Third, he was practical. Although he prayed and trusted God, he also set up a line of armored defense against his enemy. In a fallen, broken world, there appear to be times when God allows us to display material strength so that violence is deterred (although this one is indeed debatable).

Prayer

“Father, forgive me for the times I let opposition get the best of me. Please put me around motivators when I am weak and give me the gift of encouragement when others are weak. Amen”

Nehemiah 1,2
The Return Home

A Broken Heart
 
“(Nehemiah’s brother came back from visiting Jerusalem and told him)  'Those who survived the exile and are back in the province are in great trouble and disgrace. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates have been burned with fire.' When I heard these things, I sat down and wept. For some days I mourned and fasted and prayed before the God of heaven." Nehemiah 1:3-4

Does your heart break for other Christians?

In 538 BC, Cyrus of Persia released 50,000 Jews back to their homeland in Judea, the southern kingdom. They were led by Zerubbabel along with Haggai. Years later a second wave returned under the leadership of Ezra. It was after that that Nehemiah returned. Although the temple had been rebuilt and the teaching of scripture was being revived, the wall around Jerusalem was in disrepair, a very, very big deal in the ancient near east.  

And Nehemiah wept at the thought. In Suza, Nehemiah was an important official, trusted and comfortable. Yet his welfare was not his concern. His concern was his people, God’s people.  

I wonder about myself. Never have Christians been so systematically persecuted. The 20th century was bloodier than all prior centuries combined. Is our comfort as Christians a blessing or a curse? Does my comfort allow me to weep over fellow believers dying in Pakistan, Egypt, Iraq, Afghanistan, Iran, Nigeria and China? Or does comfort lead to coarseness? Why do I not weep at Saudi Arabia’s using its wealth to ship curricula all over the Muslim world which teaches death to Christians? 

Prayer

"Lord, please give me the gift you gave Nehemiah. He wept for people he hardly knew. Break my heart with the things that break your heart. Amen”

Ezra 7
The Return Home

I think it is very important that every Christian understands and can explain the Bible
 
“Ezra had devoted himself to the study and observance of the Law of the LORD, and to teaching its decrees and laws in Israel." Ezra 7:10

Why?
 
If it is possible that God exists and that each human being will stand one day before God and be judged, then what could be more important than coming to a decision about whether or not this is true?   I carried this question with me for years before deciding to follow Christ. 

Although few are called to be a teacher like Ezra, each of us is called to know the fundamentals of the scriptures for some very simple reasons. First, you need to know what the Bible really says so that you can know what you profess to believe, not your version of it. Second, you need to be able to tell others the message because they will meet God one day and be judged. You are tasked with giving others the best shot at knowing how a sinner can stand before a Holy God and survive. Every person on the planet stands at the precipice of either heaven or hell. 

Prayer
 
“Lord, motivate me, discipline me, strengthen me, give me both the desire and will to know your Word and then the compassion and heart to tell others about it. Amen”

The Queen of Beauty and Courage


Haman rolled the dice!
“In the month of April, during the twelfth year of King Xerxes
reign, lots were cast in Haman’s presence (the lots were called
purim) to determine the best day and month to take action.
And the day selected was March 7, nearly a year later.
Esther 3:7 (NLT)

An Horrific History

March 7 & 8 is Purim!!! Pur basically means dice, a reminder of how Haman “rolled the dice” in his plot to defy God and exterminate the Jews. His gamble turned out badly, as do all gambles which bet on our plans and desires when they are opposed by God’s plans.

Many have noted the echoes of Purim in the Nuremberg war crime trials. In the Book of Esther, Haman's ten sons were hanged (Esther 9:13); in 1946, ten of Hitler's top associates were put to death by hanging for their war crimes (including the crime of murdering 6 million Jews. One of the men seems to have been aware of the parallel: on the way to the gallows, Julius Streicher shouted "Purim Fest 1946!"

Hamantaschen

To commemorate God’s salvation, observant Jews worldwide may fast for three days, then, while reading the book of Esther, they hiss at the name of Haman and cheer at the name of Mordecai. Then they make and eat little pastries in the shape of the hat that Haman probably wore as a Persian official. Here’s recipe
• 2/3 cup butter or margarine
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup orange juice (the smooth kind, not the pulpy)
• 1 cup white flour
• 1 cup wheat flour (DO NOT substitute white flour! The wheat flour is
necessary to achieve the right texture!)
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• Various preserves, fruit butters and/or pie fillings.

Blend butter and sugar thoroughly. Add the egg and blend thoroughly. Add OJ and blend thoroughly. Add flour, 1/2 cup at a time, alternating white and wheat, blending thoroughly between each. Add the baking powder and cinnamon with the last half cup of flour. Refrigerate batter overnight or at least a few hours. Roll as thin as you can without getting holes in the batter (roll it between two sheets of wax paper lightly dusted with flour for best results). Cut out 3 or 4 inch circles.








Put a dollop of filling in the middle of each circle. Fold up the sides to make a triangle, folding the last corner under the starting point, so that each side has corner that folds over and a corner that folds under (see picture at right). Folding in this "pinwheel" style will reduce the likelihood that the last side will fall open while cooking, spilling out the filling. It also tends to make a better triangle shape.
Bake at 350 degrees for about 15-20 minutes, until golden brown but before the filling boils over!
Traditional fillings are poppy seed and prune, but apricot is my favorite. Apple butter, pineapple preserves, and cherry pie filling all work quite well. I usually use Pathmark grocery store brand fruit preserves, and of course the traditional Simon Fischer brand prune lekvar. I have also made some with Nutella (chocolate-hazelnut spread); I find it a bit dry that way, but some people like it.
The number of cookies this recipe makes depends on the size of your cutting tool and the thickness you roll. I use a 4-1/4 inch cutting tool and roll to a medium thickness, and I get 20-24 cookies out of this recipe.

The Queen of Beauty and Courage

It's Your Time! Esther 4:14 Part 2

"For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father's family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to royal position for such a time as this?"

Are Mordecai and Joel Osteen saying the same thing?

 
Joel Osteen is Pastor of the largest church in the nation. Maybe you watch him on TV. He’s very positive and encouraging; he preaches Good News. He’s written many books, including the one to the right.  

When Morecai told Esther that it was “her time” , he was telling her that her that not only her life but also the lives of Jews nationwide were at stake. She needed to risk to everything.
 
So I wonder. It seems to me that the two messages are very, very different. One sounds a little bit like, “if you lose your life you will find it”, the other sounds a little bit like, “if you seek your life you will find it”. Jesus said one of those. 

I have not read Osteen’s book and I suspect the title is misleading. But it makes me think. Is my life about me or is it about God and other people?
 
Prayer

“Lord, Jesus said that his life was all about you, not himself. Forgive me for all the ways that I’ve meshed Burger King (have it your way) with my faith which says to you, ‘have it your way’. Amen”

The Queen of Beauty and Courage

God has made you for such a day as Today
 
“If you keep quiet at a time like this, deliverance and relief for the Jews will arise from some other place, but you and your relatives will die. Who knows if perhaps you were made queen for just such a time as this?" Esther 4:14

Today

After the return from Exile beginning in 538 BC, many Jews still remained in Persia (formerly Babylon). Among them was a pretty girl named Esther. She “won a beauty contest” became King Xerxes new Queen, was informed of a plot to exterminate all Persian Jews and called upon to thwart the plot at the risk of her own life. This she did. 

It occurs to me that, yes, she was chosen to be God’s woman at a certain place and in history and  at a certain time in her life. It also occurs to me that each moment of her life leading up to that moment served both to enable that moment to happen AND to witness to God at each and every point along the way as well as to prepare for that moment.    She was beautiful and she was called to use what she had been given as a gift in the service of God.  

It is probably true that you and I are or have been maneuvered by God to be used by Him to accomplish certain specific things. Yet the Bible doesn’t support the idea that we exist only for one moment in time. I can see how God has used me (very non-heroically) at a certain turning point, yet I also know that had He not used me, he would have used someone else (just as today’s verse says). I also know that all other moments of my life have a huge impact on those around me either negatively or positively. If I am faithful with my moments, God’s kingdom is expanded and others are blessed, if I am unfaithful with my moments I’m in God’s way.  

In short, it seems to me that I can wake up each day and say, “today, Lord, You have made and chosen me  for such a day exactly as the one I am about to enter”.  

Prayer 

“Lord, I enter today believing that everything in my life has been training for you to use me for such a day as today, knowing that the relatively small or relatively large things I face today are all important to you and to those involved. You have prepared me for such a time as today. Amen”

The Return

Dateline Jerusalem
March 12, 516 BC

They Finished!
 
“They finished building the temple according to the command of the God of Israel and the decrees of Cyrus, Darius and Artaxerxes, kings of Persia. The temple was completed on the third day of the month Adar, in the sixth year of the reign of King Darius. Then the people of Israel--the priests, the Levites and the rest of the exiles--celebrated the dedication of the house of God with joy” Ezra 6:14-16(NIV)

Are You a Good Finisher?

In one way I’m a lousy finisher. When I play basketball, get a rare offensive rebound and try to put it back in the hoop, my teammates will yell, “finish”. The reason is that I usually don’t. I miss. I have bad hands, bad touch, bad skill. One teammate said, “Jeff your shots usually go in on the third try”. But what good is all the effort without finishing? 

The Apostle Paul said “finish the race”.  

The returned exiles did finish. This is a big deal to me. I want to finish my earthly race well. I want to say what I was to have said while here and I want to get up one more time than I fall while here. I want to finish the race I’ve been given to run, not someone else’s race – I’ll fail at that race for sure.

Prayer

“Lord, help me to run the race you’ve put me in, which, in all likelihood, is meant to be run right where I am. Please give me courage, stamina, and the ability to see your purpose for your having entered me into this race in the first place. In the Name of Jesus, Your Son, the Great Finisher. Amen”

The Return

There's Nothing Like Being on a Great Team
 
“In early autumn, when the Israelites had settled in their towns, all the people assembled in Jerusalem with a unified purpose. . . . . . rebuilding the altar of the God of Israel . . . . . Even though the people were afraid of the local residents, they rebuilt the altar at its old site. Then they began to sacrifice burnt offerings on the altar to the LORD each morning and evening." Ezra 3:1-3(NLT)

Are You on a Great Team?

The Sixers are a great team. No stars, but a team that’s great because it’s bigger than any individual and it makes each better than they can be alone. And they have a unified purpose – to win as a team.
 
Their individual fears that the returning remnant had of the Jews and Samaritans left behind in Israel after the exile were subordinate to a greater purpose, the rebuilding of God’s Temple. 

Big, even Huge, Question: Are you on a great team, one that exists for God’s purpose and is comprised of teammates for whom the team is bigger than an individual? It could be your family, or church, or a group . . . but are you? Don’t leave this life without that experience. It’s a taste of “the life that is truly life” (1 Timothy 6:19) 

Prayer

“Lord, I am asking now, please lead me to whatever steps I need to take to find a great team to play on, or to do what it takes of me to make the team I’m now on to be a team that plays with a unified purpose for You”

The Return

What's Wrong with Living in a Nice House?
 
"These people say, 'The time has not yet come for the LORD's house to be built.' Then the word of the LORD came through the prophet Haggai: 'Is it a time for you yourselves to be living in your paneled houses, while this house remains a ruin?'" Haggai 1:2-4

The Principle of First Things

C. S. Lewis wrote, “If we put first things first, we get the second things thrown in; but if we put second things first, we lose both the first and second things.”

Is Haggai still speaking today, even to us in the middle class paneled houses of southern Chester County? No, CLC is not in ruins, but what is the state of God’s New Testament house, the temple of the Holy Spirit which the body each of us inhabits? 

Kathy and I have a nice house, nicer than anything I ever thought I would live in, nicer than I deserve. Yes, I wonder if we should be living this well. But the bigger issue is the degree to which my resources, including my house, are dedicated to the service and honor of the Lord.

PRAYER

“Father, forgive me for treating my home as if it is for me only. It’s a gift from you, belongs to you, belongs to your purposes. Help me value it and make use of it for your purposes. Amen”

The Return

Does This Sound Like You?
 
"Give careful thought to your ways. You have planted much, but have harvested little. You eat, but never have enough. You drink, but never have your fill. You put on clothes, but are not warm. You earn wages, only to put them in a purse with holes in it."” Haggai 1:5-6(NIV)

The Closet of Forgotten Passions

Max Lucado describes the “closet of forgotten passions” in his house. In it is a neglected telescope from when he had a passion for astronomy. In it is a stepping stone kit for their garden—unopened. In it are boxes of photos that have never been arranged in albums. God can never be put into the closet of lost passion. God is either the big thing or he is nothing. 

The Jewish remnant, recently having returned to Israel from Babylon,  was directing its passions to this-worldly things, only to find out how empty those passions leave us. Haggai was there to redirect their passions to what mattered. Haggai, through his writings, is speaking to you and me today. 

Prayer

"Lord, I too have many “forgotten passions”, projects that once mattered, but are now unremembered. Lord, fan into flame within me a renewed passion for knowing You. Amen”

The Return

Home
 
"the LORD moved the heart of Cyrus king of Persia to make a proclamation throughout his realm and to put it in writing:  (that the Jews could return to their homeland)”   Ezra 1:1(NIV)

God moves Kings Just as Caesar was used by God as a pawn to get Joseph and Mary to Bethlehem for Jesus’ birth, so here Cyrus is moved by God to allow the Jews to Go Home.  

Is there a more powerful word than “Home”?

President Truman stated that he saw himself as a modern day Cyrus when he affirmed the declaration which recognized Israel as a new/restored nation in 1948. He knew the Bible, believed it, and God used his knowledge of Daniel to do something that President Roosevelt didn’t not approve of. What happened? Upon the death of Roosevelt, Truman assumed the Presidency and because of his religious convictions ensured a homeland for Israel.  It had been 2,500 years since Israel had lost its sovereignty to Babylon.  

If God can do this for Israel against all odds, what can he not do for you or for me? The answer is nothing. My conclusion? If God can, but God doesn’t, then he has something he wants to do with me and us right where we are right now, something we may see or feel like it benefits us, but it is most certainly benefiting God in God’s upper story.     

Prayer

“Lord, I ask you today to give me the courage, self forgetfulness, perseverance, trust in you and thick enough skin to live for you . . . .at home, at work, where I live .. . . . . . . . . . . . this week."  Amen”

Daniel
Read Chapter 18

An Amazing Vision
 
"In my vision at night I looked, and there before me were  . . . Four great beasts . . . "The first was like a lion, and it had the wings of an eagle . . . And there before me was a second beast, which looked like a bear. It was raised up on one of its sides, and it had three ribs in its mouth between its teeth. It was told, 'Get up and eat your fill of flesh!' 6 After that . . . was another beast, one that looked like a leopard. And on its back it had four wings like those of a bird. This beast had four heads, and it was given authority to rule. After that . . . was a fourth beast--terrifying and frightening and very powerful. It had large iron teeth; it crushed and devoured its victims and trampled underfoot whatever was left. It was different from all the former beasts, and it had ten horns. . . ."

"As I looked, thrones were set in place, and the Ancient of Days took his seat. His clothing was as white as snow; the hair of his head was white like wool. His throne was flaming with fire, and its wheels were all ablaze. 10 A river of fire was flowing, coming out from before him. Thousands upon thousands attended him; ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him. The court was seated, and the books were opened. "Then I continued to watch because of the boastful words the horn was speaking. I kept looking until the beast was slain and its body destroyed and thrown into the blazing fire . . . ."In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven . . . . He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all peoples, nations and men of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed."   Daniel 7:2-28 (NIV)

Can you interpret Daniel's Vision?

What nation is the Lion? (Hint: depicted on the city walls) _______________________________
What nation is the Bear? ________________________________
What nation is the Leopard? (Hint: the swiftness of Alexandar) ________________________________
What Nation has the iron teeth and ten horns? ________________________________
Who is the Ancient of Days? _______________________________
Who might the “son of man” be? ____________________________
How does THE STORY end? _______________________________
 
Prayer

“Amazing. Thank you, Lord, that you have laid out world history before any of it has come to be. I choose to rest in the fact that you have written the script, written me into it and even told me the ending. I’m glad to know that I’m part of something way bigger than myself. Amen”

Daniel
Read Chapter 18

Most of us quote the Bible much more often than we think
 
"the writing on the wall . . . . " Daniel 5:7 (MSG)

Are you good at "reading the writing on the wall"

The last king of Babylon wasn’t. He had asked Daniel to interpret a dream. The dream was a message from God that it’s too late. The king had ignored God even though his father, Nebuchadnezzar had repented and turned to the God of Israel. Immediately after Daniel told the King that his sins would be his end, the Persians and Medes stormed the city and Babylon fell. 

Each of us must be able to “read” the writing on the wall, the signs of the times, not as doomsayers, but as people who can represent God well to others who are open to his Lordship.

PRAYER

“Lord, I wonder about America. Have our sins of abortion on demand, capitalistic greed, the decline of civility, the new lowest common denominator morality which hurts so many . . . . left writing on America’s wall that we need to read? Let us not be fish in water who don’t know we’re wet. Amen”

Daniel
Chapter 18

The fourth man
 
"Weren't there three men that we tied up and threw into the fire?" Daniel 3:24 (NIV)

You are not alone In both the furnace and the lion’s den Shadrach, Meshach, Abednigo and Daniel respectively had company. In the furnace, many conclude the pre-incarnate Jesus was present. In both cases there was at least an angelic presence.

Are you aware that you are not proceeding though life with the real presence of God with you? Jesus’ last words in Matthew imply this very thing for all believers.

Realizing that God’s real presence has to mean something more than just protection from every harm (everyone suffers after all), what does knowing this do for you?

PRAYER

“Father, I am trying to picture and to feel what it means to know you are with me. Yet, Lord, I once ask you to give me a persevering belief that transcends what I feel. Help me to simply believe and rest in the peace of knowing. Amen”