Monthly Archives: October 2023

Daniel: God Is In The Details

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(Note: This is the 19th in a series of posts on Daniel’s life)

Open His Eyes & Let Him See

There’s a fascinating true story, in the Old Testament of the Bible, that illustrates how God is involved in all the details of our lives; even, when we don’t see Him! The story is about the Prophet Elisha; and, it’s at a time when the Arameans are waging war against Israel. Every time the King of Aram lays out a strategy for setting up a camp at a certain place, God tells the Prophet Elisha the details; and, he passes it on to the King of Israel who takes counter-measures to avoid their attack. As you can imagine, that kind of ticked off the King of Aram. He figured there had to be a mole in his army that was tipping off the King of Israel; so, he confronted his army & one of his intelligence officers said, “It’s not our people sharing secrets with Israel! It’s the Prophet Elisha; and, he’s even telling the King of Israel every word you say in your bedroom.” It’s determined that Elisha is in the city of Dothan; so, the Aramean King sends a massive army to surround the city & capture him. When Elisha & his servant, Gehazi see that the Arameans have surrounded the city, Gehazi says, “Master, what are we going to do?” So, Elisha told him not to be afraid because, “Those who are with us outnumber those who are with them,” Gehazi looked around with a “what are you talking about” kind of look! And, Elisha prayed, “Lord, please open his eyes and let him see!”

For His Glory & Our Good

So, the Lord opened his eyes; and, when he looked up he saw that the mountains were covered with heavenly horses & chariots of fire, ready to go to battle against the Arameans on Elisha’s behalf. For one brief moment, God peeled back that layer that divides our world, from the spiritual world, to reveal what was REALLY happening! Now, that story encourages me; and, I hope it encourages you, to know that God is IN the details of our lives! That He’s at work for His Glory & our good! Because, sometimes it doesn’t seem that way, does it? And, in our flesh, we question:  “God! Are you really here? Do you see what’s happening in my life right now? Do you even care?” This world can be a pretty dark place; especially, if you intend to live your life for God like the Prophet Daniel did— he was willing to do the right thing, in a spiritually hostile environment, and trust God with the results!

You Can Trust God With The Results

Doing the right thing does not ensure that everything will go right! But, you can trust God with the results! They may not be the results you hoped for; but, they will be what’s best for you— even if it doesn’t seem like it at the time! If you could just peel back that layer that divides our world, from the spiritual realm, you’d see that! Daniel managed not only to survive; but, to THRIVE in a spiritually hostile world! As our world becomes increasingly more hostile, to our faith in Jesus, we can identify with Daniel! But, like him, you can survive & thrive if you trust God with all the circumstances of your life! He has a perfect plan for the world He created. Sometimes it seems like God has lost control! Like Satan is gaining the victory in the battle between good and evil. But, in fact, there really is no battle! God is all-powerful. Satan is NOT! What God has declared He will do! And no one can stop Him! We’ll get into Daniel, chapter 6, next time; and, learn how to tame a pit full of lions!

Daniel: God’s Mercy Has A Limit

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(Note: This is the 18th in a series of posts on Daniel’s life)

It’s Stupid To Test God

So, how long will God extend mercy, toward the habitual sinner, before He finally breaks out in judgment against him? No one, but God, actually knows! But, Scripture is clear that it’s incredibly dangerous— and stupid— to test God! He does have a limit; and, the Babylonian King Belshazzar discovered it according to the prophet Daniel’s account in chapter 5 of the book named after him! As the grandson of King Nebuchadnezzar, Belshazzar should have known better! By his grandfather’s testimony, he knew that God had judged him to live like an insane animal for 7 years until he acknowledged that God was Sovereign over all the affairs of man; and that all of life’s “stuff” is a GIFT from Him. 

Belshazzar’s Tragic Ending

But, Belshazzar continually turned his back on God until God, in judgment, turned His back on Belshazzar. And, that would be the tragic ending to Belshazzar’s life.  His was a wasted life! He became a “byword”; or a moral proverb! He should have known better! But, the words of judgment, “…you…have not humbled your heart, even though you knew all this…” haunted him at the end (v.22).  He died a fool! What about you? You need to know that pride invites God’s judgment! You need to know that human wisdom is inadequate! You need to know that God’s patience can run thin! It can be exhausted! You need to know that God’s Word is certain; and that there’s no escaping God’s judgment!

The Judgment Seat Of Christ

God’s Word says, for certain, that “We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one of us may be repaid for what he has done in the body, whether good or worthless” (2 Corinthians 5:10).  You don’t want to stand before Him alone, because the deeds you’ve done will never earn you salvation! You need an advocate! You need Jesus to stand beside you! You want His atoning work, on the cross, for your sin to be applied to your account! Only by accepting His Son, Jesus, will God “…vanquish our iniquities; and…cast all our sins into the depths of the sea.” (Micah 7:19) He’ll “…remember them no more…” (Isaiah 43:25); and, “…remove them as far as the east is from the west…” (Psalm 103:12) 

God Has Provided A Way

Only God can heal the human condition! Our sin has devastated our relationship with Him and doomed us to eternal separation from Him. But through Jesus, God has provided a way to escape judgment and eternal punishment. Through Jesus, our sins can be removed from us and our relationship with the Father can be restored! “Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you” 1 Peter 5:6. In humility, confess your sin & ask Jesus to be your Savior!

You Are No Longer Ignorant

I urge you to turn to Jesus! Don’t come to the end of life; and, say, like King Belshazzar, “I should have known better.” It matters not what you’ve done with your life up until now! If you humble yourself before God, He will extend to you His love, mercy, and grace! Dedicate the rest of your life to serving God by the power of His Holy Spirit! You’re flesh isn’t enough! Your physical strength isn’t enough! You need Jesus! You can’t “UNDO” what you’ve “DONE”; but, you can change the course of your life moving forward! We serve the God who makes beauty from ashes! He loves to set the sinner FREE! He redeems and makes all things new; including, your life if you’ll just give it back to Him!

Daniel: You Should Know Better

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(Note: This is the 17th in a series of posts on Daniel’s life)

Don’t Lick Frozen Flagpoles

One of the most hilarious scenes in the movie,  A Christmas Story, occurs when one of the characters sticks their tongue on a frozen flagpole because they were “triple dog dared” to do so! The reason that scene is so funny is because we’ve all been there, haven’t we? Licking a frozen flagpole is like some weird right of passage in elementary school. And, it wouldn’t make any difference if they put signs up all over campus—  “DON’T LICK FROZEN FLAGPOLES”— kids are going to do it! When they complain that the top layer of skin, on their tongue, has been ripped off, we tell them, “You should have known better!”

You Should Have Known Better

They knew the consequences of licking a flagpole! They’d observed it in their foolish classmates! When they complain, for the next week, that it hurts to talk, that it hurts to eat,  that it hurts to do anything with their tongue, we tell them, “You should have known better!” That’s almost exactly what Daniel says to the Babylonian king as we open chapter 5 of the book, of Scripture, that bears his name. Here we’re introduced to King Belshazzar.  Almost 70 years have passed since Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael & Azzariah were exiled from Jerusalem to Babylon (Daniel chapter 1); and it’s been some 25 years since the end of chapter 4 when we see King Nebuchadnezzar become a worshipper of Yahweh. The historical record fills in some of the details— we know that it was Nebuchadnezzar’s son, Nabonidus, who followed him to the throne of Babylon; and it was his son, Belshazzar, who succeeded him & became the central figure here in the 5th chapter of Daniel’s story.

Pride Is An Evil Response

We don’t know why; but, the Holy Spirit inspired Daniel to bypass the life of Nabonidus completely; and, all but the last day of Belshazzar’s life! Here’s what else we know— outside the massive walls of Babylon, the Medo-Persian army had surrounded the city. In his pride, King Belshazzar threw this huge drinking party for all his nobles to show them that there was no reason to fear the army outside the walls (ch. 5:1-4). Someone has said that “Pride is the evil response of sinful men to the grace of God”; and King Belshazzar’s response was evil! God’s Holy Spirit inspired the writer of Proverbs like this: “These six things the Lord hates,
Yes, seven are an abomination to Him”; guess what makes #1 on the list of things that the Lord hates?  “A proud look” is at the TOP! God hates pride!

The King Who Should Have Known Better

He had heard about the grace that God had shown his grandfather, Nebuchadnezzar; but, his pride led him into the deeper sins of idolatry & blasphemy. And, as Daniel rehashed the details, of his grandfather’s story, with him (vs. 18-21) he concluded: “But you his successor, Belshazzar, have not humbled your heart, even though you knew all this. Instead, you have exalted yourself against the Lord of heaven…”(vs. 22-23)  “You knew all this,” Daniel told him, “You should have known better!”  And, we should know better! God’s patience can be exhausted! We make much of God’s mercy, grace & patience with us; and, we should because God is loving, merciful, gracious & patient with us! But, we dare not ignore the justice & judgment of God! We do so— like Belshazzar did— at our own peril!

Daniel: Sanity Based Worship

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(Note: This is the 16th in a series of posts on Daniel’s life)

The Insanity Of Pride

When God fulfilled King Nebuchadnezzar’s prophetic dream (Daniel ch.4) and cut him down to a stub, it was truly an act of grace on God’s part! If God hadn’t stepped in to humble him, Nebuchadnezzar would have continued in the “insanity” of his pride; and, he would have died in the “insanity” of his pride! God’s humbling was the most gracious thing God could do for him! It saved him! For the rest of his days, Nebuchadnezzar bore the scars of being “cut down” to a stub! A new shoot would grow from that stub as God returned the kingdom to him; but, everyone would know that something happened there! The tree had been cut!

Worship Is The Basis For Sanity

Let me make a couple more observations from King Nebuchadnezzar’s story! First, we see that it is “worship” that is the basis for sanity! When we’re full of pride we’re out of touch with reality! But, humility leads us back to God’s Sovereignty & to worship Him, where sanity is based. Sanity is based on the reality of God & experienced when we worship Him! To worship God is our highest calling! It is worship that separates us from the animal kingdom & the rest of creation! Listen to Nebuchadnezzar’s response:  “…at the end of those days, I, Nebuchadnezzar, looked up to heaven, and my sanity returned to me.  Then I praised the Most High and honored and glorified Him who lives forever…” (ch.4:34ff). 

The By-Product Of Worship

When his sanity returned to him, praise & worship were his response! When we worship God we see Him for who He really is & we see ourselves for who we really are! Worship is the path to sanity because it humbles us & it exalts God! And, then, giving witness or testimony is the by-product of our worship! “Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise, exalt, and glorify the King of heaven, because all His works are true & His ways are just. God is able to humble those who walk in pride!” (ch. 4:37ff). When we give witness to God’s work in our lives, it’s to the praise of His glory! It should be our delight to give Him praise everywhere we go! That is the overriding moral to Nebuchadnezzar’s story— Humble yourself, or God will do it for you! No truth is more fundamental than that— He is God! We are not! We cannot worship God rightly when we think more highly of ourselves than we ought to; when we place ourselves on the throne of our life! If you belong to Him; if you’ve made Jesus your Savior, God will intercept your attempts to rob Him of His glory! He will humble you!

Get That “G” Off Your Chest

If you’ve been trying to wear a big “G” on your chest (“God”) as King Nebuchadnezzar did, I’m going to warn you as Daniel warned him earlier in the chapter:  “Therefore, may my advice seem good to you my king. Separate yourself from your sins by doing what is right, and from your injustices by showing mercy to the needy. Perhaps there will be an extension of your prosperity.” If only he had listened, he would have avoided 7 years of insanity! That’s my plea to you— Stop the insanity! Confess your sin of pride & ask God’s indwelling Spirit (if you’re a believer!) to help you beat it! Stop trying to play “God” with your life! You’re NOT Him! Tear that big “G” off your chest; and, experience the FREEDOM of letting God run the universe! Let Him run your life; and, lead you in His Sovereign plan! It’s the best decision you can make!