Friday, December 5, 2014

DANIEL 5,6:

Belshazzar takes over as King for his Father and completely forgets about Daniel until a mysterious hand writes on the wall right in the middle of a drunken orgy.  It freaks him out and no one can interpret the meaning.  Daniel had been forgotten about until this time and the queen suggested Belshazzar consult him.  Daniel informs him that this very night he will be killed and lose the Kingdom. After this happens a new King Darius takes over and values Daniel and appoints him third in command.  Jeolousy reigns among Daniels peers and he is trapped in a technical law and Darius is forced to throw him in the Lion’s Den.  God graciously saves Daniel to the relief of Darius and all his backstabbing peers are tossed in instead.

1 JOHN 3:

John continues Chapter 3 differentiating believers versus non.  He draws clear lines between those that love and those that don’t.  “This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is nota a child of God; nor is anyone who does not love his brother.” (vs.10).  He goes on to warn us not to be surprised if we are hated by the world and that “Anyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life in him”.    He further defines how you love is through actions, not words. “ Jesus Christ laid down his life for us.  And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.  If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him?  Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.”

JOURNAL:

Wow again!  We see Daniel being bounced from serving King to King and continually put in all kinds of crazy situations.  Yet he never compromises and doesn’t lose faith even when that faith means certain death (lions den).  He is hated by all those that are Jealous and who don’t worship God.  Proving true John’s claim that you will be hated by the world for righteousness.  John’s description of righteous love as loving your brother in need and based on action and not words is also a tough word…especially for this day and time.  I think the heart of all that John is stating and also found in Daniel is “who is your God and do you obey him?”  I daily struggle to remember that having surrendered my life to Christ, my desires are no longer what rule me.  I must continually seek obedience, no matter the cost and sacrifice to my present life.  This often goes against what I feel and or what seems logical.  This is the struggle of being in the world but not of it.  

Encountering this scripture is one of the tough but unavoidable benefits of reading through the Bible in a year.  I can’t pick and choose and it forces me to deal with scripture that is difficult and slaps me right in the face, rather than seeking scripture that affirms my emotions and current situation.