DANIEL 7,8:
These two chapters cover 2 visions Daniel had while serving Nebuchadnezzar’s son Belshazzar. In both of these he saw kingdoms being destroyed evil rulers overtaking the earth and in both instances Angels came to comfort him. Their explanation was that these were about end times and he was not to worry about them now. They disturbed him so badly that he was ill for several days.
1 JOHN 4:
John begins the chapter by warning against spirits and how you distinguish them and to “not believe every spirit”. John is clarifying love and how we know God's love. He again makes very defining assertions on that "whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love"
JOURNAL:
And I think I have problems...in the midst of all Daniel has to deal with he also gets plagued by nightmares that are so real and disturbing that Angels must attend him to calm him down. And still he lays ill for several days. When reading this morning I am impressed by the reality that we are really just a blink in time. Thinking through all that Daniel endured and that the kingdoms he served are long gone and their cities are rubble and dust, makes me more aware that something far bigger than me and my life are at stake. I know that I should be constantly aware of that but most often I’m not. Reading through this morning, my immediate thought was “really God, why did you torment Daniel with things that were not his concern?” Then answer I think, is that it reminds him that no matter how difficult and overwhelming the current situation is…it pales in comparison to the big picture and the true Epic battle that he is a part of.
I think this is why it is so important that John continually lays out that brotherly love is the defining action. It is how we can know whether or not we know God. Do we love our brother? “We love because he first loved us. If anyone says, “I love God,” yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen. And he has give us this command: Whoever loves God must also love his brother.” This is of eternal importance because their is a much bigger story and we are part of that story. To use a quote from Gladiator "…what we do in life, echoes in eternity”.
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