5 Lessons from Daniel 9:23

The moment you began praying, a command was given. And now I am here to tell you what it was, for you are very precious to God. Listen carefully so that you can understand the meaning of your vision. - Daniel 9:23

1 - Daniel serves as an example that our first response to life circumstances should be seeking the Lord through prayer.

2 - God not only hears our prayers but responds.

3 - This is because you are very precious to God.

4 - God desires to impart spiritual insight, wisdom, and understanding to us.

5 - The prescribed and only method by which we can receive this divine revelation of spiritual wisdom and understanding is by cultivating a lifestyle of seeking the Lord sincerely through prayer and regularly practicing the other spiritual disciplines.

Preparing to enter the Promised Land

In Joshua 4 and 5 I see five significant events:

1. God dries up the Jordan river while it is at flood stage in the Spring so that the people can cross over on dry ground.

2. He commands the memorial of the crossing with twelve stones.

3. He commands the renewal of the covenant sign of circumcision.

4. The people keep the Passover, eat the produce of the land the following day, and, in a "reverse-miracle", the provision of manna ceases the day after that.

5. The commander of the army of the Lord appears to Joshua.

Some thoughts:

Apart from the practical aspect of allowing the vast multitude of Israelites to cross safely, drying up the Jordan accomplished several things.

First, it was a symbolic copy of the parting of the Red Sea (4:23), and showed the people that God was with Joshua as he had been with Moses. God used it to"begin to exalt" (3:7) Joshua in the sight of Israel.

Second, God used it both to cause his people to fear him(4:24) and to instill confidence that he was still among them and would drive out the nations with a mighty arm (3:10).

Third, he used it to "melt the hearts" of the nations surrounding them and demoralize them so that "no spirit was left in them" (5:1).

Lastly, by memorializing it with the twelve stones, God caused the miracle to continue having these same effects on the generations to come- testifying to God's great power and care for his people.

Having commanded the people through Joshua: "consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do wonders among you", God then begins to consecrate (set apart as holy) the people.

First, he performs a "dry baptism" by passing them through the waters- but on dry land. After that, he renews the covenant sign of circumcision, purifying them by removing part of the flesh. And just as there was a second parting of the waters, there is another Passover observance- this time in reverse order: (1st Passover- crossing the R Sea- crossing Jordan- Passover)- further reminding them of God's special provision for their deliverance. They are set apart for God's own possession because he protected them from his own wrath by the passover lamb, then brought them out of slavery in Egypt with a mighty hand.

Application: Consecration is both something God has done and continues to do for me and to me- and something I do for and to myself, with his help. It is not either/or but both/and. Through his electing love, predestination, saving acts in history, and particular means of grace in my life: being born into a Christian family, hearing the gospel preached from an early age, the gift of faith, etc. God has set me apart and continues to do so.

But I also have a part to play in setting myself apart.

2 Tim. 2:20-23

1 Pet. 1:13-16

daily reading

(I haven't seen any new posts in over a month, so I have decided to use this blog to journal my daily Bible reading- kinda like a squatter moving into an abandoned building.)

Joshua 3
1Then Joshua rose early in the morning and they set out from Shittim. And they came to the Jordan, he and all the people of Israel, and lodged there before they passed over. 2 At the end of three days the officers went through the camp 3and commanded the people, "As soon as you see the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God being carried by the Levitical priests, then you shall set out from your place and follow it. 4 Yet there shall be a distance between you and it, about 2,000 cubits in length. Do not come near it, in order that you may know the way you shall go, for you have not passed this way before." 5Then Joshua said to the people, "Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the LORD will do wonders among you."

"rose early in the morning"
Great endeavors get us up early in the morning. A good measure of my sense of mission and resolve is apparent in how early I get up in the morning.

"As soon as you see the ark...set out from your place and follow it"
Like the disciples followed Jesus, who is our ark and mercy seat. So should we follow immediately when we see him at work- and there is no need to keep our distance.

"Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the LORD will do wonders among you"
In the new covenant, the order is reversed: The Lord Jesus did wonders then He consecrated us.

Testing

While reading in Deuteronomy, I have been meditating on how God tests us.

In 8:2-3 Moses tells the people, "... you shall remember the whole way that the Lord your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that he might humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments or not. And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna... that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone but by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord."

One purpose of testing is to find out what something is made of: "to know what was in your heart."  Now, I don't believe God needed more information, or that he was waiting with a worried look on his face to see how things would turn out.  I believe he knew what was in their hearts and what they would do.  But THEY didn't know. They had said, 

"All that the Lord has spoken we will do." Exodus 19:8. 

And then they had Aaron make them a golden calf, and then they grumbled and complained, and then they believed the bad report of the ten cowardly spies instead of Joshua and Caleb, and refused to advance into the Promised Land, etc.  They did NOT know. So God took them through the wilderness to show them their hearts and to humble them. 

Another purpose of testing is to teach. This is closely related, and almost the same as the first. It includes the first, because the first thing we must learn from testing is what we have to work with, what our basic, default (without God) situation is.  Above, I have already listed some of the failures of character of the people of Israel that resulted in wrong actions.  Other good descriptions which we can generalize for ourselves are in Ephesians 2:1-3 

And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience-- among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind."

and Revelation 3:17

... you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked.

 

These statements about our natural condition are important, but most of us also need to hit the pavement with our chins a few times to really understand.  Besides teaching us what we are made of, what is in our heart, through trials God also shows us our weakness and inability to provide for ourselves. He teaches us that we are completely dependent on Him.  The provision of manna for the Israelites is a beautiful and powerful picture of how directly dependent we are on God.  But the manna wasn't "necessary" and wouldn't have been wanted in Egypt.  It was only out in the desert, when they were starving, that they needed and ate the manna.  It is interesting to me that Jesus quotes these words to Satan when he is being tempted to miraculously provide bread for himself after his fast in the desert.  What a contrast!  The Israelites as they wandered in the desert had to be taught in a practical, graphic, life-threatening way just how dependent they were on God.  Jesus, who had the ability in himself to produce bread by his word, said (in effect):  "No. I have been led by the Spirit to this desert to fast and be strengthened to conquer your temptation. I look to the Father and his word to guide all my actions, and to supply all my need.  I will not allow my hunger to cause me to listen to your word and follow your suggestions."

So here we have two reasons to be humble: our natural sinful character, and our weak dependence on God for everything. Trials are key in showing us and thoroughly convincing us of both.

Lastly, testing and trials produce more than understanding.  The are the practical means of our purification.  We are like impure ore that has dirt and unwanted minerals and less valuable metals in it.  Some of the dirt can be washed off, but eventually we require the refiners fire. 

Voice in the Wilderness

Intimacy – Fueled by love/passion, “we love Him because He first loved us.”

If we find our love for Him lacking, it is because we have listened to the lies of the enemy accusing God’s love being conditional, therefore not available in power to us because of our sinful, frail human condition. The enemy wages war against our soul heaping shame and condemnation upon us like the Egyptians heaped heavy bags of grain and mortar upon the shoulders of the Isrealites. At the end of the day, our strength is spent, our identity as children of God is all but forgotten after seemingly 400 years of slavery – despite our elders, teachers, parents, friends and family reminding us of our heritage week after week, day after day. The reality of the harsh conditions of slavery and the brutal searing lashes of our demonic oppressors weigh heavier upon our minds and our concept of who we are than does the truth of God’s Word or the encouragement of a well-meaning friend or teacher.

Then we hear a voice raised up like a trumpet shouting, “PHAROAH! LET MY PEOPLE GO!!!” The voice echoes through our soul like an earthquake, and just like what happened with Paul and Silas, we look down with astonishment and see that our shackles are broken and the doors of the prison holding us captive have been opened.

The voice shines like a light from heaven, piercing the darkness, driving away fear, shame, condemnation and every other deception of the evil one. The voice is one of a modern-day deliverer whom God has raised up to echo the words of Jesus, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” (Luke 4:18-19)

This same voice proclaims, “While we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person – though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die – but God shows His love for us in that while we were sinners Christ died for us.” (Rom 5:6-11)

It is this message of unconditional love that is stronger than our sin that pulls us out of our self –pity and deprecation, and awakens our heart to the possibilities of a life free in God. It is this message of unconditional love that motivates us to return to our first love. This same voice proclaims, “Even in your weakness, you are lovely! Everything I do,” says the Lord, “I do for you, my love.”

“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through Him. Whoever believes in Him is not condemned…” (John 3:16-18a, emphasis mine)

It is this love that motivated God to create us in the first place, desiring to have relationship with us. It was this unconditional love that motivated Him to set His plan of redemption into place after the fall of humanity instead of wiping us out and creating a new race of creatures that could please Him better.

It was this unconditional love which motivated Christ, “who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made Himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted Him and bestowed upon Him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (Philippians 2:6-11)

This is why when the voice of the deliverer that cries out from the wilderness cries out shouting, “PHARAOH! LET MY PEOPLE GO!!!” Pharaoh listens. Pharaoh must submit. If he resists, the powers of heaven and of earth are shaken as God displays mighty works of power and glory in demonstration against the hand of Pharaoh. Jesus defeated death and the power of the devil on the cross, and Ephesians 4:8 states, “When He ascended on high he led a host of captives, and he gave gifts to men.” The apostle Paul was quoting David in Psalms 68:18 which also includes, “and He gave gifts to men, even among the rebellious, that the Lord God may dwell there.”

This is where the rubber hits the road. Yes, God loves rebellious you and I. God loves our hearts, despite our nature being prone to wander from His presence. God’s love is stronger than our sin. God’s love is stronger than besetting sin, even habitual sin that we can’t seem to leave in the past. A revelation of God’s unconditional love for us is our only hope for defeating this sin.
Gazing upon Him, beholding His glory, we will be changed from glory to glory. God is love. As we gaze upon Him, and upon His great love for us, we WILL be changed. That is why it is so important that we take time to gaze upon Him, because we become what we are beholding (gazing upon).

When Jacob set the spotted branch in front of the strong goats of Laban’s herd as they were breeding, they gave birth to strong, spotted offspring. By the time Jacob had done this over a course of several years, Jacob ended up with all of the strength of his father-in-law’s herd, because he had previously made an agreement to leave with the spotted of his flock.

Let this be our motivation then, to gaze upon Him with a revelation of His unending, overwhelming love for us and for all of humanity. Lord, visit the apple of your eye with your Spirit! Visit the apple of your eye with your power! Turn the hearts of your people! Send forth the spirit of Elijah again! Let your voice be heard once again!

True Love can't wait (to give)

(this is a synthesis of a message by John Piper in his video series The Blazing Center)

2 Corinthians 8:1-4,8
1 Corinthians 13:3

The apostle Paul was encouraging the Corinthian church to give generously for the needs of the poor in Jerusalem by describing a miracle which he had experienced in Macedonia as he saw how the church there gave.

1We want you to know, brothers, about the grace of God that has been given among the churches of Macedonia, 2for in a severe test of affliction, their abundance of joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part. 3For they gave according to their means, as I can testify, and beyond their means, of their own accord, 4begging us earnestly for the favor of taking part in the relief of the saints—

8 I say this not as a command, but to prove by the earnestness of others that your love also is genuine.

Verse 8 shows that what is described in vv1-4 is what Paul would call "genuine love".

So this is how the whole deal came down:

First- "the grace of God was given among the churches"
then- "in a severe test of affliction" (circumstances)
"extreme poverty" combined with "abundance of joy"
to produce an overflow of wealth of generosity

this generosity is further described as:
giving- according to their means--> beyond their means
of their own free will--> begging earnestly for the favor of giving

Picture this: a bowl made out of clay (earthen vessel) = the Macedonian church
sitting on brambles and thorns which are on fire = severe test of affliction (probably persecution)
with a few tablespoons of thin soup in the bowl= extreme poverty

then ALL OF A SUDDEN God rains his grace on them!

and the whole mess bubbles up and spills over = generous giving for the needs of the poor

Now consider 1 Corinthians 13:3
3 If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.

Paul says, "even if I make an extreme act of generosity and devotion, if it is not motivated by LOVE- it isn't worth anything in God's accounting."

Based on 2 Corinthians 8, Love is:
The outpouring of God's grace which produces such joy that it overflows in generosity to others (even in extreme circumstances of poverty and persecution).

So the often quoted teaching that "Love isn't a feeling, it is something you DO." is wrong, or at least incomplete. I believe it is a reaction to worldly, selfish "love" which is motivated by the loveliness of the object, and produces feelings of desire in the "lover". Certainly it is true that love is more than a feeling, in this sense.

The next step up is a love motivated by knowledge of God's law and a sense of duty to obey it. It is a legalistic, dutiful love. It is an act of the will. Piper (characteristically, in my opinion) sees only black and white, and says this is NOT love at all. I quibble with this, because I believe we are to use all the weapons at our disposal, and sometimes the only one at hand is duty.

In the first case, the love is focused on the object, the person being loved.
In the second, the focus is on the subject, the lover and her duty to love.
The best case includes both the object and the subject, but is energized neither by the desirability nor the needs of the former, nor the desire or duty of the latter, but by the grace of God.

Yes we see the need, yes we realize our duty- but then the grace of God pours down and soaks us in joy! We love out of an exuberant desire to share God's love which is overflowing in our hearts.

So true love can't wait, and true love is a feeling.

Visit to KC

We are looking forward to seeing Hans and Jerrica in KC next week! I told Kyah that she was going to see Hope. She said "and baby Elijah". I thought she was talking about her friend Elisha that lives here in Kentucky. I said "no, baby Elisha will stay here at home". She looked at me and slowly corrected me "eli-JAH". I was amazed that she remembered Elijah's name. She must have thought very highly of him.