Daniel and my faith

 

We look towards the future and sometimes it’s like a dense bank of fog. We may ask, “Lord, are you still in charge? Are we dangerously adrift on the currents of time?”   It may seem so, but let me affirm what I know, by faith, to be true:

He IS Lord.
He IS our Savior.
He IS the Victor over sin, death, and Hell.

One of the Bible’s interesting characters is Daniel, a Jewish scholar taken to Babylon to serve in the Empire’s court at the destruction of Jerusalem by Assyria. Most of us remember the story of his overnight stay in the lion’s den after he defied the king’s order not to pray.  The old man, who had been a court counselor to several emperor’s found himself afoul of court politics and a law designed to bring about his end.

He bravely trusted God and when the king came to see what had happened to him, he reported:  "My God sent his angel, and he shut the mouths of the lions. They have not hurt me, because I was found innocent in his sight. Nor have I ever done any wrong before you, O king.”" (Daniel 6:22, NIV)  It’s great drama and faith-building. 

In chapters 7 and 8, God gives Daniel a vision that is weird and wonderful. It is about 4 strange creatures and we learn that each represents an empire in the flow of history that affected Jerusalem in the centuries leading up to the coming of Jesus. It’s incredible! How could this man see the decline of Assyria, the rise of the Persian empire, the subsequent rise of the Grecian empire that would dissolve into 4 smaller empires at Alexander’s death?  How could he know of the vast reach of the Roman Empire?

He could not naturally  but God revealed these things to him so that we could know He controls history. "‘But the court will sit, and his power will be taken away and completely destroyed forever. Then the sovereignty, power and greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven will be handed over to the saints, the people of the Most High. His kingdom will be an everlasting kingdom, and all rulers will worship and obey him.’" (Daniel 7:26-27, NIV)

Many of Daniel’s visions are complex and hard to understand. Some of the meanings elude us and invite speculation that sometimes runs wild. We do well to approach them with humility. 
The message for us today is this- God rules and His plans will be fulfilled. 

Is your heart troubled this day? Are you apprehensive about your future or about the future of the world in which you live?  I encourage you to renew faith in the One who reigns, the eternal God. At the end of another apocalyptic book in the Bible, the Revelation, Jesus declares: “Behold, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to everyone according to what he has done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End." (Revelation 22:12-13, NIV)  We are secure in Him, our destiny held in His trusted grip. Will you trust Him?

Yes, when the End comes, when God welcomed His people home, we will join in the song of the saints. This is the word from the Word.

"Then I heard again what sounded like the shout of a huge crowd, or the roar of mighty ocean waves, or the crash of loud thunder:
“Hallelujah! For the Lord our God, the Almighty, reigns. Let us be glad and rejoice and honor him.
For the time has come for the wedding feast of the Lamb, and his bride has prepared herself.
She is permitted to wear the finest white linen.” (Fine linen represents the good deeds done by the people of God.)" (Revelation 19:6-8, NLT)

Are you ready to see the King?

(Video of this blog at this link)

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Until Then

My heart can sing
When I pause to remember
A heartache here
Is but a stepping stone
Along a trail
That's winding always upward
This troubled world
Is not my final home

But until then
My heart will go on singing
Until then
With joy I'll carry on
Until the day
My eyes behold the city
Until the day
God calls me home

The things of earth
Will dim and lose their value
If we recall
They're borrowed for a while
And things of earth
That cause the heart to tremble
Remembered there
Will only bring a smile

 This weary world
With all its toil and struggle
May take its toll
Of misery and strife
The soul of man
Is like a waiting falcon
When it's released
It's destined for the skies

 

Stuart Hamblen

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