Daniel 4

I love the story recorded in Daniel 4.  After seeing God's protection of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego (recorded in Chapter 3), it would have seemed that King Nebuchadnezzar would have been thoroughly convinced of who the One True God is - - but nope, he had to have Chapter 4!  It is such a dramatic story.  Daniel is more than a little uneasy about telling Neb the interpretation of Neb's dream.  I can certainly understand why!  He'd seen the results of Neb's temper and power in the past, and Neb was a man one didn't want to cross!

I love that God loved Neb enough to warn him of what He was about to do, agonize that Neb ignored God's warning, and thrill to the conclusion.  The story in between could be a movie.  It is graphically written and I am visual, so the drama plays out easily in my imagination.  And at the end of it all, after Neb has come back to his senses, he worships the One and Only God.

And so it is for us.  God loves us enough to lead us to a place of complete reliance on Him where we learn that He alone is worthy of our praise.  He deserves our praise and worship no matter what our circumstances.

Praise you, Lord, for you are worthy of all wealth and power and wisdom and strength, all honor and glory and praise.

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The Lord of Heaven and earth came down to earth as a man - fully God and fully human - to become the final sacrifice ever needed so we could be restored to Him in the perfect relationship that existed before Sin entered the garden of Eden.  A thought occurred to me a couple of days ago that had never previously entered my mind.   As fully God in human form, when He looked up at the stars He had created He knew their names.  An amazing reality!  I cannot even conceive what an incredible sacrifice it was for God to become man to save us.  "He humbled Himself and carried the cross"....the words to the song have even more meaning to me this morning.  "Love so amazing!"

For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.  For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.  (John 3:16-17)

The opportunity for salvation is there for all humanity - but it is up to us to reach out and accept the gift.
He who has the Son has life, but he who does not have the Son, does not have life.

The Bible has made the way very clear.

DANIEL 3

I am re-reading the book of Daniel.  Today was Daniel 3, the story of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego and the fiery furnace.  What leaped out most saliently to me today in reading the story again was that their assertion to King Neb was that their God would deliver them from his hands.  They didn't proclaim they'd be saved from the fire - but they'd be saved from Nebuchadnezzar.  That salvation could have just as easily come through their death.  The fire was so hot that the men who threw them in were killed - but the 3 faithful Hebrew children were spared.  One like a 'son of the gods' - Neb's description - walked with them in the flames.  The cords that bound them fell off, but they were not touched by the flame.   They didn't even smell like smoke.

What an amazing reminder that God has our back.  It is true that He doesn't perform conspicuous miracles every time we ask.  If He did, no one would ever die - and it is appointed to man (because of the sin of Adam and Eve) that we will one day die.  The only exceptions to that 'rule' are those who are alive at Jesus' return.  Then those who are dead in Christ will rise first, and those who are alive and yet remain will be caught up together with them to meet the Lord in the sky - to be forever with the Lord.  (The only other recorded exception is Enoch, who was translated without dying, and his death may come later as one of the two witnesses in the Book of Revelation.)

There is a ton I do not understand - and that God has not cleared up for me - but His Word provides enough history and clarity for me to trust the future to Him.  Like the 3 men who were faced with a fiery furnace death, we too know a God who is able to deliver.  I love that they were spared death as a testimony to those who witnessed the event - and I love the 180 degree turn around the King made in His view and his proclamation of which God would be honored!  I know God frequently works through circumstances - - but I love it when there is no other way to explain what just happened except that He showed up in power.

Thank you, Lord, for the history of your amazing intervention.  When I walk through 'the fire' You are with me.  Thank you for Your love and care.

DEATH STINGS

We lost a friend last night, and I have spent today remembering shared joys.  She was a delight to be with - a good conversationalist - and she had even more opinions than I do!

She loved her family deeply, lived life to the full, and was a woman of character.  She had several wonderful collections that I enjoyed looking at with her, and she had a warm and generous heart.  She was direct and stated her views openly.

And she loved humor.  A couple of years ago at Christmas she sent me a story I will share that is representative of her enjoyment of humor.

A man in Florida calls his son in New England the day before Christmas and says, "I hate to ruin your day, but I have to tell you that your mother and I are divorcing; forty-five years of misery is enough."

"What are you talking about?" the son screams.

 

“We can't stand the sight of each other any longer," the father says.

"We're sick of each other, and I'm sick of talking about this, so you call your sister in New Hampshire and tell her."

Frantic, the son calls his sister who explodes on the phone, "Like heck they're getting divorced," she shouts.  "I'll take care of this."

She calls Florida immediately and screams at her father, "You are NOT getting divorced.  Don't do a single thing until I get there.  I'm calling my

brother back, and we'll both be there tomorrow.  Until then, don't do a thing.  DO YOU HEAR ME?" and hangs up.

The old man hangs up his phone and turns to his wife. "Okay," he says,

"The children are coming for Christmas and paying their own way."

Laughter is good like a medicine.  

My favorite story about her goes back to when she got pregnant with her last child, and at dinner at their house she told me, "I don't know how this happened."  And I quickly replied, "You're a nurse."  I was pretty sure she could figure it out.  Of course that wasn't how she meant what she said - but  it was what she stated - and we had a good laugh.  

The thing about traveling down memory lane is that the joys are bathed in current tears, but JOY comes in the morning.  That's the Lord's promise, and I know from experience it is true.  But right now I agonize for her family - and for us.  We share the loss.  

Rest in peace, Ann.  It was a joy to have you in our lives.  I wouldn't ask you to suffer longer, even though I feel cheated by not getting to see you to say our last goodbye on this earth in person.  

ROBIN WILLIAMS

"Carpe diem.  Seize the day.  Make your life extraordinary."

I know they were memorized words from a script - but they were words Robin Williams spoke in the film DEAD POETS SOCIETY.  

I went to bed feeling deep, deep sadness for the choice that Robin made to end his life.  He who brought so much joy to others through comedic relief didn't find joy in his own life, and ended it by his own hand.  A sad, tragic loss.  

I agonize for his family and others who loved him on a personal level.   I know what it feels like to be the child of suicide:  the if only's, the what if's, the maybe's...and when someone so dearly loved internationally chooses this way out of personal depression the model creates a risk for others to take the same self-absorbed way out.   (And suicide is self-absorbed.  None of us truly live just to ourselves.  We are interconnected.  Our lives matter to someone - - even perhaps to many someone's.)

I hate suicide!  Suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary problem.  Even long term depression is temporary in light of eternity.  

The only answer for life's deepest struggles is Jesus.  I know that a lot of people will be tempted to end their own pain with Robin's choice as their permission.  Don't do it.  Get help.  Eternity weighs in the balance.   

What happened is tragic.  My prayer is that God will redeem this horrible situation for good in others' lives - - that people who are in depression and in need of help will seek the only One who can meet life's deepest sorrows.  Truly, the Light of the World is Jesus.  

For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life.  John 3:16.  

God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son.  He who has the Son has life, but he who does not have the Son does not have life.  I John 5:11-12

I am the Way, the Truth and the Life.  No one comes to the Father but by me. John 14:6

Salvation is found in no one else.  For there is no other name...by whom we must be saved  Acts 4:12

Cast all your cares on Him, for He cares for you.  1 Peter 5:7

Find a Bible believing church.  Find a Christian counselor.  Get help.  God truly cares - and Jesus is the answer to all of life's dilemmas!  Seize the day.  Make your life extraordinary with God's help.  We can't do it alone!

(My mother committed suicide when I was 7 1/2 years old.  I speak from experience.  It is a horrible ending to grapple with for those left behind.  I am sharing this hoping someone who reads it will choose life - - not just living longer, but true life - - by asking Jesus into your life and circumstances; reading your Bible, praying, finding the fellowship of Christian believers in a Bible-believing church so you dan grow Spiritually.  I believe someone is meant to read this - - that God will use it for good in your life.)

Brigitte Gabriel - Used As a Human Shield As a Child

http://video.foxnews.com/v/3705593274001/woman-used-as-human-shield-reacts-to-hamas-strategy/#sp=show-clips

To see this very important clip, just highlight the link above and paste into your browser.  I apologize for the ad you have to endure at the beginning, but what I wrote about Hamas and using children as human shields is corroborated by a woman who was used in that capacity as a child.

AFTER JESUS' RESURRECTION

With the interruption to my writing because of taking care of my daughter following her surgery, Good Friday has come and gone, Resurrection morning has come and gone, and at this point Jesus is on earth making appearances to confirm His resurrection to His followers prior to His ascension into heaven.

He lived.

He died

He was resurrected and lived again.

He ascended to the Father.

He is awaiting the predestined time God has appointed for Him to return - - and He will!

God has kept the details cloaked in just enough mystery that we have to have total reliance on Him.  All we need to know is that He said it, so He will do it - - and it could be very, very soon.   However, many believe His coming will be in 2 stages.

Oh what a glorious day that will be!  Glorious, that is, for those who are prepared to meet Him.

For everyone else, not so much.

Many Christians look forward to what has been dubbed 'The Rapture', though that is not a term used in the Bible.  There is widespread belief that we will be caught up in the air to be forever together with the Lord - - but that is not the true Second Coming, and it is His Second Coming, when He returns to Jerusalem and enters the Eastern Gate, that will precipitate the final judgment.

As it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be in the days of the coming of the Son of Man.  Right up to the moment of His coming, people will be 'doing what they do' with no regard for Him.  The love of most will have waxed cold.  People will be lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God.  The condition of the world looks right now like the world it is predicted to be at the close of the age.  And that is how long He promises to be with us:  to the very end of the age.  (Matthew 28:20b)

I don't want to be here after His Spirit is withdrawn.  The Tribulation - - particularly the last 3 1/2 years will be awful.  People will come to the Lord at that point, at an enormous cost, but it is still better to suffer for that relatively short period than to face eternity without God.  It is a sobering reality to ponder.



(I actually wrote this a few months ago - - but just found it in my drafts after posting my most recently written perspective on Hamas and Israel....so am going to publish it now as well...better late than never.)

ISRAEL & HAMAS AND THE PRESENT CONFLICT

It has been far too long since I have written on my blog.  Very few people read it - which makes it easier to ignore doing it - but I need it as a place to share what's on my mind - - and today it is ISRAEL and the current conflict with Hamas.  I am compelled to write!

What people in the West don't understand is how very differently people like those in Hamas think.   This errant thinking does not apply to all Palestinians - - but for people in Hamas, the death of their children is a cause for celebration.  I know that sounds startling - - but it is true - - and that is why it is so hard for Westerners to understand the complexity of what is happening in this conflict.

Israel's policy and practice is compassion and caring.  They warn civilians when they are going to bomb an area - - but Hamas sends the children into the fray, hoping they will be killed so they can gain international sympathy for their cause.   I heard one of Israel's ambassadors state it well, when he quoted someone else who said,  "They will never stop until they love their children more than they hate us."  His comment stunned the correspondent interviewing him - - but it is true.  In the past they have conspicuously used their children as human shields.  They raise their children to believe that they will have a special place in heaven if they become suicide bombers.  They lie to their children, and they lie to themselves.

I believe that the simple poem penned by Israel's President, Shimon Peres, in 2006 says volumes:

Ray of Hope

Copyright 2006 by Shimon Peres, President of Israel

Music by Liel (born in Israel)

Sung by Andrea Bocelli and Liel on utube

Oh my Lord, it’s time to pray

When the new sun shines let’s make hay

So save my land from desert’s stay

Call the ocean’s salt to melt away

(Call the oceans, salt to melt away) echo in musical version

And bless streams with love’s sway

Provide my foe and friend a bloodless day

Invite boys and girls for peace to pray

Then send a ray of hope for a new way

(Then send a ray of hope for a new way) echo in musical version

The line that prays, "Provide my foe and friend a bloodless day" is profound - - and exemplifies the heart of the Israelis purest passion. 

Israel's doctors provide medical care for Palestinian children out of the goodness of their hearts.  That should show their good intent toward the children.  And - they warn civilians when there is going to be a bombing.  But - - when the mortar fire comes out of schools and mosques, and places that should be 'safe' for the civilians, Israel has no choice but to launch a counter-attack.   The tunnels under the walls are there for terrorist motives - - to smuggle in weapons and sneak out through to do harm.  

The American politicians who get involved are vulnerable to being swayed by the manipulation Hamas' so craftily performs.  It would be easy for that to be the case if you didn't know the underlying truth.  I will never forget when 9/11 happened - - the images on TV of people jubilantly dancing in the streets in Palestine because of the attacks on U S soil with the twin towers in New York and the Pentagon in Washington D C.  I was shocked.  Even when someone is evil I do not celebrate their pain.  

And, I cannot imagine a people that celebrates the death of their own children as a good thing for their 'cause'.  Unthinkable!  

The Bible warns that in the end of time men will call good evil and evil good.  We are there!  Can Jesus' Second Coming be far away?