With

Re:Verse passage – Daniel 10:1-21 (day three)

“O man of high esteem, do not be afraid. Peace be with you; take courage and be courageous!”

Anybody know how many times the Bible addresses the human tendency toward fear? Gotta be a pretty high number. Anyway, it’s instructive that the scriptures don’t tell us merely to buck up. That’s the way we often dispense advice about courage, you know. We say things like: “Don’t worry.” “Think about something else.” “It’s not that bad.” I don’t know. Sometimes it really is that bad. The Bible will never pretend that you can shut fear off like a light switch. Therefore, with every admonition to put an end to fear you will find – explicitly or by strong implication – a declaration that the Lord himself has drawn near. The words “Take courage” are an announcement that God has come to you.

You Are Heard

Re:Verse passage – Daniel 10:1-21 (day two) 

Then he said to me, “Do not be afraid, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart on understanding this and on humbling yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to your words. vs 12

Read that verse again…slowly. Now substitute your name for Daniel’s. All this time that you have been petitioning the Lord on behalf of your children, your family, your co-workers, your city, or whatever – the Lord has heard you. That doesn’t mean you are going to hear the answer tomorrow, or that you should stop praying, but isn’t it a comfort to know that you are heard. Can you imagine Daniel’s relief to hear those words. None of those moments were in vain. When you go before the Lord, have this assurance; you are heard. Let me also encourage you to make that an end in itself. Just the recognition that you serve a God who hears should be enough to continue to serve. Press on.

Monday Re:Verse Blog Post – 5/11/20

Re:Verse passage – Daniel 10:1-21 (day one)

Join us as Senior Pastor Chris Johnson, Associate Pastor Aaron Hufty and Associate Pastor Bryan Richardson walk us through Daniel 10:1-21 in our Spring Sermon Series: “Faith Under Fire” A Study in Daniel.

Plan A

Re:Verse passage – Daniel 9:23-27 (day seven)  

“to make an end of sin, to make atonement for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness” vs 24.

There was no Plan B.

From the beginning of time, God had a plan: to end sin and bring righteousness. We get glimpses of this plan throughout the Old Testament. God would forgive the sins of His people, they would be restored to righteousness, but the righteousness would not last. The people would always turn back into their sinful ways. This was not the solution, but it pointed us towards the problem. Man cannot make an end of sin. Man cannot bring righteousness. Only God can, so God became man and ended sin, atoned iniquity, and brought an everlasting righteousness, but He wasn’t done yet! He gave us His Spirit that we might be emissaries for Him. He has equipped man to bring everlasting righteousness to other men through the Spirit living in us.

Repent, Witness, Disciple. This is the church. This was His plan from the very beginning. This is Plan A. There is no Plan B.

Day and Hour

Re:Verse passage – Daniel 9:23-27 (day six)  

Let’s be honest, the best we can do is an educated guess as to the meaning of 70 sets of seven. We can devote all our time to its study and still understand no more than we when we began.

And that’s okay. We are in good company.

32 “However, no one knows the day or hour when these things will happen, not even the angels in heaven or the Son himself. Only the Father knows.” -Jesus, Mark 13:32

Daniel didn’t understand. Gabriel didn’t know, and not even the incarnate Son knew the day or hour when these things would happen. So, what ought we do?

We do what Daniel did; we pray. Now is the day and the hour to seek God. We repent. We pray for mercy and restoration. And God listens and answers our prayer for we too are precious.

Both

Re:Verse passage – Daniel 9:23-27 (day five)  

Throughout the book of Daniel we are presented with a tension that we must not only recognize but navigate. The tension is caused by the very nature and character of God being in relationship with man- powerful/personal, sovereign/intimate, immediate/eternal.

Daniel has experienced God dealing in his daily circumstances. Daniel has also experienced God’s glory and seen His everlasting splendor. We must do the same. We must look to God for daily strength and guidance while knowing He has created and controls the world (present and future).  The challenge for the human heart and mind is to hold onto both ends of the tension. To praise and request. To worship and to obey.

(Lyrics from a new song I’m singing these days)

Who can spin the world around
And hold me ever close

Who can search the depths of me
And  love me to the core

Who controls the world I see
And walks me through it all

Joy

Re:Verse passage – Daniel 9:23-27 (day four)

“But now I come to You, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have My joy fulfilled in themselves.”  These words could have been written by Daniel, but they weren’t…Jesus spoke these words in John 17.  Captivity and exile in Babylon was tough…the circumstances of daily life for the Jews were very difficult.  When Daniel explained his vision, he was offering hope and joy.  God was in complete control of their lives and circumstances, and the Jews could take comfort in that fact.

Do you feel that the circumstances of life are out of your control?  Are you overwhelmed by what the future may look like?  The message of Daniel and the message of Christ are the same…God is in control…He is sovereign over the circumstances of life…our relationship with Him brings joy that supersedes all circumstances.  We can rest in the calm assurance of His sovereignty and His love for us. We can have joy!

Toward

Re:Verse passage – Daniel 9:23-27 (day three)

“…to bring in everlasting righteousness…”

Does an assured eventual eternal era of peace and goodness make current and future painful events more bearable? Only in the sense that it makes those events more meaningful. It doesn’t lessen the agony, the difficulty, the deep distress. But without meaning, nothing is possible. “For the joy set before him he endured the cross.” The greatest act of love that could ever exist, Jesus’s laying down his life for his friends, did not happen absent his awareness of its meaning, or it could not have happened at all. And by the way, “meaning” doesn’t signify for us that we understand something in every detail, but rather that we are assured that the actions or events in question will culminate in good for all those who’ve thrown their lot in with the Savior. History is headed somewhere.

Highly Esteemed

Re:Verse passage – Daniel 9:23-27 (day two)  

At the beginning of your supplications the command was issued, and I have come to tell you, for you are highly esteemed; so give heed to the message and gain understanding of the vision. vs. 23

“Do not fear, for I have redeemed you;
I have called you by name; you are Mine! Isaiah 43:1b

Believer, when was the last time you recognized your standing with God? Scripture tells us over and over again how much we are loved. Not because of our merit, or on account of status. We are his, and he rejoices over us. This doesn’t mean that we won’t face our share of challenges. We will continue to be refined until we reach glory, but in the midst of struggle we can rest assured that God loves us. Daniel is highly esteemed. It may be easy to look around and become forlorn, but don’t forget to look up. God is active and has not forgotten you.

Monday Re:Verse Blog Post – 5/4/20

Re:Verse passage – Daniel 9:23-27 (day one)

Join us as Senior Pastor Chris Johnson, Associate Pastor Aaron Hufty and Associate Pastor Bryan Richardson walk us through Daniel 9:23-27 in our Spring Sermon Series: “Faith Under Fire” A Study in Daniel.