Daniel: God Still Reigns

Bible Study

If you re a Jew in Babylon, you’ve got reason to be depressed. Jeremiah was right all along. All those times you thought he was one taco short of a platter, he was telling the truth!

Daniel’s Story

Jerusalem is in ashes. The temple is in ruins. And you and the rest of your people are in captivity.

Your captors mock you, ‘Sing us one of the songs of Zion!’ (Ps 137:3). But you don’t sing. You hang your harps on the poplar trees and sit on the banks of the river, watching the water and your days pass by.

Who can sing songs about the Lord in a foreign country?

Daniel can.

Though he was only a teenager when taken captive, he remembers well the songs of his youth. Somewhere in his early years he came to believe that God was sovereign. Nothing happens without his permission. Nothing happens outside of his plan.

But even Daniel could not have imagined the plans God had for him. Prime minister of the court. Interpreter of dreams. Prophet. Teacher. Ruler. A lifelong voice for God among pagan people.

But though the central character of the book is Daniel, the hero is God. “There is a God in heaven,” Daniel told the King (Daniel 2:28), and it was that God in heaven who sustained Daniel and the people while in captivity.

That God, by the way, still reigns.

And anytime God’s people have hung up their harps, listen carefully.

God always has a Daniel who remembers how to sing.

Key Verse

“I make a decree that in every dominion of my kingdom men must tremble and fear before the God of Daniel.

For He is the living God,
And steadfast forever;
His kingdom is the one which shall not be destroyed,
And His dominion shall endure to the end.”

Daniel 6:26

Key Themes

God leads in our lives even in difficult circumstances.
Sometimes faithfulness is rewarded by miracles.
God will be faithful to his people in the future as he has in the past.

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Content in this article is taken from The Lucado Encouraging Word Bible, available now!

Lucado Encouraging Word Bible is designed to encourage believers along their journey with the Lord. Max Lucado’s warm, conversational style ensures that the marginal notes, short articles, and various study tools meet you where you are, providing encouragement and insight. This Bible will strengthen you as you follow the included reading plan and incorporate this Bible into your daily devotional life.

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March 12, 2016

Mark Besh

2016-03-24 11:36:44

Well, all this to say that I have ‘noticed’ that there might be an ‘association’ between the topics I have been discussing for the past few months.

Two months ago I discussed “THE BEATITUDES” [https://markbesh.wordpress.com/the-blessed-life-v203/ ], and just last month I talked about a ‘special portion’ the apostle Paul’s teaching to the Galatian church that is referred to as the “FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT” [https://markbesh.wordpress.com/the-fruitful-life-v204/ ].

Since these are two very ‘substantial’ teachings for living the Christian life, I wondered if there is any ‘connection’ between them. Since the apostle Paul is sometimes considered an “expositor” (trying to ‘clarify’ the teachings of Jesus), there just might be some ‘ASSOCIATION’ here.

It so happens that there are nine “Beatitudes” (there are nine “Blessed’s”), and there are nine “Fruit Of The Spirit.” Is this a coincidence?

Well, it seems to me that if a Christian is honestly trying to ‘achieve’ the character quality that Jesus is stating in the Beatitudes—that we desire to ‘acquire’—then there might be something more that we can expect to be blessed with than just what it mentioned in that particular Beatitude. (i.e. If one “mourns” then they will be “comforted”).

As I mentioned in the previous ‘posts’, the “Beatitudes” have to do with the ‘qualities’ of one’s heart, whereas the “Fruit Of The Spirit” deals with the ‘actions’ one does when they are guided by the Holy Spirit. In a different context, Jesus mentions that “out of the heart of men (from ‘within’), proceeds thoughts” (‘actions’), so it would just depend on whether or not the apostle Paul was trying to clarify Jesus’ ‘hard’ teachings of the Sermon on the Mount.

In addition to this, I also wondered if there is a ‘reciprocal’ relationship between them (i.e. When one emphasizes the Beatitudes, does that affect the ‘fruit’ they produce, and when one increases their focus on one of the Fruit of the Spirit, does that affect their inner attitude of the Beatitude associated with that ‘fruit’?).

Matching them up side-by-side (in the same order they appear in Scripture), here’s how they correspond to each other:

THE BEATITUDES FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT
POOR IN SPIRIT…………. Love 
MOURNING………………. Joy 
MEEKNESS……………….. Peace
 RIGHTEOUSNESS……….. Patience 
MERCIFUL……………….. Kindness 
PURE IN HEART…………. Goodness 
PEACEMAKER……………. Faithfulness
 PERSECUTED…………….. Gentleness 
INSULTED………………… Self-control

When you look at the above ‘pairings’, you might be inclined to say, “I don’t see any correspondence. The first one starts with ‘Blessed are the poor in spirit’ and the associated Fruit of the Spirit is ‘love.’” Well, I have found, time and time again, that when there is a ‘difficulty’ about understanding precisely the meaning of what Jesus said, you can find somewhere in the teachings of the apostle Paul the matter clearly explained. So, he’s not going to just ‘reframe’ the Beatitudes, he’s going to ‘describe’ their intent.

Also, since these two lists are ‘distinct’ from each other in the Bible, their emphasis will be different. Jesus is talking about the ‘inward’ thoughts in the Beatitudes, and Paul is explaining what the ‘consequences’ would be of those certain thoughts of the Fruit of the Spirit. Therefore, you would not expect the two lists to correspond exactly, since one is speaking about what you think (concerned with your inner attitude), whereas Paul is talking about what happens when these thoughts bear ‘fruit’ in action (when the thoughts become works of the ‘flesh’). In addition to that, elsewhere in the Bible, the concept of works of the ‘flesh’ (sinful nature) are mentioned to be the consequences of the thoughts of the ‘heart’ (Mark 7:21-23; Galatians 5:16-17; James 1:14; Romans 7:18; Jeremiah 17:9; Ephesians 2:1-3; 2 Timothy 2:22; Romans 13:13-14).

All this being said, it seems to me that it is possible that Paul is actually trying to explain what Jesus said in the Beatitudes. Jesus does not emphasize the aspect of works of the flesh or fruit of the Spirit for one very simple reason: He knows if you have these thoughts—these thoughts which He described as “blessed”—then you will have the Fruit of the Spirit. You cannot do these things yourself—it is something the Spirit does ‘in’ you. You cannot ‘produce’ the fruit. By ‘definition’ they are ‘of’ the Spirit. So, having spoken the first part, the second part will follow—and Paul, as a commentator, has the task of explaining explicitly what actions would be a ‘consequence’ of these inner thoughts.

Now, let me go beyond what our first impression might tells us, and ‘compare’ them to see whether or not my observation is valid.

[ NOTE: Blog post discusses the associations of each ‘pairing’ ].

Am I ‘stretching’ to get these ‘associations’? Well, that’s up to you to decide. But for me, it seems that there is some ‘interdependence’ between the “Beatitudes” and the “Fruit of the Spirit.”

This may not be ‘Spirit-inspired’ (“thus saith the Lord”), but at the very least I’m hoping that this will help you remember these ‘QUINTESSENTIAL’ TEACHINGS of the Bible for the ‘BLESSED’ Christian life.

The “Sermon on the Mount”—of which the “Beatitudes” is the ‘introduction’ to—has been said, by most, to be the “most important sermon” that Jesus ever ‘preached’, and that the “Fruit of the Spirit” are the most important ‘traits’ that a Christian can demonstrate in their lives.

I mentioned that the Beatitudes have to do with the ‘attitudes’ of the heart of the Christian, whereas the Fruit of the Spirit deals with the work of the Holy Spirit in the person who has these ‘qualities’.

If my hypothesis is correct, then for me, it raises another question. If the Beatitudes talk about our ‘inner’ attitudes and if the Fruit of the Spirit deals with what the Holy Spirit does ‘in’ us, does that mean that you have to ‘do’ one in order to ‘get’ the other? If so, then which comes ‘first’ in the life of the Christian? The “Beatitudes” or the “Fruit of the Spirit”?

…

For me, I think I have found THE “causal association” in the Bible that will help me ‘focus’ on becoming more like Jesus—and I aim to become the kind of person that God will BLESS! I may not be ‘successful’ at doing all of these things all the time in my life, but at least I have a ‘standard’ to assess my progress to being like Jesus by.

I call these the “Fruits Of The Spirit,” and you can download a nicely formatted ‘placard’ that has all of them on it by clicking on the following link:
http://www.spiritedesign.com/Fruits_Of_The_Beatitudes-Mark_Besh.pdf

Mark Besh
LifesDeepThoughts.com
[ Excerpts from the March 2016 post “Causal Associations” (v205) ].

‘Causal’ Associations [v205]

Monica

2016-03-23 04:12:05

What Do You See When You Look At Me

When you look at me what do, you see?
Do you see the Christian that I claim to be?
Do you see Christ-like character coming from my tree?
Do you see that my walk and my talk totally agree?
Do you see me treating others the way I want them to treat me
When you look at me, can you tell that I am a follower of Jesus?
Can you see when I go through my test and trials that He is the only one I trust?
During the good and bad times of my life is in him that you hear me giving all the glory
When I tell you about my life events is Jesus constantly mentioned throughout the story
Can you tell that the things the world says are good are the same things that I hate?
Can you feel the compassion and love I have in my heart when I ask that unbeliever to accept Christ before it is too late
When you look at me can you tell that the relationship I have with Christ is not for pretend
Can you see that He is my shepherd, I am His sheep, and that we are friends?
Can you tell the love I have for Him is for real and will never end?
When you look at me what you should see
is me striving to live out God’s basic instructions before leaving this earth
Which is found in the B-I-B-L-E?
When you look at me what you should see
is that I am a child of God in Christ lives within me

Evan Starr

2016-03-16 22:30:09

Since February 24th I’ve taken up a journal. I prayed before I started it and asked God to lead my path. Since that glorious day, the Lords led me through so many different devotionals through non traditional avenues. Through random scriptures, different books, and now an email on authentic signs of faith. God uses many different paths to talk to us and here is a perfect example of God saying – to change the world you must first change yourself. Thank you God! My heart weeps for your return.