Nothing

Babylon’s Hanging Gardens

Sunday’s lesson is “Faithful Old Daniel.”  No longer the purposed young man taken from Judah into captivity, he has answered and counseled several kings.  Now his political enemies (last mentioned in Politics, As Usual) have succeeded in backing him into a corner with the decree Darius signed that said:

… whosoever shall ask a petition of any God or man for thirty days, save of thee, O king, he shall be cast into the den of lions. (Daniel 6:7 KJV)

All Daniel had to do to save his life was nothing.

The commandments told Daniel that he must love the Lord, his God, with all his heart, soul and mind – but there was no commandment requiring him to petition Him daily.  So, for those thirty days, Daniel simply had to do nothing.

We’re very good at that, aren’t we?  Most of us pass a church or two every single day.  Daniel was in a country that did not offer him that opportunity.  We’re very good at saying, “I go on Sunday morning, and that’s enough.”  It takes faithfulness to attend the remaining services and activities. I don’t know about your church, but attendance is highest on Sunday morning than it is for any other service.

It appears Daniel was alone, too.  No mention of the three companions we hear of earlier in the book.  No peer pressure, no supportive fellowship, just communion with his God.  Simply say nothing in prayer for thirty days.

Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went into his house; and his windows being open in his chamber toward Jerusalem, he kneeled upon his knees three times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before his God, as he did aforetime. (Daniel 6:10 KJV)

Daniel did not allow the laws written by men of malice to change his relationship with God. He did as he had always done, in a window open to the world, not quietly in a closet.  To have changed his habit would have been to acknowledge an earthly power.

The God he petitioned is the same God I petition.  The gifts we have received are not.  We are unique, as is our calling.  I am grateful that God’s will has not taken me on the same paths of Joseph and Daniel, though I am blessed by their lives.

Faced with Daniel’s death, Darius looked for a way out:

Then the king, when he heard these words, was sore displeased with himself, and set his heart on Daniel to deliver him: and he laboured till the going down of the sun to deliver him. (Daniel 6:14 KJV)

Once signed, the law of the Medes and Persians could not be changed, and Daniel’s enemies had counted on this.

In our world we often choose to do nothing.  Thus our beliefs, our Lord, is not visible through us.  By his consistent actions, Daniel displayed his love of God.  Will we continue to choose nothing?

A Loaded Question

Mosaic from Dominus Flevit

"As a parent when we see our children do wrong are we still not willing to stand by them and still love them?"

I answered the parent that wrote that very loaded question. That question arises often, though the circumstances change from family to family.  So, I decided to expand a bit here and share my thoughts.

The quick and easy answer is, "Yes. This is my child, forever and nothing can change that. I stand by them and love them, no matter what"

The factual answer is "As a parent, we never stop loving our child, but their actions can become painful for both of us.  If they do wrong, breaking man's law or God's, and turn away, living in danger or error, we cannot stand by and keep quiet." 

No matter how much we love our children, we can be faced with the same situation Christ was:

O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not! (Matthew 23:37 KJV)

There are times when a child does wrong and a parent's heart is broken because they have tried to gather and protect -- but the child will not listen to loving experience.

The Bible has the answer to the final question that person wrote, too, about how to know when something is wrong: "How do you figure that out?"

Through Bible study and prayer. Good verses are:

Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.  Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them. (Matthew 7:16-20 KJV)

The Bible also tells us what those fruits are:

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. (Galatians 5:22-23 KJV)

It also tells us what is wrong and should not be done:

Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. (Galatians 5:19-21 KJV)

While it is true that there are parents that do not love their children (and for those children, my heart breaks), we all have a Father who loved us first (1 John 4:19), enough to die for us (John 3:16, John 12:27) and has taught us forgiveness (Matthew 18:35).

He has provided requirements as well as instructions on how to achieve those requirements.  When we fail to follow those instructions, there are consequences – also spelled out in His word.

Which One First?

My mother used to tell the story of some sibling who listened to part of what their mother said (which was “Do not put beans in your nose.”) and as soon parents left, began sticking beans in his nose.  The doctor was able to remove them all (we think.)

I was reminded of this when my Second Great-GrandDaughter was at the lake with her grandmother and some teenagers.  Everyone was chatting over a project, no one noticing more than Second GGD was tearing tissues into strips.  Not until the pastor’s wife said, “No, no, Sariah!”  They were carefully removing strips when she sneezed and yuckily removed them all (we think.)

Sometimes we forget the “Don’t,” and get our instructions out of order, at the least.

So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth. (Genesis 1:27-28 KJV)

What a nice directive.  An ecologist’s dream – fresh new earth, fully stocked with fish in the sea, fowls in the air and living things moving upon the earth.  All Adam and Eve had to do was be fruitful and multiply, using all the raw materials at hand, and having enough time to walk in the cool of the evening with their Lord. Truly Paradise.

And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat. And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so. (Genesis 1:29-30 KJV)

Later on God gave them an additional command:

And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die. (Genesis 2:16-17 KJV)

They had not been fruitful before Eve messed up on that second directive.  There were no children to blame, though Adam tried his best to blame Eve:

And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat. (Genesis 3:12 KJV)

What has God told us to do?  What has God told you, specifically, to do? Are there “Don’t” commands where we’ve dropped that word and proceeded to the equivalent of putting beans in our noses?  How about a quick check of the priorities God has given us.  A little paying of close attention to His word?

Politics, As Usual

Here we have a two-party (for the most part) system where the incumbent president isn’t challenged within his party but it’s a wide-open field for the other party.  And our presidential election is still over a year away.  Time for many to fade away, and others to get a case of foot-in-mouth disease on any number of television appearances.

Wasn’t that way back when Cyrus took over Babylon.  We’re told:

It pleased Darius to set over the kingdom an hundred and twenty princes, which should be over the whole kingdom; And over these three presidents; of whom Daniel was first: that the princes might give accounts unto them, and the king should have no damage. (Daniel 6:1-2 KJV)

Whole different aspect of “one man, one vote,” isn’t it? No year of campaigning, just political appointment. Cyrus did pick the right man for one of the jobs of president – in fact, he wanted to promote him quickly.

Then this Daniel was preferred above the presidents and princes, because an excellent spirit was in him; and the king thought to set him over the whole realm. (Daniel 6:3 KJV)

That did not go over well.  No better than it does today when diametrically opposed ideologies meet.  Today battles are pretty much confined to gerrymandering by the winners to retain advantages.  Daniel’s opposition took it a step further.  Looking at Daniel’s life, they found a soft spot.  An area where he could be attacked and stopped.

Then said these men, We shall not find any occasion against this Daniel, except we find it against him concerning the law of his God. (Daniel 6:5 KJV)

Politics as usual.  The media writes and the public reads all about the action, character and beliefs of those running for office. Michelle Bachmann recently received a journalist’s question regarding submission. I’m certain there is more to come.  Some of them will come for the same reasons cause was sought against Daniel.

They were successful in creating a law designed to stop Daniel from speaking to his God, or die.  They went to the king and convinced him:

… to make a firm decree, that whosoever shall ask a petition of any God or man for thirty days, save of thee, O king, he shall be cast into the den of lions. (Daniel 6:7 KJV)

Do we have the courage of Daniel?

Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went into his house; and his windows being open in his chamber toward Jerusalem, he kneeled upon his knees three times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before his God, as he did aforetime. (Daniel 6:10 KJV)

Do people know what our beliefs are, or are they hidden in secret. Are we able to discuss our beliefs calmly in daily discussions?  Do we continue our praises in difficult situations, or ignore Him? Can we follow Peter’s exhortation?

But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear: (1 Peter 3:15 KJV)

Who Do We Turn To?

We’re still in the book of Daniel in Sunday School.  Way past the time he explained a couple of dreams to Nebuchadnezzar.  You remember, the ones that gave attention to his God.  We’ve ceased to hear of his three companions following their deliverance from the fiery furnace.

Seems as though all of that has been forgotten.  We’ve moved from Chapter 4 where Nebuchadnezzar’s voice tells of that second dream and in Chapter 5 we have a new king, Belshazzar.  And, he’s having quite a party.

Reminds me a bit of the book of Esther.  Surrounded by those he wishes to admire him, he decides to show off.  Instead of attempting to display the beauty of a wife, Belshazzar picks instead the treasures of God’s temple.  He shouldn’t have.

We aren’t told at this point what was written, but the sight of a disembodied hand writing on the wall was sufficient to focus the attention of a drunken king.  As twice before in the book of Daniel, the cry went out:

The king cried aloud to bring in the astrologers, the Chaldeans, and the soothsayers. (Daniel 5:7a KJV)

Why didn’t he just call for Daniel?  It had been a while, a couple of kings between Nebuchadnezzar and Belshazzar, and Daniel had been forgotten.  Leave it to a woman to remind a man of what he should have known.  His mother described the man who helped Nebuchadnezzar:

Forasmuch as an excellent spirit, and knowledge, and understanding, interpreting of dreams, and shewing of hard sentences, and dissolving of doubts, were found in the same Daniel, whom the king named Belteshazzar: now let Daniel be called, and he will shew the interpretation. (Daniel 5:12 KJV)

I particularly like “shewing of hard sentences.”  Maybe even a bit more than “dissolving of doubts.”  Have we ever dissolved anyone’s doubts?  Are we known as a person another can turn to, one who has knowledge and understanding?  One who can handle the hard stuff?

Don’t just look at Daniel’s ability to interpret dreams.  That’s a God given gift, just as his prophecy in later chapters. It is the building of an excellent spirit, just as Daniel purposed in his heart not to defile himself spiritually, that can be within us. 

We decide whether or not we will be pure before our God.  We decide whether to study His word or to ignore Him.  We decide what to do with our bodies, to turn them over to His will or to show off what we can.

And this is the writing that was written, MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN. This is the interpretation of the thing: MENE; God hath numbered thy kingdom, and finished it. TEKEL; Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting. PERES; Thy kingdom is divided, and given to the Medes and Persians. (Daniel 5:25-28 KJV)

We, too, will be weighed in the balances.  Will we be found wanting?

Butterflies

Colorado was rather dry that year.  We made the trip up from New Mexico and there were few bright flowers along the way.  Near a bridge over the San Juan, two bits of color caught my eye.  I love watching butterflies.

Pastor reminded me of this shot with the example he gave Sunday of someone helping the struggling butterfly out of its cocoon, only to see it die because it could not fly.  We’ve all heard this example at one time or another, but few apply it to our own lives.

We are the butterfly – not those around us.  We are the ones who need to accomplish the struggle.  We aren’t the kind person who, as an outstanding co-dependent, erroneously help the one struggling.

This shouldn’t be an example of our backing off from helping, it should be the best example to encourage us to continue struggling to achieve the future God has in store for us.  No one has been promised life without struggles.  The opposite, from Eden’s exit.

… cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, (Genesis 3:17b-19a KJV)

“But, but…” people say, “I’ve had it so rough!  No one has faced what I have.”  We cry out as Elijah:

… and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away. (1 Kings 19:10 KJV)

“So there are good reasons why I am (insert feeling that keeps us from doing what God has in mind for us).”

Hey, I know about that!  I use(d) such excuses  myself. Yep, have one or two sitting nearby to use in case of emergencies.  Don’t you?  Early Christians did, too.  Except, maybe, for Paul:

Furthermore then we beseech you, brethren, and exhort you by the Lord Jesus, that as ye have received of us how ye ought to walk and to please God, so ye would abound more and more. (1 Thessalonians 4:1 KJV)

We do, however, have an even better example:

For I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you. (John 13:15 KJV)

That’s not John speaking, that’s Jesus.  And He knows how we’ll feel when we follow His example:

If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them. (John 13:17 KJV)

Be the butterfly you are born to be. Struggle and grow strong, and be happy!

Baptism

This past summer, three of my great-grandsons accepted Jesus as their Lord.  The oldest, now in the 7th grade, was at our Youth summer camp.  His two younger brothers went to the Children’s camp. First GGS made his profession of faith at camp.  Since this is a big step, not to be taken lightly nor as peer pressure, he has spent time since talking with his parents as well as his Sunday School teacher and our pastor to be certain he understands this decision before being baptized.

Second GGS made his profession of faith Tuesday during Vacation Bible School.  Once again, due to his youth, adults counsel with him to be certain he’s not simply following his brother instead of making a personal decision. Then, on Thursday, Third GGS made his profession of faith, too.

Sunday, they and their father were baptized by our Pastor.  Baptism is a big step – or, better put, it SHOULD be a big step.  Following His temptation in the wilderness, Jesus came to be baptized by John.

Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John, to be baptized of him. (Matthew 3:13 KJV)

There is so much more in this chapter about baptism.  John’s was to be different from Christ’s:

I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire: (Matthew 3:11 KJV)

Jesus did not baptize while here on earth, but His disciples did:

(Though Jesus himself baptized not, but his disciples,) (John 4:2 KJV)

But He did promise the baptism John preached, and more:

And, being assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of me. For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence. (Acts 1:4-5 KJV)

What if a person was baptized, then discovered there was something different?  It has happened:

And it came to pass, that, while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul having passed through the upper coasts came to Ephesus: and finding certain disciples, He said unto them, Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed? And they said unto him, We have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost. And he said unto them, Unto what then were ye baptized? And they said, Unto John's baptism. Then said Paul, John verily baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying unto the people, that they should believe on him which should come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus. When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. (Acts 19:1-5 KJV)

Were baptized, though they had been previously.  They were following the example of their Lord and Savior.  Because of the difference in doctrine between denominations, some have membership requirements that call for rebaptism.  Just as John’s disciples were baptized again, as an indication of their understanding of those very differences. It was this symbolic step taken Sunday by my First Grandson, father to the three GGS’s, leading the way for his sons.

For us it is not a physical washing away of sin. But it is a symbol of the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus, Christ, who does remove sins in our life.  For that, I am eternally grateful.